Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix
by Fergus Flamacron
Summary: Six years after the attack by Acnologia, a catastrophic event leads the entire island of Tenroujima and everyone on it to be flung headfirst into another world. A world with different people, different magic and different threats. What happens when Dragon Slayers meet with the Boy Who Lived? Pairings mostly, but not entirely, the same as canon.
1. Dimension Dragons

Hello everybody. For those of you that don't know me, hi, I'm Fergus Flamacron and I hope you enjoy my story. For those of you that do know me, hello everyone. Yes, I am starting this new story alongside my old story Quest of the Gods but I think that this is going to do me a heck of a lot of good. However, this first chapter DOES contain a HUGE spoiler for something that happens a long way in the future of Quest of the Gods. Just be aware of that if you do decide to read this.

Anyway, welcome to all Fairy Tail and Harry Potter fans. I have only one thing to say before we get started. This is primarily an adventure story but it will have romance involved. However, **THIS WILL NOT BE A NALU STORY!** So, if you are one of the many NaLu fans who can't seem to stand seeing Natsu or Lucy romantically involved with anyone but each other, please turn around now because this story is not for you. I like NaLu fine myself but this site is full of it anyway so I wanted my story to contain a different pairing, for a change of pace, and I would rather not hear complaints about my choices in any of my pairings because they're not things that I am planning on changing. Natsu and Lucy will still be very, very close friends. But not romantic partners.

However, if you are a NaLu fan but are open to the idea of alternative pairings then by all means come in and I hope you enjoy this story despite the fact it doesn't contain any of that pairing.

The one and only disclaimer I will pit in this story:- Fairy Tail and all its works belong to Hiro Mashima, and Harry Potter and all its works belong to JK Rowling. I wish I was inventive enough to have come up with either.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 1:- Dimension Dragons**

* * *

Six years.

That was how long it had now been since that fateful day in the year X784. The one where the entire island of Tenroujima had been seemingly obliterated in one fell blast from the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia.

That was how long it had been since the Black Wizard Zeref had made his return to the world.

That was how long it had been since twenty-one members of the guild known as Fairy Tail had been presumed utterly and completely dead.

…But of course that wasn't true, and currently the only person in existence who actually knew this for a fact was someone that wasn't even still alive, but who's consciousness lingered on in the form of an astral body she'd made for herself. To all intents and purposes… a ghost.

And that ghost was currently sitting on the calm surface of the pristine ocean as if it was as solid as a dining room table, one elbow resting on her knee while her hand supported her head. She stared out across the empty horizon with dull eyes.

Her name was Mavis Vermilion. The first ever Master of the Fairy Tail guild, whose grave resided on the missing island.

And she groaned, rolling onto her back and lying with limbs splayed, staring up at the sky, her incredibly long blond hair trailing down beneath her small body and the wing-like projections on either side of her head twitching slightly as she mulled over recent events.

Gods, this was boring. It had been nothing short of boring for the last six years. After the island had disappeared there had been some excitement with ships going all around the area searching for the missing Fairy Tail members, but gradually they'd begun to disperse until everyone had completely stopped looking.

And that was their mistake. But even if they had known that the Fairy Tail Tenrou Team was still alive, there was nothing that they could have done about it.

In the final moments before Acnologia's breath attack struck, the members of Fairy Tail had attempted to cast some kind of protective enchantment, pooling all of their trust and faith into one another to try and pull off the impossible and survive the dragon's attack. But it wouldn't have been enough alone. Not without Mavis adding her own help in. Despite the fact she was no longer capable of using her own magic, she was able to convert the power of those incredible bonds between the guild members into a different kind of Magic and cast the Fairy Sphere, a massive protective shield that nothing whatsoever could penetrate.

The only thing was, it was now currently impossible for her to remove the spell. She would have done had she still be alive, but now she was deceased she had to wait for the spell to dispel itself on its own. And for something so large as the entire island of Tenroujima, that was taking a while. How long would be left? Another year? Two? Mavis guessed at least one more year.

But at least the members of the guild were still safe, for the Fairy Sphere had frozen them all in time and they were all lying in suspended animation in the exact same place they'd landed after the blast from Acnologia had pushed the island down beneath the waves.

She'd go down there and visit them sometimes, wondering around the still forests and standing over the still bodies of the various members. She was beginning to wish that she'd paid attention to what was going on with her beloved guild when they'd been awake. But when she'd passed the leadership of the guild on to the second Master, she had decided that staying out of the way would give the guild its best chance to grow on its own. It would allow new ideas, new customs, new everything. After all, if the guild didn't change with the times it wouldn't get anywhere. And from the looks of it, the Third Master had turned it into a true guild to be proud of.

But just because Mavis was no longer in charge didn't mean she couldn't have visited, got to know people, been a part of things. She enjoyed the peace and quiet that came with having her own island, but she'd had a chance to observe some of the fighting from a distance when she'd been woken from her slumber and she greatly admired the youths of today. They were great people, every one of them, and she couldn't wait until they unfroze so she could some to know them better.

For now though, it seemed all she could do was sit and watch the sky, sensing the magic of the island slowly weakening as it was brought closer and closer to the material world once again. Eventually it would do so enough that her limited magical power as a ghost could remove it completely.

Mavis sighed. That was all well and good but she wished something interesting would happen. Six years since she had been disturbed from her rest, which she did not intend to go back into anytime soon and this… when would the fun start?

And naturally, it was at this point that the sky above her practically exploded!

Mavis jumped so violently that she probably would have leapt right out of her physical body if she still had one. She almost vanished beneath the surface of the water and when she looked up it was to see the a rush of blasting energy streaking across the sky out of a large swirling hole in existence and towards a creature that had definitely not been there before. Some kind of huge grey draconic animal with six legs, a broad head that was armoured with what looked like platinum and shadowy tendrils coming out of its shoulders tipped with three red claws each.

The creature swooped underneath the energy blast, which cannoned downwards to blow up the surface of the ocean several miles away and turned around to hiss at the swirling portal, out of which emerged two more dragon-like creatures of equal size - one four legged and blue with a long neck and crests jutting from its back and head and something that resembled a glowing diamond on its chest, and the other bipedal with shield-like shoulders with giant pearls embedded into them, a comparatively small head and a huge tail sweeping out behind it.

Mavis gaped as the two dragons rushed towards their third opponent at high speed that belied their great size. Just what was going on here? Even when she'd been alive, she'd never seen a dragon. The only one she'd ever seen was Acnologia and now suddenly in the same place that he'd tried to blow up her guild members, suddenly there were three.

Pearl closed in on Platinum and launched a purplish-glowing claw right his head, but Platinum brought up his shadow claws to catch the strike, though it was pushed backwards under the brute force of the attack. Hissing, Platinum summoned some kind of orange glowing orb in front of its mouth which it fired at Pearl but Pearl formed an orb of exactly the same nature and flung it right back, the two orbs crashing into each other and detonating in mid-air, sending smoke in all directions for half a kilometre.

Platinum thundered straight into the smoke but came shooting out again moments later under a forceful ramming from Diamond who's roar shook the water far below and as it raised what looked like a steel-plated glowing tail and pushed away from Platinum to ram the tail around. But suddenly Platinum disappeared right into thin air, the tail swinging uselessly through the space where he had been. Mavis gasped as suddenly Platinum re-appeared next to Peal and slammed him with some kind of Shadow Force. Pearl let off a high pitched, ululating squeal as he was tossed from the sky and slammed down into the water with a tumultuous splash.

Platinum hissed in triumph and turned around, another swirling portal opening up in front of it as it prepared to dive through, only for Diamond to send a bright burst of white light energy from its mouth to ram right into the side of the escaping Platinum and send him rolling upwards, the portal slamming shut behind him. Platinum let loose a strangled squawk, turning to see Diamond coming rushing up at him and fired a golden bolt of light into the air the split into around a dozen and came crashing down towards Diamond like falling meteors.

Except suddenly the water of the ocean churned up in a giant whirlpool and several geysers erupted upwards past Diamond to slam into each of the meteors and vaporise them with a burst of steam. Pearl exploded up from the water with something akin to a smirk on its draconic face and watched as Diamond fired another several rays of light that sparkled like gemstones from the diamond on his chest, each zeroing in on Platinum's stomach.

But Platinum suddenly turned itself into a shadow and streaked down past Diamond before the attack could hit and aimed itself right at Pearl, who raised a kind of sphere of water around him to pulse the attack away. Mavis frowned. It seemed that for whatever reason the Platinum dragon was more focused on taking out the Pearl rather than the Diamond one. She had no idea why that would be but there must have been a reason.

But the Diamond one wasn't having any of that and was gathering up a huge amount of energy between his jaws. Mavis gasped as a huge purplish blast of energy cannoned out of his jaws and fired straight down straight towards both Pearl and Platinum.

Was it mad? Wasn't Pearl it's ally?

But Pearl just smirked and suddenly a pink portal opened behind it and it backed itself in, reappearing right next to Diamond out of another portal to leave Platinum in the firing line alone. The attack struck him dead on, blasting him down deep into the ocean with such force that a huge tidal wave seemed to erupt in all directions around him and wash outwards, forcing Mavis to rise high into the air before she was caught up in it.

Was it over?

Pearl and Diamond hung in the air for a moment, seemingly waiting for something to happen… right before there was a Distortion right between them and suddenly a heavily battered Platinum appeared out of nowhere, slashing them both with his Shadow Claws and knocking them out to the side. A furious roar curdled out of Platinum as it fired another glowing orb at Diamond, who took the attack with a grunting roar and staggered in the air. Platinum then whirled around and seized Pearl in some kind of Psychic hold, dragging him back towards him and charging some kind of Dragon Pulse attack of his own between his beaked jaws.

But Pearl beat him to it and fired one heck of a huge water blast out of his own jaws, sending Platinum backwards head over heels under the force of it and right towards Diamond, who seized Platinum by the tail in his jaws and swung him bodily around, heaving him down towards the waves. Platinum struggled to right himself, flailing his claws wildly until he was back upright but Diamond had already flung what looked like a bunch of glowing rocks down towards him. Platinum growled and swept and dodged from side to side to avoid them but suddenly found itself face to face with Pearl, who had dropped down to the water's surface and its armoured arm was glowing bright pink.

Mavis watched in shock as Pearl slashed his arm downwards and generated some kind of massive pink energy slash that seemed to make the very air around it ripple. The attack smashed into Platinum and seemed to both hit him and keep on going past him without cutting him in half at the same time. Platinum roared as it was apparently bombarded with pain…

But Mavis only gasped as the tumultuous attack ripped a line across the sky right on past her.

And that was when the suction began.

While with Diamond's attack everything had seemed to slow down to an absolute crawl, with this one everything around it seemed to rise up and head straight for it, the water of the ocean arcing up into the air as it was sucked into the attack which Mavis suddenly recognised to be a tear in the fabric of reality.

And right now, Pearl's space was influencing more than just the sea. It was influencing what was underneath it.

As an astral body, the suction of space had no effect on Mavis herself but she gasped when she saw the glowing, golden orb of the Fairy Sphere beginning to rise up from beneath the waves until it breached the surface and was hauled up and out of the waves, the Fairy Tail symbol glowing proudly on the side and the massive Tenrou Tree visible on the inside. The entire thing was being hauled upwards and tipped sideways, moving towards the portal.

Mavis immediately dove towards the sphere and passed through it, looking around wildly to see if everything was alright and trying to find some way of stopping it. But a tremendous roar took her attention and she turned to see Platinum had burst his way up and out of the attack, staggering in the air and heavily damaged but a leer on its face as it dove straight towards the glowing tear in space, trying to dive into it and away… but then suddenly it was moving so slowly that it might as well have been a snail. Mavis blinked and looked around for an explanation… and found one, in the form of Diamond not far away sending out a truly MASSIVE blue blast from his jaws that skimmed right past the Fairy Sphere and zoned in towards Platinum at high speed.

Mavis was beginning to think she understood a little more. Pearl could control space and that was why Platinum was targeting him more than Diamond because he was trying to escape and Pearl was stopping him from doing so or something like that. But if Pearl could control space…

Mavis suddenly gasped as she felt something happening to the Fairy Sphere. It was designed as ultimate protection for those within, shielding them even from the passage of time… but for some reason the rate at which the magic was wearing off had suddenly accelerated!

That Dragon Roar… it was distorting time, slowing down Platinum but speeding up other surroundings, including her protective sphere! Diamond could control time just as well as Pearl could control space.

But Mavis had other things to worry about now because it was also speeding up the rate at which the Sphere was being drawn out of the water and thrown into the spacial rip.

Mavis gritted her teeth. She couldn't stop it! She didn't know how! It was unavoidable - all she could do was grab onto the Tenrou Tree and hitch a ride as the entire island was sent rolling forwards. She extended her limited power over the Sphere to try and stabilise it but it was… inexorably… pulled through the tear in space, leaving their dimension and the three battling Dragons behind.

Everything became a helter-skelter from there, Mavis holding both her arms wide to try and keep the Fairy Sphere together. The time had accelerated it up to its zenith and it felt like it would now be mere minutes before the spell broke, and if that happened while they were tumbling through the gap between dimensions, who knew what would happen to everyone on the island, blissfully unaware of their current predicament as they were.

Outside the sphere it was utter madness, swirling nonsensical colours ripping left, right and centre and the swirling winds of the vortex sending the entire sphere spinning over and over, tumbling like a marble down a plastic obstacle course round and round. Mavis was getting dizzy just trying to keep sense of everything and she screwed her eyes up, flexing her fingers to exert her power still further. No… not yet… she couldn't… let this…

But it seemed to be unavoidable - the Fairy Sphere was fading, its magic finally depleting as a whole year's worth of magical time was accelerated and stolen away. Mavis couldn't stop it now. She could barely keep her focus on keeping her bearings as it was now and trying to stay with the Sphere itself, gripping the tree branch hard with her legs.

"Must… keep… together…" she panted to herself. "Come on… Fairy Tail… stay… with me…"

But it was too much, and Mavis eyes opened wide when she felt the Sphere breaking up. It wouldn't stay up much longer no matter how much power she put left into it. Not with so much to preserve in it like this.

And then she felt it… the Fairy Sphere finally beginning to fracture and break apart.

Mavis cursed and did the only thing she could. She narrowed her focus down around the island, locating the life forces of everything she could down there and zeroing the magic of the Fairy Sphere down around them specifically… strengthening the magic around them as much as they could… and then suddenly the giant Sphere burst entirely, leaving Tenrou Island whipping through the vortex unprotected, along with about a dozen smaller Fairy Spheres that went shooting off ahead into the vortex. Mavis yelled and managed to use her magic to grab hold of one and keep it close but the others went off into the distance and out of sight.

"Everyone…" the First Master grimaced. "Please… be safe…"

And abruptly… after about another minute or so of madness - it was hard to tell in this place - she suddenly felt a natural wind again as the island was thrown out into the light. The massive tree arced through the air before somehow… miraculously… the island landed right side up with a colossal splash into water. A huge wave burst upwards all around the circumference of the island and washed across the shoreline, Mavis almost falling from her perch on the tree with a yelp. The world around her seemed to vibrate as the island was drenched in sea-water until finally the island came to a thumping stop as it touched bottom.

It took a while before Mavis could recuperate herself and when she did she sat up and shook herself slightly, clambering to her bare feet as she looked out across the island, inspecting it for damage. It looked to be remarkably intact considering what had just happened, but then again there was powerful magic interlaced with the island's very structure so that wasn't so surprising. And the water rose up a little higher around the island than it would have done were it in its proper place back home, but mostly everything seemed to be okay.

Except, of course, for the fact that the entire island where her natural body had been laid to rest had been zapped into a whole separate dimension.

There was no sign of the battling Dragons. Perhaps they were still wreaking havoc back in their true world. Perhaps Platinum had been defeated by that roar from Diamond - she hadn't actually seen whether the attack had hit him or not. Or perhaps their battle would take them right into another dimension - who knew if they were even from Earthland anyway. They had appeared rather abruptly after all. What they were and why they were fighting… perhaps she would never know.

But this was something that Mavis could never have predicted. Not once in a million years could she have expected something like this.

What universe were they in now? It was a universe of magic - she could feel that in the air. But other than that, she could say nothing about it other than the fact it had oceans apparently.

But then something else grabbed her attention and her eyes swung round in search of that one Fairy Sphere that she managed to keep close. Where was it? And what had been inside it?

She soon spotted it lying at the top of the giant stone cliff in the shape of a wolf's head and leapt from her place on the tree branch, floating her way down until she alighted gently on the ground, the grass tickling her bare feet slightly.

She could see faintly through the little spherical shield and she pressed her face up against it, squinting to try and discern the shapes she was seeing within.

"I see…" she sighed in relief. "Well, at least you four are safe."

She then looked out across the ocean, her wingtips drooping slightly as her expression turned grim.

"But the rest of your friends… where could they have ended up? Did they all even end up in the same universe? I hope to whatever gods might exist here that they did…"

She sighed. There was rather little that she could do for them now. But she could feel the power of the Fairy Sphere before her beginning to fade, so she settled herself down on a nearby rock to wait until it did.

* * *

The first thing that Wendy Marvell felt was pain. Pain rippling through her body seemingly from head to toe like a dull, throbbing ache, but it somehow felt far away as if she'd drifted outside her body but was still able to feel what it was feeling. She almost frowned to herself as she began to stir. That explanation made very little sense even to her. Jeez, her head must be muddled.

She groaned, turning her head and shifting her arm slightly, gritting her teeth as her head pounded and wishing not for the first time that she could heal her own wounds as easily as she could heal those of others.

She could feel grass beneath her hand as she moved it. Why was she lying on the grass? The last thing she could remember was holding hands with her fellow Dragon Slayer Gajeel and her Exceed partner Charla, as all her fellow Fairy Tail members formed a circle and tried to defend against…

"ACNOLOGIA!" Wendy shot up, her eyes opening wide as she looked around wildly, searching the skies for the massive, black Dragon. But there was nothing. Just white fluffy clouds against a blue backdrop, with some distant grey the promised rain somewhere.

The young blue-haired, twelve-year-old girl lifted a hand to her head, rubbing it in confusion. "I was… unconscious? What happened? How long was I out for?" She started looking around and her eyes immediately found her three companions, who were lying prone beside her. "Charla…" she crawled over to the little white cat and frantically started shaking her. "Happy… Lily…"

There was no response from Charla or Happy, but Pantherlily twitched and grunted, slowly beginning to push himself up and shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Wendy…" he muttered, when he opened his eyes. "What's… what's going on? Last thing I remember is… wait…" he sat up, looking around. "Gajeel! What happened to Gajeel! And the rest!"

"I don't know…" Wendy sniffed, holding up her hands and beginning to use her Sky Magic on Charla to try and heal her wounds. "I only just woke up myself and I can't see anyone else. But it looks like all of us here are still alive at least."

"Damn it," Lily muttered as he pushed himself to his feet. "I should… I should go take a look around… see if I can… nngh…" he flinched as his side twinged.

"Don't strain yourself, Lily," Wendy cautioned him. "You need to rest."

"No, I must do my duty. To the guild. Need to make sure everyone's alright…" Lily shook his head stubbornly.

"Everyone is fine," replied a voice that drew their attention around behind them. They both blinked in surprise at the side of the young looking girl sitting on the rocks above them in the long flowing pink-layered dress with red ribbon around her neck, blonde hair that fell like a curtain behind her right to her ankles and the wing-like projections behind her ears.

"Well…" said the girl. "I say fine. As fine as can be under the circumstances. They are all still alive at least, and they should be relatively uninjured."

"Um… who are you?" Wendy asked, as Lily's hand went to the little yet bulky sword strapped to his back warily.

"Who am I?" the girl smiled slightly. "I feel like I should be rather offended. Are there no pictures of me left in the Fairy Tail guild? There should be. I did found it…"

"You… founded it?" Wendy blinked, before her eyes widened. "Wait… don't tell me…"

"You can't mean it…" Lily agreed.

"I do," the girl nodded. "I'm Fairy Tail's First Guild Master - Mavis Vermilion."

"But… the First Master died many years ago," Lily protested. "How can you be her? Is this some kind of illusion or trick?"

Wendy, on the other hand, was staring at Mavis, to use the clichéd and yet highly appropriate phrase, as if she'd seen a ghost. Not least because if she was, this would not be the first time that she'd ever seen a ghost. She'd grown up with one, after all.

"Perhaps it would be better to wait until your companions have awoken before I fully explain," Mavis replied. "Save me having to do so more than once. But from what I've seen of my guild, it has become rather hardy. I'm sure you'll all be fine. In any case, Mister Cat, looking around for your friends would be rather pointless now. None of them are left on the island except for you four."

"What? But…"

"Like I said, I'll explain everything. But first, tend to your friends. I'm not going anywhere… I haven't the first clue where I would go."

Wendy slowly nodded, deciding to shove her questions aside for now and focused on her glowing hands, healing up Charla and Happy's minor injuries before a slightly suspicious but still able Lily helped her in waking the two of them up.

When Charla woke up she immediately moved to hug Wendy, thankful beyond words that her best friend and partner was still okay. Happy was the last to wake and when he did the first thing he did was ask for fish, while the second thing he did was immediately try and run off to find Natsu. This led to Lily having to grab hold of his tail to stop him, causing Happy to faceplant right into the ground.

Needless to say, the both of them were also shocked when Mavis introduced herself. Charla gasped and placed her paws over her mouth while Happy screamed, "EEEEHHHHHHHH!?" but they were soon calmed as Mavis descended to the grass in front of them and began her explanation, telling them everything that had transpired from the moment Acnologia had tried to blast them right up until the point where they had landed in this universe.

"Another world?" Happy asked, looking around him. "Could it be that we've landed in Edolas again?"

"Of course not," Charla huffed at him slightly. "Can't you feel it? There is definitely magic in this world whereas Edolas was totally stripped of all its magic."

"Hmm," Lily nodded. "I was there myself. I saw the Prince of Edolas send all of Edolas' magic to Earthland with my own eyes. This is definitely not Edolas. Yet it is true that it does not feel like Earthland either. The magic here… it is different than our own."

"At least we can still use magic here though," Wendy frowned. "But if the magic is different, does that mean when we run out of magic we won't be able to restore it?"

"That's a good question," Charla agreed. "After all, all magical beings of Earthland obtain their magic by absorbing Ethernano from the atmosphere and converting it to magical power. Does this universe even have Ethernano in it?"

"If it did not before, it does now," Mavis replied. "I felt it. The portal that sucked us here was absorbing absolutely everything from the surrounding space. Water, air, Ethernano, all of it. It's likely that it is now spreading across the world as we speak. You should be able to use magic here just as you could at home. If you couldn't I probably wouldn't be able to stand here talking with you."

"How are you standing here talking to us anyway?" Lily asked. "Not to offend you, of course, but are you not in fact dead?"

"Oh yes," Mavis nodded. "But there are ways, if you know how, to transcend your consciousness and magic past your death. I decided before I passed away to carry this out, in the hope that I could continue to watch over my guild from afar and see it grow and flourish, watch the ideals that I had laid down bloom. But I have been rather neglectful of that in recent decades, preferring to remain in isolation and enjoy the peace and quiet of my island. A decision I am now regretting, as it looks like I have missed a great deal."

"I see… So that's what Master Roubaul must have done," Wendy murmured.

"Master Roubaul?" Mavis blinked in bemusement. "Who is that?"

"Oh… he was the Master of my old guild, Caitshelter," Wendy smiled fondly. "A funny old man with really strange habits, who kept saying the word 'nabula' for reasons nobody understood, but such a kind and wonderful Master. It… turned out that he had created the entire Caitshelter guild for me and that every single member except for me and Charla were actually illusions he'd generated to give me a family when he took me in. It was only when I gained friends outside the guild and his reason for remaining in the world no longer existed that he finally revealed the truth to me and passed on. I joined Fairy Tail soon after and I love it here."

"That's good to hear," Mavis smiled. "I'm so glad that we could provide the family you needed. It must have been hard though. To learn the truth."

"Yeah… it was…" Wendy sniffed, trying not to cry as old memories were re-awakened.

Mavis sighed slightly. Truly how neglectful had she been not to know something like this. Well, she wasn't going to be neglectful any more.

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" Happy asked. "We've got to go and search for all of the others, but where can we find them?"

"I do not know," Mavis replied. "Most likely they are scattered at random across this world, but they're all in separate little pockets of the Fairy Sphere, frozen in time still, most likely. The roar of the Diamond Dragon distorted time greatly, so there's no way of knowing how long it will take each sphere to wear off now. Some of them could be awake now, others might still have months of being frozen in time yet. But I'm fairly certain that they're all in this world somewhere."

"Then how do we set about finding them?" Lily asked. "It would probably be best if we could track them all down as quickly as possible."

"You cast the Fairy Sphere spell didn't you, First Master?" Charla asked. "Can't you sense where they are?"

"The Spheres are small and faint now. I could probably sense them if I got within thirty miles or so of one of them but until then I would be searching blindly."

"That seems to limit our options," Lily placed a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"What do you think we should do, Lily?" Wendy asked. "You used to be a Captain of Edolas. What do you suggest?"

"I've never quite been in a situation like this before," Lily pointed out before humming to himself and considering. "I believe the first course of action should be trying to gather some supplies like food and water from the island before we strike out and try to find the mainland. We should scout out the settlements, try and learn what type of people live here and if they might be friendly or best avoided. If it's the former perhaps we can garner some help in such for our comrades. If it's the latter… then we may have to search ourselves but keep our ears out for any potential news."

"I'm sure that if Natsu-san and the others are spotted it wouldn't take long for the news to spread," Wendy giggled nervously.

"They do tend to be rather… memorable… don't they?" Charla snickered.

"Don't worry, Wendy, we'll find them," Happy declared, sounding as though he was trying to reassure himself as much as Wendy. "We'll definitely find them and then when we do we'll find a way to get back home again."

"Oh, that's a point," Wendy sighed. "I hadn't even considered how we might get home."

"And I was just getting used to living in Earthland," Lily agreed. "Only to be whisked off to another world almost immediately afterwards… or rather six years afterwards though I only experienced a few weeks of it."

"We ought to worry about how we will get home another time," Mavis pointed out, rising to her feet. She was almost pleased to note that she was actually the tallest person there right now. That didn't happen very often. "For now our first priority is finding all of our guild members. Once we are all gathered again can we think of a way to take us back. After all, we don't leave any one of our own behind."

"That we most certainly don't," Wendy pumped her fist.

"We said we would all go home together right before Acnologia attacked and that still holds true now," Happy cheered.

"I'm still amazed we actually survived that," Charla chuckled.

"Well, from what I've seen, this guild does make a habit of pulling off the impossible," Lily noted with a smirk.

"You all certainly seem upbeat under the circumstances," Mavis giggled slightly.

"Well if we weren't upbeat we'd never get anywhere, First Master," Happy held up a paw. "Considering the amount of things that happen to us. This is just the start of another adventure. And we'll definitely overcome it, just like everything else. No matter what gets thrown at us."

"I like that attitude very much indeed," Mavis clapped her hands together lightly. "That's exactly the sort of spirit and determination I always wanted from the members of my guild when I set it up. I suppose it is decided. I shall accompany you. There's very little reason for me to stay, after all."

"But isn't your grave here?" Wendy asked. "This is Fairy Tail's sacred ground - shouldn't someone stay behind to keep an eye on it?"

"The island will be fine. The barrier I put in place around it to normally keep people from finding it has started functioning again. Even if a ship comes upon the island it should just go around it without even noticing it. Besides, an island is merely an island. What is most important are the lives of the others."

"Then let's go…" Happy exclaimed, before his stomach rumbled. "Um… after we eat. Anyone got any fish? I think I ate my last one some time ago."

"Not everything is about fish, you know," Charla pointed out

"Fish seems to actually be a practical thing to search for right now," Lily acknowledged. "If there's an ocean there should be some here. Hopefully. But this is another universe so who even knows what the local fauna here could be. I'll head back to the boat and see if I can find a net to catch some. It may be faster than a hook and line."

His body glowed briefly and expanded until he had taken on the towering, musclebound humanoid panther form that was his original body, his Exceed wings materialising behind him before he shot off into the air.

Mavis oohed slightly at the sight, before suddenly realising that now there was someone taller than her here, causing her to slump and murmur, "Figures…"

"I guess we should try and make a fire," Wendy suggested.

"That would be easy as pie if Natsu were still here," Happy's tail drooped slightly.

"Well, he's not," Charla replied. "But don't worry, Happy. Natsu's one of the hardiest members of the guild. He's probably one of the last ones we need to worry about."

"Aye," Happy thumped his chest lightly. "Because he is Natsu."

"As if that explains everything," Charla sighed with a slight smile. "Come on then. Let's gather some firewood."

"Aye sir!"

Mavis smiled brightly as she watched them go. Yes, this was hardly the most ideal of circumstances, but it looked like there would most definitely be some fun times ahead if these were her companions. But her eyes slowly drifted back towards the ocean and out towards the horizon.

_Whatever trails and tribulations lie ahead for my guild__… __I will see them all safely home,_ she thought to herself. _I swear it on the name Fairy Tail._

* * *

What none of them could know was that actually there was one other member of their guild who was already awake, having been split away from everyone else in his own little Fairy Sphere and having woken up alone in the middle of a meadow with no clue as to how he had got here, or what had happened to the rest of his friends.

With no answers for him in the meadow, he had picked a direction at random and wandered off searching for answers. Yet he was pretty sure that he'd been walking for miles across open expanse with scattered trees all about the place and come across absolutely nothing. Not even a farmhouse or some other kind of settlement. But still he trudged on. There had to be something close by. Something that could tell him how the heck he'd been on an island being attacked by a Black Dragon one minute and on the mainland and totally alone the next.

But his walk eventually came to a stop when he reached the edge of a cliff and found himself looking out across the great salty expanse of ocean. Definitely not the same expanse of ocean that the island had been in. That had been a very tropical environment. Not so here. The cliffs were rugged and the spray that was coming up them from below was cold. This was some kind of temperate zone, no question about that.

But that just made everything even more stupidly confusing.

"Jeez," he muttered to himself. "This is messed up."

But suddenly his nose twitched and he looked up towards the sky, his eyes widening when he saw something that looked like some kind of black, skeletal winged horse soaring up near the clouds. His red eyes lingered on the creature for several moments before it winged its way inland at high speed, shortly becoming a little black dot in the distance.

"That sure as heck wasn't normal," Gajeel Redfox growled, his long, wild black hair wafting in the breeze that blew up against his chest, bare except for the bandages that were still wrapped around them from six years ago but the black guild mark on his left shoulder on full display. "What kind of shit have I managed to get myself into this time?… Well, at least nobody can say that life with this guild is boring."

* * *

Massaging his forehead and having to resist the incredibly strong temptation to just throw down his quill and slump back into his chair, Harry Potter did his best to focus on his latest Transfiguration essay. Something about the Inanimatus Conjurus Spell… but his heart certainly wasn't in it? Less so than usual in fact.

He knew it was important. He was a fifth year student now and the Wizarding World's equivalent of the GCSE exams - their OWLs - would be coming up at the end of the year as his close friend Hermione Granger never failed to remind him. But Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the only place that he'd ever truly called a home and after just one week of being back after the summer holiday he was currently wishing he was practically anywhere else.

Heck, even his magical-phobic aunt, uncle and cousin - the Dursleys - were seeming like a more attractive option right now, and that was saying something.

Why was everything going so wrong? Ever since the Dark Wizard Voldemort had returned at the end of last summer it had seemed like half his world had fallen apart. And not just because Voldemort had killed his parents when he was a baby and left a scar upon his head when he'd tried to kill Harry himself. It seemed almost every other aspect of Harry's life was taking a turn for the worse right now too.

Perhaps that was being overdramatic, but that's the way it felt.

Sure, he'd been let off for using a Patronus Charm to ward off the two Dementors that attacked him and his cousin in the summer and that was a plus. And he still had his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, by his side and looking out for him.

But that seemed to be about all that remained. Dumbledore was ignoring him, Hagrid was missing, his godfather Sirius was cooped up in his house in London, unable to send him proper messages in case it was intercepted and certainly unable to visit due to the fact he was a convicted criminal for crimes he had never committed. Not to mention practically the entire Wizarding World was convinced that his stories about Voldemort's return were attention-seeking lies and the Ministry seemed to be out to publicly discredit him at every turn - a stark contrast to previous years where everyone seemed to idolise him. He'd always longed for that to stop, but not to completely reverse like this. He'd always wanted to be a normal kid but it seemed if he wasn't a hero then he was practically a juvenile delinquent in the eyes of most of the populace.

At least there were some who believed him, like the Order of the Phoenix, but the fact that so many others, even one of his own dorm-mates, didn't want anything to do with him anymore almost made their support negligible. Plus the Order wasn't here now for the most part. Harry kept thinking that's where he should be, with the secret team trying to find ways to stop the low-laying Voldemort rather than stuck here doing essays he didn't even care about.

And what else - ah yes, there was the fact that one of the Ministry's own goons, the toad-faced Dolores Umbridge, had taken over the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher here, spreading the Ministry's smear campaign against him by word of mouth even here, and when he angrily attempted to justify himself and tell the truth she'd taken him away from his favourite pastime of playing Quidditch to make him write lines that carved scars into the back of his hand. The words _I must not tell lies_ were still quite visible even now.

Was that all of it?

Hardly. There was also the fact that the first Quidditch practice session he HAD been allowed to attend had been a total bust, thanks to jeering members of the Slytherin House and poor Ron's nervousness at being the new Keeper, interfering with his gameplay, and now Ron was in a rather bad mood himself as he tried to sort through the same essay. But to be fair that wasn't Ron deliberately trying to ruin things for him like practically everything else. He was sure Ron could do better if he could get his act together.

Surely things had to start going right for him pretty soon, didn't they? How much worse could they get?

He shook his head. God, don't think like that. He knew as well as anyone that things could always get worse.

Slowly, the two of them crawled on through their essays until they could finally put it aside and begin yet another, this one from Professor Sinistra and her Astronomy lessons. Honestly, Harry could barely see how this subject counted as magical. Why did wizards need to know about Jupiter's moons? Surely that was just something that Muggle astrophysicists needed to know.

Jeez, he really was sounding like a student complaining about something like algebra.

"Which one is the one with the giant ice pillars?" Ron murmured sleepily, bashing the side of his head a little as if that would keep him awake. "Europa or Ganymede?"

"I think its Europa, but don't call me on that," Harry murmured back.

"Eh, I'll put that in anyway. If its wrong, we can be wrong together."

"Not exactly the right attitude Hermione would want us to have but what the heck."

"Yeah well, looks like she's a little busy with those elf socks of hers," Ron glanced over to where Hermione and his sister Ginny were knitting together. "Honestly I don't know why Ginny's helping her with that. She knows the House Elves don't want to be free."

"Yeah well, something's been taking the things she's been knitting," Harry pointed out dully.

"Probably Crookshanks. Trying to spare Hermione's feelings but throwing them on the fire or something."

"Don't let her hear you say that… though it wouldn't surprise me if that was true."

Ron snorted slightly, before murmuring something about Callisto and trying to write it down.

"Hey guys," their thoughts were suddenly interrupted by their fellow fifth year Neville Longbottom, who had come running up to them, catching the attention of Hermione and Ginny too. "Have you heard?"

"Heard? Heard what?" Harry asked.

"There was something on the Wizarding Wireless Network today," Neville huffed. "Apparently loads and loads of people have been messaging in telling them that they've seen shooting stars or something like that, right across the country."

"Shooting stars?" Hermione frowned. "That's rather odd, isn't it? Surely if there was a meteor shower coming soon, Professor Sinistra would have mentioned it."

"Why would something like that make its way onto the Wizarding Wireless?" Ron asked, bemused. "Sure, it's unusual, but there've been plenty of things like that before and nobody bothered mentioning it on the news."

"That's the thing, you see," Neville replied. "They weren't saying it was just a distant thing in the sky. They were saying that they saw these bright golden lights come flying down really low. Some of the people said they think they might have even hit the ground not far away."

"What, made impact?" Harry asked. "Seriously? Seems kinda farfetched to me. Wasn't it a meteor hitting the earth that was supposed to have wiped out the dinosaurs or something?"

"I dunno, was it?" Ron asked.

"Technically that was a meteorite," Hermione replied. "But it does seem weird. You'd think some kind of falling rock would cause a tremor or too. Wasn't there anything like that mentioned?"

"No, nothing. Just passing on what I heard," Neville shrugged. "Just thought it was interesting."

Harry forced a light smile. "Yeah… yeah, its really interesting, Neville. Thanks for the heads up. Maybe we'll try and sit up tonight… see if we can see any more."

Neville smiled back and nodded. "I think that's what Professor Sinistra is going to do," he said, before he wandered off to tend to his ugly looking Mimbulus Mimbletonia cactus plant.

"We're not really going to stay up tonight to look for meteors, are we?" Ron whispered.

"Oh heck no," Harry replied. "I reckon I'm going to need one hell of good night's sleep after all this. Still, it is rather weird. Do you think… I dunno… could maybe…"

"You-Know-Who?" Ron raised an eyebrow. "You think he could have had something to do with it?"

"I dunno, maybe," Harry shrugged.

"I kinda doubt it," Ron chuckled. "I don't know much about You-Know-Who, Harry, but I've got a feeling that pretty lights in the sky really aren't his style. Giant floating skulls with snakes for tongues, yeah, but this… not every weird thing that happens is related to You-Know-Who, mate."

Harry sighed and shook his head. He knew Ron was right. He was probably being overly paranoid again. It just seemed now that every shift in the shadows and every unexplained phenomenon could potentially be a link to Voldemort. He knew he was just scrambling for details that weren't there, trying to find an answer to the question of what the heck the Dark Lord was doing. But it didn't look like he was going to find them any time soon.

"Yeah, you're right," he muttered. "Sorry."

"S'fine, mate. I get where you're coming from. You want answers. Believe me, we all do."

Harry nodded and started writing a section about the moon Io. "I guess. Maybe astronomy does have some real world applications for wizards after all."

"I doubt it," Ron chuckled. "Not unless a bunch of fairies come bursting out of those lights or something like that."

Harry laughed. All the horrible stuff going on in his life was still there of course but Ron had helped lighten the mood a little temporarily. So that at least he could concentrate a little more on the task at hand at the very least.

Little did he know how bizarrely accurate Ron had actually been.


	2. Wild Beasts

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 2:- Wild Beasts**

* * *

It was a couple of hours after waking up to find themselves in this otherworldly predicament that Wendy and her company of Exceed left Tenroujima behind. Lily had caught some fish as he promised and they'd eaten a surprisingly hearty breakfast considering the circumstances. Even Charla had eaten well considering she hated fish, but she had managed to find some of her favourite Darjeeling tea in the rubble of the former campsite they'd set up on the island to help wash it down with.

They were rather surprised when their new companion Mavis sampled a little of their fish and smiled in approval. Lily had commented that surely a ghost didn't need to eat or drink, but Wendy had pointed out that her old ghost Master Roubaul used to drink a lot of milk. Often straight from the jug even after he poured some into a cup, and often forgetting he was drinking it and trying to speak before swallowing.

Mavis nodded, saying that while she didn't actually need food or drink, she was quite capable of eating it even now. Though if she did, she would need to go to the little girl's room later.

"Oh for Edolas, where things made sense to me," Lily had shook his head with a faint chuckle. "I'm still trying to get to grips with what happens in my own new home world and I bet there's going to be a lot more surprising things from this one to come."

But there was one other thing that Happy in particular noticed before they left the island.

"Where are all the animals?"

Mavis especially was stunned she had not realised this earlier, but the island was completely and utterly devoid of animal life. It had not just been the Fairy Tail members that had been on the island when Grimoire Heart and Acnologia attacked it. There had been deer, wolves and waterfowl, along with several giant monsters that looked like giant lizards, huge pigs, carnivorous birds and a multitude of other creatures, some too weird to give a simple description to.

And yet now there were none at all.

"Oh dear," Mavis rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "It looks like the rest of the guild members are not the only things that were scattered across the land of this world. When I condensed the Fairy Sphere I was seeking out all the life-forms on the island. I didn't want an single one of them to die. And now every one of them is gone."

"Well… that's probably going to give someone a bit of a shock," Charla observed dryly.

Mavis giggled a little sheepishly. "I guess it can't be helped now. But if we find any of them we should probably try and figure out a way to return them to the island. Perhaps you could call them my responsibility."

"We'll add it to the list," Wendy mused. "I hope nobody gets hurt by them though."

There was really nothing else that anyone could say on this subject so they had focused on preparing themselves, gathering what supplies they could find. And, eventually, with three sets of wings shining into life, the three Exceed took off from the island and headed out across the great salt sea. Charla insisted on carrying Wendy despite offers from both the guys, while Mavis hovered alongside them with her wind wafting behind her in the wind. Mavis floated forwards rather oddly - her body neither vertical nor horizontal but almost exactly halfway in between. Being horizontal would of course reduce drag, but Wendy guessed that Mavis simply was not affected by such things.

How strange the First Master really was? Some of her attributes, such as her weightlessness, were like the traditional kind of ghost told in the stories, while others just seemed to go against everything Wendy would associate with being a ghost. But then again, she'd never once guessed her old Master was a ghost so… what did she know really?

"Do we know which way we're going?" Charla asked after about half an hour of flying.

"Judging by the position of the sun I would guess that we're heading southeast," Lily glanced around at the sun behind and to their right. "But that's assuming that the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west in this world. For all we know it could be the other way around here."

"That doesn't really help build up my confidence," Happy shivered. "I really don't want to end up any more lost than we are."

"Would you like to explain to me how it would be possible to be more lost than thrown into another world like this?" Charla asked pointedly.

"We could be on our own," Happy pointed out.

"… That isn't really more lost than we are now but I take your point," Charla grimaced.

"Maybe we should play 'I Spy' to pass the time?" suggested Happy.

"Please, just no," Charla rolled her eyes slightly.

"There's not exactly much around here that could work for that game anyway," Lily noted.

"That's not true… waves, ocean, sea, blue, sky, cloud… wings, cats, ghosts, Dragon Slayers…"

"Yes, we get the point."

Mavis snorted slightly, catching Wendy's attention. The young Sky Dragon looked across to her and asked, "First Master? Is something the matter?"

"Oh its nothing," Mavis smiled over at her. "I was just thinking of how much I've been missing company like this. I'd always been content with my peaceful and quiet unlife on Tenroujima but… I guess there was some part of me that craved a little companionship. And now that I have it again… I'm beginning to wonder how I ever coped without it."

Wendy and the three cats smiled back. "Well, we're grateful for everything you've done for us," Wendy replied earnestly. "You were watching over us the whole time and we didn't even know you were there."

"You truly saved our butts," Happy agreed.

"Hopefully we continue to prove worthy of your company," Lily nodded.

"Worthy?" Mavis shook her head. "It's not a question of worthiness. I may have created Fairy Tail but really I'm no more or less important to the guild than any of its other members, past, present or future. That's the point of this guild - all comrades together. Despite personal rank within the guild we are equal in every other way, no matter who we were before we joined the guild. Boundaries should not matter when it comes to who your friends are. And they shouldn't matter now. And they don't. Three cats, a child and a ghost. How much more diverse can it get than that? But all that matters here is that we are friends. Right? That's what I'd like to be with all of you."

Wendy beamed. "Well, that sounds great to me." She stretched out her hand across the gap. "I don't think I'll ever say no to making new friends. No matter who they are."

"And that's exactly the sort of attitude that belongs in a true member of Fairy Tail," Mavis beamed back, reaching out to grip Wendy's fingers in her own briefly. The two girls shared a warm smile with one another before Happy interrupted the moment.

"Hey, everyone! I think I can see land ahead."

"Yes. So can I," Lily nodded. "That's definitely land. Still a fair distance away but we should be there before nightfall I imagine."

All attention was diverted to the greyish lump that stretched across the horizon in the distance. "Well, at least we have a destination now," Charla murmured. Wendy noted she was breathing a little heavier than usual after carrying her for so long but it was as if the sight of land gave them all a new purpose and they winged their way on.

* * *

"I mean honestly!" the loud voice of Molly Weasley rippled through the kitchen on Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London. "I had seriously hoped that now that he was back at school they'd just leave him alone. Is it not too much to ask just to let him enjoy this vital period of his education?"

She tossed down the latest issue of the Daily Prophet onto the table and huffed, fussing over a dishcloth as she moved over to wipe a plate with it. She could have used magic but she preferred to keep herself busy at times like this in a vain attempt to distract herself from everything that seemed to be going wrong with the Wizarding World recently.

Especially the Ministry's attempts to constantly find ways to discredit Harry. There were references to him in literally every issue of the newspaper now and none of it was remotely positive - little tidbits that painted him as some narcissistic, egotistical brat that craved the limelight and adulation of the Wizarding World as if it was some addictive drug and he was the junky, when in reality he was nothing but a stressed, desperate teenage boy looking for answers in an unfair world and not getting them.

"Well, if half the things that are being said in this article are true, he's not exactly helping himself," Remus Lupin murmured as he dragged the paper over to re-read it himself:-

BOY-WHO-LIVED SEEKS TO TERRIFY FELLOW CHILDREN

Essentially it was a report about how Harry was spinning nonsense stories about the return of He Who Must Not Be Named to his fellow Hogwarts stories, seeking to convince the younger generation to look up to him as some type of messiah and turn them against responsible adults who were trying to help them. There were a few statements from the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher of Hogwarts and Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, Dolores Umbridge, about how Potter had angrily rebelled against her authority, insisting that the students should be learning how to throw dangerous curses at each other effectively rather than learn defence in a safe, secure environment and how he'd attempted to spread discord amongst the class with more lies about the Dark Lord and his return.

"He should be trying to keep his head down," Lupin murmured through tight lips. "He knows as well as any of us what the Ministry is doing, and he should know that simply getting angry at a Ministry official is only going to intensify their distrust of him. If he keeps this up I wonder how long it will be before the Ministry starts stating he might be trying to become the next Dark Lord."

"Oh, do you really think they would go that far, Remus?" Molly fretted slightly, turning around with wide eyes.

"These days, I wouldn't put it past them," Lupin grimaced, flicking the paper across the table, not wishing to see it any more. "At least Professor McGonagall's had a word with him about it. Hopefully he should dial it down now."

"Well, I don't know about you, Remus, but I'm proud of him," the current owner of the house and godfather to the boy in question, Sirius Black, strolled into the room with a sack covered in bloodstains.

"Finished feeding Buckbeak, I see," Lupin noted.

"What this?" Sirius raised the bag. "Nah. I thought I'd pop out and buy you a little something meaty to chew on next week."

"Ah-ha-ha," Lupin rolled his eyes and shook his head, but looked rather amused all the same. Sirius might make light of the fact that Lupin was a werewolf and that the full moon was not far away once again, but a long friendship with the man told Lupin he knew exactly how serious it really was. Lupin rather enjoyed the jokes. Even though he knew Sirius fully accepted him for who he was, the jokes helped to validate this acceptance. He didn't miss Mrs. Weasley's disapproving glance in Sirius' direction, but he decided not to comment. She didn't understand the dynamic of their friendship as well as they did after all.

"Anyway, as I said, I'm proud of him," Sirius nodded towards the paper. "He's standing up for what he knows its right and damning the consequences. You've got to admit that that takes guts."

"Indeed it does, but unfortunately guts are not what we need from Harry right now," Lupin pointed out. "What we need from him is patience."

"I get the feeling that that's not his strongest suit," Sirius murmured as he sat down and put his feet up on the table. "It's not mine either for that matter."

"Oh believe me, Sirius, we all know that here," Lupin snorted.

"I just hope he doesn't dig himself in too much deeper," Mrs. Weasley worried aloud. "Even if they don't go as radical as framing Harry for attempting to become a Dark Lord, how long before someone invents an excuse to cart him off to Azkaban or something. He won't survive a week in there."

"Well, speaking as someone who was in there for a good thirteen years and emerged with his sanity relatively intact, I'd say Harry would be alright. He's tough, that kid," Sirius acknowledged. "Shares that trait with his father. And his mother, come to that. All the same, I'm sure he'd have to do something pretty stupid for the Ministry to try something like that."

"Doesn't it worry you, Sirius?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "What the Ministry might be capable of doing to him?"

"Does it worry me? Of course it bloody worries me," Sirius sniffed. "But I have faith that Harry will be fine. If he starts acting too bone-headed I'm sure that Ron and Hermione will get him back onto the right course. Hermione's ludicrously bright for her age and Ron's got a good head on his shoulders. They'll steer him right, no question."

"I hope so," Lupin mused. "That boy can be awfully stubborn. Another trait he shares with his father. And mother."

"And me," Sirius grinned.

"And you," Lupin nodded with a smile.

It was at this moment that the fireplace suddenly flared to life with bright green flames and another redheaded figure stepped out of the flames. It was Bill Weasley, and he grinned at all and sundry as he shrugged off his outer robes and said, "Hey Mum, Sirius, Remus. Any chance I haven't missed dinner? I could use a good meal after all that hassle at Gringotts toDAGH…"

He was cut off from saying anything else when the fire flared again and another person stumbled out of it, colliding with Bill's back and sending them both sprawling into a heap on the ground.

"Ah, crap!" muttered the new arrival. "I hate travelling by Floo Powder I really do."

"Afternoon Dora," Sirius greeted his cousin as she and Bill struggled to disentangle themselves.

"Hoi! I've asked you not to call me that how many times now?" Nymphadora Tonks looked up with a scathing expression. "Would you please just call me Tonks, Sirius?"

"But your parents - my aunt and uncle, are called Tonks too," Sirius snickered. "I can't just call you that. Besides, Dora's much better than Nymphadora isn't it?"

"Yeah, but its not brilliant," Tonks murmured.

"I could always try Nymphie."

"Oh like hell you will."

"Uh… Tonks, as much fun as this is, do you think you can get off me now?" Bill grinned up from where she was straddling him.

Tonks swatted him, knowing he was only teasing, but clambered off him and almost tripped over a table leg, shaking her brown hair and screwing up her face, using her Metamorphmagus abilities to shift it back to her favourite shade of bubblegum pink, which was apparently too unprofessional for the workplace. Then she clapped her hands together and grinned, "So, what's for dinner?"

"There's quite a bit of Shepherd's Pie left over," Mrs. Weasley replied. "You can help yourself but… aren't we waiting on Kingsley? I thought that he was coming over with you tonight."

"Oh yeah, I'm meant to tell you, there's been a bit of a change of plans," Tonks snapped her fingers as she sat down and pulled over a decent potion of the leftover pie, whipping out her wand to perform a quick Reheating Charm on it. "Kingsley can't make it today. Something came up. Official Auror business."

"Care to give us the details or do we have to pull them out of you?" Bill asked, moving to wash his hands before he dug in himself.

"Well… did you hear about those weird shooting star thingies that they were yapping on about at on the Wizarding Wireless earlier today?" Tonks asked.

"Oh yes, I overheard something about odd looking meteors," Mrs. Weasley hummed. "I thought it was rather unusual but I'm not sure how they could be a cause for concern."

"Well… apparently one of them's been found," Tonks explained with a mouthful of pie.

"Found?" Lupin asked, leaning in with interest. "So they really did hit the ground?"

"Well, at least one of them did," Tonk replied. "This one in particular landed somewhere in a farmer's field not far from the city of Derby. But get this - if the things I've heard about it are true, it's sure as heck not a meteor."

"Then what is it?" Bill asked.

"We're not sure. But I heard it was like some kind of… glowing golden orb just sitting in the middle of the field like some kind of giant egg. About three metres tall and five metres wide according to the reports. But they're not sure what it is so Kingsley and a team of Aurors were dispatched over there with some members of the Department of Mysteries to help analyse it, see if it was dangerous or not. But really we don't know anything about it."

"How peculiar," Lupin pursed his lips slightly. "I don't believe I've ever heard of anything like that."

"Certainly is weird," Sirius agreed. "Does Kingsley think it really could be dangerous?"

"I dunno," Tonks shrugged. "That's pretty much all I know. Except… there was also something about the orb being kinda see-through. Just, like its really translucent. And apparently they think they can see something inside, but they don't know what it could be."

"That does sound troubling," Bill murmured. "Do you think this could be a move by You-Know-Who?"

"I rather doubt it," Sirius scratched his knee absent-mindedly. "Why would he do something so big and flashy when practically the entire Wizarding World refuses to believe he even exists right now. He's got the Ministry in just the position he wants them in right now, blind to his actions. He wouldn't risk exposing himself with something like this, would he?"

"I suppose it depends on what exactly we're dealing with here," Lupin stated. "We should probably relay this to Dumbledore. Find out what he thinks on the matter."

"Yeah, I agree," Tonks nodded. "And also, Bill, Kingsley did want me to let you know you might be called out there at some point. Said they might want a curse breaker on hand to try and figure out what's going on if the Department of Mysteries comes up stuck."

"I'll keep an eye out for the summons," Bill nodded in thanks.

"Still, this is a rather interesting turn of events," Sirius chuckled. "Wonder if the sky is going to throw anything else at us."

* * *

"Not much here, is there?" Wendy looked around after a good half an hour of walking. The sun was dipping down close to the horizon by now and once they'd reached land Wendy insisted on walking for a while to give Charla a break from flying. She was carrying the little Exceed in her arms while Lily and Happy hovered overhead, looking around at their new surroundings.

They appeared to have made landfall in a rather mountainous region, rugged cliffs stretching high above the seas and the hilltops rising even higher. Everything about the land was uneven, with jagged stones cropping out all over the place so Wendy was having to watch where she put her feet at practically all times lest she trip on something.

Mavis stood on an outcropping several metres higher with a grimace over her face. "I believe that we may be on another island," she said. "A rather larger island than Tenroujima but an island nonetheless."

"So we haven't found the mainland yet?" Happy asked, his ears drooping slightly.

"Seems not," Lily shook his head. "But perhaps its not far away. And there may still be something on this island that could help us. We should try searching for a settlement or something. See if we can find a map and someone to tell us how to read it."

"It doesn't seem like there's a town anywhere nearby though," Wendy murmured.

"True, but that doesn't necessarily mean that nobody lives close by. Some people do like to live in an isolated place after all."

"Yeah, like Porlyusica," Happy nodded. "She lives far out in the East Forest because she hates humans, but until you came along Wendy, she was Fairy Tail's best healer."

Wendy blushed and murmured, "Well, can we really say that I'm the better healer out of the two of us? Just because I can heal wounds and sicknesses with my Sky Magic doesn't make me better. She could know things that I don't. Maybe I should meet up with her if we ever get back. I bet she could teach me some new things."

"Good luck with that," Happy snickered. "She usually chases people away with a broom."

"…She sounds scary…" Wendy murmured.

"She is," Happy grinned unhelpfully.

"Anyway, to get back to the point," Charla coughed. "We should get about trying to find someone who lives close by, right?"

"Let's just hope that if this is an island there's at least someone on it," Lily agreed, rising higher to get the lay of the land a little more. "Maybe I can go on ahead, do a bit of scouting. I…" he stopped, and froze in the air, his eyes widening as something down on the ground below caught his eye.

And made his heart quicken.

"Huh? What's wrong, Lily?" Wendy caught his sudden silence and asked in concern.

"Um…" Lily hedged, going lower to try and get a better look at what he'd seen. "Maybe… maybe you should come and look at this."

"Well, that doesn't sound good," Charla muttered as the others hurried forwards after Lily, until they found themselves cresting a large rocky precipice and looking down into a dip in the ground below.

Wendy gasped and placed a hand over her mouth at what she saw.

Bones.

Animal bones.

Or, to be more precise, a single animal carcass lying broken on the ground. It's long legs and pointed skull indicated it had probably once been a deer of some kind. Indeed, there were a few snapped antlers lying nearby confirming this guess. But it wasn't the bones alone that was so shocking, nor was it the hideous smell that was drifting up Wendy's sensitive nostrils. It was the fact that every bone was blackened and charred like they were made of charcoal, burnt scabs of meat still clinging to them here and there. And the ribs were rent asunder as if something large had ripped its way into the poor thing to devour its insides.

"Oh my…" Charla's breath caught in her throat. "That… doesn't bode well…"

"What happened to it?" Happy trembled, clearly picturing something similar happening to him now. "What could have done that to it?"

"The entire thing is just… immolated…" Lily agreed, biting his lip and eyeing his surroundings warily, his hand going to the hilt of his sword. "But whatever the case, that thing was hunted and killed by some kind of giant predator. That much is clear."

Mavis looked dire. "We don't know anything about this world," she murmured softly. "But were I in our own world… I think I know what I would have guessed the attacker of this creature to be… and I think we should probably get out of here, quickly."

Wendy nodded in agreement and stepped backwards… but misplaced her foot and fell backwards with a sudden scream that echoed around the hills. She hit her shoulder hard on the ground and winced in pain, clenching her teeth to help bare it slightly.

"Wendy! Are you okay?" Charla asked worriedly.

"I'm… I'm fine," Wendy nodded as she sat up and rolled her shoulder slightly. "Nothing serious, nothing broken. I'm…"

She stopped, her eyes widening as she suddenly spotted something that none of them had noticed before. A short distance off to their right, nestled in something like a large basin carved out of the earth were several large black rocks. About ten of them all pressed up against each other and each one about the size of a basketball. The ground around them was singed and carbonised, just like that skeleton of the nearby deer.

But Wendy had a feeling in her guts… that those were not rocks at all.

"Um… are those what I think they are…?" she asked nervously.

"They look like… eggs…" Charla swallowed.

"We should leave," Mavis said immediately. "We should get out of here now before we…"

But she was suddenly drowned out by a sudden, massive roar that ripped through the air and seemed to wash over them like a tidal wave, battering their eardrums and practically rattling their insides. Wendy clapped her hands over her ears, but looked up suddenly with wide eyes as a large shadow fell across her.

A gigantic shape swept through the sky high above the cliffs, huge skeletal wings stretching wide on either side of it and four thick legs with viciously hooked claws on the end of its toes tucked in against its long, lizard-like body. Its long neck ends in a horned reptilian head with jaws that were almost akin to that of a crocodile crossed with an theropod dinosaur. It's tail was even longer and ended with a large, arrow shaped spike. Its underside was a deep, dark purple but the rest of it was pure black.

"ACNOLOGIA!" Happy screamed immediately. "HE'S BACK!"

"No!" Charla cried. "That's not Acnologia. Its a dragon, but it looks different and its not as big!"

"Let's get out of here!" Lily suggested. "If that thing's even half as strong as Acnologia we won't stand a chance against it!"

But Wendy pushed herself to her feet and waved her arms up towards the dragon, which was circling round in a great, sweeping arc and diving swiftly back towards them. "It's alright!" she shouted up to it. "We're friends! Please don't attack us!"

"Wendy, what are you…?" Charla gasped, but immediately threw herself upwards and activated her Aera, seizing Wendy by the back of her dress and hauling her out the way just as the dragon blasted a furious torrent of flames from between its jaws at the group, scorching a line of ash across the rocks as it swept towards them. The three Exceed scattered and Mavis levitated up and out the way, ducking her head as the dragon shot past her overhead and wheeled around for another pass.

"Wendy, are you okay?" Mavis called across to her.

"I… I'm fine…" Wendy gasped, a little shaken but turning back towards the dragon and screaming, "What did you do that for? We don't want to hurt you!"

"It must be a mother dragon protecting her eggs," Charla suggested.

"We don't want to hurt your eggs either," Wendy spread her arms wide. "Just stop!"

But the dragon ignored her and powered its great wings back towards her, the inside of its mouth glowing red hot as it tilted its body to shoot towards the young girl with jaws agape. Wendy and Charla both froze at the sight of the incoming jaws, frozen in momentary fear before suddenly Pantherlily crashed into them from the side in his battle form, scooping them into his arms and twisting out the way as the dragons jaws closed inches from his tail.

The dragon bellowed in anger and twisted its head around, pulsing a jet of fire at the giant Exceed but Lily folded his wings and dropped like a stone, dodging the blast. The dragon turned its head down to follow his progress and Lily flared his wings out again, levelling off inches from hitting the surface of the sea and shooting across it back towards the land, steam exploding up behind him when the dragons' flames connected with the water.

"Charla! Wendy! Lily!" Happy cried, flying towards them with a stick in his paws as if that would somehow help to defend them against the dragon, which was turning tightly in the air to come for them again. "Careful! It looks like this is a fire dragon, like Natsu!"

"STOP IT!" Wendy shouted. "PLEASE JUST STOP IT!"

"We have to go now!" Lily seized Happy in one hand and backed across the sky, the dragon closing in on them and blotting out the sun with its great wings, belching another jet of flame from between its teeth at them.

"Wendy!" Charla cried.

"Got it!" Wendy sucked in a great lungful of air and screamed, "TENRYUU NO HOUKOU!"

A crashing tornado of wind exploded out from Wendy's lips and met with the dragon's fire head on. The two attacks merged with one another and exploded outwards in a terrific fireball, Wendy's winds whipping the fire to greater heights than before but also pushing it back the way it had come towards the dragon. But the dragon's colossal frame whooshed out of the inferno with a furious snarl, mouth agape and teeth slicing down towards the group.

"Crap!" Lily cried and, with a heave of his arms, he flung Wendy, Charla and Happy to one side threw the air and took hold of his sword, swinging it with all his considerable might at the oncoming dragon. The blade glowed and grew in length until it was almost five times as tall as Pantherlily himself and just as wide, crashing into the side of the dragon's head and neck with a loud slicing crack.

This actually had an affect and the dragon screeched in surprise, thrown off course by the massive weapon and lurching back towards the cliffs. Lily threw himself out of the way just in time to avoid being smashed by one of its furiously flapping wings, but even as he tumbled in the jet stream the dragon created he noticed that his sword had sliced a shallow cut in the side of its neck through the thick scales. That was something of a relief. He'd hit Acnologia in the leg at least once during his attack to no effect whatsoever, which meant that at least this one was nowhere near as strong.

A slightly dizzy Charla had managed to catch both herself and Wendy, as Lily had guessed they would but still shook her head and griped, "A little warning next time."

Lily didn't answer, watching as the dragon flapped above the cliffs and landed with a heavy thumping noise on top of the rocks, turning its head round to hiss up at them angrily and rearing up onto its hind legs to spread its wings wide like an immense bat.

"Why won't you talk to us?!" Wendy shouted to it. "We don't want to fight you!"

"I don't believe it can talk to you, Wendy," Mavis rose up to hover next to her.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wendy blinked. "All dragons can talk."

"In our universe perhaps. But we're in another world entirely. Look at this one. I can see no sentience in its eyes, no real intelligence in its demeanour. This isn't the same kind of dragon you know. I think this one is just an animal."

"That… can't be…" Wendy gasped in shock - the mere thought of an unintelligent dragon was nothing short of horrifying. But the dragon itself merely roared and lifted up into the air again, its tail lashing the air behind it as it twisted its head violently, breathing plumes of flame all over the place so a veritable wall of fire was pulsed up towards them.

"Let's get out of here!" Happy shouted as he and Charla dragged Wendy upwards and out of the way, Lily and Mavis close behind. "We've got no reason to stay here with a dragon like this!"

"Come on!" Lily agreed, shrinking his sword and diving back towards the land, the others in hot pursuit. "Stay low to the ground! It'll be harder for it to get to us down here!"

They other followed his advice, sweeping just overt the surface of the land but still hugging the coastline in their escape just in case they needed to duck out towards the ocean. The dragon swerved around and came after them nonetheless, pounding its wings as it blasted several fire jets madly down at them, but the nimble airborne cats weaved around to dodge them. Nevertheless the dragon was fast for its size and powered in low after them, landing briefly on the ground to blast another wave right after them.

"Wendy, I cannot defend you from this thing," Mavis called across to her. "I'm next to powerless in this form."

"Got it! We have to look after ourselves!" Wendy nodded, twisting around in Charla's grip and blasting out another vortex of wind from her mouth to the same effect as last time. "But why is it following us?"

"We must have made it angry!" Happy shouted.

"Hopefully it will turn back once we reach the edge of its territory!" Lily agreed.

Wendy sighed and spread her arms out. "Then let's get out of here. This should help. Oh swift wind that dashes through the heavens… VERNIER!"

The entire group, even Mavis, was suddenly surrounded by a greenish glow and they burst forwards, Wendy's Support Magic making their bodies lighter and raising their speed, leaving the dragon behind them. Wendy looked back over her shoulder sadly, watching the dragon trying to catch up with them and snarling through its reptilian jaws, blazing purple eyes burning after them.

"Sorry…" Wendy murmured to the animal before she turned around and focused on the path ahead.

Which is why she let out a scream when suddenly a second black dragon loomed over the rocks in front of them with a mighty snarl, spitting its own flaming blast forwards as they sped right into its path. Charla yelled and twisted wildly to the side while Lily grabbed both Happy and Mavis and ducked down, crashing to the ground and pushing them down as the searing heat washing over their backs, narrowly avoiding roasting them alive. Charla cried out as she tried to regain control of her flightpath after her violent motion but she and Wendy both hit the ground with a thump and went rolling across the rocky turf, Wendy narrowly avoiding plummeting off the edge of the cliff and into the water below.

"Wendy! Charla!" Lily shouted, but even as he rose up he was forced to clap a hand over his ears as the new dragon's terrific roar shook the clifftops. Lily looked up, expecting to see it looming over them and ready to fire down upon them at any moment, but no, the dragon was looking past them, jaws curled back in a vicious snarl.

Because the first dragon had not stopped chasing them and was bearing down on them with huge sweeps of its wings, before pulling up short and growling in return at the other dragon.

It seemed that the two of them were right on the edge of one another's territory and they both spread their wings and arched their necks, puffing themselves up to try and makes themselves look bigger in a display of strength. Lily immediately grabbed Happy and Mavis and tucked them under his arms to head over towards Wendy and Charla, who were both pushing themselves up. But then the first dragon spotted him and roared angrily, forgetting the confrontation with the second dragon and and barrelling towards him on all fours.

The second dragon evidently took that as a challenge and plunged forwards too, and the two dragons collided in a mighty scraping crash of scales against scales as the second locked its jaws around the first one's neck and heaved it backwards with a strangled squawk. The first dragon quickly forgot about its intended targets as it twisted its body around, locking its front feet onto the second's shoulder as and lurching it to the side, wrenching its neck out from between the other's teeth and batting its head aside with its own. The second dragon stumbled sideways towards Lily and the others, its tail smashing across like a giant bullwhip.

Lily kicked off from the ground and rose above the swinging tail but only succeeded in getting smashed in the back by a flailing wings and knocked forwards, rolling head over heels to try and regain his balance.

"Lily!" Wendy shouted as she pushed herself up.

"I'm fine!" Lily righted himself and grimaced slightly but turned around to face Wendy and head over towards her. "Come on! Let's get out of here while they fight it out!"

Wendy glanced back at the battling dragons and found her eyes fixed on the sheer ferocity going on before her. She couldn't tell which one of the two dragons was the nesting mother and which one was the newcomer anymore, but the two black dragons were viciously brawling it out. One of them was slashing at the others underbelly with its claws while it was having its wing mauled in the others jaws in turn.

But the one holding the wing twisted its head and brought the other dragon crashing onto its side, rearing up to deliver a fiery blast down on its floored opponent, only for said opponent to swing up its tail and smash it into its face, knocking it askew so the fiery blast torched the rocks nearby instead. The other scrambled up and lashed up with its jaws, snapping them around the jaws of the opponent and slamming them shut with a muffled screech of pain. The two of them thrashed their necks madly for several seconds before the one being bitten muscled itself forwards and started using its wings to beat and buffet the other one back, trying to force it towards the edge of a cliff.

"No…" Wendy whimpered with wide eyes. "This is… this is so wrong. Dragons shouldn't be fighting each other like this."

"This is a clash over territory," Lily insisted. "This sort of thing happens all the time in the wild."

"But dragons aren't wild… they can't be…"

Memories of her kindly and warm Dragon foster-mother, Grandine, came flooding back into Wendy's mind. Memories of how the great, white Sky Dragon had lovingly cared for her, nuzzled her when she was scared and told her stories just to see her smile. How she sheltered her from the rain with one of her own wings and took her for rides through the sunset sky. How she used to use the very tip of her tail to tickle Wendy's sides as delicately as if it was a human finger.

Everything that she was seeing now with the two dragons furiously clawing and beating at each other like mindless rabid dogs went against everything that she remembered Grandine to be.

And she couldn't stand it!

"STOP IT!" she screamed, throwing herself forwards and dashing across the rocks towards the two clashing goliaths.

"WENDY NO!" Charla cried.

"LEAVE THEM!" Happy agreed. "WE NEED TO GO!"

Lily cursed and wheeled around after her but was not fast enough to stop her from interrupting the battle. The two dragons were blasting fire at one another now, wheeling around each other in a maelstrom of whipping flames but they were both suddenly caught off guard as a whirling tornado smashed into them both from the side, accentuating their fires to wash over them both and staining their scales with soot as they both went stumbling sideways, roaring in pain as the winds battered against their scales.

When it subsided, the both of them turned their heads around to stare at the young girl before them, eyes pleading desperately at them, "STOP FIGHTING!" she yelled. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! IF YOU'RE NOT FRIENDS THEN JUST LEAVE EACH OTHER ALONE! PLEASE JUST…"

But her cries evidently fell on deaf ears when one of the dragons drowned her out with a terrifying bellow and suddenly pounded across the rocks towards her, slamming the other one in the neck with its tail as it passed to send it sprawling.

Lily sprang over Wendy's head and brought his enlarged Musica Sword straight down from above, slamming the blade hard into the top of the dragon's head and smashing it down into the ground. "That's not going to help, Wendy!" he shouted. "Go! Now! I'll hold it off!"

The dragon powered its head up and threw the sword aside but Lily brought it under control by shortening it and rocketing up and past the dragon, drawing its attention away from Wendy and enlarging the sword again to bring it cleaving out towards the dragon's head. But the dragon ducked underneath it this time with a coiling of its neck and blasted a gout of fire up towards Lily. But the Exceed allowed the swinging motion of the giant sword to carry him sideways and out of the way, rolling over to deliver a mighty upwards sweep that carved a line into the dragons' chest on its softer underbelly.

A terrific screech of pain that came from the dragon as a result practically broke Wendy's heart right there. There really was nothing sentient about these creatures. They were purely beasts. And she watched in horror when the dragon seized Lily's sword in its jaws and wrenched its head to the side, dragging the big Exceed with it before releasing the blade and sending Lily crashing into the ground hard enough to splinter the rock.

"Lily!" she screamed, and immediately thrust her hands outwards as the dragon bore down on its prey, recasting the Vernier spell onto Lily, who shrunk his sword down and exploded out of the way as the dragons claws came crashing down where he had just been.

_What was I doing? _Wendy hissed to herself in her head. _I just totally lost my head there!_

She guessed that so soon after Acnologia coming across too more vicious dragons rather than a kindly one like Grandine cut her deeply. But she had to get her act together and they had to leave.

"WENDY, LOOK OUT!" Charla screamed and Wendy whipped around to find the second dragon was back in action and was looking up off to her side, flames practically leaking out of its jaws as it thundered towards her. Wendy gasped and dashed out of the way, but it turned out the dragon was not actually after her but was steamrolling towards the other dragon while Lily was keeping it distracted. But, as it thundered past her and Wendy turned to cry out a warning to Lily, the dragon's tail crashed into the rocks next to her and smashed them into rubble and knocked Wendy flying…

…right off the edge of the cliff.

"WENDY NO!" Charla was immediately in the air and diving after her, Happy right behind. But the roar of the oncoming dragon alerted the other to its imminent attack and it swung around to douse the air with fire. The attacking dragon lurched out of the way and the fire whooshed on past it, straight towards the two small Exceed.

"WATCH OUT!" Lily cried and cannoned towards them, the Vernier still in effect allowing him to race past the fire and seize the two other cats before they could be burnt to cinders, but even as he dodged aside the edge of the fire blast scorched his back and one of his wings, bringing a howl of pain from the big, black Exceed as he crashed to the ground nearby, his back smoking.

"Lily!" Happy gasped in shock.

"WENDY!" Charla scrambled out of his grip and flew to the edge of the cliff, staring down in terror…

But there was no sign of Wendy. Just a foaming ripple in the water where she had hit the surface and vanished beneath it. "No!" Charla gasped, tears appearing her eyes. "Wendy, no!"

Lily grunted his pain and pushed himself back up, ignoring his searing back as best he could and growling. "Come on! It's not over yet! We need to…"

And suddenly the area was disturbed once more when several loud cracks ripped through the air and all of sudden several humans appeared all around the area, seemingly out of thin air. The Exceeds all blinked, momentarily distracted as the humans rushed towards the battling dragons, whipping out little sticks of wood from their flowing black robes.

"Conjunctivitis Curses on three! Let's break them up then we Stun them one at a time!" one of the humans shouted and a few seconds later several pinkish blasts of energy lanced out of the tips of the little sticks and struck all around the heads of the two dragons, some hitting them in the eye. Both the dragons bellowed and pulled apart, shaking and tossing their heads and lifting their front feet to scratch at their eyes, which the others could see were starting to turn pink and swell shut.

"Alright, we did it!" shouted one of the men, before he suddenly noticed Pantherlily standing not far away from him, sword still held tightly in hand. The man stumbled backwards and almost fell over, screaming, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?"

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Lily raised his hands. "We're not…"

"GAH! IT CAN TALK! STUPEFY!" The man pointed his stick at Lily and fired a reddish beam of light at the giant cat. Compared to most magical things that Lily had had thrown at him it looked rather meagre, but he was not stupid enough to let himself get hit by it when he didn't know what it was. He dodged sideways and ducked down into a crouch as the panicked man fired another one moments later, wincing at the pain in his back as he raised his wings and hoisted himself into the air.

"HOI! WILL YOU JUST…!" Lily started but suddenly several of the other humans were flinging similar light jets up at him. Lily brought his sword into play and expanded its length and width, catching several light bolts on the flat of the blade but grunting as his back panged at him. "Damn it," he muttered. "I don't have time for this!"

"Leave them, Lily!" Happy shouted, as Charla had already dived off the cliff towards the sea below. "We're making a bad impression here anyway. Let's just find Wendy and try and talk to people another time!"

Lily nodded in agreement and shrunk his sword down, dodging another red blast as he followed Happy over the cliff, yelping a little as he switched back into his smaller body and the pain somehow became rather more condensed with it. But he bore it as the three Exceed dropped down towards the ocean, searching for any sign whatsoever of the young Dragon Slayer.

"Wendy! Wendy! Answer me please!" Charla begged. "WENDY!"

* * *

A fair distance below the water, Wendy was sinking, a thin trail of bubbles glubbing out of her mouth as she drifted down into the depths. Normally a fall from that height, even into water, would have killed most humans or at least broken most of their bones, but Wendy had managed to cast an Armour enhancement spell on herself before she hit the cold water, sparing her from that. Nevertheless, she had still been knocked unconscious by the impact with the water and was now helplessly drifting downwards, unaware that she was even drowning.

But there was something else that was.

A grey-skinned and clammy hand slowly reached out to grip her firmly by the arm and drag her sideways through the water and away. Away from the three cats who were now frantically looking for her.

But not before Mavis, who had dropped beneath the water and was moving through it as easily as if it were the air since she was weightless and did not need to breathe, spotted what was going on and hurried after her.


	3. Making an Impression

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 3:- Making an Impression**

* * *

"What the hell kind of place is this anyway?" Gajeel muttered as he trudged his way down the pavement. After a night of walking, he had at last he had actually been able to get somewhere, following the coastline until he'd run into something that looked like a mid-sized village of some kind. But though most of it was similar to the kinds of thing he'd seen many times before, there were differences.

Namely, the roads. It seemed that every single lane between them buildings was designed to have cars and other vehicles going down it, while back home they were usually only ever used by pedestrians and drawn carriages. And there were so many vehicles as well - they were literally everywhere. Cars lined up behind each other half on and half off the pavement, while more breezed their way up and down in both directions intermittently. There were other larger vehicles that Gajeel couldn't even begin to name as well.

Most of the rest of it was vaguely familiar though, although some of houses were painted very strange colours. But there were also shops that when Gajeel paused to look in the window and see what they were selling… he hadn't a freaking clue. Things like weird boxes with screens that were playing moving images and all kinds of other things besides. None of it made any sense to him. Just where the heck was he, anyway?

There had been a sign on the way into the village when he'd stepped in through the road. A sign which read - Welcome to Portree. But Gajeel had never heard of it before and it certainly wasn't ringing any bells right now.

The people here certainly seemed no different either, although he was drawing a lot of stares. People seemed to stop and watch as he went past, and those that were on the same side of the street as him quickly crossed to the other side when he was heading towards them, mothers and fathers putting their kids behind them slightly. Gajeel couldn't help but smirk. Even bandaged and bruised it was good to know that people still found him intimidating.

There was one couple, boy and girl, who were kissing on a bench and didn't notice his approach until he was right in front of them. He paused and stared at them with a raised metal-studded brow before coughing pointedly. When they both broke apart and saw him, he offered them one of his most sadistic grins, and the boy yelped and scrambled over the back of the bench to crouch behind it warily while the girl seemed frozen in place.

"Well its clear who wears the skirt in this relationship," Gajeel snickered at the cowering boy before he turned to the girl and said, "So, would you care to tell me where the hell I am?"

"U…um…" the girl swallowed nervously. "You're, um… in Portree…"

"Yeah, I know that. But where the bloody hell is Portree? I need details, girl! What freaking country am I in?"

"You… you don't know which…?" the boy began before Gajeel sent him a glare that had him cowering again.

"I'm talking to your lady friend, bub," he growled. "A guy who jumps behind a bench to hide from a guy he's afraid of and leaves his girl unprotected ain't worth my time. So, girl… what country am I in?"

"Um… you're on the Isle of Skye… Scotland… United Kingdom…" the girl murmured slowly, waiting for some sign of recognition on Gajeel's face but finding none.

"…Nope… that don't help…" Gajeel muttered. "Let's try this instead. Does a place name Fiore mean anything to you?"

"Er… no… I don't… know that place…" the girl replied nervously.

"Where the hell has that bloody dragon sent me," Gajeel muttered to himself but he heaved a sigh and muttered, "Fine. Can you at least tell me where I can buy something metal? Like knives and forks or something. Heck I'd settle for a spork."

"Try… try over there," the girl pointed across the road and down the street to a shop with a sign on the front that read 'Co-Op.'

"Thanks…" Gajeel nodded curtly, turning and marching towards the shop, calling, "Your boyfriend's a wuss, by the way!" over his shoulder. Ignoring the cry of protest from the boy in question, he strode across the road, a car screeching to a halt to stop from hitting him. The driver of the car beeped a horn loudly at him, causing Gajeel to clap his hands over his sensitive ears. He growled and slammed his fist down on the hood of the car, crushing the metal and smashing into the engine inside. The whole street went silent as they stared in shock at this stunning act of vandalism but Gajeel merely shook his hand in the air and continued on as if nothing had happened.

But when he entered the Co-Op it was like another world entirely to him. "The hell is this?" he looked around the supermarket, staring at all of the rows upon rows of food. Customers scattered before him as he marched through, looking from side to side impatiently before he finally found some cutlery. He scooped up a couple of handfuls of them haphazardly and searched around for some place to pay for them. He spotted the till and joined the back of the queue, making the three people in front of him extremely nervous, as they kept glancing back over their shoulders at him, as if worried he was going to stab his cutlery into them.

Gajeel grimaced impatiently until it was finally his turn and he dropped all the shiny objects in front of the man on the other side of the desk. "How much for all these?" he asked.

The man coughed, looking Gajeel up and down slightly. "Er… are you sure you're okay there, son? You look like you should be in a hospital with all those bandages on."

"I'm fine. I heal quickly," he replied, which was true - the bodies of mages were generally far sturdier and tougher than those of regular people. "Now, can we hurry this up? I'm hungry."

"Don't you have any cutlery in the house already, sir?"

"If I had any cutlery I wouldn't be here buying some."

"I… see… well… you've got quite a bit here… so I'd say… that's fifteen pounds and sixty pence, please."

"…Fifteen what?" Gajeel frowned.

"Um… pounds. And sixty pence," the man said hesitantly.

"Is that some kind of money?"

"It's the currency of Great Britain, sir. Which is where you are…"

"Someone out there said I was in the United Kingdom."

"Well yes… but… um… don't you have the money, sir?"

"I've got about seven-hundred jewels," Gajeel reached into his pocket and pulled out the strange looking notes and placed them on the desk. "Can't you use this?"

"…I've never seen money like this before. Sorry, sir, but I can't take this money. I don't know the exchange rate."

"Shit," Gajeel growled loudly. "Well where am I supposed to get my hands on some pounds then?"

"Well, there's a bank down the street. Maybe they'll be able to exchange this money for however many pounds its worth…" the man was looking at Gajeel edgily now, as if he wasn't sure whether the Iron Dragon Slayer was completely sane.

But Gajeel looked nonplussed. "There's a what down the street?"

"A bank…" the man said, slowly, now sweating slightly. "You know… where you can take and store your money and then go and get it back when you need it?"

"Why the f*** would anybody leave their own money with other people?" Gajeel snorted. But he just grunted and said, "Fine. I'll be back for these. Hold them for me." And he stomped angrily out of the store and back into the street, taking his jewels with him. The automatic doors almost closed on him and he had to resist the urge to punch them before he stepped through them. What kind of messed up complicated place was this anyway?

So… where the heck was this bank place anyway?

When he finally found a place with a sign that read 'The Royal Bank of Scotland' and marched inside, he groaned when he saw another queue leading to the desk at the other side of the entrance hall. If he'd been in Phantom Lord still he would have punched his way to the front and have done with it. But, he was a Fairy Tail mage now and hurting innocent people needlessly was not their way so he reluctantly joined the back of the queue.

He got about halfway to the desk before the first gunshot went off.

Screams ripped through the bank as four men wearing black balaclavas and gloves barged in through the front door, each one of them carrying a firearm and one of them firing it up towards the ceiling, putting several holes in it. As Gajeel spun around to stare, everyone else in the bank immediately dove for cover, cowering on the ground even as the man firing the gun yelled, "Everyone hit the floor! Stay down and you won't get hurt! Unless you try and call the police - if we see anyone with a phone we will shoot them!"

The men spread out across the room, roving their guns from left to right to keep the entire room covered, the clerks cowering behind their desks. Gajeel was now the only one still standing and he looked around at the shock on the faces of the others. Clearly this place didn't get much crime and yet he'd walked right into the middle of something.

"You there, big guy! Get down on the ground now!" the speaker aimed his gun at Gajeel, who turned back to raise an eyebrow at him.

"The hell do you think you're doing, kid?" he glowered, guessing that the man with the gun couldn't be any older than eighteen. "Get that peashooter out of my face."

"This is a bank robbery! We'll be taking all the money in this place. And this is a real gun!" he lowered it to fire a shot near Gajeel's feet, making everyone else scream though Gajeel didn't flinch in the slightest.

"Take my advice, boy," Gajeel sniffed at him. "Go crawling back home to your mother. I'm sure she can prepare a nice warm bottle of milk for you to suckle on."

"I said get down!" the robber pointed the gun right at Gajeel's face. "Do you wanna be shot!?"

"Have you got the balls to pull that trigger?" Gajeel leered, glancing sideways to where one of the others, despite the situation had thrust a bag to one of clerks behind the desk and demanded they fill it up with everything that they had. "You ever killed a man before, son?"

"Have you?" the man replied, faltering slightly.

"Nah… but I've come pretty damn close many, many times," Gajeel grinned, socking one fist into his palm and cracking his knuckles. "And just about all of them were tougher than some wet-behind-the-ears airhead like you."

"You don't think I would do it?!" the robber yelled thrusting his hand out even further.

"You haven't pulled it yet," Gajeel took a step forward and then another, slowly advancing across the room towards the robber, who was shaking a little now. "I bet this robbery idea sounded much better on paper than it does in practice, huh? This bank place is a stupid idea anyway - I prefer to keep all my money in one place… where I can easily cave in the heads of anyone that tries to nick it."

"I'm warning you…!" the robber took several steps backwards towards the door - and by this point the whole room including the robber at the desk and clerk had stopped what they were doing to watch the altercation.

"Pull the trigger," Gajeel suggested with a harsh grin. "It won't make a bleeding bit of difference."

"Oh for God's sake," another of the robbers raised his own pistol, prompting Gajeel to swing around to stare at him instead. "I'll do it then!" And the loud shot flared through the bank, screams erupting from every corner of the room as Gajeel's head snapped backwards from the impact, teetering on the spot for a moment…

…before slowly bringing his head back downwards to grin at the stunned shooter. The bullet was caught firmly between Gajeel's teeth and as a wall of shocked silence fell over the room, Gajeel casually bit the bullet in half, catching the end that fell out in his palm and tossing it into his mouth with the rest of it, chewing noisily for several moments before swallowing.

"Not the most appetising meal I've had for a while," Gajeel grinned, grabbing the bandages that covered his torso and ripping them away, revealing the scars on his arm before he clicked his shoulder. "Got any more?"

"What… the hell… what did you just…" the second robber stumbled over his words, unable to form a coherent thought let alone a sentence.

"You picked one hell of a bad day to try this robbery," Gajeel snickered. And then he roared, "TETSURYUUKON!" and lunged forwards, his arm morphing into a blunt, flat-ended club that extended outwards like a piston and slammed into the robber's torso, shattering his gun and breaking several ribs while slamming him back against the wall hard enough to send him crashing straight through it.

The other three robbers, including the one that had been hesitant to shoot him, panicked and opened fire on him instantly, the other customers screaming and yelling as they covered their heads, shots flying over the top of them, only to bounce of Gajeel's skin, which had suddenly become iron scales and tinker to the floor around him.

Gajeel spun around and turned his feet into clubs, thrusting himself up into the air with them to fly across the room, slamming bodily into the robber by the desk and smashing him backwards, splintering the desk under the impact. Seizing the gun and yanking it out of his hand, Gajeel tore a chunk out of the metal with his teeth and chewed it down before tossing it aside, grabbing the robber by the front of his shirt and spinning around, blocking several more bullets from another robber with the metal palm of his hand. He then sprang into the air, heaving the robber up with him and spun him around, seizing him by the leg and flinging him downwards to crash into his partner.

The one closest to the door that Gajeel had been talking to balked and dashed out and away, while the other two scrambled to their feet. The only one still armed immediately pointed the gun at a woman on the ground and yelled, "Back off, man! Or I'll shoot this…" He didn't get any further before Gajeel's arm shot forwards across the room on extending metal, his hand seizing the gun and slamming it up into the robber's face before he spun into a sweep kick, his leg becoming a club and lengthening in mid-swing to catch both the robbers in the stomachs and send them crashing back across the room.

"Shouldn't have done that, mate!" Gajeel growled, taking a deep breath. "Cos that made me angry! TETSURYUU NO… HOUKOU!"

With an explosion of magic, a huge grey breath attack burst out of Gajeel's jaws, a tornado of Iron Dragon power filled with little shards of metal blasting across the room and enveloping both the yelling robbers, slamming them into the air and flinging them backwards. The attack smashed into the wall of the bank and blasted it to rubble, stone and brickwork cascading out into the street as the robbers were flung outside to sprawl, unconscious on the pavement with several broken bones and lashes across their skin from the metal shards. They were almost run over by a car whose driver had lost control with shock at the sight of half the bank being blown away.

Gajeel powered out after them and landed on the pavement, cracking it under his feet as he swung around in search of the final robber. He spotted him through the window of a car that was furiously pulling away from the pavement, the panicked robber behind the wheel as he shot off down the road and away. But Gajeel dashed out behind the car, summoning a green magic circle in front of his hand and morphed his arm into a spear, levelling it at the back of the retreating vehicle and ignoring the screams of the pedestrians.

"TETSURYUUSOU: KISHIN!" he bellowed and fired a multitude of large spears out from his arm in rapid succession, like a mini gun filled with giant arrows. The spears punctured the boot and the back tyres, bringing the car to a screeching halt as the driver was slammed into the wheel, having forgotten to put his seatbelt on. He cringed as another spear smashed through the back window and skewered into the radio right next to him.

The robber scrambled out of the car, only to find Gajeel had already crossed them distance between them. "No, please…!" he yelled as Gajeel seized him by his shirt and hauled him upright. "Don't… don't kill me!"

"I ain't killing ye," Gajeel rolled his eyes. "But let me ask you, do you think crime pays now?"

"No! No, it doesn't! No way!"

"And will you ever try and and take what don't belong to you again?"

"No, never!"

"Good!" Gajeel grinned, before he slammed his iron forehead into the head of the robber, knocking him out. "I'll take your word for it."

But, as he dropped the limp body to the ground and deactivated his iron scales, Gajeel looked around him at the people who'd seen this altercation. Almost every one of them was staring at him in abject horror and fear, except for a couple of children who were trying to run towards him crying, "Mummy, it's a superhero! A real superhero!" only to be held back by their wide-eyed mother.

"What the hell are you all looking at?" Gajeel growled. "You never seen a mage before?"

Dead silence met his question and Gajeel's eyes widened when he realised… no, they hadn't. They'd never seen anything even remotely like him before.

Again, the question sprang up in his mind - where the hell was he?

He glanced back towards the bank and saw about a dozen people watching him through the massive hole he'd torn in it with his breath attack. Nobody moved to congratulate him. Nobody even seemed to want to move lest they drew attention to themselves.

"Looks like I've overstayed my welcome here," Gajeel muttered. "Well… at least that bank thing is still standing… just about. And at least I got myself a meal."

He tore several strips of metal off the robber's car with his bare hands and tucked them under one arm for later. Then, without a backwards glance, he turned and legged it, dashing away until he was out of the town and heading back into the wilderness.

* * *

Kingsley Shacklebolt sighed to himself as he tried hard not to pace back and forth. Thus far, it seemed that there was very little reason for him to actually be here. He and several of his fellow Aurors, but the order of Rufus Scrimgeour, had been stationed out in this farmer's field for a whole night. It was already well into the next morning by now and as of yet, there seemed to be very little reason for the Aurors to actually be there.

The sphere just sat there in the middle of the field, partially buried in the ground and no matter what the members of the Department of Mysteries had done - all these little experiments they'd been performing that Kingsley couldn't even begin to make sense of - they couldn't seem to make heads or tails of it. At least not that Kingsley could see.

All the Aurors could do was patrol around it and make sure that the charms they'd set up repel Muggles and keep them from noticing they were there stayed in place. Because the sphere itself seemed to be very little threat.

Although, having said that, Kingsley had gone right up to the edge of the Sphere and peered in through the translucent wall. And although he couldn't make much out, he could tell there was something inside it. Two somethings actually if he wasn't mistaken.

"Sir!" called out an Auror from the edge of camp. "That Curse Breaker that you asked for has arrived."

"Thank you, Dawlish. Send him over," Kingsley nodded, his deep bass voice almost seeming to instil a calm in everyone around him. He had to suppress a smile when he saw Bill Weasley trudging across the campsite, being escorted by none other than Tonks.

"Wotcha, Kingsley?" Tonks winked, totally ignoring the fact that he was her superior and she was supposed to address him accordingly. She glanced at the sphere and murmured, "Jeez, is that the thing you're guarding. It really is weird."

"Weird doesn't begin to describe it, Nymphadora," Kingsley replied.

"Don't call me that!"

"We don't have the faintest idea what this thing could even be," Kingsley went on, ignoring her objection. "And the fact that it apparently fell from the sky just adds another mystery to the pile of ever-growing puzzles. And you…" he turned to Bill. "You must be William Weasley, I assume."

"Call me Bill, sir," Bill extended a hand and Kingsley shook it firmly. Of course the two of them were already acquainted what with being members of the Order of the Phoenix, but they had to be careful about appearances. After all the Ministry were always on the lookout for people who might be 'conspiring' with Dumbledore, so they had to keep up a pretence that they didn't know one another.

"Tonks here says that you're one of the best at what you do," Kingsley replied, keeping the act up.

"Well, I would hardly say that, sir. There's lots of great Curse Breakers out there."

"He's just being modest, Kingsley," Tonks grinned. "We were at Hogwarts together though, so I know what I'm talking about. He was a whiz at Ancient Runes and stuff like that."

"Good to know," Kingsley nodded. "I know your father reasonably well. Very nice man, so its a pleasure to be working with you. But tell me, Bill. If you're so good with runes, do you have any idea what that thing on the side of our mysterious orb might be?"

He pointed over towards the sphere in question, specifically at the glowing symbol that blazed proudly on the side. An image that looked vaguely like a cross between a bird and a comma, a pointed head like section at the top left with several wavy upward spikes extending out towards the top left and a single, long tail like projection sticking diagonally downwards from right to left.

Bill stared, non-plussed, at the Fairy Tail symbol. "I've never seen anything like that one before, though I have seen a few strange things in my time in tombs. Can I get access to it?"

"Of course," Kingsley nodded. "Just let me get these Department of Mysteries goons out of the way so you can have unimpeded access.

After that, Bill spent a good half hour walking around the sphere, examining it at seemingly every possible angle, flicking out his wand and murmuring several spells under his breath with seemingly no visible results. He spent a particular amount of time staring at the symbol, flicking through a large tome of Ancient Runes in an attempt to track down its origin but he, of course, found absolutely nothing.

Eventually he stood up and nodded for the other two to come over. "Well?" Kingsley asked hopefully.

"It's like nothing I've ever encountered before, sir," Bill shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "Usually when it comes to strange magical phenomenons like this there are small chinks in the magical barrier, tiny little avenues which a Curse Breaker or anyone that knows how can exploit to find a way to undo the spell. But with this, there is nothing. It is, quite simply, a flawless shield against anything and everything that seeks to force its way inside. And its strong too - I can feel its sheer power."

"Is it dangerous?" Kingsley asked.

"Oh no, I wouldn't say so. I believe its perfectly harmless. But I also bet that if we were to summon one thousand wizards to perform a blasting curse at this sphere at the same time it would remain totally unaffected. It puts the basic Shield Charm utterly to shame. I bet… that this would even be able to block the Killing Curse."

Kingsley's eyes widened. The Avada Kedavra Curse was notorious for being one of the few curses that remained utterly unaffected by even a Protego Maxima. But if what Bill said was true and this could… oh if only they could harness its power for their own. All the Aurors that would be saved from Dark Wizards haphazardly throwing Killing Curses around with something like that… it would be nothing short of amazing.

"But, if this is something like a Shield Charm…" Tonk stepped up to the side and squinted in through the wall. "Then what's it shielding? Isn't there something in there?"

"We believe so, but we cannot really make them out. Can you see them, Tonks?" Kingsley replied.

"I can see… something," Tonks murmured. "Looks like… a person of some kind. No, wait… two people. Yeah it definitely looks like two people, though one of them's really large and the other's quite small in comparison. Lot shorter and slimmer. I can't work out if they're boys of girls but I'm sure there's people in there. They aren't moving though. It's like they're… frozen stiff or something."

Bill stepped over to peer in as well. "Looks like there's definitely something in there," he agreed. "But I don't think I can break into this. What do you think you'll do with the sphere?"

"I suppose the proper course of action would be to take it back to the Ministry and hold it within the Department of Mysteries until we can make some more sense of it," Kingsley grimaced. "We certainly cannot leave it here out in the open. Though how exactly we're going to move it is anybody's guess…"

"Sir!" Dawlish suddenly scrambled over, waving a note in his hand. "We've got an urgent message from Scrimgeour. It looks like there was some kind of magical attack on a Muggle Bank up in Scotland. Some village named Portree on the Isle of Skye."

"The Isle of Skye?" Kingsley looked alarmed, his eyes unconsciously meeting with Tonks and Bill's. They were all of them thinking the exact same thing.

The Isle of Skye was not far away from Hogwarts School.

"Dora, you're with me. Mister Weasley, it was a pleasure to meet you but if you don't feel that you can work on this case any further then please feel free to leave. But I thank you for your co-operation."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help," Bill replied, but he got Kingsley's silent message - go and tell the Order about this immediately.

"Everyone else stay here until we return," Kingsley replied, and he and Tonks immediately whirled around to disappear with a cracking noise, Disapparating into thin air.

* * *

When they appeared again, it was to a shocking sight. The area was already filled with wizards who seemed to be trying to track down and use Memory Charms on just about everyone in the town. And for good reason. One wall of the bank had been practically ripped to shreds and there were a couple of wizards and witches pulling large metal spears out of the back of a car, staring at the razor sharp blades in morbid fascination.

"Ah, Shacklebolt, Tonks…" a slightly gruff voice hailed them from across the street, and when they saw Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour waving them over they both hurried to join him. "Glad to see the two of you could make it so quickly."

"What happened here?" Tonks stared up at the shattered wall. "That must have been one heck of a Blasting Hex."

"Something like that, I guess," Scrimgeour murmured.

"Do we know what motivated an attack like this?" Kingsley asked. "The position of the rubble suggests to me that this attack was fired from the inside of the building. But why would someone want to attack a Muggle bank at all, let alone from the inside like this? Was there any money taken?"

"None, as far as we know. But the reports indicate that this was carried out by a single man. We were wondering if it could be Sirius Black."

Tonks had to resist the urge to growl - Rufus didn't know her cousin was an innocent man after all and she was not meant to know it either.

"I rather doubt it," Kingsley replied. "All the information I have been gathering on Black suggests that he is most definitely overseas."

"Well it would not be the first time Black attacked a crowded area full of Muggles, although thankfully there were no deaths this time. But the reports don't really make much sense to me. There was talk about his skin turning to metal and shooting spears out of his hands and… I don't know, it all sounded utterly ridiculous to me."

"Well, you know how Muggles can be when they see something they don't understand," Kingsley pointed out.

"Indeed, but I've got some of my men patching into the camera network," Rufus replied. "We intend to erase all traces that can be linked to magic and play this off as some kind of gas mains explosion or something like that. Standard procedure."

Kingsley nodded. Honestly, the amount of CCTV the Muggles had around now was making it increasingly difficult to keep the Statute of Secrecy in force. And it was predicted only to get worse as the Muggles tried to make themselves feel safer but adding bunches of cameras everywhere since they couldn't do protective enchantments. But at least the Auror Department had a few wizards in it that actually knew what they were doing with modern Muggle technology. After all, no spell had been invented to change the images recorded on a video camera.

But suddenly a woman stepped out of the bank and called, "Sir! You should… probably come and see this."

"What? See what?" Scrimgeour turned and hurried forwards, Kingsley and Tonks on his heels.

"It's the Muggle security cameras, sir. We've found the recorded footage of what happened. It's not Black that did this sir. But actually, it seems like the person doing this was defending the bank from a Muggle robbery rather than attacking it sir. The Muggle robbers in question were rounded up by their police before we got here but… you should really see this."

She led them all into a room with several monitors - a Muggle man sitting in a chair in a magically induced sleep until they had finished working. But when the images on the screen began to play and the Aurors all watched the feed of the wild-haired, bandaged man battling it out with the robbers… they could do nothing but stop and stare.

"Dear God," Scrimgeour murmured as he watched the man blasting some kind of metallic tornado out of his mouth. "What the hell… have we stumbled across?"

* * *

When Bill stepped back into Grimmauld Place shortly afterwards to relay the news… he paused and blinked in surprise. The usual crowd of the middle of the day were all gathered - it was usually only Sirius, Remus and his mother that were here around this time since everyone else was at work, although occasional Mad-Eye or Mundungus could be found hanging about.

But Bill hadn't been expecting to see the oldest Weasley brother after him sitting at the table tucking into his mother's delicious cooking.

"Charlie?" he faltered. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too, Big Bro," Charlie replied with a smirk, standing up out of his chair and walked over to embrace his brother who hugged back. Charlie was shorter and stockier than Bill but was physically stronger and more muscled and had so many freckles that there was almost no part of his face without them.

"It's great to see you," Bill replied. "Of course it is. But I thought that you were staying in Romania to try and recruit foreign wizards to the cause against You-Know-Who."

"And I have been," Charlie replied. "I'm not staying long. But I got an urgent message this morning from the MacFusty clan to come back to Britain. I thought I'd take the brief opportunity to say hello and get something good before I move on."

"The MacFusty clan?" Bill asked, with a frown.

"I have mentioned them before, you know," Charlie replied. "They're a Wizarding family up in Scotland that have taken on the responsibility of looking after and managing the population of Hebridean Black dragons. We've worked together a few times - I've taken a few Hebridean Blacks off their hands and transported them to the Dragon Reserve when they've had problems with overcrowding."

"Oh yeah, I remember now. What do they want you for?" Bill pulled up a chair alongside his brother.

"I'm not actually that sure," Charlie replied. "It said in the letter that a couple of the dragons clashed over territory, which isn't unusual. That happens all the time with that species. But they said something about the dragons having received strange injuries that they don't think were inflicted by one another and they wanted me to take a look."

"You mean something else attacked a pair of dragons?" Bill asked with wide eyes.

"Looks like it," Charlie nodded.

"We were just discussing what in the world would be foolish enough to try such a thing when you showed up," Sirius added. "But we've been coming up with squat. Less than squat really."

"Anyway, what about you? How did the work with that fallen sphere go?" Remus asked.

"I came up with about as much as you did for the dragon attacker," Bill shrugged. "But that's not what I came to talk about. Kingsley wanted me to tell you that apparently there's been some kind of attack on a Muggle bank. One not that far from away from Hogwarts, on the Isle of Skye."

A hush fell over the room as all of the occupants looked at each warily - all thinking the same thing.

"The Death Eaters wouldn't attack a Muggle Bank, would they?" Mrs. Weasley fretted. "It can't be them."

"Well, if it was not them, then who could it have been?" Sirius asked.

"It may still be an entirely unrelated incident," Remus said calmly. "We cannot lose our heads so quickly. The Death Eaters are not the only malignant Wizarding force out there, even if they are the most prominent at this time."

"Now I'm wondering if this could be related to the dragon attack," Charlie suddenly voiced. "The Isle of Skye is in the Hebrides as well after all."

After this statement they all fell into silence, consumed by their own individual thoughts. But they were all thinking pretty much the same thing… there had been a slight surge in bizarre, unexplained events in the last day or two. What was going to happen next?

* * *

"WEEENNNDDYYYY! WEEENNNNNNDDDYYYYYY! WHERE ARE YOU!"

"Charla, I don't think that's going to help anymore," Happy murmured dejectedly as he floated along beside the frantic white-furred Exceed.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Charla rounded on him and snapped angrily. "That we just sit back and do nothing! What would you be doing if it was Natsu out there?"

Happy flinched back and hung his head slightly, making no comment since he knew he would be doing pretty much the same thing. Charla's expression softened when she saw his reaction and she sighed, placing a paw on her head and murmuring, "Sorry… it's just… I'm so worried about her. Where could she have gone."

"We're all worried about her, Charla," Happy replied, reaching across to touch his paw to hers reassuringly. "But we're going to find her. And we're going to find everyone else too, just like we said we would. We always pull through don't we? And Wendy's tough. She'll be alright."

Charla nodded, feeling a little better but unable to stop the gnawing worry in her gut. She let Happy touch her paw for several seconds before she slowly drew it away. "I know. I just don't know where to start looking."

The two Exceed were flying over the ocean once more, scanning the waves below for any sign of the young Dragon Slayer. Mavis was not far behind them, accompanying Lily and keeping an eye on him. The ghost had lost sight of whatever it was that had taken Wendy away last night quite quickly but she'd been able to deduce it was following quite a specific, straight course and it had pulled upwards to make sure Wendy could breathe so it clearly wasn't interested in killing her. At least not yet. When she'd lost it, she'd doubled back to tell the Exceed and they were proceeding along the path that the creature had taken, but the cats had all worn themselves out to the point of exhaustion so Mavis had eventually forced them to come and get some rest, floating on top of a buoy not far from the shore of another island.

Lily was not in the best shape. He was a tough little thing but the burn on his back was obviously paining him a great deal. He'd allowed Mavis to rub salt water onto his back last night to help with the healing, which was the best Mavis could do for him. But the burn did look better today and Lily was a tough little soldier. He kept pushing on, refusing to slow the search for Wendy down because of him.

"What do you think that creature was that took her away, First Master?" Lily grunted as he bobbed along in the wind. "Did you get a good look at it?"

"Unfortunately, no," Mavis replied, shaking her head. "All I saw was that it had a fish-like body and greyish skin and scales. I know what I might have assumed it to be if we were still in our own world. But we are no longer in our own world. Who knows what creatures lie in wait in the waters of this world that we don't have in our own."

"That is true," Lily nodded. "In the world I come from, there are no real dragons, whereas in the world you come from there were no Exceed until Edolas sent one-hundred over through the Anima. Perhaps this world has both Exceed and dragons. Perhaps the Exceed are as dumb and wild here as those dragons were too. We simply cannot say."

"Exactly," Mavis replied as she floated along after Charla and Happy. "But I think I know what it could have been. But even if I am right… what would they like in this dimension?"

* * *

Wendy groaned slightly and coughed, water spraying from her mouth slightly as she screwed her eyes up and rolled onto her back. She didn't have the faintest idea where she was but when she opened her eyes it was dark. In fact, the only light source seemed to coming from a pool of water next to her, which was glowing slightly in a strange ethereal way.

She waited for her eyes to adjust to the gloom and discovered she was in a small cave of some kind, low rocky ceiling above her and several ledges and boulders dotted all over the place. There was no sign of an exit but Wendy could smell a very faint breeze that implied it opened somewhere, but wherever that somewhere was it was probably only a very small opening.

But how had she got here? The last thing she could remember was falling off a cliff after the attack from the two black dragons. She was still very wet so she definitely hit the water below but… what had happened in between? Where were her friends? Were they alright? She didn't have a clue what had happened to them - for all she knew they could have all been eaten by the dragons!

"Charla?" she called out into the darkness, nervously. "Charla, are you there? Happy? Lily? First Master, Mavis? Is anyone here at all?"

The only thing that answered were her echoes.

Until the water next to her suddenly bubbled and rippled slightly. Wendy started and drew back away from it, watching with wide eyes as… something came out.

It looked humanoid but it had distinctly none-human qualities such as its sallow, pale-grey skin, bright yellow eyes and wild green hair that hung around its head like a large clump of seaweed. She couldn't see it that well in the darkness but she could swear that its jagged teeth were also very yellow. And, although she really had no idea, it looked a bit like a young boy. If it were a human she would have said he was roughly her age.

The grey-skinned boy cocked his head sideways, curiously staring at her.

"Um… er… hello?" Wendy tried nervously. "Did you… did you bring me here? Was it you that saved me?"

The boy didn't reply and continued staring, so much so that Wendy started to feel extremely unnerved by it.

"Do you… can you… understand what I'm saying?" Wendy tried.

The boy opened his mouth and Wendy immediately clapped her hands over her ears as a high-pitched, piercing scream came out. Wendy's screech of pain instantly mingled with his own, scrambling away from him and hunching her head to bury her face against her knees as if this would somehow help.

The boy looked rather unhappy at this reaction and stopped screaming. Wendy slowly raised her head to look at him again but as soon as she did, he started again. She pressed her hands harder over the sides of her head, but watched the boy curiously. It was almost like he was trying to communicate but it wasn't happening right.

Eventually the boy appeared to give up and dived back down into the water, a large fish-like tail splashing the surface as he went. Wendy blinked at that. Had that been a part of him?

That was… a merman? Or a merboy? Whatever you called a young merman…

If it was it was unlike any merman that Wendy had ever seen pictures of. And it was certainly nothing like the only actual merperson she knew about and that was Lucy's Water Bearer Spirit, Aquarius. Although, having said that, Wendy had never actually met Aquarius before. Lucy never liked calling her outside of battle situations because Aquarius usually got angry whenever she summoned her at all. And Wendy had never actually been there whenever Aquarius had been summoned before. But she'd seen pictures of her and knew well that she didn't look a thing like that. Aquarius was a beautiful woman, looking entirely human from the waist up.

That merboy… not so much.

But where had he gone?

Was he coming back?

And where was she?

Eventually, after about half an hour or so, the merboy returned, rising out of the water once more and pointing wildly at Wendy with one finger. And this time, more were with him. Two adults, both of them female, or so Wendy assumed from the pebble necklaces and the cloths around their waists they wore, rose up with the boy to stare at her as well. But they were no more human looking than the merboy, and they certainly wouldn't have won any beauty contests. Their eyes were bulging and their faces seemed shrunken, giving them fish-like qualities even on their upper half.

"Um… hello…" Wendy murmured, hugging her knees and staring at them. "Please, can someone tell me where I am?"

One of the mermaids let out a similar high-pitched scream to the boy with Wendy reacted strongly to once again. The mermaid in question grimaced and, when she regained Wendy's attention, she began to beckon to her, bidding her to come closer to the water's edge.

"Um… why do I need to…" Wendy questioned. "You're not going to scream again, are you?"

The mermaid shook her head as all three of them backed away from the edge. Wendy brightened, finally knowing that at least they could understand her, and crawled slowly towards the edge. She'd already spent the half an hour the boy had been away trying to find an exit and failed so she had nothing to lose really.

But as she drew closer to the edge, the mermaids and merboy sank back beneath the water. Wendy blinked, waiting for them to come back up, but after half a minute or so one of the mermaid's grey hands rose up and waved her downwards, trying to indicate for her to come into the water.

Wendy faltered slightly, hesitant to enter an environment where she couldn't breath with a bunch of strangers. But, thinking quickly, she summoned some of her Sky Magic to manipulate the surrounding air and use it to form some kind of air pocket around her face. As she slowly leaned over the side to poke her head into the water, her head and hair were promptly soaked, but her face including her mouth nose and eyes remained dry, though she had to concentrate hard to maintain the air bubble in this environment.

It turned out there were several more merpeople down there. Mermaids and mermen, adults and children alike, all of them staring at her with interest. And finally the reason for the glowing water was explained - the place was dotted with dozens of bioluminescent fish that were flitting about like underwater fireflies.

The mermaid who had beckoned her was at the fore and this time when she opened her mouth, words came out.

"That is in an interesting trick you have there," she said, her voice slightly hissy and raspy but still quite coherent. "And I hear that you have many more unique tricks at your disposal, human girl."

"Um…" Wendy murmured. "Why do I have to be like this when we talk?"

"Because we merpeople cannot speak above the surface of the water. The air distorts our vocal chords and only allows us to scream in our own tongue rather than form the words of yours."

"Oh…" Wendy murmured, deciding not to mention Aquarius being fine with this just in case it hit a sore spot. "Well… can you tell me why I am here? I'm grateful to be alive but… where am I? And who are you?"

"I am Murcus, the Chieftainess of the merpeople of the Great Lake. And you are in a cave deep underground. This young merboy is responsible for bringing you here after you fell off a cliff, according to him."

"Oh, well… thank you for rescuing me…" Wendy smiled at the boy, who looked somehow sheepish.

"He did not rescue you," Murcus shook her head. "Not really. If that had been his intention, he would have simply dropped you off at the beach next to where you fell. Instead, he has dragged you many dozens of miles to reach this place."

"Dozens of miles?" Wendy gasped. "But… why would you do that?"

"He did it because he is an adventurous boy who doesn't follow the rules," Murcus glowered at the boy, who cringed and hid slightly behind another mermaid, possibly his mother, who also looked annoyed at him. "It is against the rules of our colony for children his age to head out of the lake and go to the sea without supervision. Sea-going merpeople are not as peaceable as we are and if they had found him wandering through their domain they would surely have attacked. But he wanted to go on a little adventure, and when he was on it, he saw something he thought was interesting - a young girl with the ability to fire a tornado out of her mouth fighting against a dragon. So, what does he do? He brings the girl back with him so that he can show her off to his family and friends, like a funny shaped rock or a colourful shell. Conveniently forgetting the fact he would be in trouble as soon as he got back."

"Oh…" Wendy murmured, looking perplexed. "Does that make me… a souvenir? Are you going to keep me here?"

"No, you do not belong down here," Murcus shook her head, her long heir floating erratically like a kelp frond. "We have nothing you would need to survive down here, so we will take you back to surface world shortly. However… the boy's tales have peaked our interest. Can you really fire a tornado out of your mouth?"

"Well… something like that…" Wendy giggled.

"Could you show us?"

"Not in here - there isn't enough room," Wendy shook her head, before she noticed something - one of the mermen had something that resembled a large bitemark on his arm, recently made by something Wendy didn't dare guess at. "But maybe I can show you something else. Can you come here?"

The merman looked to Murcus questioningly, who nodded and he flicked his tail and moved over until he was next to Wendy. Wendy instructed him to hold his arm out and raised her hands over his bite-wound, her palms emitting a greenish glow as she focused her magic into them. The merpeople watched in stunned amazement as every trace of the bitemark swiftly vanished, leaving not a mark in sight, as if it had never existed.

"Well, I'll be," the merman rolled and inspected his arm. "Maybe I should keep you around until I finish training that pet Grindylow of mine."

"It seems you are indeed something new," Murcus hissed in appreciation. "I have never seen anything of the the like before, though admittedly my contact with the surface world is limited."

Wendy smiled but said, "Now can you take me back to my friends?"

"Unfortunately… no…" Murcus shook her head.

"Huh? Why not? You said you'd let me go."

"And we will. But we cannot return you to your friends because this numbskull," she reached out to bop the boy on the head with the staff of her crude trident. "Can't remember exactly where he was when he found you. We have no idea where to go to return you to your friends."

"What?" Wendy cried. "But that's… that's just…"

"Keep calm…" Murcus sniffed. "We will not just take you up to the surface and leave you to wander around. We will take you somewhere that is safe. You can begin trying to find your friends again from there and you may even have a good deal of help in doing it from other humans."

Wendy brightened. So there were other humans in this world after all? Well, that was a relief at least. It was hardly the solution that she was after but that seemed to be her best option right now, so she merely nodded her head. "Okay," she said. "Sounds like a plan. Thank you so much."

"We apologise for the extreme inconvenience this must be," Murcus replied.

"It's fine, it's fine. Maybe if he hadn't brought me here, I might have drowned. I don't know what happened after I was knocked out… I just hope all my friends are okay."

"Come…" Murcus extended a greyish hand out to her. "You will need to hold your breath for it is a long way back to the surface from here. Frankly I am surprised you survived the trip here through the underground tunnel."

"Well… I have very good lungs…" Wendy chuckled, reaching out and taking Murcus' hand. One by one, the merpeople turned and swooshed back down into the darkness.

Wendy lifted her head back out of the water and took a deep breath before she plunged all the way in, Murcus whisking her down the tunnel like it was some kind of chute. Wendy's Sky Dragon Slayer lungs meant that she was capable of holding her breath for a good five minutes if she wanted, but the water was incredibly cold and she didn't want to be in it for any longer that necessary, so she stretched her hand forwards and silently cast a Vernier spell on all the merpeople present.

There were yelps of shock as suddenly they all blasted forwards much faster than they'd ever gone before and when Murcus looked down at Wendy, the young girl could only give her a thumbs up.

Murcus chuckled. "I wonder what Albus Dumbledore is going to make of you."


	4. Sky Dragon at School

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 4:- Sky Dragon at School**

* * *

Wendy was pretty sure she would have gotten hypothermia or something on the journey the merpeople were taking her on if she hadn't known a couple of spells to keep herself from doing so. The water was so cold! But she bore it, because she had little other choice,

When they'd finally breached the surface once again after leaving the cave, Wendy had spent the rest of the journey travelling on the back of the merchieftaness, Murcus. The merpeople moved swiftly and sleekly through the water, their powerful tails spurring them onwards at what Wendy could only assume was at least forty miles an hour, possibly more.

But she also noticed that they were swimming against the current, taking her further upriver, which meant that if her friends were still out to sea she was actually heading further away from them. But she knew there was very little she could do about that right now. She had to get herself into an environment that she could actually live in, because right now she couldn't remember the last time she'd had to hold her breath so much, since the merpeople seemed to prefer swimming underwater and Murcus was the only one who ever rose to the surface at regular intervals to allow Wendy to take a breath before ducking back down again.

For a Sky Dragon such as Wendy, this was not too much of a strain, but she was fairly certain that many of the others in her guild would have struggled with this, with the obvious exceptions of Juvia, who could both breathe underwater, and Lisanna, who could become a fish and therefore also breathe underwater.

It was not too long before Murcus finally said, "This will be another big one, girl. Take a deep breath when I go up to the surface again."

Wendy nodded her head, unable to speak back while underwater, but did as bid - sucking in a huge lungful of air moments before Murcus plunged down, down, down until Wendy was pretty sure they were underground again. Almost all the light was blocked out and Wendy couldn't see a thing, so she didn't bother trying to. She closed her eyes against the strong current rushing into her face, bubbles trailing out of her nose as she fought to bear it out until she felt the fresh air on her face once again.

When she finally did, it came with a shock and she coughed and gasped, sucking in precious air as quickly as she could just in case Murcus wanted to dive again. When she didn't and Wendy realised they had slowed down considerably, she sat up a little and pushed hair and water out of her eyes.

When she opened them and saw what lay before her, she gasped in astonishment.

It wasn't the massive lake that made her gasp, though that was impressive, stretching outwards for what Wendy assumed was at least a mile, possibly more. No, it was what was on the shore of that lake which made Wendy gape in disbelief. She'd seen a couple of castles before when she'd gone to Edolas, and both the Royal City and Extalia had been extremely impressive in their own way, but that did not diminish the splendour of the castle before her right now.

With towers that seemed to pierce the sky, the fortress was constructed in a manner that didn't look like it should be physically capable of standing up - an assorted mish-mash of bridges and turrets and towers suspended over thin air and only attached to the rest of the building by the smallest of margins… there was no way that this place could be real unless it was sustained by magic. And boy, Wendy could feel that magic. She could taste in on her tongue - a veritable haze of magic that blanketed the entire area around her like some type of fog.

"What is this place?" Wendy gasped. "I've… I've never felt anything like it before…"

Murcus had to pull Wendy back underneath the water to answer her, powering through the water in the direction of the shore, a phalanx of merpeople behind her. "That is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where all young humans in this country go and learn how to use magic. We just happen to live in the lake next to it, but we are on good relations with their Headmaster, who is capable of understanding us even above the water. He is a very good man, and we recommend that you seek him out when you head up there. Tell him of your problems and I am sure he will attempt to help you. His name is Albus Dumbledore. Remember that. Albus Dumbledore."

Wendy nodded her head slightly, grunting her assent under the water as the merpeople streamed her along. Dear gosh, she had so many questions. Witchcraft and Wizardry? Headmaster? School? She'd never been to school - they were rare in Fiore and generally only the richer higher-class bothered to send their children to them while everyone else taught their children what they thought they needed to know from home. Which had been what Grandine had essentially done with Wendy until she'd vanished mysteriously seven years ago…

No… wait… thirteen years ago now. Mavis had said she'd spent six whole years frozen in time inside the Fairy Sphere.

A dull throb of sorrow pulsed through her at the thought. Had Grandine noticed her absence? What if the Sky Dragon had decided to start looking for her only to find that she'd vanished off the face of the world. What if Igneel and Metalicana had started doing the same with their own Dragon Slayer children? She had no idea of knowing but… for the first time… Wendy found herself hoping that Grandine had not been looking for her. The thought of not being there to meet her mother when she came back for her… was nothing short of heartbreaking.

But she forced herself to think about the situation at hand instead. There was nothing she could do about Grandine right now. Her other friends who actually were in this universe were more important at this point.

Albus Dumbledore… she had to remember that name.

And it was at this point that she saw something in the distance. Some kind of… dark shadow… slipping through the water like a huge torpedo, but she was unable to make out what it was through the gloom.

Until it came closer…

…and a massive tentacled beast came sweeping over in their direction, huge wide eyes piercing the darkness of the depths as it rose up into the light and each of its ten tentacles flexing to push itself forward towards them.

"GGHHNNM!" Wendy glubbered, bubbles pouring out of her mouth as she kicked around, trying to warn the merpeople. "Shghgh mhrnnstrtrtr. MNNRHSTRTRTR!"

"Calm yourself, child," Murcus chided her with a hiss. "We know it is there and there is nothing to fear from it. That is merely the Giant Squid that shares our domain in this lake. He is perfectly friendly, I assure you."

Wendy blinked, staring at the incoming shape and focusing her magic to create two air bubbles over her eyes to get a better look, which was easier to do now that they were not moving so fast. The Giant Squid arced lazily in one big circle until it pulled pulled up alongside the swimming merpeople, one huge eye rolling down to inspect Wendy briefly. Wendy reached up a hand and waved uncertainly, and she was sure that the Squid started waggling one of its tentacles a little more vigorously as if to wave back.

But then several of the younger merpeople broke away from the group, including the boy that had snatched her away in the first place, and homed in on the squid, which spurted away with a large cloud of ink. The young merpeople motored after it and started chasing the Squid round and round in circles in a way that at first seemed to be something like a hunt but the silly grins on the faces of the young merchildren told Wendy that this was just a silly game. And apparently the Squid seemed more than ready to indulge them, moving at incredible speed considering its massive bulk and weaving in and out and around them, slapping a couple of them gently backwards with its longest tentacles whenever they got close.

Wendy smiled beneath the water as she watched the game, wishing she could join in to some extent. It seemed there were new surprises for her every other minute in this world. What the heck would she find when she finally got back onto land?

* * *

It took something rather extraordinary to surprise Luna Lovegood. Yet today was the day she would be.

"Are you quite certain?" she was saying to the merman poking his head out of the water down by the Hogwarts boathouse. "I'm sure I saw one down here just the other day."

The merman rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Dabberblimps are very good at hiding," Luna pointed out. "You may have been living in the lake with them all your life and you would never know they were there. Can you not check for me one last time? My father would be ecstatic to learn there was a population of them in the Hogwarts Lake."

The merman shook his head again.

"I see. Well, that's a shame. Can you at least promise to keep an eye out for them for me?"

The merman nodded his head this time, already certain he would have been looking out for these Dabberblimps even though he was fairly certain they didn't exist.

"Thank you. And now I…" she stopped when she saw an incoming stream of bubbles and saw flashing shapes beneath the water that indicated the presence of more merpeople, and sure enough several more heads with long straggly hair and protuberant slightly fish-like faces emerged. But the head that caught Luna's attention in particular had long, smooth dark blue hair, and looked distinctly human.

"Oh… hello…" said Wendy, blinking as she wiped the water from her eyes and rolled off Murcus' back. "Can you give me a hand?"

"Oh, certainly," Luna stepped to the side of the pier and reached down to take the sopping wet hand of the strange girl and haul her out of the water, aided from behind by a couple of mermaids pushing her gently out. Wendy tottered slightly, shivering under the effects of the cold breeze against her wet skin, but she turned back to smile at the merpeople.

"Thank you for everything," she bowed her head to them. "I really appreciate your help and I hope I can visit again."

The merpeople smiled and screeched slightly before with several lithe, flashing splashes, they were gone.

Wendy suddenly felt hands running through her hair and turned around curiously to see Luna holding up some of her blue locks curiously. Wendy blinked at this strange behaviour, suddenly feeling slightly perturbed, but then it dawned on her that this was actually the first human she had set eyes on in this dimension. And thank goodness she at least looked normal.

But apparently Wendy herself didn't, because Luna asked, "Are you a Metamorphmagus?"

"Am I a what?" Wendy blinked.

"A Metamorphmagus. They are witches or wizards who are born with the ability to change their appearance at will, like their height, facial features, hair colour. I ask because your hair appears to be naturally blue rather than dyed."

"Um… no, I can't do that. But my hair is naturally blue."

"Really? How strange."

"It is?"

"I have never heard of anyone having hair that was naturally your colour," Luna shook her head. "And I have heard of a lot of things that most other people don't even believe in."

"Oh…" Wendy looked down at her hair. It had never been deemed an odd colour before - there were several people she knew that had blue hair - Juvia, Levy, both Jellal and Mystogan… but now suddenly she felt very much like an odd one out.

Well, this was another universe…

"You're cold," Luna observed and Wendy remembered she was shivering.

"U-um… yeah… yeah, I am."

"Hold on," Luna slowly pulled out a small wooden stick and said, "We covered this one in Charms just the other day." She jabbed her wand in Wendy's direction and Wendy gasped as she instantly felt herself grow warmer, nice and toasty from the inside out, making her wonder if this was what Natsu felt like whenever he ate fire.

"Wow… thanks," she smiled pushing more damp hair out of her face.

"I have a towel for you too if you want to dry off," Luna went on, picking up her nearby bag and pulling the towel out. "I always bring one with me when I come down here. You never know when a Dabberblimp will pop up and squirt you in the face."

"Thank you. What's a Dabberblimp?" Wendy asked as she took the towel and began drying her hair with it.

"Oh, it's a small fish-like creature that's actually totally flat for most of the time but when it wants to get away from people it swells up to the size of a beach ball by sucking up a load of water and then expels it rapidly to shoot itself above the surface of the water, where it then sucks in air instead and floats off to a place of safety."

"Wow… I've never heard of it," Wendy replied.

"An astonishing number of people haven't," Luna replied. "By the way, my name is Luna Lovegood. What's yours."

"Oh, I'm Wendy. Wendy Marvell. Pleased to meet you," she instantly bowed her head low as she did whenever meeting someone new.

"I have decided that I like you," Luna replied with a smile. "But why are you here? You're not a student so why have the merpeople brought you to the school? Did they find you lost and thought this would be the best option?"

"Um… yes. Just that," Wendy nodded. "One of them saved me from drowning and I got separated from my friends… I'm supposed to go and talk to someone named Albus Dum… Dumblee… oh no, I've forgotten."

"Oh don't worry, I know who you mean," Luna nodded. "That's the Headmaster. He's funny and very nice. He found me lost in the corridors once in my first year and walked me all the way back to my common room then told me it was a crime that my father had not ended up on a Chocolate Frog card yet."

"Chocolate Frogs?" Wendy looked rather alarmed.

"They're not real frogs," Luna replied simply. "But the company who makes them used to mix Fwooper droppings into them before my father called them on it. Anyway, do you want to go up to the castle and find the Headmaster?"

"Yes, that would be great. Thank you. Thank you so much," Wendy smiled, falling in step beside the taller blonde girl as she rubbed at her back with the towel and they headed up the stone steps from the boathouse together.

"So, what about you? You must be a witch, right?" Luna asked.

Wendy was momentarily affronted before she remembered that Murcus had called this place a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry… so she decided to take Luna's words with a pinch of salt. "Erm… no, I'm not. I'm a Mage."

"A Mage?" Luna's eyes widened slightly. "Like some sort of shaman? For healing people?"

"Well… I can heal people but no, I'm not a shaman," Wendy replied. "I'm a…" she hesitated wondering if she should actually mention she was a Sky Dragon Slayer. Did they have Dragon Slayers in this world? And if they did, what were they like? Would anyone believe that Wendy wielded the magic of dragons within her? She doubted it, so she just said, "Sky Mage. I use Sky Magic."

"What does that do?" Luna asked.

"Well… a lot of things," replied Wendy. "I can heal people's injuries, cure fevers and purge poison, and I can give people power boosts when I need to… and I manipulate air any way I like. Watch…" she closed her eyes briefly and Luna shivered slightly as she felt the air currents change a little, and begin to whirl around them to make their hair whip around briefly before Wendy opened her eyes and the wind died down again.

"Is there any chance that my father can write an article about you in our weekly magazine?" Luna asked. "You're really interesting. You don't even use a wand."

"Um…" Wendy blushed slightly. "I… I wouldn't have to do a… a… photoshoot would I?" she squirmed, remembering all the pictures she'd seen of Mirajane in bikinis in numerous copies of the Weekly Sorcerer back home.

"Oh no, you'd just have to show him what you can do and he'd write about it. This is all so fascinating."

Most people would have probably been questioning if they were dreaming or not at this stage on wondering what the heck Wendy's deal was. But not Luna Lovegood. She was well aware that there was still a great world of mystery out there even now, so the idea of someone with magic she didn't even recognise was not even that shocking to her. It was as if she had always known that this was the case or something.

"So then if you can use magic, that means you can see the castle, right?" Luna went on.

"Um… yes, I can see it. Why?"

"Because when Muggles look at the castle, all they see is an old, unstable looking ruin. It's meant to keep them away."

"Oh. Okay…. what's a Muggle?"

"Do you not know?"

"Would I be asking if I did?"

"Fair point, but it is surprising that you don't know the word for non-magical people. Does not every magical person know that?"

"Oh… I see. We don't call them that where I come from. We just call them… people. Like the rest of us."

"And where do you come from?" Luna asked, as they ascended the top of the steps and they began to walk out onto the grounds.

"Well I…"

Wendy was about to launch into a big explanation but suddenly her attention was distracted by something in the distance, and for a while she forgot about everything important. She forgot about her friends, about her position, about finding this Dumbledore person. She could only stare in amazement at the distant figures of what were unmistakably people flying around in the air.

"Wow…" she gasped, shading her eyes for a better look. "What's going on over there?"

"That is the Quidditch pitch," Luna replied.

"What's Quid Ditch?"

"It's a sport with lots of funny rules where all the players fly around on broomsticks."

"Broomsticks?" Wendy asked, excitedly. "You mean like in all the stories? Oh, can we go and see this? Please. I'd really like a look."

Luna smiled dreamily and nodded, laughing slightly as she watched Wendy hurry off towards the pitch and followed at a more leisurely pace, gliding as if she was some type of ghost.

If she'd been paying a bit more attention, she might have noticed that the people on the broomsticks were wearing green.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was feeling smug. Smugger than usual, that is. And after all, why should he not feel smug? Here were the Slytherin Quidditch team, fresh out of tryouts and effectively owning the pitch during this practice session. It was the first one they'd had this year but most of the players knew exactly what they were doing and were extremely adept at flying their Nimbus Two-thousand-and-Ones. The only ones that were under-performing were Crabbe and Goyle - his own personal flunkies who had only just taken up the positions of Beaters on the team for the first time.

But they were getting to grips with it much faster than they did with most other activities. But then again, their role on the team involved smashing things and that was one of the things they both knew and liked to do best. All they needed to work on were their flying skills but anything that allowed them to pelt Bludgers at people seemed to be a crucial skill for them and they were really applying themselves to it.

And the reason for Malfoy's smugness was because of just how badly the Gryffindor Quidditch Team had done yesterday on the pinch. Especially the Weasley boy in his year - Ron. Oh God, that had been beyond hilarious watching him dropping the ball or damaging his own players with it when it was his turn to throw it! What a useless oaf he really was.

"Oi, Malfoy!" suddenly the new team Captain who had taken over now that Marcus Flint had left, Montague, pulled up alongside him and smacked him lightly on the arm. "Pay attention. I know what you're thinking and I won't deny its hilarious, but the fact remains Potter is a better seeker than you need to sharpen up your skills in finding the Snitch. We ain't just got this in the bag cos Weasley's a terrible Keeper."

Malfoy bristled slightly, fuming at the thought that Harry Potter could possibly be better than him at anything. But he knew better than to retort. Instead, he just cracked a smirk and said, "Yeah, yeah, fine. But you know, I was thinking of writing a little song for our house to sing during the match. Something to help throw Weasley off his game even more. And, with any luck, it would even distract Potter a little. You know, cos he'll be watching his friend's reaction rather than the Snitch."

Montague snickered. "I like the sound of that, but that still doesn't change the fact that Potter is better and he has a faster broom so don't leave it to chance, alright?"

"Yeah, I got it," Malfoy rolled his eyes.

But just as he was about to resume the search for the Snitch, they were hailed from the other end of the pitch by the Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley.

"Hey, Montague!" he waved his arm. "Looks like we've got ourselves some extra spectators too!"

Slytherin play came to a stop as all seven of players looked down to the entrance of the pitch. Aside from a few extra Slytherin house members who had turned up to sit in the stands and egg the practice on, there were now two girls standing down on the grass below.

"Oh dear lord, it's that Loony girl from the year below me," Malfoy sneered as he recognised Luna. "Always hanging out with that Weasley girl. Total weirdo that one."

"Well, who's that with her?"

"…Dunno. Don't remember seeing a girl with blue hair in the school before."

"Well, either way, we sure as heck aren't having little spies watching our new techniques," Montague muttered as he pulled around and zoomed down towards the spectators. Malfoy snickered and followed suit, the rest of the airborne players slowly following on.

Wendy waved as they approached but when she noticed the ugly look on Montague's face she slowly lowered her hand and looked suddenly much more wary.

"Hey, get lost, Loony," Montague barked at Luna, who was watching a ladybird crawling over her hand absent-mindedly. "Why don't you go stick yourself in a bin where you belong. A Loony Bin."

"Oh, a bin," grinned Malfoy. "I might use that one in the song about Weasley."

"Go ahead. Now buzz off, you metal little weirdo."

"My father says that those who feel the need to bully others are actually very insecure about their personal status amongst their peers," Luna looked up and said conversationally to Montague. "Are you worried that your team won't take you seriously as the new captain?" she nodded towards the bright captain's badge pinned on his lapel. "Because if you are, I'm sure that a nice sit-down and an inspirational speech would do a better job than yelling at a girl three years younger than you."

Wendy blinked as she stared at Luna in amazement. To most people that would have sounded like an attempt at a comeback, but Luna said it in a manner that implied she was just making an observation and trying to be helpful about it.

Montague, on the other hand, didn't take it very well and dismounted his broom. "You wanna repeat that girl? Or should I just sweep you up like the garbage you are and find that bin for you."

"I don't think you'd actually be able to sweep a human being with a broomstick," Luna replied.

"No, but I could still raise a lump on the back of your head with it! I said get lost!"

"Hey!" Wendy objected and stepped forwards, glaring up at the boy that she guessed was probably around the same age as Natsu or Gray. "You leave her alone. She just came here to let me see the people riding on the broomsticks! You don't have to be so mean!"

"And who are you supposed to be?" Montague sneered down at her. "What the heck is up with your hair, puny one?"

"There's nothing wrong with my hair," Wendy huffed.

"Hold on a moment," Malfoy suddenly strode towards them and used his broom to poke Wendy in the stomach quite a bit harder than necessary. "You're not a student. You can't be, with those weird clothes and stranger hair. You're not from this school, are you?"

"No… no I'm not," Wendy replied. "But…"

"Then that means…" Malfoy whipped out his wand and pointed it right at Wendy's face. "You're trespassing. What are you, a Muggle girl? Oh, please tell me you are. Can you imagine the look on Professor Umbridge's face when she finds out that a Muggle got past the Hogwarts wards? She'd have a field day."

"I'm not a Muggle, I'm a Mage," Wendy glared at him.

"A Mage?" Malfoy laughed. "Who do you think you're talking to, girl? You think I'd be so gullible as to believe that?"

"What's a Mage?" Crabbe asked, interrupting the conversation.

Malfoy rounded on him to glare at him for asking what he considered a stupid and pointless question, but Wendy answered him anyway. "Mages are magic users that specialise in certain areas of magic, although they can learn other kinds. And this one's telling you to leave her and Luna alone."

"This is quite an odd sensation," Luna added. "I don't usually have people that defend me from the bullies except for Ginny."

"That's because that blood traitor is as stupid as you are," Malfoy retorted. "But since you came all this way to see us play, why don't we give the both of you the best possible view? I say we hang them by their underwear from one of the Quidditch posts and Miles has to stop us from hitting them with the Quaffle."

"But then I wouldn't get a turn to do it," Miles snickered. "And I wouldn't get in any practice because I'd be hoping you hit them."

"True, but I still say we should try it," Malfoy sneered. "Teach this little brat not to tell lies to us before we hand her over to Umbridge."

"I'm not lying!" Wendy glared, her wind picking up around her slightly but not really enough to notice. "Why are you being so mean? We've not done anything to you."

"It's probably because of the way they were treated by their parents," Luna nodded sagely. "They've probably been extremely bullied themselves by their families so they don't know any better."

"…Are you insulting my father, you little guttersnipe?" Malfoy suddenly growled and stepped forwards.

"Oh, it looks to me that the Seeker has taken over as the leader for the taunting," Luna observed. "Maybe that inspirational speech won't be enough after all, team Captain."

"Oh you think that's funny do you?" Montague shouldered past Malfoy and seized Luna by the shoulder, practically throwing her backwards hard to come to land on her back painfully. "Well, I happen to think that right there was funny…!"

There was laughter from the Slytherin team and spectators both at this, but it suddenly died in all their throats when they noticed Wendy's hair was now flapping around wildly and dust was rising from the ground around her as a small whirlwind seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere around her.

"If there's one thing that I don't like," Wendy murmured, her quiet voice still somehow audible to everyone even so. "It's a bully picking on younger children. Especially friends like Luna. I don't normally get angry like Natsu-san or Gajeel-san… but you've gone and done it."

"What the hell are you d…" Montague started, but was interrupted when Wendy thrust her arms out to either side of her body and generated a magic circle under each palm.

"Arms! Vernier! Enchant!" Wendy cried, her young eyes blazing slightly before she suddenly burst forwards across the short gap between them, her fist enshrouded in wind as she delivered a powered-up punch right to Montague's chest that lifted him right off the ground and sent him flying backwards to crash into his fellow Chaser, Adrian Pucey, both of whom skidded across the ground and rolled to a groaning stand-still.

"Bloody…!" Malfoy cried and leapt backwards and out of the way as Wendy turned around to face him. The third Chaser of the team, Cassius Warrington, yelled in sudden anger and pulled out his wand, charging in towards Wendy and throwing two Stunning Spells at the young girl. Wendy didn't know what those flashes of red light were going to do if they hit her of course, but she was not stupid enough to stand there and find out. Instead, she zig-zagged past them at blazing speed and sank her foot into Warrington's gut, bowling him over backwards with a thumping crash that laid him out, winded and bruised, on the ground.

Malfoy swore and immediately mounted his broomstick and kicked off and away, not wanting to risk being on the ground with this girl who was blatantly far, far tougher than she looked. The other four members of the team had evidently felt the same way. Crabbe and Goyle both looked rather stumped, as if they just couldn't fathom the fact they were apprehensive to approach a little girl for fear she might knock them over - that had never happened to them before.

"Just leave us alone!" Wendy called up after them. "I don't want to fight, but I will if you make me."

Bletchley growled and wheeled around low on his broomstick, drawing out his wand and yelling, "Impedimenta!" firing off the freezing jinx right at Wendy, assuming he was safe from such a height. He was wrong, and Wendy proved it to him by diving forwards and rolling to avoid the jinx and then jumping, literally leaping up twenty feet into the air with a wind-powered bounce to kick up at him. Bletchley was so shocked by this that he didn't act in time and was kicked right off his broom, which went spiralling out of control while he tumbled to the floor. Fortunately for him though, Wendy caught him on the way down and slowed his fall with the aid of her winds, but not enough to stop the landing from incapacitating him.

Malfoy immediately rose much higher, reaching for his own wand and trying to come up with something that would work, but Crabbe and Goyle seemed to have their own plan and had zoomed up to meet the Bludgers that were still whizzing around the pitch looking for a target. The black balls came whizzing down towards the two Beaters as if they had been fired out of cannons but Crabbe and Goyle displayed considerably more agility in the air than they did on land and swerved around them, smacking them with full force down towards Wendy…

…who caught one of them in her bare hands thanks to the effect of Arms and used it as a bludgeon to slam the other one into the ground.

As the Slytherins watched, gobsmacked, Wendy had a momentary flicker of realisation that she was acting surprisingly like Natsu. Usually when it came to battles she preferred to stay on the sidelines and power up the others, maybe throw in a breath attack every so often when there was an opening to. But she was a Dragon Slayer and was not to be underestimated, and this time none of her friends were present. She was fighting alone, and she knew it. It was a fact that was driving her to fight harder.

It was then that she realised that Crabbe and Goyle had opted for another approach and were shooting in towards her from opposite directions with their bats raised, seeking to hit Wendy with them instead of the Bludgers this time. But Wendy tossed the Bludger in her hands aside and spans around, sweeping her hands through the air and yelling, "TENRYU NO… YOKUGEKI!"

The massive flurries of wind that she expelled from her arms engulfed Crabbe and Goyle before they knew what was happening and they went crashing into the ground and rolling across the pitch for some way before being brought to abrupt stops by a wall for Crabbe and one of the Quidditch hoops for Goyle.

Malfoy blanched and stared in shock, unable to comprehend what he was seeing, but this was the point where several of the people in the stands seemed to come to their senses. Some of them turned to run but some of them drew their wands and began firing an assortment of curses and jinxes right at Wendy.

But Wendy saw the flashes of light coming out of the corner of her eye and danced backwards at high speed, the effects of Vernier still very much in evidence. Sucking in a lungful of air she blew it back out again fiercely in a breath attack that swept up across the stands, low over the heads of the students - meant more as warning shot than anything but still reducing the top three unoccupied rows of the stands to splinters in the windy maelstrom.

All this was something that caught even Luna's full attention, and she'd now gone past curiosity and into amazement. She stared at the girl who must have been two years younger than her in astonishment, in awe of the destructive power she seemed to be able to wield. How come she'd never heard of anything like this before?

Malfoy though quickly saw an opening while Wendy's back was turned and cried, "Petrificus Totalus!" launching a full Body-Bind Jinx at her from behind.

This might have worked if he had learned to cast spells non-verbally.

But Wendy's keen hearing heard his shout and she cartwheeled to the side, staring up at the blond boy with eyes as hard as flint. She then realised that she'd found herself next to a fallen broom and stared at it for a couple of seconds.

Should she?

Why should she not?

The Sky was her domain after all.

But she'd never used a flying broomstick before. She didn't know what she was doing.

But, moments before she grabbed it, a ridiculously loud voice echoed suddenly around the pitch. "WHAT IN BLAZES IS GOING ON HERE!"

Wendy clapped her hands over her ears and fell to her knees, wincing slightly, and looking up to see a woman in long robes with short greying hair and goggles on her forehead looking around at the scene in disbelief, her eyes locking on Wendy with an angry glare, and her wand pointed at her throat to magnify her voice.

"Oh, good afternoon, Madam Hooch," Luna said conversationally as she stepped over to the adult woman. "My friend Wendy was just fighting off a bunch of bullies for me. And quite fantastically too, I should probably say."

"Lovegood, who is this girl?" Madam Hooch blinked owlishly. "She is not a student - if she was I would recognise her from flying lessons. And what was happening - I could see some kind of windstorm going on and…"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Wendy immediately bowed her head so low it went past her knees. "I… I think I got a bit… carried away…" she said, sheepishly. Wow… she got carried away? Her? That wasn't like her at all… but she actually felt rather proud of herself despite her embarrassment and dismay.

After all, as Natsu always said, going overboard was what Fairy Tail did best.

But it was this point where she was suddenly hit from behind by an Impediment Jinx from Malfoy and was suddenly frozen in place.

"Draco!" Madam Hooch gasped. "What do you think you're doing!?"

"Protecting the school, Madam," Malfoy replied quickly as he swooped in to land not far from Wendy, pointing at her accusingly. "That girl is dangerous! She was using some kind of strange magic to try and kill us in an unprovoked attack. Look at the damage she's done!" he gesticulated wildly to the remains of the stands that had taken a hit from her breath attack.

But even as Hooch looked and Luna opened her mouth to object to Malfoy's words, they all became aware of Wendy… mumbling something… and her body beginning to glow a bright yellow colour.

"Anomaly… Resistance… Enchant… Re-raise!"

And she abruptly unfroze and swung around towards Malfoy, sweeping her hand through the air to generate a wind gust that knocked him over onto his back.

"That's a lie," Wendy turned back to look imploringly at Hooch. "Please, I didn't come here to cause any trouble. I'm here to see the Headmaster. I got lost and was found by some of the merpeople that live in the lake and they're the ones that brought me here. They said the headmaster would be able to help me find my friends."

"Madam!" Malfoy cried as he pushed himself to his feet again, noticing the brush of his broomstick had been partially squashed in his fall. "Did you just see what she did? We have to call in the Ministry to…"

"I saw it with my own eyes quite clearly, thank you, Mister Malfoy," Hooch said in a clipped voice, staring at Wendy up and down in confusion. "And I will make my own judgement on how to proceed if you don't mind. So, little one… you want to come up to the school to see Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes please," Wendy nodded enthusiastically.

"Well I'm sure you can understand my reservations against allowing you into a place filled with students based on what you've managed to do to the Quidditch stadium."

Wendy flushed and looked down at her sandals. "I'm sorry…"

Hooch's piercing expression softened a little, offering the young girl a more comforting smile. "You are something new," she observed. "I've never seen anything like what you just did before."

"I've been hearing that quite a bit recently," Wendy replied with an embarrassed giggle.

Hooch paused, considering for a moment before she lifted her wand. Wendy blanched, thinking she was about to be attacked again, but Hooch pointed her wand up into the air and a bright silvery light burst out of the tip, swirling in the air before taking on the shape of a glowing hawk that shot off towards the castle.

"There," Hooch replied. "I've just sent a message to the Headmaster. Now he will come out here to meet you instead. I'll let him decide whether you can come up to the school or not."

Wendy beamed. "Thank you, Miss. Thank you so much."

"But Madam…!" Malfoy protested.

"Don't you see what she did to us!?" Montague agreed.

"This is my pitch, boys!" Hooch rapped sharply. "And as long as you are students of this school you will abide by the decisions of the staff members. And I don't want anyone to leave this pitch until the Headmaster arrives and gives you permission to go! Let's see what he thinks about all this!"

The amassed Slytherins grumbled and glared angrily but none of them wanted to cross Hooch lest she deny them access to the pitch for practice as punishment, which she could and would do.

Wendy, meanwhile, moved over to stand next to Luna again.

"That was quite a performance," Luna appraised her.

"It was nothing special really," Wendy rubbed the back of her head. "You should see what some of my friends are capable of doing it. Natsu-san would probably have levelled the stadium."

"Well then, thank goodness it was you that came here first instead of him," Luna replied simply.

* * *

It took less than five minutes before the awkward silence over the arena was broken by the arrival of a tall, elderly man that strode with confidence despite his age, out onto the pitch. Instantly all the Slytherins seemed to tense and you could practically see them trying to work out the details of their story in their own minds, while Wendy broke off listening to Luna talk about something called a Blibbering Humdinger to watch.

"Rolanda," the man smiled as he addressed Madam Hooch. "You called for me?"

"Professor Dumbledore," Madam Hooch dipped her head respectfully. "You appear to have a visitor. One who stopped by the Quidditch pitch on her way up to the castle and appears to have caused quite the ruckus."

"So I see," Albus Dumbledore replied, looking up at the stands before his bright blue eyes came to rest on Wendy herself, peering at her from over the top of his half-moon spectacles. Wendy took a step backwards slightly under his gaze.

"Oh dear, I appear to have unnerved you," Dumbledore observed gently. "I do apologise."

"N… no, it's alright," replied Wendy, bowing again. "It's just that… you remind me of someone."

Two someones actually. The tall elderly man with the long beard and the flowing robes had reminded Wendy a great deal of Master Hades of Grimoire Heart, which had intimidated her slightly. But while this man bore some resemblance to Hades, he didn't feel like Hades at all. Hades had had an aura of darkness around him that had practically made the skin tingle, whereas this man almost seemed to have a kindly, benevolent aura about him, as if you knew you could trust him. And in that way, he reminded her of Master Makarov. Makarov didn't really have an aura but Wendy couldn't help but feel reassured, standing here in his presence.

"I see," Dumbledore replied, staring at Wendy for a couple of extra seconds, before he turned around and faced Montague instead. "There appears to be have been quite the kerfuffle here today. You are the captain of this team - would you care to explain?"

"Professor," Montague replied. "We were merely flying around in a typical Quidditch practice session, minding our own business and getting down our techniques so that we could have a shot at victory this year when suddenly it was like we were flying in a hurricane and we were all forced to land on the ground, where that girl assaulted us all with some strange wind magic."

Wendy was about to object loudly, before Luna put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from doing so. Dumbledore, on the other hand, merely stared at Montague for several seconds before asking, "And why would she do something like that, do you think?"

"How should I know?" Montague shrugged. "The attack came out of nowhere, Professor, isn't that right everyone?"

There was a round of nodding and a cry of assent from each of the Slytherin players, and Dumbledore slowly swung his head around to stare at them all for a considerable length of time until they were all fighting not to fidget uncomfortably beneath his gaze.

"I see," he eventually replied, before turning to Wendy. "And what do you have to say for yourself?"

"They're lying, Mister," Wendy replied. "I was just watching them play when they came down on their own and started picking on me and Luna, who was taking me to see you before we got sidetracked. They called her names, threatened me with their stick things and then pushed Luna over. I… lashed out a bit after that, I admit. But they started attacking me then so I had to fight back."

Dumbledore gave her the same stare that he'd given to everyone else as if he was analysing her and Wendy, unlike the Slytherins, stared rigidly back. She knew that she was telling the truth so she had nothing to hide and she had the feeling that Dumbledore somehow already knew that the others were not being truthful.

"And why were you coming to see me?" Dumbledore asked.

"To ask for your help in finding my friends. I'm lost, you see. We're… we're all a bit lost actually, but I got separated from the others and Murcus-san said that you could help me."

"San?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Oh… where I come from, we add 'san' to the end of someone's name when we want to show respect to them," Wendy replied.

"And where do you come from?"

"…A very, very long way away…" Wendy replied.

Dumbledore examined her shrewdly for several more moments before he nodded and gave her a smile, his eyes twinkling brightly behind his glasses. Then he drew his wand and raised into the air, calling out, "Obliviate!"

There was a flash that lit up the stadium, causing Wendy to shield her eyes, but when she looked again she could see no visible difference to anything. Although, the Slytherins were all looking rather blank for some reason.

"Remain calm, everyone," Dumbledore announced to them. "I would suggest that you all head back to your dormitories and get some rest. That freak wind seems to have taken it out of you all a bit but thankfully it seems none of you are seriously injured. Off you go. Chop, chop."

There were rounds of muttering as dazed Slytherins slowly walked off and away, back towards the school castle. Wendy frowned in confusion as she watched them go, none of them paying her the slightest bit of attention until eventually there was nobody there except for Wendy, Luna, Dumbledore and Hooch.

"Professor," Hooch stared in slight shock. "You just modified all of the memories?"

"Indeed," Dumbledore stowed his wand away. "It's very rare for me to Obliviate a student for any reason - doing so makes me feel as though I am abusing my power as Headmaster over them. But this time I feel it was necessary. I believe, Rolanda, that we have stumbled onto something rather… extraordinary. And I would rather not have word of it spreading until we know exactly what we are dealing with."

"Then why have you not Obliviated me, Professor?" Luna asked curiously.

"Because, Miss Lovegood, you were on the right side of this altercation," Dumbledore smiled. "I believe that I can trust you to keep this a secret, can I not?"

"Of course, Professor."

"Then I would ask you to return to your dormitory now as well. And not a word to anyone - for your new friends own protection."

"Will I be allowed to see her again?"

"I am not yet sure, but I will let you know," Dumbledore replied.

"Okay," Luna nodded. "Bye Wendy."

"Bye…" Wendy waved as she drifted away. "Thank you for everything!"

Once Luna was gone, Dumbledore turned to Hooch and said, "I would much appreciate it, Rolanda, if at least for now you too could keep this a secret. But, I would ask that you find Minerva, Severus, Filius and Pomana and tell them that I wish to see them in my office in two hours time, as well as yourself. Hopefully I shall know more about this by then."

"Very well, Professor," Hooch nodded.

"But if you could try your utmost to keep Dolores Umbridge from finding out, that would be very much appreciated too."

Hooch wrinkled her nose in distate at that name and gave a resolute nod. "Of course."

"I thank you," Dumbledore turned back to the girl who was quietly waiting to be addressed again. "Now, then, Wendy was it not? Would you like to accompany me to my office? You can tell me everything that you need to from there."

"Um… okay…" Wendy nodded, unsure what was really happening but going along for the ride.

And then suddenly there was a flash of fire right over Dumbledore's head that made Wendy scream in surprise and almost fall over, but she stared in amazement as a large bird with crimson feathers swooshed out of the fire and soared up and over their heads, crooning several long and beautiful musical notes from its beak before coming to rest on Dumbledore's shoulder.

"Then if you would kindly like to take hold of one of Fawkes' tail-feathers," Dumbledore replied, taking a gentle grip on one of the long, gloriously golden feathers that trailed down behind the majestic bird so far they almost reached the ground. Wendy hesitated, but she still felt reassured in Dumbledore's company so she moved slowly forwards and laid her hand gently on one of the feathers. It was warm to the touch and she seemed to feel that warmth spreading through her entire body as the bird cocked its head to give her a quizzical look. Its eyes gleamed and Wendy knew that these was an intelligent creature just by looking at it.

But suddenly she was surrounded by fire that whipped up from seemingly nowhere and engulfed both her and Dumbledore. Wendy looked around sharply but she felt no different than before - the fire was not burning at her. And a couple of seconds later the fire vanished and all three of them were standing in a large, circular room with the walls covered in portraits and bookshelves. There were tables everywhere covered in strange objects Wendy couldn't even begin to guess at, many of which were made of silver and some of which were giving off wisps of smoke.

"Wow…" Wendy murmured as she let go of Fawkes and looked around. "That was amazing. Was that some kind of teleportation magic?"

"Phoenixes have many incredible abilities," Dumbledore merely chuckled as Fawkes hopped onto a nearby perch.

"I've never seen a phoenix before," murmured Wendy in awe, reaching out tentatively to touch Fawkes feathers, which the bird seemed to like as it trilled happily and rubbed the back of its head against Wendy's hand. "I've heard of them back home but… I'd always heard they were huge, destructive creatures. Nothing like this."

"Indeed? Well, I have never heard of a phoenix being described as such myself," Dumbledore raised silver-haired brow. "But something tells me, child, that you are more than just lost. And that what would seem commonplace to many of the magic-users around here, would seem almost totally alien to you."

Wendy looked up at him with big eyes. "How do you know that?" she asked.

"I must apologise to you," Dumbledore replied simply as he strode over to his desk and sat in his chair, interlocking his fingers. "You may consider what I did out on the Quidditch pitch as an invasion of privacy, but I used a technique known as Legilimency on you and on the boys. I do not usually do that sort of thing without permission either, but I take the safety of my students extremely seriously and I had to make sure you were not a threat."

"What's Legilimency?" Wendy asked.

"It's a magical ability for navigating through the mind of another person," Dumbledore replied. "If you are well-versed in it, as I am, you can use it to ascertain whether someone is telling the truth to you or not, as I did out on the pitch. Ordinarily I am afraid those boys would have had to have been punished for their actions out there, and especially for lying to me, but under the circumstances I thought it would be best forgotten. However, Legilimency can also be used to rummage through a person's thoughts, their emotions and their memories. I was not attempting to do this with you, but when I had a look I could sense that you are quite unlike anything that I have ever encountered before. But I could tell you were not a threat and that you were telling the truth. Other than that, I know nothing about you. I was just making educated guesses."

"Oh… okay," Wendy nodded.

"You are not upset? Some people would be," Dumbledore remarked.

"No, I'm okay with it," Wendy smiled simply. "I understand you were just doing what you thought was best and you didn't go too far. I think Master Makarov would have done something similar if he could do that. He takes our safety very seriously too."

"Indeed?" Dumbledore replied. "Well he sounds like my kind of man."

"Oh yeah… I shouldn't be talking like you would know what I'm saying," Wendy giggled sheepishly.

"Then perhaps you can enlighten me," Dumbledore replied.

"Well… it's… a very long story," Wendy murmured. "And I don't know… if you'll believe it or not."

"I will believe it, if it is true," Dumbledore replied. "But perhaps, if it truly is so complicated, we can save time. This time I shall ask for permission to use Legilimency on you and look into your mind. It will most likely be much faster than telling your story via word of mouth."

"Oh…" Wendy hesitated. "You… want to look through my memories?"

"If that is alright with you."

"Well… I suppose you would believe me more if you did that but… um… what if there's something I…" she poked her fingers together embarrassedly, thinking about various times things nobody would be comfortable with another person seeing such as being in the bath.

"It would be quite simple to prevent me from seeing anything you did not wish me to. All you have to do is picture a wall in your mind surrounding all the memories you don't wish for me to see. If I come up against that wall in my search I will respect it and not try to delve any further in."

"…Um… okay, I guess I can do that," Wendy nodded, squaring her shoulders slightly. "Alright. Let's do it."

"Splendid," Dumbledore smiled. "Have you got the wall pictured?"

"Mmm-hmm," Wendy nodded, closing her eyes to try and concentrate on the mental wall.

"Then I shall begin," Dumbledore replied leaning forward to focus his eyes on Wendy like they were lasers and murmuring aloud this time, "Focus on all the things you want me to know, if you can. Legilimens."

Instantly both Wendy and Dumbledore found themselves practically immersed in constantly shifting images as if they were standing on the sidelines and watching what was going on. There was Wendy as a tiny little girl staring up at the colossal white form of Grandine the Sky Dragon, a sight which made present Wendy's heart ache slightly.

"But why would you want me to learn Dragon Slayer magic?" Little Wendy asked. "I don't want to fight any Dragons."

"Dragon Slayers are not called that because they slay Dragons although they did indeed do so in ancient times," Grandine's kindly voice seemed to roll over them. "They merely know how to use the same magic as Dragons, and Dragon magic is the most effective against another Dragon. And I would like to see you learn how to use the same magic as me."

The scene suddenly shifted, and Wendy was wondering through the woods, crying her eyes out. "Grandine!" she wailed. "Where are you, Grandine!"

Present Wendy felt her heard pang again, realising this must be right after Grandine had suddenly disappeared for no apparent reason, on the same day as Igneel and Metalicana. She watched her younger self staring up at the sky hoping for Grandine to appear there, only for nothing to come… until suddenly the bushes rustled and a young boy with blue hair, a strange tattoo over the right side of his face and a backpack with a staff emerged in front of her.

It was the young Mystogan - the Edolas version of Jellal before he went by the name of Mystogan.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"She's gone!" Wendy sniffed.

"What?"

"She disappeared!" Wendy wailed before running to Mystogan and grabbing him in a hug, wailing into his shirt as he tentatively held her, not quite sure what to do with her. But then the scene shifted again to see the two of them standing together in the rain.

"No! I wanna come with you!" Little Wendy protested.

"You can't! It'll be dangerous if you come."

"But why? I don't want to leave you, Jellal!"

"If you head past this forest, there's a guild. They'll take care of you there."

"No!"

And this was how it went, as it cycled through scene after scene rapidly, so much so that Wendy felt like she was on some kind of rollercoaster that depicted her life. She watched Roubaul telling her she was now in a guild, watched Charla being born from the egg she found, watched as she heard that an alliance had been made between four guilds to help defeat Oracion Seis and learned that fellow Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel, would be part of the company and therefore immediately volunteered so she could meet him.

She watched as she resurrected Jellal, thinking he was the same one she knew, and the battle to stop Nirvana during which she launched her first ever offensive Dragon Slayer attack. She watched as Roubaul revealed how he had created the guild just for her before passing on and how in her grief, Erza invited her to join Fairy Tail. She watched meeting Mira and Gajeel and the others for the first time. She watched learning the truth about Mystogan and the fight against the Kingdom of Edolas to save the Exceed and the rest of her guild. She watched herself being partnered with Mest for the S-Class exam, learning about Zeref, the battles against Azuma, Zancrow, Bluenote and eventually Hades.

Then came the crucial part where she watched once again as Acnologia attacked the island, and how the Master tried to hold him off before his guild attacked the Dragon anyway, only to be powerless against him despite having four Dragon Slayers with them at the time. She watched as they joined hands and how everything went black just as Acnologia fired upon them.

She watched as she woke up to find only the three Exceed with her and how she met Mavis, who explained what had happened and how they had landed in an alternate universe. She watched as they set out and encountered the wild dragons, only to be separated from the group during this attack. She watched meeting the merpeople and how they had carried her upriver to meet Dumbledore himself.

The visions stopped right up until the point where she met Luna at the boathouse and suddenly Wendy was back in her own body. She opened her eyes to see Dumbledore staring at her, knowing that he had seen every single thing that she herself had just seen.

She got the impression that disbelief was not an expression that appeared on his face very often. But it was there now, for sure.

"Well now…" Dumbledore said eventually. "What in the world am I going to do with you now?"


	5. Iron in the Sky

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 5:- Iron in the Sky**

* * *

"Am I in trouble?" Wendy asked, a little nervously.

"Not at all, my dear child," Dumbledore shook his head. "Not at the moment at least. But, I am rather concerned about this. From what I gleaned from your mind, your comrades are not exactly the most… indoor-friendly bunch, are they?"

"That's putting it mildly," Wendy rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "But… they really are all good people."

"Of that I have no doubt. But I'm sorry to say that if they pop up at random times around this Wizarding World as your Master Mavis believes they will, without any clue as to where they are or how they got there, I fear of what might happen. Not just to our world but to them. Destroying the house of someone important would be a very good way of getting on the bad side of the Ministry of Magic."

"Ministry of Magic? What's that?"

Dumbledore drummed his fingers, searching for the right words to describe this situation before saying, "I suppose you could say it is our version of the Magic Council in your world. Though perhaps a little more complex. We used to have a Wizard's Council of our own before the Ministry was created. But essentially the role of the Ministry is to preserve magical law throughout the country, to make sure everyone follows the rules and ensure that our existence remains secret to the Muggle populace."

"Remain secret?" Wendy blinked, once she remembered what the word Muggle actually meant. "You mean… non-magic people don't know about magic people in this world?"

"Indeed not. Back in olden times, when Muggles and sorcerers did live together without secrecy, there were many phases of history where they did live side by side peacefully - the most prominent example being the time of King Arthur and the most powerful wizard that ever lived - Merlin. But there have been just as many times where the Muggles lived in fear of magic, for magic users generally held far more individual power than any one of them did and there were many that used their magic for selfish and destructive purposes. Magic can be a dangerous weapon in the hands of the wrong people and unfortunately you get the wrong people everywhere, in both the magic and non-magic circles. There was a lot of death on both sides whenever these conflicts arose so the Statute of Secrecy was put in place to keep that kind of bloodshed from happening again."

There was a beat of silence before Wendy frowned and said, "But that's such a horrible division in the world," she murmured. "That's so sad."

"I take it that's not the way things are run in your world," Dumbledore noted.

"Didn't you see it in my mind?"

"I looked at your memories certainly but I didn't learn everything. The mind isn't just a book that I can read - I saw mostly the things you were thinking that I should see. I explored no further than that."

"Well, in our world… we're governed by the Magic Council sure but the Mugg… I mean, the ordinary people send special requests to mage guilds like Fairy Tail, asking for the help of a mage to do a certain temporary job like help get rid of a monster or translate some ancient language or something like that and then we at the guild pick and choose which job we'd like based on the reward size and whether we think we can carry it out and then we go do the job, take the money, go home and then look for the next one. It's a system that's worked really well for I think around two-hundred years now. We make our living helping the non-magical people whenever they ask for it."

Dumbledore stared at her critically for several moments before a slow smile spread across his face. "You know, that does sound rather ideal. It's unfortunate that our own world did not work out in the same way as yours did."

"We're definitely happy with it," Wendy smiled.

"Unfortunately I fear that our own world may have already separated the Muggle and Wizard communities too far for that kind of reality to ever really join them back together again to such a degree. But we digress really. The point I was attempting to make is that I fear what may happen when certain people learn of the existence of you and your friends in this world. Even magical people in this world might find your branch of magic… rather dangerous."

Wendy opened her mouth to protest some more about how her friends were not dangerous unless you were an enemy, but she stopped and closed her lips again. She could remember all to well how the Magic Council of her own world was always angry at Fairy Tail because of its members destructive tendencies and how they'd even sent one of their agents, Doranbolt, onto their sacred island in an attempt to find secrets to force them to disband. If the Magic Council from a world that accepted magic like theirs was trying to get rid of Fairy Tail, what hope did they have of getting friendly with a similar version from another world?

"What's going to happen to me now?" the Sky Dragon Slayer asked tentatively.

"I am… not sure," Dumbledore replied. "Ordinarily I would invite you to stay in the castle, give you as much chance to recuperate as you like within the safety of our walls. But there is… a certain woman… dwelling on our campus this year that I would quite like to keep you from meeting."

It was probably a wise precaution. God forbid what might happen if Dolores Umbridge got her hands on Wendy.

"But you'll help me search for my friends, right?" Wendy asked. "Murcus-san said that you would be able to."

"I will certainly do my best to ascertain the whereabouts of your companions but I am, unfortunately rather a busy man. Nevertheless, I will do what I can, and in the meantime I need to think of a place for you to stay, where you will be safe… I have… one idea. A place not too far away where it will be easy for me to contact you if I hear any word of your friends."

"Does that mean that I can't take part in searching for them?" Wendy frowned. "I… feel like I should be out there, doing something… you know what I mean?"

Dumbledore drummed his fingers on the tabletop. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was facing a situation where he had little to no idea what he was supposed to do about it. This was, after all, unprecedented.

"Well… you are of course free to do as you wish, Wendy," he replied. "You're not one of my students after all so you don't have to do a thing that I say. But if I may be so bold, I think you need rest for now. You have obviously had quite the taxing experience since arriving in this universe."

Wendy blinked and then realised pretty much on the spot how tired she really was. Apart from her spell of unconsciousness before waking up in the cave she'd had pretty much no chance to just relax and get a good sleep.

"I… I suppose you're right," she murmured. "But… I'm just so worried about them."

"I understand that, but you won't be of much use to them when you are exhausted. I honestly do not know what to do next about all this and I think I'll need to talk to some of my staff before I come up with a plan of action but for now, your safety is among my highest priorities. And I know somewhere where you should, hopefully, be just that while you recuperate."

"O…okay."

"Then you'll come?"

"Yes, yes I will."

"Excellent. Armando," he turned to speak to one of the moving portraits lining the walls. "Please inform anyone who comes to visit whilst I am out that I will be back shortly."

"Right you are, Professor," the elderly looking portrait replied, startling Wendy briefly but before she could comment, Fawkes suddenly trilled and turned around on his perch, fanning his tail feathers and spreading them like like those of a peacock. Dumbledore laid his hand gently on one of them and nodded to Wendy to do the same. And the moment Wendy did, there was a flash of fire and once again they were gone.

* * *

Once they emerged again it was in the middle of a narrow street with cobblestones underfoot and low walls on either side, except for a single dark and dingy-looking building that they were now standing in front of. Wendy blinked and looked around, noticing that there were more buildings not far away, crammed together on either side of what looked like a bustling street filled with people wearing robes and pointy hats, but for some reason this building was slightly separate from all the others and very few people seemed interested in coming towards it.

She turned to look at the building and saw, as Dumbledore stepped over onto the threshold and pushed the front door open, words scrawled over a sign above the doorway that read:-

The Hog's Head.

"Is this a bar?" Wendy asked, slightly nervously. "Are… are you sure I can go in there?"

"Not entirely," Dumbledore admitted. "But… I believe… this place may be ideal for you to recuperate in. Come, come. Let's go and have a word with the barkeeper."

Wendy slowly followed Dumbledore inside and bit her lip when she saw the interior of the place. Rarely had she seen anywhere that looked more grungy and filthy than this. The only place that could really compete was the ancient city of Nirvana and that had been abandoned for hundreds of years. But this place had windows she could barely see out of, a floor that looked like moles could pop out of it at any second, tables that looked like they were going to fall apart if you so much as touched them and a very ugly looking boar's head mounted on the wall nearby. That last one especially caused Wendy to shiver and she stuck close to Dumbledore as he strode across the room.

There were only two people in the bar, one of them being the barkeeper. And that barkeeper, who had long straggly silver hair, a big beard and robes that looked like they were made of a sack, had seemingly been frozen in the middle of washing out a filthy looking mug, his blue eyes narrowed as he glared reproachfully at the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"What are you doing here?" he muttered sourly.

"A pleasure to see you too, Aberforth," Dumbledore nodded to him. "I apologise for not giving you advance notice of my arrival, but it was a rather snap decision on my part."

"Is that right?" the barkeeper muttered, putting the mug down with a decisive thud. "Well then, say what you have to say and be done with it." And it was at this point that his eyes settled on Wendy and he froze again.

"Um… hi…" Wendy waved uncertainly.

Aberforth didn't reply. He just stared at her for several seconds before his gaze switched back to Dumbledore. "What's going on here, Albus?"

"Perhaps we can continue with this conversation somewhere a bit more private," Dumbledore suggested.

"No problem. You, out!" he barked at the other person sitting in the corner, who had his face partially hidden in his cloak.

"What? But… I'm not done here…"

"I said out! I've decided to close up early today. Move along."

"But…"

"Don't make me pull out my wand."

The wizard snorted in irritation but pushed himself to his feet and trundled out of the bar and into the street one again, slamming it behind him and leaving the pub devoid of customers.

"There. We're in private. Now, care you explain what's happening?"

"I have come to ask a favour of you," Dumbledore replied calmly, not at all put off by the short-tempered behaviour of the barkeeper. "A favour that had nothing to do with the Order. This is Wendy Marvell - a young girl with a rather… unique set of circumstances. In fact, I am sure that if I explained it all to you, you would be quite convinced that I had gone mad."

"I've had my suspicions you have for a while," Aberforth folded his arms. "Go on then, surprise me."

It took quite a while for Dumbledore to convince the barkeeper of the truth, and Wendy had to put in a word of two of her own to help along the way. Aberforth seemed to be quite sure that Albus had hit his head on something to come into his bar and start prattling nonsense like that, but Wendy was able to finally convince him of the truth behind it all by demonstrating some of her magic to him. Apparently Aberforth liked to keep goats and one of them had fallen sick with something that Aberforth had been trying unsuccessfully to cure, and after he took them into the back and Wendy spent ten seconds with the animal it was running around the room bleating its little heart out.

"Alright," Aberforth murmured. "So I believe it. What does any of this have to do exactly?"

"I was wondering if you would consider watching over her for me for a while. Until such a time as I can find the best way to help her."

Aberforth had an unreadable expression for a moment before he suddenly growled, "So… you want me… to take care of a little girl while you go swanning off playing the glorious hero, is that what you're saying? Huh… you know… that sounds remarkably familiar doesn't it, Albus? Where have I heard that before?"

His gaze switched towards the portrait of a young blond haired girl that was watching them silently from the wall, her painted eyes flicking between Albus and Aberforth with concern written all over her features. Wendy frowned when she saw it, wondering who this girl might be, but Albus' face tightened slightly.

"Aberforth, please…"

"What's the problem with looking after her yourself, may I ask? Is it too much for you? Is she going to get in the way of all of your grand plans?"

"Aberforth…"

"I suppose you doing this is 'for the greater good' in some way, is it?"

"ABERFORTH!" Albus' voice raised slightly and for a fleeting moment Wendy thought she could see a heartrending pain fill his formerly twinkling blue eyes but it was gone in a moment and he sighed. "This… is not like that."

"You can't deny it sounds similar," Aberforth grunted.

"It does, I admit, but if I felt that I could adequately protect her myself then I would do so without a second thought. But you know that these are times where I must tread lightly. With the Ministry imposing itself upon my school, what do you think they would do if learned of Wendy's existence and what she can do. Wizardkind… no… humanity itself, does not exactly have a good history with how they handle things that they do not understand."

"So, you intend to go behind the Ministry's back? And what should happen if they find out you've been hiding some girl from another dimension from them?"

"That is a question with an answer I would rather not speculate on."

"I'd say arrest is certain. And you know the same sentence would be upon me if they found out that I helped you, do you not?"

"I am aware that I am… asking much…" Albus pursed his lips. "But please, Aberforth. She needs our help."

Aberforth frowned and turned to fix his gaze on Wendy. The Sky Dragon Slayer smiled hopefully at him, placing her hands together and interlocking her fingers as she tried not to look away from his eyes, which she noticed were strikingly similar to Albus'. Aberforth only broke his gaze to look back at the portrait of the girl again and as Wendy turned to look as well, she saw the girl give him a reassuring nod, but still said nothing.

"Alright," Aberforth sighed. "Alright, she can stay with me."

"Thank you, Aberforth."

"I'm not doing it for you, Albus. I'm doing it for her."

"I understand completely. Believe me, I do. But if she ends up staying for a while then I will be making regular check-ups on her progress." The Headmaster then turned to Wendy and said, "Aberforth may be a little rough around the edges but he is a good fellow and he will look after you properly. I must get back to the school now, but I will begin trying to find your friends immediately."

"Will I have to stay here very long?" Wendy asked.

"Like I said, I do not govern your decisions. All I would ask is that you stay here for at least one night. Whether you stay longer will depend on what course of action we take, I suppose."

"Okay… please do your best. I'm just… so worried."

"As to be expected. But for now I bid you farewell. I will come back tomorrow with my decision." And he strode out of the door, leaving Wendy and Aberforth behind. They listened to his retreating footsteps together until he had left the pub and then there was a brief crackling of fire and nothing. Albus was gone.

"Um…" Wendy slowly bowed her head to her new caretaker. "I hope that I'm not an imposition on you, Aberforth-san."

"I won't lie and say this is a bit inconvenient. I haven't had anyone actually stay here in goodness knows how long," muttered the barkeeper with a shake of his head. "But I've got food and drink aplenty so, I guess you should just help yourself. I'll make up some kind of bed for you as soon as I figure out where its going to be."

"Thank you, sir," Wendy smiled. "I can be of help around the place - clean and things like that."

"I don't think that will really be…"

"No, I want to do it. I want to be useful while I'm here instead of just a burden. Please, tell me what to do and I'll do it?"

Aberforth stared at her before he chuckled gruffly and said, "You ever milked a goat before?"

"Um… no. But I can try, I think."

"Eh, we'll save that one for later maybe. For now, if you really want to help… I guess I could use some help with the washing up."

"No problem," Wendy grinned and immediately went to the sink to fill it up with water. Aberforth watched her go briefly before he turned to the portrait of the girl, who was now smiling.

"Girl's been here five minutes and already she's reminding me of you, Ariana."

The portrait merely kept smiling and Aberforth eventually sighed and left to find a decent place for Wendy to sleep, conjuring pillows out of thin air with his wand as he did so.

* * *

"From another dimension? Are you absolutely sure of it, Albus?"

Dumbledore looked up at his Deputy Headmistress, taking in her pale face and wide eyes, the expression of unmasked shock quite alien on Minerva McGonagall's features. It took an awful lot to leave her looking so stunned, but then again Albus himself was sure he was wearing a similar face when he'd finished viewing Wendy's memories.

"Absolutely," he nodded. "She was not lying. Such an extraordinary story as that can only be one of two things - a ridiculous, bald-faced lie or the truth. And this was the latter. I saw her memories of her world and while there were some things it had in common with our own, in most aspects they were vastly different."

"But, this is incredible, isn't it?" Pomona Sprout breathed as she sat on the edge of one of the tables and shook her head, hardly daring herself to believe it but only doing so because it was Dumbledore talking. "Surely it must be unprecedented."

"Certainly it is since records of our history began," Dumbledore agreed. "If something like this had happened before I feel that it would have been a subject of great interest to me when I took History of Magic at this school."

"But what are we supposed to do with her now?" McGonagall asked. "Keep her hidden away at your brother's incongruous bar forever?"

"That would be little different to keeping her captive," Filius Flitwick squeaked in agreement.

"Even if we wanted to take that course of action, I believe that we would struggle to keep her contained. Especially based on the damage she inflicted to the Quidditch pitch. But no, she is a girl, lost and confused but really no different from some of our own students except for the type of magic that she uses. Poppy would be ludicrously jealous of her healing abilities from what I've seen. But the truth is, I do not know what sort of action we should take beyond simply doing our best to find her friends."

"Should we not inform the Ministry about them?" Flitwick asked. "You're already heavily loathed by the Minister at this stage as it is, Headmaster. If he finds out you've been keeping this from him…"

"I am aware of what would happen, but I must also think of the welfare of Wendy and her companions."

"Why?" the slow drawl of Severus Snape filled the room as the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin house stood in the corner. "Not to put too fine a point on it, Headmaster, but why should we make these people our concern? They are not from our universe and therefore have no place in it."

"What would you have me do, Severus? Just ignore their plight?"

"I am just wondering whether we should keep our efforts focused on the problems of our own universe before we attempt to deal with ones coming from another. Problems such as the impending rise of the Dark Lord once again."

"And therein lies one of my chiefest concerns," Dumbledore drew himself up. "The Ministry's reaction to the presence of these offworlders is but a trivial one. I am far more concerned with what exactly Lord Voldemort will try and do when he finds out they exist. From what I saw in Wendy's mind, her friends all have incredible talents and most of them have not only extremely powerful but also extremely destructive magic at their disposal."

"You think that You-Know-Who will try to kill them?" Sprout bit her lip.

"If he sees them as a threat then he may do. But there is something else he may try - recruiting them. Voldemort is a master of deception at the best of times but these people are confused, lost in a world that they don't understand, that they do not know. I fear how easy it might be to convince some of them to his cause by convincing them that magic users such as them would be slaughtered by Muggles if they were given half a chance. He could take truths such as how Muggles forced wizards into hiding, and twist them to suit his own needs. And that's not even factoring magical control like the Imperius Curse. And the kind of powers I saw in Wendy's mind being used against us, used against Muggles… it is truly a terrifying thought."

"Are they really that powerful?" Flitwick breathed in shock.

"Wendy was strong enough to rip several of the pitch stands apart with a tornado she expelled from her mouth. And from what I saw, she is actually rather far down the list of her friends in terms of power. If her two fellow Dragon Slayers that I saw in her head, Natsu and Gajeel, felt so inclined, I believe they could level Hogsmeade within a couple of minutes flat, and even they are outclassed by some of the others."

There was a long and excruciatingly heavy silence as each of the four Heads of Houses digested this news in stunned silence.

"Then that would explain your primary reluctance to inform the Ministry, I suppose," McGonagall was the first to speak. "If they became aware of what was going on, it would probably be only a matter of minutes before one of He Who Must Not Be Named's spies got word to him about it all."

"Indeed," Dumbledore nodded. All of them were well aware of the fact that Voldemort had a good many spies inside the official circles. It had been another reason why Dumbledore had Obliviated the likes of Draco Malfoy. If he had allowed the memory to remain, how long would it have been before his father Lucius heard about this?

"I assume you don't want me informing him of this myself," Snape muttered.

"If you would be so kind," Dumbledore agreed. "In all honesty though, this situation is mostly outside our control. With the whereabouts of most of the group unknown, it seems to me like the only thing we can do for the most part is keep our ears to the ground and investigate anything that sounds like it could be some of Wendy's companions. But I believe, despite our best efforts, it will most likely not be long before the Ministry and Voldemort learn of these people. Our best hope… is that we can beat them both to finding them. For both their sake… and our own."

"So you'll want to talk to the rest of the Order about this?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "We should organise an emergency meeting. Tomorrow night at the latest. Our purpose is to fight Voldemort and if we can act quickly enough… we may gain allies that will make him seriously consider just staying in hiding forever."

* * *

"So… is there a story between you and Dumbledore, Mister?" Wendy asked as she scraped congealed something-or-other off a plate and dunked it back in the sink for a proper rinsing, the small girl having to stand on a chair to get a good reach. "He seems like such a nice man and you didn't look very happy to see him."

Aberforth grunted lightly. "Let's just say it's been many, many decades since my brother and I have really gotten along."

"Your brother?" Wendy looked over her shoulder. "You're related?" She was not entirely surprised by this news - she had guessed that it might be something like that since there was quite a bit of family resemblance between them, particularly in the eyes and the beards.

"Indeed we are, though that's not something that I am particularly proud of. People used to believe that my brother was the greatest wizard in the world. Heck, a lot of people still do. But we don't get along. Oh, he still makes sure to keep in touch with me and I usually help him if he asks me to, but you could definitely say that we're not on friendly terms."

Wendy was desperately wanting to ask why, but she refrained from commenting any further. Clearly something had happened to upset the bond between the two of them and she knew it really was not her place to pry.

"You're doing a pretty good job there," Aberforth noted. "My plates haven't looked so clean in years."

"It's my pleasure. We all try and help each other out back home whenever we can. Even in just the smallest ways."

"That's admirable, I guess. Just remember though, kid. If you're still staying here by tomorrow then don't come into the main bar area. Stay here in the back. Get quite a lot of shady characters coming into this place, and while I can handle the place just fine, you should keep yourself out place."

"Don't worry about me, Aberforth-san. I can take care of myself."

"…I'm sure you can, kid. I'm sure you can."

"So, can you tell me some more things about this world? Your brother didn't really get a chance to tell me a whole lot. Oooh, can you start with this Quidditch thing? I'd really like to know more about that - that looked really cool."

"Insatiable curiosity," Aberforth murmured. "She really is like you… Ariana."

* * *

"What an appropriate name," Gajeel murmured to himself as he sat on top of a rocky precipice, staring out across the grassy landscape. It was dotted with several large, cone-shaped hills with flat tops and he was currently perched on the top of the highest one, chewing through a piece of metal he'd taken from the wreckage of the car back in Portree.

But on the way up here, he'd seen a signpost for this particular area that called it, 'The Fairy Glen.'

"To bad it really doesn't help me find out where the bloody hell I'm supposed to go," he muttered to himself. "Jeez, this really is messed up. Beyond words. The heck am I supposed to do now anyway? Wander aimlessly around until I come across some place that actually understands half the questions I ask?"

He tossed a piece of metal that had more than a little rust over his shoulder and picked up another piece to chow down on. How much more ridiculous could this situation get anyway? Surely there was soon going to have to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Not to mention he should probably get something decent to wear - he was still bare-chested after he'd taken the bandages off, and now he looked like that damn ice stripper Gray just sitting here like this.

But even as he sat there, brooding on his next move, he became aware of something. There was a very faint smell tickling at the edges of his nostrils.

His back immediately snapped straight as he shot to his feet, twisting his head around to sniff the air in earnest, using his incredible Dragon Slayer senses to pinpoint exactly which direction the smell was coming from. It quickly became clear it was not the smell of something particularly close by but it was being blown in on the wind. A wind which was coming up from the south.

And it was a rather familiar smell too.

"Now… we're talking," Gajeel grinned, seizing the remainder of his iron scraps in one hand as he leapt off the edge of the precipice, landing hard enough to splinter the rock beneath his feet and sprinting off across the glen, nose twitching as he followed the scent. At last… something was going right.

* * *

"Some kind of giant cat with a sword?" Charlie Weasley frowned as he inspected the long gash in the neck of the unconscious Hebridean Black dragon lying prone next to him. "Are you absolutely serious?"

"It was like nothing I'd ever seen before," insisted one of the wizards of the MacFusty clan behind him. "Honest to goodness it was like a big, muscly panther that was standing upright like a human being and it had a sword that was practically as big as it was."

"And it spoke?" Charlie pressed.

"Definitely."

"What exactly did it say?"

"…I can't really remember - I was a bit freaked out by the fact it was standing right behind me…"

Charlie sighed. "Well, I've never heard of anything like that before but this wound does definitely look like it was made by some kind of sword. But no regular sword can pierce dragon hide unless its got one hell of a powerful swing behind it."

"But what about the blunt traumas?" another man asked. "What caused those?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," Charlie shook his head as he stepped around to the dragon's side to run his hand over the bent, cracked scales that indicated something had smashed into the dragon's side with incredible brute force, creating a circular crater of damage across its flank. "But somehow I doubt that something the size of a human had anything to do with this one, even if it was a muscly cat. I'd like to say that the dragons did this to each other but I've never seen a wound like this on them either. I've seen tail smashes that have done damage but they've always been in a long line rather than in a circular pattern like this. It's like it was hit by a giant cannonball or something."

"Do you think they'll be alright though?"

"Oh yeah, they'll be fine," Charlie waved a hand. "We all know here that Hebridean Blacks are tough creatures even if they aren't the toughest dragons. You should keep an eye on them though, to make sure that they don't start fighting again and potentially making these injuries worse. And you should probably periodically check infection and make sure that scale rot doesn't set in, but they'll be more than fine within a week or two, I'm sure."

"Good to know," the man in charge sighed in relief. "Sorry about this, Mister Weasley. I do feel like we might have called you out here for nothing."

"Oh, not nothing - I got to see my family again. And I can never pass up the chance to help a dragon in trouble. I'll keep an eye out for any more dragons bearing injuries like these back home and if I find out what caused it, I'll get back to you."

"Good to know but… um… unfortunately, there is one more thing…" coughed the man in charge slightly. "There's, uh… some reporters for the Daily Prophet who got wind of the attack and are waiting for someone to talk to them. Don't suppose you'd consider… um…"

Charlie groaned. "Ugh, I hate the press, I really do. Fine, fine, let's just get this over with."

"Still," he heard one of the assembled wizards murmur, "I wonder where that cat thing is now."

* * *

Pantherlily grunted as he did the equivalent of a stumble in mid-air. The burns on his back were still searing at him and he was pretty sure a couple of blisters had developed beneath his fur. He knew if Wendy was there, he would most likely be completely pain free right about now but sadly they were still looking for the young Dragon Slayer and didn't appear to be any closer to actually finding her than when they started.

Still, that dragon's fire had been seriously hot! Lily had been caught in the middle of a fiery blast from Grimoire Heart's mage Azuma and come out much weakened and damaged but not with anything long-lasting. But Lily was tough, tougher than any other Exceed in existence, and he was not about to let these injuries get to him even if they did hurt. Heck, he'd been shot straight through the torso by Erza Knightwalker and still been able to get back onto his feet shortly afterwards, even if he hadn't been able to do much else for a while longer.

However, Happy and Charla had both heard his grunt and turned back to look at him, before glancing at each other. They'd found land again a short while ago and now they were flying along the coastline searching for any sign of where a human might have managed to get up out of the water, or maybe find a town of some kind where they could enlist help but at the moment there seemed to be very little but cliffs and large bays.

"Maybe we should take a little break," Happy suggested tentatively.

"No!" Lily shook his head stubbornly, flapping his wings until he caught up with the other two and was flying level with them. "We're not stopping just because of a little stinging! We need to find Wendy."

"A little stinging? I'd say its a bit more painful than that."

"I will deal with it. I've dealt with everything any universe has thrown at me so far and I'll deal with this now. Besides, if we find Wendy then I'm as good as fixed right away, aren't I?"

"He does have a point," Charla agreed. "And I would… rather not stop unless we absolutely had to."

"Okay, if you're both sure," Happy nodded slowly, before his stomach rumbled loudly and he grinned sheepishly. "But I could really stop for a fish snack right about now."

"I could really go for a kiwi," Lily agreed.

"You and your stomachs," Charla muttered, before suddenly her own tummy rumbled and she bit her lip. "You didn't hear that. Come on, let's find Wendy."

* * *

What the three Exceed were unaware of was the man pounding across the grasslands about a mile away. Gajeel growled as he pounded his way through a boulder rather than take the time to hop over the top or go around it, his feet smashing into the ground like giant iron pistons to push himself across the turf.

"I knew it," he muttered to himself with a savage grin. "I know that smell. I'm hardly going to forget the smell of my own cat! And that's the Salamander's and the little girl's cats too, no question about it."

Dodging boulders and leaping down hills, transforming his hands into iron spikes to help him scramble up over a sheer rock face that stood in his path and sprinting off once he reached the top, his nose was held high and twitching while his hair flayed out from side to side like a giant bullwhip. He was only pulled up short when he reached the coastline but the smell was coming from a short way to the east so he dashed along the clifftops, narrowing eyes fixed on the sky until, sure enough, he spotted three airborne shapes up ahead which could have been birds, but which looked rather too bulky to be birds.

He could also see what looked like a small, long blond-haired girl flying alongside them and for a moment he wondered whether he was seeing things, but he quickly shook that from his mind and roared, "OI! LILY! BLUE CAT! WHITE CAT! IT'S ME! HOOOIIII!"

He kept running as he ran but the wind was still blowing into his face and it quickly whipped his voice away with it, so the Exceed continued flying, unaware that they were being hailed. Gajeel growled in irritation, but then smirked and he drew to a stop, knowing a surefire way to get their attention as he sucked in one deep breath. Then…

"TETSURYUU NO… HOOUUUUKOOUUUUUU!"

* * *

Kingsley brushed his hands together as he strode over to where Rufus Scrimgeour was waiting for him.

"Good news?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Yes sir. We've managed to round up anyone that saw exactly what was going on and modify their memories, including the four Muggles who were actually trying to rob the place. Our story that this was some kind of gas explosion should hold firm in everyone's minds now."

"Good," Rufus nodded. "But there was no sign of the man who did this?"

"None. Most likely he's far away by now."

"This is an almost frightening situation, Shacklebolt. I've been at this job for many years and never once have I encountered any kind of attack like the one in that bank. We need to find the man who did this and bring him in for some serious questioning. Most notably, and what the heck he is."

"Sir, I do feel the need to point out that this man appeared to be actually trying to help by stopping the robbers."

"That may be, but he destroyed half the bank in the process, while there were still people inside. Quite clearly he is dangerous, not to mention a serious threat to the Statute of Secrecy - we were lucky that this time it was such a small town that he was in. If he'd done something like that in London it would probably have taken hundreds of us to keep it covered up. Not to mention from the look of that footage, this man looked rather unbalanced to say the least."

"Of course," Kingsley nodded. "Any plans on where to start looking?"

"He's most likely on the other side of the country by now. As soon as we're done here we'll head back to the Ministry. Then we'll…"

He broke off just as a round of gasps suddenly filled the street and dozens of people started pointed to the south and towards the large grey tornado-like surge that whipped up into the air on the horizon. It looked only like a thin, diagonal pillar from this distance and it was only there for a few seconds before it petered out into nothingness but to both Kingsley and Scrimgeour, it was instantly recognisable.

"Looks like he might not be as far away as thought," Kingsley observed.

"Damn it," Scrimgeour growled. "Now we have to start Obliviating people again. Shacklebolt, you're in charge here. Aurors Tonks and Savage with me! We need to find that man now!"

* * *

All three Exceed almost fell out of the sky as the Iron Dragon's breath attack whooshed up a short distance from actually hitting them, but all of them instantly recognised who it belonged to. And when they spotted the distant figure of Gajeel waving at them, grins immediately appeared on all three faces, particularly Lily's, as they reversed trajectory and whooshed down towards him, Mavis following a little slower.

"Gajeel!" Lily cried as he landed in front of him. "I cannot tell you how glad I am to see ACK!"

"THANK HEAVEN YOU'RE ALRIGHT, LILY!" Gajeel had immediately seized the small, black Exceed in his strong arms and practically slammed him into a tight hug, almost sobbing hysterically as he rubbed his face against that of his cat's.

"OW! OW! OW!" Lily yelled as Gajeel pressed down on the his burnt back, an action which immediately made Gajeel release him and finally notice his injuries.

"What the… the heck happened to you, Lily?"

"Had a run in with a dragon that didn't end well," Lily muttered.

"A dragon?" Gajeel's eyes widened. "You mean that Acnologia did…"

"No, not him. A different one," Lily shook his head. "It was a black one, but this one breathed fire. Hence the burning. I was trying to protect Wendy and the others from it and ended up getting a little cooked."

"Wendy? The little girl? Where is she? And who's this?" the Iron Dragon Slayer frowned when Mavis pulled to a hovering stop in front of him.

"Good afternoon," Mavis smiled, performing a little curtsy in mid-air. "Pleasure to meet you in person at last, Gajeel Redfox."

"Look, there's a lot to talk about here," Charla interjected before Gajeel's line of questioning could go much further. "And while I'm grateful at last to find a friendly face in this world, Gajeel, I have to insist that we keep moving. We got separated from Wendy yesterday and we've been trying to find her ever since."

"Charla's right," Happy nodded. "Do you think you could help us look for her Gajeel? You've got the nose of a Dragon Slayer just like Natsu so you should be able to right?"

"Course I can. It was by smell that I found you lot otherwise you probably would have flown right past me and been none the wiser. But I can't smell the little girl anywhere right now. She definitely ain't nearby."

"All the more reason for us to keep moving," Charla insisted. "We can answer your questions on the move but please… please Gajeel…" she practically fell to her knees as fresh tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. "Please help us find her. She's all alone now and for all we know she could be dead and I just… I just can't…" she placed her paws over her mouth to try and stop the hiccoughing that shortly followed.

"Charla," Happy held her lightly, and the white cat didn't attempt to stop him.

"Whoa, whoa, alright, alright, don't go crying on me," Gajeel murmured, though he sounded more awkward that annoyed. "I'm sure she's fine. That girl's a lot tougher than she looks… and sounds… and acts. She's a damn Dragon Slayer and we don't go down easy. Trust me, that I definitely know."

"Yeah… yeah, I know… but can we please go. I'm so worried…"

"Fine, but you aren't flying anywhere Lily. Gajeel immediately picked up his Exceed partner and tucked him under one arm. "You need to rest."

"What? But I can…"

"No buts about it, Lily. You're resting and that's that. Now, who wants to carry me?"

"I'll do it," Happy volunteered. "I carry Lucy all the time and she's heavier than Gajeel."

"It is almost a good thing she is not here to hear you say that," Gajeel chuckled dryly before Happy swung around behind him to grip him and hoist him up into the air, straining a little at first since Gajeel weighed more than Natsu but quickly adjusting. "But I want a full explanation as to what the heck's been happening, alright? And especially who she is," he glanced across to Mavis.

"I'm the founding Master of the Fairy Tail guild, Mavis Vermilion," the ghostly girl replied immediately.

"I see. Wait… WHAT!?"

"Believe me, Gajeel," Lily murmured as they flew off down the coastline again. "It's not even been two days, but it is a very long story."

And as the group winged away, beginning to give Gajeel their explanations of what exactly had happened after Acnologia fired at them, three distinct pops indicated the presence of three people Apparating close to the spot where they had been standing not long ago. Scrimgeour, Tonks and Savage remained unnoticed by the departing Exceeds and their companions, but all three witches and wizards definitely saw them, soaring off into the distance.

"Curses," muttered Scrimgeour. "That must be him. We missed him!"

"Wait, has he got wings?" Tonks squinted. "He's definitely not flying a broom. Who the heck is this guy?"

"I do not know but we need to inform the Minister of what we know. And then we need to find this guy."

* * *

About an hour later and Gajeel was asking, for about the third time, "Are you sure you're not kidding me?"

"No, Gajeel, we're not. That's the story," Lily insisted.

"And every single part of it is the truth?"

"Yes, yes, it is."

"Huh, sounds like you've been getting more excitement than me. And no offence, Lily, but I'd kinda hoped that Edolas would be the last we see of any universe except for the one that I was born in."

"No offence taken whatsoever," Lily replied. "Especially since there's no Anima in this one that we can use to send us back to Earthland again."

"We can worry about getting back home again when the time comes," Mavis insisted. "For now, the safety of our guild members is our main priority, starting with Wendy and extending to all of the others."

"Not to mention we haven't exactly given a great first impression to the people of this world," Happy noted.

"What I don't get is why those guys back in that town were so shocked by my magic," Gajeel folded his arms. "You said you guys were attacked by people who threw strange magical lights at you yet all those ordinary people didn't seem to have a frigging clue about magic. And they have dragons living not far away from them. What kind of messed up world is this anyway?"

"It is rather strange," Lily agreed.

"Well, we can figure out the mystery another time," Charla insisted. "For now let's stick with finding Wendy. You are trying to locate her scent, right Gajeel?"

"I'll let you know the moment I get a whiff of her, but we don't exactly know where we're going. We could be heading further away from her and we wouldn't have any idea."

"That's not the most encouraging thing you could have said, Gajeel," Lily admonished him.

"Well, I'm just telling it like it is. But this guild's a resilient one, as is everyone in it. We'll find her, we'll find them all, no matter how long it takes us to do it. Heck, that Lisanna girl got thrown into another universe and separated from everyone for two whole years but we found her and brought her back home even though nobody knew what had happened to her. This time, we're out looking. And we'll tear every boulder out of the ground in this entire world just to look under it if we have to, until we're all back together again."

The Exceeds and Mavis all smiled and Happy said, "It's not usually you that gives the rousing speeches, Gajeel. Usually Natsu does that."

"You want to be careful or people will think you're going soft," Lily snickered.

"Shaddup, damned cats, or I'll feed you to the next dragon we see."

"And there's the Gajeel we all know and love."

"Did I not just say shaddup?"

* * *

It was several hours later that the Aurors stationed in Portree were able to head back to the offices in the Ministry back in London, although their jobs were far from over since they would each have quite a bit of paperwork to do now to report this incident. Kingsley was fairly certain that he had a headache coming on, and was grateful that people from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes had been called in to help with the Obliviating - it had lessened the load that they Aurors had had to do considerably.

But when they finally did get back to the Ministry, Dawlish was waiting for them with a report from the events surrounding the glowing sphere in the field in Nottinghamshire.

"There's still been no success in dispelling the thing but they have managed to move it. It has now been transported to somewhere in the Department of Mysteries via Portkey."

"Good work," Scrimgeour nodded. "Tell the Unspeakables in there that they are to keep us informed just in case it turns out to be dangerous."

Dawlish nodded and hurried away, and as everyone else fanned out in order to get back to work, Tonks was finally able to murmur to Kingsley, "You don't think that this guy at Portree could have anything to do with You-Know-Who, do you?"

"We can't discuss this here, Nymphadora," Kingsley replied lightly. "All I can say is that this doesn't exactly fit in with the actions in the shadows he's been taking so far, but honestly I don't know. But we'll discuss this later. For now, we keep doing our jobs."

* * *

Aberforth sighed as he leaned against the wall, an unusually clean glass of Firewhiskey clutched in one hand. Wendy was now lying in the other room on the makeshift bed that he had conjured for her, so conked out that he guessed she wouldn't wake up even if he set off a fireworks display in the dingy living room.

It had been quite an experience having someone else staying under his roof again. It was something that hadn't happened in decades, since Aberforth didn't really like the company of anyone other than his goats. But Wendy had been charming, polite and curious about everything and he had found himself remarkably happy to answer most of the questions that she had about this world, while he in turn had been rather fascinated about her own.

Usually he thought of most kids as messy, irresponsible and immature, but Wendy had been none of that. She sounded much older and wiser than most kids her age did, which was presumably as a result of the things that she had experienced, though she had giggled a lot at some of his more amusing stories.

For the first time in a very long time, Aberforth felt rather grateful that Albus had come to ask him for help. His afternoon had been severely brightened by her presence.

Although she would certainly never serve as a replacement for Arania… he could get used to having her around.


	6. Animal Madness

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 6:- Animal Madness**

* * *

"He is…" Ron said jerkily, tearing the piece of paper in his hands in half "the world's…" he tore it into quarters "biggest…" he tore it into eighths _"git." _And he threw the pieces of paper onto the common room fire.

The atmosphere in the room was now a somewhat sour one, though Ron tried to brush it off as if nothing had really happened by trying to get back to the homework that they had spent pretty much all day doing. It was now past midnight and Harry, Ron and Hermione were the only ones still up. Hermione didn't actually need to be but she'd finished knitting another set of socks she was going to leave out for the House Elves and had been contemplating going to bed before Ron had received a letter that took him completely by surprise from his older brother Percy.

Not that Percy had had anything Ron or the others actually wanted to read. And as Hermione offered to look over their homework so that they could finish it sometime before the sun came up and they had to get to Monday morning classes, Harry felt like he was off in another world.

Everything had changed so much. It seemed like every single year he had been here, the people around him seemed to think of him differently.

The first year had had everyone gawking at him for pretty much its entire length, staring at the Boy-Who-Lived that had suddenly sprung back into the Wizarding World, although from Harry's perspective it had been like the Wizarding World had sprung onto him.

The second year had had a very large population of the school thinking that Harry was downright evil and responsible for petrification attacks on other students and castle residents. It seemed practically everyone outside of Gryffindor had been convinced he was the Heir of Slytherin after Harry had accidentally revealed to everyone that he was a Parselmouth and could therefore talk to snakes. Even he hadn't really known about this talent until then.

The third year seemed to be the best one as far as he was concerned. People no longer believed he was evil but they did all believe him to be a hero again, but for most the novelty of his presence at the school had worn off and for the most part Harry felt slightly ordinary.

Then the fourth year had come along and rather ruined that after he'd been selected for the Triwizard Tournament. A huge number of the people at the school thought that he was a cheater and glory hound to begin with and then when he started doing relatively well in the tournament many of them started to hero-worship him more than ever.

And now that Voldemort had returned, most people thought him to be mad or unbalanced for continuously insisting that he was telling the truth. And for Percy Weasley to be one of them… well that hit him hard. Sure, he'd never got on with Percy nearly as much as the rest of his family and Percy had turned against all the rest of them as well, but he'd lived with the guy. Had Percy ever actually seen him do anything he considered unbalanced or did Percy just believe that he was because the Ministry did?

In reality, five years was not actually that long. How could so many people's perceptions of one guy change so many times throughout that time period?

And not for the first time, Harry really wished he could be considered the ordinary, average wizard that he personally believed he was.

But despite everything people had believed about him, not a single one of them had ever believed that. He was fairly certain that Ron and Hermione, even though they didn't treat him any differently from anyone else they knew, didn't consider him ordinary either and they were the ones who knew him best.

But his attention was diverted away from his internal mulling by Ron tapping on his arm while Hermione looked over what they'd written and occasionally scribbled at something with her quill.

"You alright, mate?" Ron asked, with concern.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine," Harry nodded, though it wasn't exactly true and Ron could tell.

"Don't let Percy get you down, Harry," Ron insisted. "I don't think there was a single thing he wrote in that letter that wasn't total crap. You remember what he called Umbridge? A delightful woman? I mean, really? Anyone who can possibly think that about Toad-face has to be completely barmy. I dunno what the heck's going on in Percy's head right now he's just proven how much of an idiot he is in that letter."

Harry chuckled but only slightly. "Yeah, but its not just him, is it Ron? It's not just him by a long shot."

Ron didn't really seem to know what to say to that but Hermione looked up from what she was doing and said, "We know you're right, Harry. We know that you're telling the truth. And one day, everyone else will too. One way or another, they will find out you were right all along and then they will be more than sorry."

"But I don't want them to be sorry. I want them to believe me now so they can help us actually do something," Harry griped. "I don't want to wait until Voldemort storms the Ministry for them to finally understand that I'm not lying." He ignored the flinch that came from Ron when he said the Dark Lord's name.

Hermione sighed. "Well, we'll just have to bear it until we can actually figure out a way of proving it and getting your story out."

Harry sighed and nodded, knowing Hermione was right, but hating it all the same. And he was rather grateful when Ron tried to change the subject by saying, "So, you think the Quidditch pitch will be fixed before our next practice?"

Harry actually laughed properly this time. They hadn't seen what had happened on the pitch but earlier that day Angelina Johnson had come rushing into the common room, looking decidedly unsure whether she should laugh or worry.

"The whole school's talking about it," she had declared to the both of them. "Apparently there was some kind of freak windstorm near the pitch when the Slytherin team were practicing. Many of the players sustained some pretty big bruises and I think Warrington's broom was snapped in half somehow. I saw Malfoy's broom too - it looked more like a mop than a broom with those flattened bristles. Good luck being streamlined on that, Malfoy."

She'd gone on to explain how apparently a large chunk had been torn out of the stands, practically being reduced to rubble in one place. Harry could tell that while she thought it amusing that the Slytherin team, who had been so mocking of them the previous day, had got rather a big comeuppance today, she was clearly worried about whether something similar would happen to them the next time they went out training.

But Harry was quick to point out that it had never happened before and it probably wouldn't happen again.

"You're right, of course," Angelina agreed. "I hope you're right though. We really need things to kick off in our next session."

Ron had winced visibly at this, but Angelina didn't appear to notice. Harry had decided to refrain from comment about it. He knew Ron was blaming himself for everything that had gone wrong in the last session and indeed his nerves had caused him to mess up several times but Harry knew that telling him otherwise would not help. Ron would know he was only saying that out of pity.

Now that Ron had brought the topic up again though, Harry nodded and said, "I reckon so. Things get fixed pretty quickly around here. And when we go back out there we'll nail it. Maybe we should learn how to cast some kind of wind spells in case Malfoy shows up again. Maybe we can make him afraid to come near the pitch because every time he does he gets blown off his feet."

Ron laughed out loud at this. "What a unique way to eliminate the competition. I wish I could have seen his face when he got blown over though. I wish I could have seen all of their faces."

Hermione made some kind of disapproving noise in the back of her throat before she placed her quill down and said, "Well, here's some improvements I've made for you. Soon as you get that done you'll finally be able to get to bed."

"Eh, we've got History of Magic first thing tomorrow. I can always catch up on sleep in that," Ron pointed out, and Harry laughed.

Hermione though, as expected, disapproved again, and opened her mouth to tell the both of them for about the three-hundredth time that they should actually make an effort to listen to the boring Professor Binns when suddenly a hissing, "Psst…" interrupted her before she could start.

"Oi, you three," a familiar voice whispered. "Down here. In the fire."

"Sirius!" Harry blinked the moment he spotted his godfather's head sitting calmly amongst the flames still burning faintly in the hearth next to them. This wasn't the first time that Sirius had contacted him this way. It was a special form of communication that involved Floo Powder. Sirius had told him that you had to have special access to fireplaces in the Floo Network granted by the Ministry in order to transport your entire body from one fireplace to another but anyone could use this head only way of communicating to any fireplace in the network. That meant that Sirius could talk to them in this manner but could not transport himself directly into the Gryffindor common room in this way.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, looking up slightly as if to make extra sure that there was nobody else in the room. His Godfather was, after all, considered a dangerous criminal by most everyone in the Wizarding World even though he had not actually committed the crime.

"Why else would I pop into your fireplace by to talk to you?" Sirius snickered. "I've been appearing for about half a second every hour, hoping you'd stay up when everyone else had gone to bed. Looks like I was lucky. Cramming in all your homework at the weekend last minute when you should be doing it in the week, Harry? Naughty, naughty."

Harry laughed. "Don't tell me you didn't do the same."

"Actually I rarely did my homework on the weekends either," Sirius grinned, and both Ron and Harry snorted at this, while Hermione immediately started fretting about what if someone had actually seen him there when he'd been checking? Which was, admittedly, a valid concern.

But Hermione dropped her protests quite quickly after the conversation started, far more interested in hearing what he actually had to say. Harry's lightning scar, his trademark 'gift' he'd received from Voldemort that fateful night when the Dark Lord had killed his parents and then tried to kill him when he was a baby, had recently hurt when their 'delightful' new teacher, Umbridge, had touched him to look at the back of his hand in her torturous detention. Harry had written a coded letter to Sirius about it and Sirius was now replying, assuring Harry that he didn't think Umbridge was one of Voldemort's followers - a Death Eater - but agreeing that she was definitely a horrible woman.

Nothing that Sirius had to say made Harry feel any happier. Sirius cycled through Umbridge's hatred of part humans, including werewolves and how her actions had made it increasingly difficult for Remus Lupin to find work, which made all three of them scowl.

And of course the information that Cornelius Fudge thought Dumbledore was going to start training his students to combat the Ministry in order to seize power… how much more ludicrous did it get than that? Preventing them from learning defensive magic right at the time when they needed to learn it the most… Harry had met Fudge before and while he'd always seemed a bit of a bumbler to him, he'd been sure Fudge was a pretty decent bloke. So much for that.

And there was no news of Hagrid either, which was nothing but worrisome despite Sirius' assurances that the half-giant gamekeeper could take care of himself.

But it was after this that Sirius hesitated slightly, an action that caught the attention of all three of the fifth-year students.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Hermione guessed, fiddling with the hem of her robes.

"Well, yeah…" Sirius grinned lopsidedly. "Not really sure if I should be telling you this one since its not technically Order business at this stage but… you heard about those bright lights that appeared in the sky yesterday, I assume?"

"Yeah, we heard about them?" Ron blinked. "What have they got to do with anything?"

"As far as we know, nothing, but the Ministry actually found one. Your brother, Bill, was called to the scene actually Ron and he says it looked like some large, glowing orb with a funny looking symbol on it. He said that it was like some kind of shield, but totally impenetrable - he couldn't find a way to break it."

"You serious?" Ron's eyes widened. "Bill was boasting to us just last summer about the tomb of this ancient pharaoh guy that had had curses placed on this shield that tried to turn anyone that entered into crocodiles and how he managed to take it down without breaking a sweat."

"Nevertheless, he could not break through this one. But the orb thing isn't really the issue here. It's what happened after that. Kingsley and Tonks were there with Bill at the site before they suddenly got called away. Apparently there was a magical attack of some kind on a Muggle Bank in some small village on the Isle of Skye today."

"The Isle of Skye? But that's pretty close to here," Hermione gasped. "Was anybody killed?"

"Was it Death Eaters?" Harry agreed instantly.

"I don't know the details. Kingsley and Tonks are the only ones who could tell you at this stage and they haven't come and told me anything yet. They might still be working for all I know. Sometimes something like this can take a while to sort out. But that's not the only funny incident that took place in that area recently. Ron, your brother Charlie was called back into the country to head out there to investigate involving two Hebridean Black dragons."

"What kind of incident?" Ron asked with curiosity. "Is Charlie going to be around long? I'd like to see him."

"I don't rightly know how long he'll be around but… apparently something attacked the two Dragons. And actually managed to wound them too. You'll probably see it in tomorrow's papers - Charlie said he had to talk to the press about it."

"Something attacked dragons?" Ron's eyes were wide. "Who or what in their right mind would willingly go up and attack a dragon?"

Harry could easily share this sentiment. After all, he'd been pitted against a vicious Hungarian Horntail in the Triwizard Tournament last year and was in no hurry to repeat the experience.

"Charlie said that one of the guys who was there was babbling on about some giant cat with wings," Sirius pulled a face. "Though it sounded like he'd been inhaling Bubotuber pus fumes to me. Look, the details aren't really important though I think Molly would kill me if she found out I'd been telling you this when it might not even be a Death Eater thing but… I guess I feel I should warn you to be on your guard. Dumbledore's called an emergency Order meeting to take place tomorrow night and, well, I'm sure that you'll be safe in Hogwarts but… well…"

The three of them looked at each other wryly. It was true that Hogwarts was infinitely safer than most places, but it had been proven a few times over the years that it was not infallible. Sirius was the only person that had technically broken in back when they had thought he was actually the enemy, but still, it was possible.

"You reckon you could find a way to tell us what happens in the meeting?" Harry asked.

"Depends what Dumbledore says, Harry, but it may be nothing you need to worry about at all. At this stage even I don't know the details. I'm just giving you a heads up. Anyway, let's change the subject - when's your next Hogsmeade visit?"

Sirius' suggestion that he might be able to come out in dog form to visit them was quickly shouted down, and they could all tell he was more than a little disgruntled when he left the fireplace. But they were all tired and didn't really have the time to dwell on it, so instead they finished up on the essays and headed to bed.

Despite his fatigue, Harry lay awake for a while, staring up at the canopy of his four-poster bed but not really seeing it. It was killing him, not knowing what was out there. Not knowing what Voldemort was doing, or what the world was doing? Before he'd always had the events in school to keep him occupied, but now everything was moving on a much bigger scale and the events of the school were only a mere part of it.

He found himself almost hoping the nearby incidents actually were Death Eater related. If they were then at least there was a chance Voldemort could be exposed soon and the could actually start opposing him properly instead of enduring all this pointless idiocy from the Ministry.

But who was it if it wasn't Death Eaters?

Just when was he going to get the answers he sought?

Eventually though he managed to doze off though he was not ready at all to start the second week of school when he did wake up some hours later. The first week had been such a disaster. Was the second one going to be any better?

* * *

"Have you got anything yet, Gajeel?" Charla asked for what may have been the tenth time that morning.

"Would you quit asking me that?" Gajeel grunted irritatedly. "If I get something then I'll tell you that I've got something. Until I get something then I'll zip it. Asking me if I've got something is pointless, okay?"

"Gajeel, don't yell at her," Happy protested, shifting his grip on the large Dragon Slayer.

"I ain't yelling," Gajeel shook his head. "But I gotta job to do and badgering me about it is not going to help."

"Of course, of course. I'm sorry," Charla wrung her paws together. "It's just… I don't think I've been separated from Wendy for so long before. Not since the day I hatched."

"I haven't been separated from Natsu for this long either," Happy's tail sagged slightly. "And we don't have any idea where he is at all."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Mavis said. "For all we know right now, Natsu may be safe and sound inside one of my Fairy Spheres. In fact, he probably is."

"I know," Happy nodded. "Wendy's the priority now."

"What if we've gone the wrong way though?" Charla pressed her ears flat against her head in agitation. "She could be stranded on some rock way out to sea waiting for us and we wouldn't have a clue."

Gajeel grimaced and tried his damnedest not to let Charla's fretting get on his nerves, which was far from easy for him. Truth be told, he was rather worried himself, though of course he wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even to Lily. The group had reached what appeared to be mainland late last evening and spent the majority of last night in a cave, forcing Charla to relax and rest, before continuing again at first light. Now they were flying up the coast, trying to locate the missing Sky Dragon Slayer somehow.

Gajeel hadn't known Wendy for very long in the grand scheme of things, but while everyone in the guild were now, at least somewhat, his friends, she was one of the few that he could really consider himself kinda close to. When he'd first met her he had tried extremely hard to hide his jealousy at the fact that both she and the Salamander had a cat, but she had not been in the least bit intimidated by him. She'd been extremely eager to get to know him, what with him being another Dragon Slayer who's Dragon foster parent had vanished on the same day as her own.

He'd been rather resistant to these attempts to befriend him at first but the kid had a good and honest heart and she was vastly more mature than the Salamander, despite being five years younger than him. She wasn't extremely irritating, like a lot of kids her age were. So he found himself letting her sit nearby and talk to him now and then, particularly after that whole Edolas thing where his respect for her Support Magic had grown phenomenally.

Mirajane had teased him that he was ruining his lone wolf image by taking care of a little lamb like Wendy. He'd threatened to manacle her to the wall and taking her place on the stage next time she was due to sing, like he had before, if she ever said that again. But Mirajane had just smiled and winked at him before going on her way.

On the whole though, Gajeel was still something of an outsider in the guild. He'd won the trust of all its members now, but very few of them actively tried to talk to him on a regular basis. Sometimes one of them would sit across from him, exchange a few words, ask how he was, but it usually didn't take them too long to move on again. Aside from Wendy and Lily, the main one who did was Juvia, whenever she wasn't watching Gray, which was most of the time. But when she wasn't, his fellow former Mage of Phantom Lord was pretty good company.

And while he'd probably throw a punch at most anyone who said to him that he and the Salamander were getting on better, he'd have to admit it was somewhat true. Their previous antagonism had evolved into more of a friendly rivalry. They still insulted and beat the crap out of each other whenever they got the opportunity but that was pretty much the same thing Salamander did with Gray and they were close friends too under the surface.

Was there anyone besides them he was really close to?

Well… there was Levy he supposed.

Gajeel shook his head to derail that thought process before it could go any further. He didn't want to think about Levy right now.

And it was not because he was worried, damn it! He just… had better things to think about right now. Yeah, that was it. He wasn't worried about Levy. No way. Nuh-uh…

Although… he had been her partner for the S-Class exam, and although that had been cancelled, he did feel responsible for her because of it… She'd been right there next to him, holding his hand when Acnologia had fired on them and then…

He shook his head even harder. Gods damn it all, he was not worried about her. He needed to worry about Wendy - the other girl who had been holding his hand right before… or six years before… he'd been separated from everyone.

Focus on Wendy, focus on Wendy, focus on…

He blinked, as a sudden familiar smell began to tickle at the edge of his nostrils. He looked up, wrinkling his nose and narrowing his eyes as he tilted his head from side to side, trying to pick out where the scent was coming from. His eyes locked on the mouth of a wide river that they were approaching now and he pointed towards it. "Head down there," he said.

"Why?" Charla asked sharply. "Do you have something?"

"I might do," Gajeel grinned. "Let's get in closer."

Happy responded hurriedly and whooshed downwards, Charla and Mavis hard behind them as Gajeel's sniffing became practically a continuous noise. The lot of them hovered over the mouth of the river, the three Exceed watching Gajeel's studded nose twitch, before a wide smirk split across his face.

"Got her," he said. "That's Wendy's scent alright. She went up this river."

"Are you sure?" Lily frowned.

"Why would you doubt me?" Gajeel asked. "I know the girl's smell and that's definitely it coming from this river."

"Forgive me, Gajeel but I had always heard that when people were in water, tracking scent was next to impossible," Lily said. And he had good reason to think that. Exceeds had a better sense of smell than a normal human's but it was actually much weaker than that of a normal cat's. As was their eyesight in low light. But of course they could also speak and fly whereas a normal cat could not.

When it came to scent tracking though, Exceeds were really not that great at it.

"Let me guess," Gajeel rolled his eyes. "You've read in fiction books all these scenarios where someone's managed to escape from being scent-tracked by going through a small stream or something. As if suddenly there's no possible way for dogs or whatever to follow them after they do that?"

"Well, yes," Lily nodded. He had done some reading during his downtime in both Extalia and the Royal City of Edolas alike and fiction stories in both often had that exact thing.

"It's bollocks," Gajeel replied, simply. "A stupid thing that authors made up to give the hero the chance to escape from their pursuers. Do you know how scent trails actually work?"

"I have a feeling you're going to tell us," Lily chuckled.

"Scent trails are formed of dead skin cells," Gajeel did indeed tell them. "Every living thing is shedding millions of dead skin cells at all times and those skin cells have the same scent as the person, so they leave a unique trail behind. Going through water doesn't eliminate the smell - the smell lies on top of the water. Sure, running water can take the skin cells and therefore the smell downstream, but it sure as heck doesn't stop you from leaving the trail on the bank when you get out again so unless its a super wide river anything with a nose like mine could pick out where they went without even having to cross."

"Well, I guess you really can learn something new every day," Charla remarked.

"That does make sense," Happy nodded. "That's how Natsu managed to track me and Erza to the Tower of Heaven after we were kidnapped by Erza's old friends. The tower was out on an island in the middle of the ocean and he still knew which way to go."

"Geehee!" Gajeel laughed. "Never underestimate a Dragon Slayers nose."

"So Wendy went up this river for certain," Mavis nodded.

"Definitely. And quite a way up it I'd say. I reckon the smell's over a day old and its been carried downstream over the course of that day."

"Then let's not waste any more time," Charla insisted. "Let's head up the river until we find the point where she got out."

"That's right. We're on the right track," Happy nodded, and the group swooped down low to the water, which ran between two large hills, following its meandering path with tilts of their winks, Charla smiling for the first time in days, before a sudden thought occurred to her and she asked. "Gajeel. Is she okay? Can you tell from the scent?"

"I can't smell her blood, so she's not been harmed enough to make her bleed. And I don't smell death either. Besides, I already told you to stop with your fretting. I said the girl's tough. She's alive. I know it."

Charla felt herself smile again in spite of Gajeel's slight snap at her, and powered her wings to pile on all speed. "We're coming, Wendy. We're on our way."

* * *

Aberforth Dumbledore had not been entirely comfortable with Wendy coming out into the front with him when he opened up the bar that morning. He was well aware that his bar usually attracted far more shady kinds of character than the Three Broomsticks down the road did, but it was amazing the kinds of things you could overhear in an environment like that. Aberforth didn't really care who came in as long as he earned a decent amount from it, enough to keep on living.

But suddenly he had a charge to protect, and she was a charge that reminded him a great deal of his long dead sister, Ariana. Naturally that meant he didn't want to put her in any situation that could cause her harm.

And yet Wendy insisted that she be helpful in some manner and Aberforth could only stand behind the bar and watch in slight amazement as Wendy carried a tray of Butterbeers in two hands over to a group of three witches, one of which might have actually been a hag, and placed it on the table.

"Thank you for coming," Wendy smiled at them. "Please enjoy your drinks." And she picked up the now empty tray and skipped back to the bar with it. Seriously, when had been the last time anyone had ever skipped inside this bar? Aberforth didn't think it had ever happened once.

"How do you make such a good waitress? What are you, twelve?"

"I've actually never done this before," Wendy said. "But I've seen my friend Mirajane-san do it all the time, so I'm trying to do what she does. And what she does is smile and say nice things a lot so that's all I'm trying."

"I'm not entirely sure whether I should ask you to stop or not," Aberforth shook his head. "On the one hand your smiling definitely brightens the place up but on the other this isn't really that kind of bar. You might disturb the customers a little with that perky attitude."

"Oh," Wendy murmured, looking around at the place and registering that it did indeed not look like the pleasant, open environment that Fairy Tail was. "Okay… I'll just help with glasses and dishes and stuff then."

"Wouldn't most kids your age just want any excuse to skive off work?"

"I like being useful," Wendy shrugged, but smiled, putting down the tray and taking up a dishcloth. "And… well…"

"Well what?" Aberforth raised a brow.

"I want… to keep myself busy," Wendy murmured. "I want to… keep my mind off my friends if I can. Because if I think about them, I'll just worry about them and if I just worry about them…"

_Of course,_ Aberforth nodded, kicking himself for not realising it sooner. He quickly coughed before Wendy could dwell on her missing companions too much and said, "Well, there won't be any slackers staying under my roof. Those flasks of Butterbeer need cleaning out. And then later you can try and milk the goats like you said you would."

"My pleasure," Wendy nodded and hurried to carry out his instructions.

* * *

But even as Wendy washed her pots, Gajeel and the Exceed flew upriver and Harry and his friends headed down to breakfast, a quite different set of events was beginning to unfold over five-hundred miles to the south.

Resting between the cities of Southampton and Bournmouth and just north of the Isle of Wight was New Forest, one of the largest areas of woodland, heathland and unenclosed pasture left in all of England - a hotspot for wildlife and for activities of all kinds.

And, nestled right on the edge of a body of water that was somewhere between a large pond and a small lake, a fair distance away from any road or town within the forest, was a large, golden glowing orb that had crashed down through the tree canopy a couple of days ago and lain here, undisturbed, since then.

The bright mark of Fairy Tail shone on the surface of the sphere. And that mark was beginning to blaze, growing brighter every second along with the rest of the sphere. The whole thing shimmered, throbbed and pulsed like some kind of beating heart before, abruptly, it vanished.

Leaving three forms lying still in the place where the sphere had been, strewn out across the bank, half in and half out of the water, looking totally dead to the world but for a slight rising and falling of their chests.

The three of them lay like this for a good fifteen minutes before finally one of them stirred. Lisanna Strauss grunted and raised a hand up to her aching head, unaware that said hand was caked in mud from the bank around her, but suddenly very aware of it when she smeared plenty of it across her forehead. She opened her eyes and stared at her brown-smeared hand in distaste before groaning and pushing herself upwards to have a look around.

"Where am I?" she murmured, blinking through bleary, unfocused eyes at her surroundings. "Did I… did we… am I alive?"

It seemed scarcely too good to be true. Last thing she remembered was trying to channel some power, along with all the others, into Levy and Freed in the hope that they could set up some kind of defensive barrier to stop the mighty Black Dragon, refusing to give up until the bitter end not matter how dire the situations were, as had always been the Fairy Tail way.

Had it actually worked?

As the fog in her brain began to clear and she looked at the forest around her she realised quite quickly that this didn't look like any part of the forest on Tenroujima that she had seen. She wasn't an expert on plants, far from it, but these ones all looked different. Not at tall for one thing. Deciduous for another - not like the massive tropical trees that made up the vegetation on the island.

And then her brain started to kick in properly and she looked around hurriedly for her friends. Whee was the Master? Where were Natsu and Lucy and Erza? Where was her brother and sister, Elfman and Mirajane?

She didn't see any of those, but she did see the two others who had been sharing her Fairy Sphere with her, lying side by side next to each other.

One was her own partner for the S-Class exam, Juvia Lockser.

And the other was the resident Ice Mage who was currently not wearing a shirt (as usual), Gray Fullbuster.

For a moment, Lisanna forgot the urgency of the situation and could only sit there and smile at them, lying close together side by side, as if sleeping. Granted they were coated in mud from the bank and they were covered in bandages just like she herself was but Lisanna thought they looked cute together like that.

Lisanna had only recently gotten to know the Juvia from Earthland. She'd spent two years knowing who Juvia was back in Edolas but that Juvia had been more or less an entirely different person. And she'd watched the Edolas version of Gray constantly fawn over Juvia only to be shot down at every turn. It had been quite a change to come back to Earthland and find it was the total other way around. Not that that was surprising really.

Back in Edolas, she'd always been rooting for Gray to finally win Juvia's heart.

And now that she was back with the Gray she'd known as a child and this other Juvia, she was still rooting for them to get together, and now they looked almost peaceful like that, with Juvia on her side and almost pressed up against Gray, who was on his back.

But Lisanna knew she didn't have time to sit back and let them rest. They needed to find out what had just happened. She pushed herself up, grimacing at the mud which was caked to her side and placed a hand on Juvia's arm, shaking her gently. "Hey, Juvia. Juvia, wake up. Can you hear me?"

Juvia mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "Can we have a wedding by the seaside, Gray-sama?" which made Lisanna snort in amusement - even half unconscious Juvia was imagining her future with Gray. But Lisanna shook her more earnestly slowly Juvia's eyes, as blue as her hair, opened wide.

"Juvia, are you okay?"

"Lisanna-san?" Juvia blinked, trying to sit up. "What… what happened? Where are we? Have we…?" she stopped looking around when she noticed Gray lying next to her with the back of his head actually resting in the pond and his black hair waving about in the water. "Gray-sama!" she gasped and shot up immediately, clambering to her knees and leaning over the still form of her intense crush, gripping him by the shoulders and hauling him out of the water, tucking her legs underneath him so that his head was resting on her thighs.

"Gray-sama… Gray-sama, wake up!" she pleaded.

"Don't worry, Juvia, he's fine. I think," Lisanna pushed herself to her feet and stepped around them both to kneel on the other side of him. "Look, he's still breathing, see. And I don't see any new injuries on him."

"What should we do?" Juvia fretted, not looking up from his still form.

"Just try and wake him up, gently," Lisanna suggested.

Juvia nodded but abruptly her face went red as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Maybe… maybe Juvia should… try giving him the… the kiss of life!"

"Er… I'm not entirely sure he actually needs that, Juvia…" Lisanna murmured. "He's breathing just fine, see?" she pointed to Gray's steadily rising and falling chest, the black Fairy Tail mark displayed proudly on his right side.

Juvia made a face that looked, somehow, like a cross between relief and disappointment, but she gently took Gray's shoulders and shook him ever so slightly. "Gray-sama… Gray-sama please open your eyes. Let Juvia know you're okay."

It took a couple more minutes before Gray finally did move and when he did, he awoke to the sight of both Juvia and Lisanna looking down at him with concern. He blinked several times before murmuring, "…What the heck happened?"

"That…" Lisanna observed. "Is a very good question."

"Gray-sama, Juvia is so glad you're alright…" Juvia sighed in relief. "Juvia was really worried about you."

"Well, I'm fine," Gray pushed himself into a sitting position and clicked his neck slightly, staring out at the trees around them. "Though how exactly I'm fine, I haven't the faintest idea. Does anyone else remember the big black dragon that was going to blow us to smithereens."

"All to well," Lisanna nodded.

"Juvia remembers as well," the Water Mage began to take in her surroundings for the first time. "One moment Juvia was standing there holding hands with Gray-sama and Lisanna-san and then… Juvia doesn't remember a thing after that. Not until waking up in the mud next to Gray-sama…" she blushed again at the thought.

"We're still alive then," Gray noted, pushing himself to his feet. "But where are the others?"

"We don't know. We only just woke up here ourselves," Lisanna replied. "Whatever questions you've got, you can bet we probably have the same ones as well."

Juvia stood up as well and moved to stand next to Gray. "Juvia doesn't recognise this place. It doesn't look like Tenrou Island."

"That's what I was thinking. Not least because if it was Tenrou Island, there'd be a bloody great big tree about a mile tall looming above us somewhere. That thing is pretty hard to miss," Gray pointed out.

Lisanna looked around her slightly before murmuring, "It… it doesn't look like Edolas either."

"Huh? Edolas?" Gray looked down at her. "Why would you bring Edolas up?"

"Because that's where I was the last time that I blacked out right after I was attacked and I woke up somewhere completely different," Lisanna remarked. "Back when Elf-niichan lost control of his Beast form and struck me the next thing I remembered after that was landing in a forest just like this. And that forest was in Edolas. But this doesn't look like any Edolas forest I'm familiar with so I don't think we've been transported there again."

"I doubt we could have been anymore. Not with Edolas losing all its magic like it did," Gray remarked.

"This place definitely has magic," Juvia agreed. "Juvia can feel it in the air. But if we're not on Tenrou Island anymore… what should we do, Gray-sama?"

"Heck if I know," Gray grumbled. "What did you do when you got lost in Edolas, Lisanna?"

"Nothing that could remotely be considered a plan," Lisanna answered. "It seemed the only option to me was to pick a direction and walk in it, calling for my brother and sister in the hope that they'd hear me. It took me two days before I found something, and I think it was a stroke of luck that that something was the Edolas Fairy Tail."

"Well…" Gray murmured. "I don't know if we've got much choice but to do that again. Just… start walking and see if we can find the others. Anyone else got a better plan?"

"Nope," Lisanna got to her feet, brushing dirt of her clothes.

"Juvia will go wherever Gray-sama leads," Juvia nodded devotedly.

"Uh-huh…" Gray murmured. "Shall we pick at random or…"

"Ooh now, isn't this interesting," said a slightly nasal voice that instantly had all of them of edge as it seemed to come out of nowhere. "Are they what was inside the baby golden egg thing, are they, are they? They all look like cripples with those bandages on, so they do."

"Who's there?" Gray demanded, placing his hands together in preparation to use his Ice Magic. "Where are you?"

"Oh, hark at his big turd, making demands of me. And he can't even see me either. Ha, he must be blind as an effing bat."

"Nobody says things like that to Gray-sama," Juvia flared up instantly, scowling at the surrounding bushes. "Show yourself."

"Aaw, how sickeningly cute, coming to her man's rescue, is she? What, is he so rubbish that he has to get his woman to pick his fights for him?"

"Gray-sama is far stronger than whoever you are!" Juvia flushed red.

"And she's not my woman!" Gray agreed awkwardly, his hands growing cold as he began to call on his ice powers. "Get out here before I freeze your butt, you…"

He was stopped by Lisanna putting a hand on his arm. The youngest Strauss sibling shook her head, before turning and offering the vegetation a bright smile. "We're sorry if we're intruding or something but we could really use some help. Can you come out so we can see you? We'd be really grateful for it and we won't hurt you. Cross my heart."

There was a slight pause before the voice said, "Well this one's nice at least, even though she looks weird with that white hair." And suddenly a head popped out of the undergrowth not far away from them - a small pointed head with a snout ending in a big black nose, large ears perched atop it and black markings around the eyes that looked like some kind of mask. But it was definitely not the face of a human.

"So, were these three stashed away inside the small golden sphere thing after all? Thought it was the world's weirdest tent when I first saw it, I did." the creature said as it moved out into the open, revealing a long slender body with grey, brown and black fur and a long tail pointing out behind it.

"It's… a ferret…" Juvia blinked.

The creature, which did indeed look like a ferret but twice as big, hissed. "This wench clearly knows nothing. I'm not a ferret, no I'm not. I'm a Jarvey. Maybe you should keep an encyclopaedia of magical creatures tucked between those big boobs of yours!"

"Hey!" Juvia squeaked, immediately covering her chest with her arms, but also half hoping that this sentence would prompt Gray to try and take a glance at her. He didn't, but he did look angry at the creature's words.

"Never heard of a Jarvey before," he growled.

"Then someone's clearly been living with his head in the toilet for all his life. Explains why his head is full of crap."

Gray's snarl of irritation was cut off by Lisanna again, and the girl stepped forwards and crouched down in front of the Jarvey. "You know, there's really no need to be rude," she said. "We're just a group of mages who have lost our way. Can you tell us if we're still in Earthland?"

"Eh? I thought that you might actually be intelligent," scoffed the Jarvey. "Where do you think you are, Mars Land? Of course you're on Earth Land. Jeez, what's wrong with you people."

Gray and Juvia watched with wide eyes as Lisanna just smiled and continued as if she'd not been insulted at all. "That's good to know," she said. "But have you seen anyone else nearby recently? We were part of a big group but it seems we've been separated from them somehow. My sister and brother would be among them as well as…" she did a quick count on her fingers. "Eighteen of our other friends. Do you think you could have seen them?"

"Haven't seen any other damn human dorks around for a while," the Jarvey shrugged its small shoulders. "Just as well really - the forest always smells much better when there's no people clopping around and stinking it all to high heaven. Ugh."

Lisanna bit her lip. "Thank you for telling us," she said, looking back at Gray and Juvia, who looked at each other in turn. If there friends weren't nearby, then where the heck were they?

"Though of course there is the bigger golden egg thingie that showed up the same time as your little one. Nearly flattened me when it landed, it did."

"Bigger golden egg thingie?" Gray frowned. "What are you talking about anyway?"

"With every question he reveals more and more how stupid he is," the Jarvey rolled its eyes. "I'm talking about the whacking great glowing sphere thing that was there right where you three were when I saw you. Came falling out of the sky and nearly took my head off, thanks very much. That was two days ago? What were the three of you doing in that thing for two days? Getting frisky with each other I'll bet."

Juvia went redder than Erza's hair and made an incomprehensible squealing noise and Gray froze in place, eye twitching, looking as if he couldn't decide whether to attack the Jarvey or not. Even Lisanna blushed a little at this but she shook her head and said, "It's nothing like that - we must have been unconscious the whole time. We only just woke up here and we definitely weren't here before this. You say we were inside some large glowing sphere?"

"Now I'm wondering if she's deaf too. Yes, that's what I've been saying, dumbbell."

"And there's a bigger one of these same spheres nearby?"

"Duh!"

"Is there any chance that you can lead us to it so we can see it for ourselves."

"And why should I do that, hm, hm?" the Jarvey bobbed its head. "You humans are all the same. Clotpoles, the lot of you, running around thinking that you're in charge of everything. What douches."

"Alright, I've officially decided I don't like this guy," Gray huffed. "Let's just find this other sphere thing ourselves."

"We don't know where to look though," Juvia pointed out, still very red in the face.

"How hard can something like that be to find though?" Gray shrugged.

"You'd be surprised," Lisanna stated. "Just give me a second." She turned back to the Jarvey and said, "You'd have our immense gratitude if you could just show us the way to this other sphere thing. Please. It would mean so much to us."

The Jarvey and Lisanna both stared one another in the eye for several moments before the Jarvey said, "Well, you're nice, I guess. I'll take you to the Sphere, even if the Gaylord and the Squealer over there have to come too. This way…" he shot off into the undergrowth suddenly, before popping his head back up out of a bush several metres away. "Come on, come on."

Lisanna winked at both Gray and Juvia, who stared in undisguised amazement for a moment before the three of them followed on, the Jarvey disappearing and then reappearing further away whenever they got close and yelling at them to hurry up, still throwing the occasional insult in whenever he could.

"How did you do that?" Gray asked with a whisper. "Almost all those names that guy keeps calling us can be applied to him. I didn't think he'd every help us in a million years."

"Well," Lisanna rubbed the back of her head slightly. "It's not entirely his doing. I may have… spurred him on a bit with my Take Over. I'm not controlling him per se but… I'm giving him a bit of a nudge to helping us."

"Of course, Lisanna-san uses Animal Soul Take Over magic," Juvia nodded in understanding. "That means that she can not only Take Over the properties and turn into animals but she can control them too."

"Yeah," Lisanna nodded. "Elf-niichan let me practice it on his parakeet when I was younger. I hardly ever use that part of my power though. Especially not in battle - I refuse to put innocent animals in danger for me. And one time when we were younger, Happy asked me to try it on him to see if it worked, but it didn't. I guess that's because the Exceed don't technically count as animals. But apparently this Jarvey does."

"Still, what an asshole," Gray muttered. "What the heck did we do to earn all those insults he threw at us?"

"Nothing. That just strikes me as his character," Lisanna shrugged. "I think we might need to take him with a pinch of salt."

"Well I'm hoping that he won't be around for very long," Gray scowled.

"Juvia is in agreement," the Water Mage coughed, cheeks colouring again as some of the Jarvey's suggestions ran through her head again.

"Up this hill, fatasses!" the Jarvey was standing out in the open again now at the top of a rise. "It's right here."

The three Mages trudged up the hill and as soon as they joined the large mustelid at the top they stopped, staring with wide eyes. For there indeed in a clearing before them was sitting another Fairy Sphere - this one at least five times as large as the one that they themselves had been in. But of course, they didn't know that since they hadn't even seen that one.

"There's the Fairy Tail mark," Juvia nodded, rubbing at her leg where her own mark was. (It was also the same place she'd punched her own leg to prevent Meredy from killing Gray and was still a little sore but mostly healed thanks to Wendy's previous efforts before Acnologia's attack)

"So this is what we were inside?" Lisanna asked. "Something like this? For two days?"

"Must have been cosy," the Jarvey snickered, which did nothing to help Juvia's blush.

"Does that mean the rest of our friends are in here?" Gray asked, stepping forward and placing his hand on the glowing sphere which was as solid as rock under his hand. He tried to peer through it and could make out some shapes beyond but he couldn't make out who they might be, though there did seem to be a lot of them.

"They could be," Lisanna remarked. "But what is this thing anyway?"

"Juvia thinks it looks like some type of magical forcefield," the Water Mage noted. "Perhaps this is what protected us from Acnologia's attack back on Tenroujima."

"Sounds logical but how do you explain it falling from the sky?" Gray asked.

"Juvia can't. And Juvia also can't explain why the three of us were in a separate sphere when others are in this one. After all, we were all standing in a circle when Acnologia struck."

"Another good point," Lisanna moved over and placed her ear against the Sphere, listening for any sound of movement coming from within but able to hear nothing. It was slightly warm to the touch and seemed to make a very, almost imperceptibly low magical humming noise. "So, what do we do now? Should we try and get inside it?"

"Step back," Gray huffed as he put his hands together. "I'll see if I can break my way through. If this thing did protect us from a dragon's roar attack then I doubt I can but I'll still try." As Lisanna and Juvia quickly backed off to give him room, Gray called, "ICE-MAKE… HAMM…"

Right before he could form the Hammer attack though the Sphere suddenly flashed brightly, forcing Gray to stumble backwards and shield his eyes from the brightness. The three Mages and the Jarvey watched as the Sphere pulsed and rippled across its entire surface, intricate golden patterns washing across it like lattices before the sphere slowly began to dissolve away right before their eyes.

"Well, that's convenient," Lisanna said as she hurried forward. "Mira-nee! Elf-niichan! Anyone, are you in there?"

"Uh… no… I don't think they are…" Gray's eyes widened as he saw through a gap in the vanishing Sphere.

Lisanna and Juvia both gasped when the Sphere dissipated entirely and they saw what was within.

It was definitely not their friends.

It was a number of large, green-feathered birds, each the size of a man. They had prominent red crests sticking out the tops of their heads, long, viciously sharp yellow beaks with two fangs protruding from the size, yellow feet with black, hooked talons, claws on their wings and long rat-like tails extending out from between their fan-like tail feathers.

Gray remembered these birds all too well - he and Loke had been attacked and swarmed by several of them during the second task of the S-Class exam. But there had been only five that time. Now, there were at least forty! And they were all spreading their wings and hissing in their direction.

"Clippers…" Lisanna breathed. "It's a flock of Clippers."

"Never mind what they're called, get back!" Gray cried, right at the same time as a cacophonous squawk rang through the clearing and the highly territorial, highly aggressive birds launched themselves into the air and towards them.


	7. The Birds

Hi again everybody. First off, I would like to say that I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed or favourited this story - your support means a lot to me, and it's nice to see people enjoying my work even though this is my first Fairy Tail story, and my first big Harry Potter one. I hope everybody is in for a long ride cos this story isn't ending anytime soon.

And secondly, I've decided I'm going to try - try, mind you - to update this story once a week on Fridays if I can. The same day that a new Fairy Tail manga chapter usually appears in English on the web. We'll see if I can keep to that schedule, shall we, but don't be surprised if I end up being late every now and then.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 7:- The Birds**

* * *

"Get out of the way!" Gray yelled as he wheeled around, dashing away as the large birds swept in towards him, the frontrunners opening their beaks and cawing as they closed in on his back. Juvia and Lisanna hurriedly joined him in their flight, reaching the top of the hill they'd just climbed up and leaping over the edge to slide straight down it as bird beaks snapped shut right where they'd been. They were so covered in filth and much already that a little more didn't matter.

The Clippers cawed and screeched indignantly and made to follow, but their progress was hindered by the trees blocking their way - their large wings not built for flying in such a comparatively dense forest. But that wasn't about to stop them and with a flurry of green feathers they flapped low over the treetops, following their progress down the hill from above until one of them found and gap big enough for it to dive through.

Gray cursed as he looked up to see a giant bird descending towards him from above, talons outstretched as if seeking out his face. The Ice Mage was reluctant to harm a creature that was basically just an animal defending what it thought was its territory and he dove backwards and out the way on the snaring talons, hitting the ground with his shoulder and rolling back onto his feet.

"Juvia!" he called.

"Yes!?" Juvia's attention was instantly directed towards him.

"Help me out! We'll create a slide to escape from these guys on!"

"You're so clever, Gray-sama!" Juvia took a moment to exult before she threw her arm out and generated a stream of water that whooshed across the ground through the trees ahead of them. Gray instantly thrust his hands into the water and used his magic to freeze it, leaping onto the icy slide and whooshing down it, freezing another section ahead of him whenever what he'd done already was about to run out. He could have easily created a slide without Juvia's help, but it required a great deal less magic from him to freeze water than it would have to mould the ice out of nothing.

As Juvia leapt onto the slide and breezed after him, Lisanna made to follow before she heard a yelling noise behind her and whirled around with wide eyes. One of the Clippers had managed to corner the Jarvey that had brought them to the Sphere they'd been contained inside and was trying to get through the roots of a large, partially overturned tree to try and get at the cowering creature. Lisanna dashed over and thrust her hands out, using her Take-Over to take control of the Clipper and force it to back away.

"Come on, quick!" Lisanna called to the Jarvey.

"You call these guys your friends, Miss Dandruff?" the Jarvey yelled as he broke cover and ran through them.

"No, we don't!" Lisanna answered as more cawing alerted her to another Clipper clattering in from the side and snapping at her with its beak. She abruptly morphed into her Cat shape to flip agilely to the side, scooping up the Jarvey under one arm and bounding onto the slide, sweeping along in the wake of the other two as they continued to work together to extend the slide.

But the Clippers were relentless and with a never-ending cacophony of screeching they set off in pursuit, the entire flock peering through the treetops to try and stick close behind the fleeing trio of humans, breaking through whenever they found the opportunity and taking another lunge at them, only to be dodged as Gray and Juvia swerved the slide abruptly in another direction.

"Lisanna-san!" Juvia called over her shoulder when the catgirl caught up with them. "Can't you use your Take-Over on them to stop them attacking?"

"Not on all of them at once," Lisanna replied. "I could maybe do two, three, maybe four at a time but not the entire flock!"

"We don't appear to be shaking them!" Gray growled, but then he blanched when he saw several of the Clippers had managed to get ahead of them and were advancing through the trees on foot, their ungainly, hoppity-skipping gait looking utterly ludicrous but their vicious beaks more than enough to make them look threatening.

"Hold your breath!" Juvia cried suddenly and flung her arms out wide, her body turning to water and lost its form, spreading out in all directions. Gray and Lisanna both blanched as they were suddenly submerged in what had been Juvia's body, drenching them in an instant flat, but Juvia blasted herself and them with her up and over the heads of the startled Clippers, before she reconstituted her body and restarted the stream of water ahead. Gray promptly froze it again and they continued on like before, slipping their way through the woods like they were on toboggans down a slope.

The Jarvey coughed and spat out water, "Hey! Warn a guy before you do something like that, Hippohips!"

"Hippohips!" Juvia yelled indignantly though she was not sure what 'hippo' actually meant.

"Really not the time for an argument!" Gray called as the birds continued to clatter around them and overhead. They piled all speed onto the slide and, to their relief, it was not long before they were managing to pull away from the angry flock, who were finding it increasingly difficult to get in at them through the treetops.

That is, they were getting away, right up until they point where the tree-line abruptly ended and they suddenly found themselves shooting across open field.

"Shimata!" Gray exclaimed, looking up again as the birds renewed their attack, diving past the trees behind them and wheeling around the sides to start coming at them from all directions, closing in like a swarm of locusts on a farm.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia yelled, and Gray span around when he realised that he hadn't been looking where he was going and suddenly the slide, no longer following the path that Juvia's water had been taking, was taking them straight towards an old stone wall. Gray snarled as he slammed his hands together to create a sharp turn in the slide ahead, but it was too sharp. As the three of them whooshed around the curve they all lost their footing and were thrown clear, tumbling into undignified heaps in the grass. The Clippers cawed in triumph as they descended down on them like a great feathered cloud.

Juvia was first to her feet and she lifted her hands to cry, "WATER DOME!" Abruptly a like half-sphere of water splashed into existence to form a large dome swirling liquid around the three Mages like a physical wall between them and the birds. The Clippers veered away from the attack slightly, confused at this sudden blockade and Juvia quickly began to shoot plumes of water out in all directions from it, dousing feathers and sending them squawking away, shaking their heads.

"Nice, Juvia!" Gray complimented her, and Juvia beamed happily and almost squealed in delight at the praise but she was able to force herself to concentrate on keeping the birds at bay.

"Yeah, but if you keep attacking like that, they'll never leave us alone," Lisanna called. "We need to get them to lose their interest in us."

"Guess we'll have to wait it out a while," Gray prepared more of his magic to freeze the dome, but right before he could there was a yell from outside the dome. It seemed, once again, they'd forgotten the Jarvey and now he'd been caught in the beak of one of the Clippers, which was flapping its broad wings hard to take it up into the air and away - the Jarvey screaming abuse at it as it squirmed helplessly away.

"No!" Lisanna cried and suddenly switched form, taking the shape of a green-and-pink-feathered swan-like bird. "Gray, seal yourselves in!" she cried as she spread her wings.

"What!? But… Lisanna…"

"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine!" Lisanna insisted as she powered herself into the air, plunging straight through the Water Dome and out amongst the swarm of Clippers, shoving a couple of them aside with her wings as she climbed towards the one that had the Jarvey. Several of the birds were quick to notice there was a stranger in their midst and swung around to pursue her, but most of them descended further down towards the Dome - they'd seen it was possible to get through and were now more determined than ever.

"Damn it!" Gray growled before her raised his hands and froze the Dome around himself and Juvia, creating a thick, solid barrier that the Clippers fell upon, scratching and pecking with talon and beak like frenzied vultures at a carcass, trying to break through.

"Gray-sama, what about Lisanna-san?" Juvia asked with wide eyes, fighting the urge to cover her ears at the cawing and scratching sounds coming from all around them - they could see the shadows of the Clippers through the ice and they could tell they were now completely surrounded, the birds trying to find a way in at all angles.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Gray gritted his teeth. "She knows animals better than any one of us. She'll… she'll be okay."

Juvia bit her lip and looked up, unconsciously moving closer to Gray and peering at the ice walls as if hoping to somehow see what was happening to Lisanna through them. But of course she only saw the shadows of the birds and their relentless pounding on the shield.

"Juvia hopes so," she murmured.

* * *

It took close to half an hour before the last of the Clippers lost interest in attacking the dome and finally left, leaving the area around the dome mercifully quiet at last. But Juvia and Gray still sat there inside for quite a while longer, possibly another half an hour though they weren't really keeping track of time. They were both listening intently, silently wondering whether the Clippers really had gone or whether they were close by, waiting for them to try and break cover.

Eventually though, Gray decided he'd had enough. "Come on, let's get out of here," he grumbled, placing his hand on the wall of the dome and re-moulding it slightly, to create a doorway while leaving the rest of it intact. Juvia momentarily reflected that it was like she and Gray had been sitting together in a giant igloo before quickly following him outside.

The skies were mercifully clear. There was no sign of any Clippers. And there was no sign of Lisanna.

But even as Gray stepped around the igloo-dome to have a look at the other side, he froze. There were one Clipper left in the area, perched in the branches of a large, single oak tree that stood alone in the open field. Gray stood rooted to the spot for several seconds, wondering if it'd start attacking again if he moved too quickly, and if it did, would the commotion bring the entire flock back down on their heads from somewhere close by?

But the Ice Mage was suddenly startled when the Clipper said, in Lisanna's voice, "It's alright. The rest of them are long gone. Probably gone off to look for roosts or something."

"Lisanna?" Gray blinked. "You… ah… I see…"

The Clipper giggled slightly before flapping down from the tree and landing on the grass, its body glowing briefly and suddenly Lisanna was standing there in front of them again. "Best way to avoid getting attacked by Clippers is to be a Clipper yourself, so I thought I'd try getting myself a new Take-Over. And it seemed to work."

"Oh, Lisanna-san. Juvia's so glad you're okay. She was so worried," Juvia hurried forwards and embraced the youngest Strauss sibling, who smiled and hugged her back.

"Yeah, but still that was the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my entire life," the Jarvey stated as it popped out of an old rabbit burrow that Lisanna had helped it hide down during the attack. "The hell were you thinking, charging out there trying to save me like that?"

"Hey, you might want to show a little gratitude!" Gray glared at the ferret-like creature, having to strongly resist the urge to kick it. "If it wasn't for Lisanna, you'd be bird chow by now. Bird crap in the morning."

"Well of course I would be, dumbass. You think my skull's as thick as yours? It's nice to be alive but that doesn't change the fact that was a stupid decision."

"Boy, I bet you don't have many friends," Gray muttered.

"Friends? If you must know, I do have a friend, but he's the most antisocial moron I've ever seen in my…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, what exactly happened, Lisanna? Did you invade the body of one of the birds and absorb its power into your soul or something?"

"What? Oh gods no - I would never do something like that to an innocent animal!" Lisanna looked repulsed and shook her head firmly. "Though I could if I wanted. Elf-niichan used that form of Take Over against the Beast back when…" she grimaced and stopped before she could go any further but both Juvia and Gray knew what she was talking about.

But Lisanna just shook her head and carried on, "But that's an extreme case. Using Take Over to change yourself just means you can essentially copy the body and abilities of whatever you're using it on and take its power into yourself. And that's what I did to one of the Clippers. I locked talons with it in my other bird form and focused on it as we fell through the air, imagining that I had not just the body but the soul of the Clipper and that's what allowed me to become one. I can tell you it looked very surprised when it suddenly found itself facing another one of its own kind instead and it let go of my very quickly."

"So its the same as Transformation Magic?" Juvia asked.

"Nah, not really. Transformation magic only alters the body. Take Over alters your very soul, changing everything about you except you mind if you do it right. If you used Transformation to become an animal you'd just be a human with an animal shape, but with Take Over you gain all the animals instincts, its senses, its abilities, everything like that. You become an animal, or a beast or a demon in the case of my brother and sister, with a human mind."

"I think I get it," Gray nodded. "So, if you were to use Transformation Magic to become a dog, you wouldn't gain a dog's sense of smell with it, but if you became a dog with Take Over, you would."

"Exactly," nodded Lisanna. "And of course I can take command of animals and tell them what to do, but not many at a time. I never tried to expand that part because I am essentially forcing animals to do my bidding but based on what happened today I think I might try and develop it more. At least for situations like that."

"Juvia agrees it could be useful, but Take Over certainly sounds more interesting that Juvia initially realised."

"Got that right," Gray chuckled, before his face turned sour and he looked out across the woods beyond. "Still, now that that whole Clipper business is over and done with you realise we're essentially back to square one. We have no idea where we are, where are friends are, or how to find them, and ferret-face down there's not going to be of any help anymore."

"Ferret-face?" the Jarvey laughed. "Oh my gosh, I'm so insulted. Your words have shocked me to the core. How dare you imply my face looks like a freaking ferret when it looks like a freaking ferret. I'm just glad you didn't call me a stoat, Badger-breath, because then I'd have cried for sure."

Gray was now trying very hard to keep his eye from twitching, slowly grinding out, "Anyone got any ideas?"

"I had a little fly around to scout out the area when I was a Clipper," Lisanna replied. "There's not very much but trees and fields for quite a few miles around and I didn't see any signs of more people, let alone more of those golden Sphere things that we were apparently inside. Then I came back to wait for you two to come out. You were in there quite a long time."

"Probably making out," the Jarvey snickered.

"That's it!" Gray muttered as Juvia covered her face in her hands, her face so red there was practically steam coming off it. A moment later and the Jarvey was totally frozen in a block of ice about twice as big as it was, with Gray dusting his hands off and looking rather smug.

"Did you have to do that?" Lisanna frowned disapprovingly.

"I'll defrost him before we go," Gray muttered. "Just couldn't stand anymore of his talking."

"G-G-Gray-sama… and Juvia… making out?" the Water Mage whimpered slightly, holding her hands together and staring into the middle distance, obviously becoming lost in fantasy. Gray grimaced and fought the urge to facepalm, while Lisanna tapped Juvia pointedly on the shoulder to wake her up before it got any more awkward. Juvia coughed and looked down, embarrassed, but quickly changed the subject before going, "Well… maybe we should try and see if there are any towns nearby."

"There doesn't appear to be much more we can do but pick a direction and go in it. And hope that we're still in Fiore," Lisanna murmured.

"Why would you think we might not be?" Gray asked. "That big weasel told us we were still on Earthland."

"Earthland's got more than one country in it," Lisanna pointed out. "And I've looked through lots of books about the wildlife you can find in Fiore. And never once have I read anything about an animal called a Jarvey."

Gray and Juvia digested this news in silence for several moments before Gray sighed and murmured, "Well this just keeps getting better and better. Guess we've got no choice but to pick a direction and hope for the best."

"Juvia agrees. Lisanna-san, do you think you can carry us? We would cover more ground from the air than we would on foot."

"I don't know," Lisanna chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Birds aren't really built for carrying passengers. I think maybe as a Clipper I could carry one of you on my back but I don't know about the both of you."

"Oh, Juvia doesn't think that should be much of a problem," Juvia smiled. "If Juvia turns most of her body into water then she will be much lighter. Does Lisanna-san think she can carry us both then?"

"I suppose," Lisanna nodded. "I guess the only way to find out is to try it." Her body glowed as she switched form into that of a Clipper once again, stretching her wings and turning awkwardly on the spot, lowering herself down to the ground as if she was sitting on a nest. "Climb aboard then."

Gray hesitantly clambered aboard until he was sitting on Lisanna's feathered shoulders. Clippers were large for birds but they were still only slightly bigger than a man so there wasn't much room left for Juvia. She was forced to crouch on her knees right behind Gray on Lisanna's back and as soon as Lisanna tried standing up she almost fell off, prompting her to seize Gray and wrap her arms around him to keep herself in place - an action which made her blush slightly when she realised she'd done it without asking.

"U-um… Gray-sama…?" she asked questioningly.

"Just hang on tight," Gray replied curtly. Juvia grinned and promptly leaned herself further against him, trying to hide a sigh of contentment as she held the man she loved, her head resting between his shoulders. Gray stiffened visibly at this (particularly since he could feel Juvia's chest pressed against his back) but refused to make any comment, negative or otherwise.

"Well, I think I can manage," Lisanna announced, "Though it might take some getting used to."

"Then whenever you're ready," Gray nodded.

"Hold on, Gray. You should unfreeze the Jarvey before we go."

Gray groaned slightly but passed his hand through the air, causing the ice encasing the big ferret creature to vanish into thin air. The Jarvey looked around sharply and yelling, "What? What? How did… what just…" before scowling up at Gray and saying. "Oh, what did you just do to me Strip King?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Gray grunted. "We'll be going now."

"Thanks for all your help," Lisanna said cheerfully through her bird beak and kicked off from the ground. It took a couple of skittering jumps before she managed to get into the air, but as she flapped off over the tree line she added, "Though Gray, now that he mentions it I feel I have to ask, please can you try and keep your pants on while you're on my back."

"Ghh…" Gray coughed before murmuring, "I'll do my best."

"Juvia wouldn't mind," the Water Mage whispered quietly, but thankfully her words were carried off with the wind before either of the others heard her say it.

And from the ground, the Jarvey watched them go, wrinkling his little button nose distastefully. "Jeez, what a bunch of weirdos. Ain't never seen magic like that before. Not even from the Big Em. Still… I bet he's gonna be very interested in this lot, so he is, so he is."

* * *

Harry wondered if the scowl on his face had been there since breakfast, or whether his expression had becoming increasingly more thunderous since then. He hadn't expected the day to start well and he was right. Hermione had been perusing the Daily Prophet that morning to find any sign of what Sirius had mentioned last night and she had indeed found an article about the dragon attack in the Hebrides, which Ron had been eager to read since Charlie was in it.

The second eldest Weasley brother seemed to have been brusque with the reporters, stating that there was no evidence to suggest anything other than a simple clash over territory, albeit a slightly more vicious one than usual where they'd both scored lucky hits on the other, but that they were going to continue investigating anyway.

There had been no mention of the attack on the Muggle Bank at Portree though. Hermione guessed that the Ministry were trying to cover that one up until they knew what exactly they were dealing with.

But it was the news on the front page, which Percy had hinted about in his letter to Ron the previous day, that had really soured his mood - the appointment of Umbridge to becoming the Hogwarts High Inquisitor, giving her the power to inspect the rest of the staff. Under normal circumstances, that might seem to actually be a rather fair thing to do - it was important that the teachers were doing their jobs properly after all. But they now knew the Ministry was only doing this in an attempt to interfere and gain a foothold at the school, all solely as part of their plan to discredit Dumbledore and hopefully unseat him, all because Fudge was becoming convinced Dumbledore wanted power for himself. This had nothing to do with standards of education, only the Ministry's paranoia.

He could only hope that the toad-faced bitch hadn't seen his furious death glare across the Great Hall that morning.

And of course any morning he had to sit through a Potions lesson could not be considered a good one, especially when he learned afterwards that the D that Snape had given him for his homework stood for 'Dreadful' and was the second lowest mark he could have gotten - the equivalent of an E at Muggle schools.

And he'd never thought he'd ever feel sorry for Professor Trelawney considering she predicted his violent death in every single lesson, but after watching the agony of her inspection from Umbridge just now he'd found sympathy even for her, right up until the point where Trelawney had taken out her anger on him with a more graphic description of his death than usual.

But still, his loathing for Umbridge seemed to be increasing by the minute.

"I hate her," he growled under his breath. "I hate that frog-mouthed, evil spawn of… Satan. I hate her."

"Jeez, mate, you might want to dial back the rage before we actually get to her class," Ron patted him on the back slightly. "You're not the only one. I don't think there's a single Gryffindor that likes her. And judging by what I've been hearing from the other houses, she doesn't have many fans in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw either."

"Who the hell does she think she is though?" Harry clenched his fist. "The way she waddles around the place with that smug face… its like she thinks she's the Headmistress already. Or the Queen of England or the damn world or something."

"Dear God that's an image I could do without," Ron shuddered. "Her sitting on some kind of throne, waving that stubby hand of hers around as people look upon her magnificence and throw up in droves."

Harry snorted in amusement at that last part but his anger still broiled unbidden within him. "You know what I think? I think someone should inspect her lessons. I bet if they did, then they'd find a reason to throw her out pretty quickly considering she's not actually teaching us anything."

"We wish. She's got the Ministry behind her. They won't send anyone who'd do that."

"I honestly don't think that there's been a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher I hated more. And that includes Lockhart."

"Me too, but there's not much we can do but hope she has some kind of accident that gets her carted off to St. Mungos is there? Until then, she's here to stay, I think."

"Oh, I wouldn't count your Plimpies before they hatch," said a dreamy voice from behind them, and both Harry and Ron turned around to see Luna Lovegood was there, practically gliding along through the corridor along with all the other students and giving them a vague smile. "I think its entirely possible that that woman's days in the school are numbered."

"Huh?" Harry asked. "What makes you say that?"

"Just a feeling I have," Luna said, staring a little past them as if remembering something. "I just think that when that woman does get ejected from the school, it will be quite a windstorm. Not unlike that one that occurred at the Quidditch Pitch yesterday."

"Were you there?" Ron asked, a grin spreading across his face. "Did you see the Slytherin team get knocked about?"

"Yes, and it was quite fascinating," Luna nodded simply. "And I can't help but wonder if that windstorm might return to help liberate us all from her tyranny. Or maybe one of its friends."

"One of its friends?" Ron frowned. "Windstorms aren't living things, you know."

"Aren't they?" Luna smiled enigmatically before she breezed between the two and they watched her skipping off, her peculiar radish-like earrings bouncing around erratically as she went.

"…I know calling her things like Loony Lovegood is horrible and all but… she is a pretty odd one," Harry blinked as he watched her go.

"Not entirely sure she has all of her eggs in one basket," Ron shook his head. How can a windstorm have friends? That doesn't even make sense on any level."

Harry had to agree, but Luna had seemed quite sure of what she was saying, though her meaning was totally unclear. He wondered if he would ever actually figure Luna out. She wasn't exactly a prominent person in his life since he'd only spoken to her on three separate occasions, though all of them had been since the train journey here this year. And every time she seemed to leave him feeling flummoxed and unsure what just happened.

But he was grateful she wasn't shunning him like a large portion of the rest of the school were. But it was difficult to know if she believed his tale about Voldemort because of what he's said or whether she believed it because it sounded like an interesting idea.

"Still," Ron added as they continued walking. "The image of Umbridge being scooped up in a gale and getting blown away… that is an appealing one. Hey, have you ever considered trying to do that thing you did to your Aunt where you inflated her without using a wand and she floated off like a big balloon?"

Harry burst out laughing so hard he doubled over and had to find a place to sit briefly so he could laugh it off, which caused a great deal of people to stop and stare at him as if he'd lost it, but since many of them probably thought he had already he didn't care.

"Now I really… really wish I knew what I'd done that day," Harry wiped his eyes beneath his glasses slightly.

"You'd get a standing ovation for it if you could pull it off, I reckon," Ron grinned as he helped Harry up. "Come on, though. I don't think you want to find out what she'll do to you if you're late for her classes."

Realising this was a rather valid point, Harry hurried off with Ron behind him. They met Hermione, who had been at Arithmancy, right before they entered the room where Umbridge was waiting for them, humming sickeningly. And then of course the lesson began and, during the course of it, Harry managed to lose his temper and landed himself in a week's worth of detentions. Again.

* * *

It was not long before Lisanna and her two passengers managed to find a settlement.

Unfortunately, it was not a pleasant sight that greeted them.

"Oh no!" Lisanna gasped, catching the attention of the other two. "Look up ahead!"

Gray and Juvia both gasped when they saw the buildings they were approaching. Or, to be more precise, they noted what was on and around the buildings. It seemed like they had found the Clippers again. And the Clippers had evidently decided that the rooftops of all the houses would make the best roosting site.

Which was extremely bad news for the people who lived there. Screams were ripping through the air as people cowered in their parked or crashed vehicles, ducking behind the cover of benches and signposts or made wild dashes for doors, shielding their heads against the onslaught of the aggressive avians. And the streets were not only filled with humans trying to find shelter but also cows, horses, donkeys and dogs. The birds were indiscriminate in their targets, whirling around to dive-bomb and human and aim pecks and slashes at their heads before lifting off and aiming themselves at a cow instead.

And they were showing no signs of stopping.

"Looks like we should have dealt with those birds when we had the chance," Gray growled, watching one of them throw itself off a roof and forcing a mother to grab her child and dive behind a bench to avoid a snapping beak. "All we did was give them a chance to find this place."

"They're attacking everything in sight!" Juvia agreed.

"They're not being malicious though," Lisanna insisted. "I can sense the Clippers' instincts within me. It's driving them to attack in order to protect themselves from potential threats and competition."

"Even so, we've got no choice now," Gray insisted as they winged closer. "We've got to protect those people!"

"But we can't kill them! They're innocent creatures!" Lisanna protected.

"We won't kill them," Juvia agreed. "But Gray-sama is right. We have to do something."

Lisanna groaned but nodded her head. "I guess you're right. Just try not to hurt them too badly if you can. Hang on, guys!" And she swept her wings with all the power she could muster and shot in towards the town like an arrow fired from a bow, Juvia and Gray clinging on for dear life. Lisanna's eyes locked on a Clipper that was diving down towards a lone child that had panicked and run out into the open, crashing into it head-on and seizing it by the wing to pull it off course, spinning around to send it hurtling down into the street in a heap of feathers. The impact knocked Gray and Juvia loose but they were able to flip safely back onto their feet as Lisanna morphed back into human shape and landed near them.

"We should split up," Gray took charge. "Try and cover all the area we can between us."

"Try not to destroy any buildings!" Juvia agreed as she turned to water and blitzed down the road, weaving through the air on her personal water jet towards another Clipper that was trying to beat its way through the windshield of a parked car to get at the terrified people within. The Clipper squawked as Juvia rammed it with her watery shoulder and sent it rolling across the street. Juvia stood upon the hood of the car and called into the startled family. "Get out of here! Juvia will handle this!"

The rain woman looked up with gritted teeth as three more Clippers hissed in her direction, leaping into the air and sweeping down into the street towards her. Juvia leapt off the car and spun around in the air, generating a current of water that blasted all three of them upwards and away, cawing in disgust at their soaking feathers. Two more were snapping at each two people cowering behind a bench on the pavement, but Juvia held up her hands and cried, "WATER LOCK!" forming a sphere of water around them which reduced them to frenziedly beating their wings and spewing bubbles in an attempt to escape.

A loud screech caused Juvia to whirl around in time to see another Clipper descend on her with beak agape but she merely stood there and let the giant bird bite down on her head. The beak passed straight through it, splashing a fair amount of water across the pavement and causing screams from onlookers as it seemed like Juvia's head had been bitten in half… but then stunned silence ensued as Juvia's water body reformed itself until it looked as though she'd never been struck at all.

"Drip, drip, drop," Juvia smiled, uttering a phrase she had not used for quite a long time before she suddenly spotted what looked like a large ford across the road ahead of her. The Water Mage smiled as she dashed towards it and raised her hands up into the air. The ford rose up with them, geysering into the air and several jets peeling away to blast at the squawking, angry birds and push them back anytime any within Juvia's sight made to dive towards the street.

A couple of streets away, Lisanna was having to fight a little more hand to claw. As she ran along, she initially relied solely on her Take Over's effect on the birds, taking control of their bodies and making them cease their attack and fly off, but she quickly came upon a knot of them that she knew she couldn't control at once. And several of these birds had managed to back a group of cows up against a wall. A brave bull had stepped up to defend the females and was swinging his horns at the attackers, but with so many coming from all sides and scratching at him, he was quickly being overwhelmed.

Lisanna glared - no matter what she couldn't watch innocent animals suffer. Leaping over the top of a car she morphed her arms into wings and whooshed down the street, ignoring the cries of shock from the onlookers before she switched again into her giant purple rabbit form in mid-air, colliding with several of the and sending them flying away with a full body slam to fall in feathered heaps in the street. Two more swerved out of the way and converged on her, only for her to kick backwards with her big bunny feet and bullseye them both in the chest, sending them flopping to the ground with the wind knocked out of them.

Quickly reverting back to human form she used her magic to calm the nervous bull and send him and the cows on their way, running for cover. But screams alerted her to more Clippers dive-bombing three men who looked like they'd been drinking but were now heavily sober, lying in the middle of the street with their arms over their faces, trying to defend themselves from slashing beaks and claws. Lisanna ran to help, noticing a couple of horses nearby and taking control of them. The horses immediately charged the birds and leapt over the stunned men, smashing the birds aside and rearing up on their hind legs to beat at the startled birds.

Lisanna dashed over and commanded the birds to fly away, before helping the men to their feet and crying, "Get on the horses and get out of here! Go now!" The men didn't need telling twice and the suddenly calm horses allowed them on before galloping off down the road. But Lisanna's attention was taken again by another piercing scream and she saw one Clipper had managed to grab a young girl, possibly around Wendy's age, and haul her into the air. Lisanna shifted into her Cat form and dashed over on all fours, scooting up the trunk of a tree to land on the back of the Clipper, scrambling over to slash at its shoulders with her claws.

The Clipper screeched and dropped the girl, and Lisanna vaulted off its back the moment it did to seize the girl in her arms in mid-air and land smoothly on her feet, tail poised. She hurried over to the nearest door and ushered the girl through it quickly before she could get nabbed again.

And a short distance away, Gray was in the thick of things, crouched behind a shield of Ice that he'd made as he helped an elderly man with a slightly bloodied leg to his feet and allowed him to hobble over to the door of a house, which Gray kicked in - not caring who the house belonged to - and helped the man inside. "Stay here," he said as the man slumped down the wall, before placing his hands on his leg and applying a thin layer of frost to it. "Sorry that's cold but it'll help to staunch the bleeding," he promised before he ran back out the door again in time to see two women running with handbags over their heads as four Clippers swarmed behind them tearing at the bags.

"ICE MAKE: LANCE!" Gray cried and fired off a volley of long icy spears from his hands that sliced through the air right between the women and the Clippers, forcing the birds to pull up with angry screeches. Gray thundered over, dodging a lamppost and roaring, "ICE MAKE: PRISON!" Instantly a large cage formed around the four birds and dropped to the floor, taking them down with it and trapping them inside, screeching as they attempted to savage the icy bars without success, allowing Gray to leave them to it.

"HELP! HEEELP!" a voice drew his attention up into the air and he blanched when he saw a man clinging to the steeple of a church while a Clipper tried to pull him away by his coat. How he'd got up there but Gray acted quickly and bellowed, "ICE MAKE: CATAPULT!" Instantly a solid ice catapult was formed in the street with himself standing in the sling and a moment later it fired, flinging him upwards through the air towards the top of the church. Forming ice around his fist he punched the bird with it and knocked it for a loop, seizing the man in about the same moment and pulling him free of the steeple. The two of them fell until Gray created an icy slide for them that extended across the street instead of ending abruptly once it reached the ground, allowing them to slip right to the doors of a convenience store, which the man promptly ran into.

"No need for thanks," Gray muttered before he turned around to see another three Clippers flying around what appeared to be a children's playground. Several kids were screaming as they crouched under the climbing apparatus as the Clippers tried to get at them while distressed mothers tried to run to the rescue only to be driven back by more birds diving out of the sky. Gray hurried to assist and leapt over the fence into the playground, yelling, "ICE MAKE: KNUCKLE!" and generating several fists of ice out of the ground which pounded into the birds and knocked them up and away.

"Get out of here, kids!" Gray yelled, and the children quickly obeyed, running to their mothers, except for one little boy that remained rooted to the spot in fear. Gray cursed as he saw more birds coming in for another pass so he ran forward and seized the child in his arms, running with him towards the others, when suddenly a Clipper swept out of nowhere and made a lunge for them both. Gray immediately twisted his body to put it between the bird and the child, yelling as the bird's talons ripped long gouges in his back. But he whirled around with gritted teeth and pummelled the bird aside with a blast of ice before running on anyway and delivering the boy into the arms of his crying mother.

"Thank you! Thank you!" the mother cried, holding the child close, but staring at Gray as if he was some alien life-form, which was quite understandable considering what she'd just seen Gray do. "Who… who are you?"

Gray grunted as he formed a layer of ice over his back to cover his wound before grinning and pounding the mark on his chest.

"We're Fairy Tail."

But the sounds of more birds screeching, plumes of water shooting out over the rooftops nearby and mewling yowls that were probably Lisanna all reminded Gray that the fight was not over yet. So he leapt over the fence again and back into the fray.

* * *

For Tonks, her day went from a dull snail's pace to a sudden helter-skelter of activity in practically half a minute flat. So much so, that she was left a little reeling and her brain had to catch up with the rest of her as she Disapparated with the same old familiar loud crack.

She'd had a pretty much sleepless night before, the aftermath of the attack in Portree resulting in a lot of paperwork and debriefings for all of the Aurors present, as well as a long lecture from Scrimgeour about how they needed to keep an eye out for the guy they'd seen on the screens, during which all Tonks could think about was how if Mad-Eye Moody was here, all he'd needed to do is bark, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" at the amassed Aurors and they'd all get the same message that Scrimgeour was trying to give them with just that.

And then of course it had been her turn to patrol Diagon Alley for a while. All Aurors had to take their turn doing this twice a week just to make sure that nobody started anything in the middle of such a crowded area. Yet, as usual, nothing happened.

Tonks was so proud to be an Auror and was the most recently graduated of the entire force… but boy did her job get boring sometimes.

And then, just as she had been about ready to head home for what she hoped would be a very long and relaxing bath, a silvery Patronus Charm in the shape of a bear came charging through the halls, roaring in Scrimgeour's voice - "All available Aurors report to the briefing room immediately!" - over and over again. Tonks almost tripped over her feet as she rushed to obey the emergency order, but was able to catch herself against a wall and hurry off.

"What's happening?" she called to fellow Auror, Savage, as he ran ahead of her.

"No clue!" Savage called back, and the two of them, along with many other Aurors, hurried into the briefing room, where Scrimgeour was waiting for them with a grim face.

"Listen up!" he announced even as more Aurors were dashing into the room. "I don't have time to explain in detail but we've received an emergency call from a wizard who lives in Brockenhurst down in New Forest in Hampshire. He claims that the town is under attack from a flock of giant birds he doesn't recognise. We're heading out with the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to help subdue this threat. Be prepared for a vicious attack from the air, but try not to kill any of the birds. But this is a Muggle residence so I need a perimeter set around the town - no Muggle must be allowed to leave until we have modified their memory. Now, let's head out."

That was the way it was in emergency situations. Minimal explanation - an Auror had to adapt quickly to the circumstances since dilly-dallying could result in the loss of innocent lives. Though Tonks had a million and one questions she would have liked to ask, like where these birds might have come from, she had no time to ask them and knew that Scrimgeour probably didn't know the answer anyway.

So, instead, Tonks merely thought the word 'Brockenhurst' clearly in her head since she'd never been there and suddenly she was there in the streets with more Aurors popping into existence in various places around her. Almost immediately she was deafened by the loud cawing and ducked as a shadow fell across her - two large green birds swooping low between the buildings, chasing a terrified dog.

With no time to gawp, Tonks' wand was in her hand in a flash and dashed out into the street, firing a round of quick Stunning Spells up at the birds. She was joined by other Aurors from nearby and one of the two crumpled to the ground with a crash, hit by multiple spells at once, while the other lost the use of its wing and spiralled down slightly, landing on its feet and turning to hiss at the nearest Auror, which happened to be Tonks herself, dashing towards her on slightly ungainly feet. Tonks rolled to the side and fired another Stunner up at the bird in mid-roll, hitting it square in the beak with a ragged squawk before keeling over to fall unconscious onto its front.

Tonks pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the amazed faces of Muggles peering through the windows and hurrying off into the town, aware of more birds wheeling overhead and searching for prospective targets. Other Aurors nearby Disapparated in order to go and form the perimeter but Tonks carried on with what she was doing, seeing another bird swooping low nearby and flinging an Incarcerous spell at it, dodging the bird's fall as it was tangled up in the ropes from the spell and fell to the street in a thrashing heap. Tonks left it there and hurried down another street, spotting more Aurors firing more spells at the birds and adding a few of her own to the mix, pretty sure she managed to take out another one.

_The hell is going on here anyway,_ she thought to herself as she rolled out into the next street and fired an Impediment Jinx at another, freezing it in mid-air and allowing several others to Stun it so that when it unfroze it dropped like a stone.

Tonks then saw another bird nearby which was attempting to get in through the automatic door of a convenience store. It had its head and part of its torso through and was trying to push the door open with wider with one foot, snapping at people inside who were beating at it frantically with whatever they could while one man kept his hand down on the emergency close button for the door. So the Metamorphmagus did the only thing she could - Apparated right into the midst of the crowd inside and firing a Reductor Curse at the bird. It quite literally didn't know what hit it as it was blown backwards out of the door, rolling beak over tail until it collided with a parked car.

Tonks ignored the stunned looks on the faces of the Muggles as she slipped through the door to Stun the bird. She was getting used to it. This wasn't the first time that Muggles had seen her performing magic, and while she found their awe rather amusing now was really not the time for that.

But, it was right then, that Tonks spotted something that made herself pull up short and stare with awe.

The first thing she saw was a girl with what appeared to be blue hair that was tightly curled at the base, running through the street with several of the green birds in pursuit. But even as Tonks moved to help, the girl's body suddenly changed and liquified, turning to water while still retaining its form right before Tonks' eyes. Tonks openly gaped as the girl fired herself into the air on a jet of water from her feet, weaving down the street as the birds clattered after her, two of them colliding with each other head-on and dropping like stones.

But the girl then whirled around on a tight one-eighty in the air and created two large whips of water in her hands. She spun around to knock two of the birds askew with them before lashing another around a third bird's feet and hauling it into the side of a building. Another bird swept in at her but her form suddenly melted away and she split into two plumes of water that whooshed around either side of the bird before reuniting on the other side, solidifying into her human form again. She fired a blast of water from her palms at the bird, catching into into the back and sending it crashing into the street while the girl landed squarely on her feet.

And that was when Juvia Lockser and Nymphadora Tonks both locked eyes for the first time. Juvia, thinking Tonks was just another bystander, waved her arm frantically and yelled, "Take cover, Miss! Juvia will handle the birds!"

"Who are…?" Tonks started to ask but several of the birds Juvia had knocked aside before had gotten back up and were hissing like angry snakes, charging in towards both the women as they lifted themselves into the air once more. Juvia whirled around to face them and brought her arms up, channelling her magic as several drain grates along the side of the road burst upwards with great plumes of water from the pipes below that washed in on the birds and swamped them, crashing them together in a sodden heap.

"Ugh…" Juvia grimaced. "Juvia doesn't know if she wants to control that water again."

Abruptly a loud honking made both Juvia and Tonks turn around to see a car screeching around the corner, beset by two more birds - evidently someone who had just got here to a rather unwelcome sight. Juvia was already in motion as the car swerved wildly, shouting, "SIERRA!" and blasting herself as a burst of high pressure water to smash both the birds backwards but as she landed she saw the driver of the car had seemingly lost control and was swerving so wildly he was about to crash into the side of a building.

Juvia gasped and frantically searched her brain for something to stop the car but Tonks ran in and yelled, "IMPEDIMENTA!" pointing her wand at the car. The entire vehicle suddenly froze in mid-swerve, both its right wheels off the ground as if it was about to tip over. Tonks barrelled in and yanked the car door open, hauling the also frozen man right out of it and pulling him away before suddenly the car unfroze and smashed into a wall with a crumpling of metal.

Juvia's face lit up slightly. "You can use magic," she noted. "Was that some kind of time related magic perhaps? A holder type maybe, if you have to use that stick for it?"

Tonks deposited the dazed man on the side of the road and turned around to point her wand at Juvia, striding slowly towards her. "Holder type? I don't know what you're talking about, girl, but I'm going to have to ask you not to move, or by my authority as an Auror of the Ministry of Magic I will have to place you under arrest."

"Under arrest?" Juvia blanched. "Ministry of Magic? But… Juvia hasn't done anything wrong…"

"Please make it easier on both of us and just answer my questions," Tonks replied shortly. "And I've got many, but here are some of the big ones. Who are you? What the hell kind of magic was that you were using? And what have you got to do with these birds? And…"

It was right at that point where Tonks spotted something else about this girl. Her clothes were torn and her legs and arms were covered in bandages, but on her left leg some of those bandages had been torn away. And Tonks had just noticed a blue mark on her skin there, in a very distinctive shape. It took a moment, but her eyes widened when she realised she'd seen that mark before - on the golden sphere they'd found in Nottinghamshire the other day.

"And… what… is that symbol?"


	8. Lost Together

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 8:- Lost Together**

* * *

"What is that symbol?" Tonks repeated as she stepped closer to Juvia warily, her wand outstretched and pointing directly at Juvia's chest. "That symbol on your leg, I've seen it before. Tell me what it is. And who you are. Come on, girl, answer my questions."

Juvia opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, really not sure what to make of this situation - the woman was threatening to arrest her? For what, protecting these people? Did she think that the bird attack was her fault perhaps? But that made no sense - she'd just seen her attacking the birds herself so that couldn't be it surely.

Whatever the case though, this woman seemed like an official so Juvia figured it would be best to just tell the truth and hope that went down well.

"It's… it's the mark of the mage guild known as Fairy Tail," Juvia drew herself up a little, glowing with pride at being part of such a place. "It's considered by most to be the most powerful guild in all of Fiore. Haven't you heard of it?"

"What have fairy tales got to do with any of this?" Tonk frowned in bewilderment. "Aren't fairy tales a Muggle concept? Everyone wizard and witch knows fairies are real."

"They are?" Juvia blinked. "Juvia thought nobody knew for sure whether they existed or not."

"You're just trying to mess with my now, aren't you?" Tonks took another step forward, much more sure footed than she would be under casual circumstances. "Where did you say you were from?"

"Juvia lives in the city of Magnolia, in the country of Fiore," the Water Mage explained quickly.

"Never heard of either one of them," Tonks replied. "Either you're from really far out of town or you're making things up as you go along. I think I might just have to take you in so we can find out the truth about you."

"Take Juvia in!" Juvia took a step backwards. "But wait… surely this is not the time for that. Juvia thinks we should be working together to defend this town from the Clippers."

"Clippers? Are those the name of the birds? Do you have something to do with them?!" Tonks became instantly more alert and narrowed her eyes, a fact which made Juvia curse internally - now she really found her suspicious.

But before the situation could get any uglier they were very promptly reminded of the situation at hand. All throughout their exchange the sounds of cawing and flashes of light from other streets signified the battle was still going on and a harsh squawking drew the attention of both the women to where three Clippers were rounding a corner in pursuit a donkey, which was braying madly as it pounded down the street to try and get away from them. Tonks faltered slightly but she vaguely remembered that Brockenhurst was well known for having no fences letting animals wander through its streets.

But Juvia leapt straight into motion and hurtled down the street to help the poor donkey out. "HEY!" Tonks yelled after her and automatically threw a Stunning spell at her, but Juvia's body was already liquefying and although the spell hit her dead on it just past straight through her and hit a wall behind her instead. Tonks could only ogle in disbelief at this sight as Juvia blasted water from the bottom of her feet to shoot herself into the air, sailing straight at the oncoming Clippers.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she cried, and whipped her body round in circles to become something like an airborne whirlpool that spread out, swept over the donkey's head and engulfed the three Clippers, which gurgled bubbles and flapped their wings uselessly, tumbling over and over in the currents generated by Juvia's body as she whooshed them down the street to deposit them in a sodden pile of feathers, reforming her body before them.

Despite the fact Tonks had already seen her do things like this, it made it no less gobsmacking this time. But her distraction cost her dearly, because when another Clipper suddenly descended on her from behind and seized her shoulders in its talons, she never had any warning.

"AAGH!" Tonks yelled as she was slammed down onto her front, her wand falling from her nerveless hand to clatter onto the tarmac. Even as she scrabbled to grab it though the Clipper surged back up into the air, heaving her up with it. Tonks kicked and screamed, struggling for all she was worth as her feet left the ground but the Clipper was physically stronger than her and bore her up and away.

"GET OFF OF ME YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR PILLOW STUFFINGS!" Tonks yelled as she thrashed wildly, but the Clipper just tightened its grip and lanced down slightly with its beak. Tonks yelped as the toothy bill snapped down just a few inches from her face. This was definitely not the best of positions to be in right now. She considered using her Metamorphmagus abilities to shrink her arms a little in the hope she would slip out of the bird's grip… but looking down she realised she was already quite a way up.

Which was the better option? A long fall or a bird's beak. Either one was going to hurt! A lot!

But a shout of, "STRANGER-SAN! HOLD ON!" drew her attention back down and she balked when she saw Juvia was now rocketing up towards her, her legs morphed into a watery blast that carried her upwards like a missile.

"WAIT! WHAT ARE…!?" Tonks started but Juvia twisted her body, reformed her legs in mid-air swept her arm out in front of her with a cry of:-

"HELP ME, LISANNA-SAN! WATER SLICER!"

She deliberately made the attack weaker than it could be as she didn't want to give the Clipper any permanent injuries, but she lashed out a single long blade of water that slashed up the gap between them and cut shallow gashed into the bird's legs, just above its knees. The Clipper screeched and let go of the struggling Auror, and Tonks screamed as she suddenly found herself plummeting towards the ground, tipping over so she was falling head-first, only able to watch as the tarmac seemed to rush up towards her face.

But just as she thought the jig could be up, she was suddenly seized by the ankles and yanked back up into the air again by what felt distinctly like another set of talons. Gasping at the sudden shock she looked up, expecting to see another Clipper… but she was stunned when she saw what was carrying her had the wings, tail and feet of a large bird, but the torso and head of a young-looking girl with short, white hair.

"Sorry about that!" the girl called down to her. "Hope I didn't give you whiplash!"

"What… who…" Tonks blustered as the girl-bird flapped her wings hard to lower Tonks to the ground, settling her down on top of a car. Tonks quickly scrambled down and stared as the girl landed next to her, the bird-like parts of her body shimmering slightly before they suddenly became human.

"Are you okay?" Lisanna asked, stepping forwards with concern evident in her voice.

"How… how did you do that?" Tonks choked out.

"Lisanna-san, good catch!" Juvia hurried over before Lisanna could answer. "Juvia hopes you're okay, Stranger-san. Here's your stick." And she held out her hand, with Tonks' wand firmly nestled in her palm. Tonks quickly snatched it gratefully, but then whirled around from one girl to another, blustering and trying to come up with something to say.

"Who… are you people?" was what she finally managed. "What kind of… magic…?"

She was suddenly interrupted yet again when a voice yelled, "JUVIA! LISANNA!" and Tonks whipped around to see a young man with short black hair and no shirt come darting around the corner of a T-junction up ahead. He spun around and raised his hands up into the air, bringing them crashing down onto the road he'd just run out of and yelling, "ICE-MAKE: FLOOR!"

And Tonks watched in astonishment as suddenly the entire cross-section of the T-junction was coated in an icy carpet and she watched as two men in Auror robes went sliding right past across it, totally out of control and falling onto their backsides to slip away down the street.

Gray turned and thundered towards them, dashing right past the three of them and yelling, "COME ON!" as he went. Juvia and Lisanna immediately followed him as he ducked into a side-street nearby, and after a moment of indecision Tonks followed them, holding her wand at the ready. She didn't have a clue who these people were, or what they were doing here and protocol dictated that she should try and apprehend them all - take them in for questioning.

But… she was not sure she wanted to.

After all, the two girls had just saved her life.

So instead, she followed them into the side street, watching as Gray leaned against a dank wall, panting slightly. "It's become a total madhouse out there," he growled. "The good news is I think that most of the Clippers have stopped attacking. But suddenly while I was fighting them off, all these guys in black robes just popped out of nowhere and started firing flashing lights at the birds."

"Local mages, I guess," Lisanna nodded.

"Yeah, but when I tried to help them out, they suddenly turned on me!" Gray growled angrily. "Started firing those funny lights of theirs at me. It was a good thing I'd already seen those lights knock one of the Clippers unconscious or I might not have reacted in time."

Juvia turned her head to look at Tonks. "Juvia thinks that they must be this place's version of the Rune Knights. Some kind of magical law enforcement. Would Juvia be correct in that assumption?"

Tonks coughed as suddenly Lisanna and Gray were looking at her to. "Um… yes, I suppose. We're Aurors, from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Ministry of Magic. We came to help stop the bird attack when we received word of it but I don't think any of us were expecting to run into… anything like you."

"What do you mean, 'anything like us?'" Lisanna frowned. "We use magic, just like you."

"Believe me," Tonks snorted. "You do not use magic like us. I haven't seen you do a single thing that I can do with my magic."

"But everyone uses different kinds of magic," Lisanna looked no less bemused. "Juvia here can't turn into animals any more than I can control water."

The Water Mage in question coughed and said, "Juvia… is not so sure that Lisanna-san's words will make much sense to her. Juvia thinks Lisanna-san was right to suspect we were no longer in Fiore. This woman has never heard of it."

"Never heard of Fiore?" Gray looked up sharply. "Is that true?"

"Yes, it is," Tonks nodded firmly. "I've never heard of Fiore and I have never seen anyone do anything remotely like what you've been doing. Especially without even using a wand." She held up the piece of wood in her hand. "Virtually all magic in existence that I know of requires a wand. Yet none of you were using one. And… you all have that symbol…" she breathed, when she finally noticed the white mark on Lisanna's leg in the same place as Juvia's and the black one adorning Gray's chest.

Tonks stared at the three of them, as they stared right back, before the Auror lowered her wand slightly. "I've asked you before… but I'm going to ask you again… who are you people?"

"If you want, we'll explain everything to you, but first I want some answers of my own," Gray said as he folded his arms. "Those guys out there with the sticks and the flashy lights your friends are they? Why the heck did they attack me when I was trying to help them out?"

"Juvia wants to know that too," Juvia nodded fiercely. "Stranger-san herself threatened to try and arrest me when Juvia had done nothing wrong."

"Stranger-san?" Gray blinked.

"Look, they probably panicked, okay?" Tonks ran a hand through her hair. "These are strange times and when I saw what you were doing with that water magic of yours, the fact you were helping against the birds didn't really register to me next to the sheer… mind-blowing nature of what you were doing! Honestly I'm still half convinced that I've imagined this whole thing and haven't seen some girl turn herself to water and back or some guy freeze an entire road solid just by touching it or any of that."

"That doesn't really explain why we were attacked," Gray said impatiently.

"Like I said, these are strange times. And when I first saw you guys the first thing that you're wielding a powerful and totally unknown type of magic and that make you all potentially dangerous individuals. And we're Aurors. It's our duty to make sure that the general public is kept safe from people wielding dangerous magic. Standard procedure would dictate that any individual found wielding magic not recognised and approved by the Ministry should be taken in for questioning. Speaking of which where the hell did you learn to do all that?"

"I learned it because my sister gained Take Over magic by accident," Lisanna replied.

"I learned my Ice Magic from a great Mage who… well, that's not important," Gray muttered, a little bitterly.

"Juvia has always had an aptitude for Water Magic," Juvia replied. "She could use it before she could talk. A bit."

All these explanations just flew over Tonks' head for the most part, and she just stared at the three of them, slightly bemused.

"The Ministry you mentioned…" Gray suddenly interjected. "Is that another word for the Magic Council?"

"Magic Council? You mean the Wizard's Council? There hasn't been a Wizard's Council for over three-hundred years!"

"What!?" all three of them yelled at the same time, making Tonks jump backwards slightly, before Lisanna asked, "What year is it?"

"What year…? It's 1995 of course - surely you ought to know that at least…" Tonks trailed off when she saw the looks on the faces of these strangers only get more bewildered.

"1995?" Juvia asked. "But… last Juvia checked it was the Year X684."

"And the day of the S-Class trials took place on December 16th," Lisanna agreed. "What's the date now?"

"September… 9th, I think…" Tonk murmured. "It's a Monday, if that helps."

But the other three were all staring at each other now, with expressions that didn't seem to know whether they should be horrified or just confused."

"Is it possible that… somehow… we could have travelled through time?" Juvia asked.

"I doubt it," Lisanna grimaced, looking out across the street. "The general architecture of this place doesn't look much different from parts of Fiore… but I saw some differences. Like did you see those cars out there? They were incredibly different to the ones back home. In fact, one of the biggest differences between Earthland and Edolas was its cars, and those were different from both."

"What are you saying, Lisanna?" Gray asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

"I'm saying it's entirely possible that we're not on Earthland at all. I think it's extremely possible we could be in another dimension entirely."

Lisanna's words dropped over Gray and Juvia's heads like a proverbial sledgehammer, and even Tonks reeled backwards slightly. These people surely had to be insane - they knew absolutely nothing about anything, their magic was absolutely ludicrous and they seemed to think they came from another universe.

And yet… oddly… that explanation made a whole lot more sense than anything else Tonks had been able to come up with herself.

But the sheer scale of the idea… it was mad. It had to be. There's no way it could be true.

"What's this world called?" Lisanna asked her suddenly. "What's this… this planet called?"

"Um… Earth…" Tonks said slowly.

"Just Earth? Not Earthland?"

"No, just Earth. I've always thought it was a stupid name for a planet but that's what it's called."

"Well, I suppose that might explain why that Jarvey thing told us we actually were still on Earthland. He must have assumed that we meant something more literal… like the land of Earth maybe."

"Assuming he wasn't just saying that to mess with us," Gray ran a hand over his face.

"Well… what do we do now?" Juvia fretted. "What about all our friends?"

But neither Gray nor Lisanna had any answers and Juvia knew they didn't before she even asked.

Tonks watched the three of them seem to draw closer together and her bewildered face softened slightly. Now she was seeing them in an entirely different light. They no longer looked like the tough, skilled fighters that she'd seen them being before they ducked into this alleyway. Now they all just looked like scared children, despair creeping into their faces. And she felt her heart going out to them. A large part of them still thought they were totally out of their tree but… they didn't look it.

They were just so… lost…

Now what the heck was she supposed to do?

Before she could answer that question, Juvia suddenly turned and prompted her. "What's you're name, Stranger-san?"

"My name? It's N… Tonks. Just call me Tonks."

"Tonks-san… please, can you help us?" Juvia asked imploringly. "If what Juvia and her friends believe is true and we are really in a different world to the one we grew up in, then we have nowhere to go. No home to go back to. But we do have friends that could be out there somewhere. Friends that are just as lost and confused as we are… is there anything that Tonks-san can do to help us?"

"Er…" Tonks hesitated, glancing at the others to see Lisanna looking at her almost equally pleadingly and Gray looking slightly dubious, quite clearly indicating he didn't believe she'd grant Juvia's request. "Well, look, I really should take you in for questioning."

"No chance," Gray growled slightly. "I've been to an alternate universe before, and I've seen the kind of things people in power can do when they get hold of people with magic they don't possess themselves. I'm not going anywhere where I could be poked and prodded and magically experimented on."

"Gray-sama… they might try and help us…" Juvia pointed out.

"Forget it," Gray shook his head. "I don't want anything to do with this Ministry place."

"I'm inclined to agree," Lisanna murmured. "At least for now. I want to at least find out more about this place and this Ministry first. Please Miss… can't you just let us go if nothing else?"

Tonks hesitated slightly, knowing that doing just that would violate several rules of being an Auror… but then again, she was already doing that, wasn't she? Her own cousin, Sirius Black, was wanted for horrendous crimes that he hadn't even committed and Tonks knew exactly where he was and was not turning him in. These people had committed no crimes either… and she had to agree with the shirtless man's assessment. What would happen if Ministry officials learned what this lot could do?

Tonks didn't really want to think about it. She wouldn't pretend to understand the mind's of the Ministry officials right now. What if Fudge thought they were too dangerous and ordered them incarcerated in Azkaban? What if they actually were subjected to experimentation to see if their magic could be extracted or duplicated or learned.

Oh, there was no way in heck that Tonks was going to let people who looked only a little older than the maximum Hogwarts school age go through that.

"I'm probably going to get in a lot of trouble for this," Tonks muttered slightly. "But if you want, you can all crash at mine for a while. At least until we figure out what the heck you're going to do next."

"Really?" Lisanna smiled brightly. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Hey, you saved me from being bird chow or a stain on the pavement - it's the least I can do," Tonks smiled.

Gray still looked suspicious but slowly nodded. "We appreciate it. But how do you plan on getting us past those others?"

"I'll take you to my home via Side-Along Apparition," Tonks supplied. "Um… do you know what that is? If you don't, its basically like a kind of magical teleportation, I think the word would be. Instant transfer from one place to another. I'll have to make two trips though - I can only take two people at a time."

"How do we know that you're actually going to take us to your house with this and not dump us in some prison somewhere?" Gray asked.

"Gray-sama…" Juvia rested her arm on his slightly. "Juvia believes we can trust Tonks-san. But also, Juvia doesn't believe we have too many other options."

"We could bust our way out and escape on our own," Gray pointed out.

"Yeah, but that might make us automatic enemies of this Ministry," Lisanna pointed out. "I think it might be best to avoid that happening if we can."

Gray grimaced but acknowledged Lisanna's advice - she'd spent two whole years on the run from the Royal Court of Edolas, after all. She knew as well as anyone that that was no way to live if you could avoid it.

"Alright then, let's do it," he nodded. "Who's going first?"

"Juvia will do," the rain woman volunteered as she stepped closer to Tonks. "How does this work?"

"Just hold my arm tightly," Tonks said as she held it up. "And be warned, most people throw up the first time they Apparate. It really doesn't feel pleasant."

"Juvia has probably experienced worse," Juvia said as she took Tonks' arm, and as Tonks scanned the bandages that were covering Juvia's limbs she realised she might just be telling the truth.

"Wait!" Lisanna suddenly gasped before they could do anything. "What about the Clippers? What's going to become of them?"

"The birds?" Tonks blinked. "They'll be rounded up and held by the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures as they try and work out what they are."

"They won't hurt them will they? There's nothing magical about Clippers - they're just ordinary birds from our world that landed here by mistake like we did."

Tonks floundered, having no answer to that question. She didn't know what the Department would do under circumstances like that. "Well, I'm… sure they'll be fine. If they're really not magical I imagine they'd just try and find an island for them somewhere to set them free on."

"But what if they don't?" Lisanna asked.

"Lisanna…" Gray placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know how much you love animals but we really can't worry too much about those birds right now. We've got bigger problems, like worrying about ourselves and the rest of our friends. There's nothing that we can do about them anyway so the best thing we can do now is get the heck out of here and hope these people have a shred of decency about them."

Lisanna bit her lip, but after a moment's deliberation, she sighed and lowered her head. "I guess you're right. I don't like it, but you're right."

"Alright, let's go," Tonks nodded, and suddenly twisted around and Disapparated with a popping noise.

* * *

Juvia gasped as her body felt like it was being condensed and forced through some kind of tube, the whole world around her and Tonks spinning and blurring into a swirling mess until suddenly the two of them were standing in what looked like a living room. And a rather messy one, with a few clothes and empty packets of sweets and stuff littered all over the place.

"You alright?" Tonks asked as Juvia let go.

"Yes, Juvia is fine," Juvia nodded, stepping away, and indeed she was fine. "Juvia's body is water. Water flows."

Tonks raised a brow, but she conceded that Apparition must be nothing compared to morphing your entire body into liquid and swirling around in the air the way that she'd seen this woman do. "Right. Well, be right back," she said, as she vanished again with another pop, leaving Juvia alone to take in her surroundings.

"This looks cosy… Juvia supposes," she murmured as she picked her way over a couple of shirts strewn haphazardly on the floor and peered through a doorway into a nearby kitchen, which all seemed to be normal enough as far as she was concerned, and through another door which seemed to lead to some kind of bathroom. But then when she walked to a window and looked through it, she gasped in amazement.

They appeared to be quite a long way off the ground and immediately stretched out before her was an extremely wide river that curved away around the bend, with several long bridges spanning its width, all extremely different in design. On both sides of the river she could see huge, towering buildings, much large than most of the ones she'd seen in Fiore, many with equally spaced windows running horizontally and vertically across their entire length and no building seemingly the same height as another.

And wow… that had to be the biggest ferris wheel that Juvia had ever seen in her entire life.

Juvia's attention was so riveted that she didn't notice that Tonks had appeared behind her again with Gray and Lisanna in tow, right up until the point where Gray choked and fell to the floor with a crash, gasping for breath.

"Gray-sama! Are you okay?" Juvia immediately rushed to him.

"Looks like the effect of Apparition had more of an effect on him than you," Tonks chuckled, glancing up at Lisanna who had stumbled and looked extremely shaken, but still seemed to be better than Gray, perhaps since her body was used to being changed too. "It usually takes a bit of getting used to. If you're going to throw up, please do it in the bathroom, not…"

A split second later Gray threw up. Juvia reacted immediately and summoned a ball of water that caught the foul projectile and sent it flowing across the room and straight into the toilet before it could make a mess of Tonks' floor.

"Thanks," Gray croaked. "Ugh, that was rough."

Juvia practically levitated with giddiness at being thanked by Gray but she quickly shook her head and said, "Juvia can tell. But as least Gray-sama is safe now."

"Can only hope so," Gray pushed himself to his feet, even as Tonks ogled slightly at what Juvia had just done.

"That's a neat trick," she admitted. "I'll have to remember that one if I can."

"So… where are we?" Lisanna asked, sitting a little heavily down on the messy sofa.

"My apartment building in the city of London. It's the capital city of England in case you didn't know that… and I'm guessing you don't by the looks of your faces. Jeez, you guys are going to be hard to talk to, I reckon. Anyway, it's not that big and I've been thinking of moving but for now its home."

"Whatever the case, thank you for helping us out," Gray replied stiffly. "It is appreciated."

"You realise that if my boss found out that I'd been harbouring you three without taking you in, I'd be in all kinds of trouble, right?" Tonks asked.

"That just makes us appreciate it all the more," Lisanna smiled. "Thank you."

Tonks smiled lightly. "No problem… but I really need to get back now before they notice I'm not out in the field where I should be. I'll be back as soon as I can, but until then please don't go anywhere. But make yourself comfortable - there's milk and other stuff in the kitchen and yeah… hang tight and try not to break anything." She turned around instantly tripped on one of her own stray shirts and came crashing down to the floor, knocking a vase of flowers off a table as she went, which Lisanna was thankfully able to catch with the tips of her fingers before it could smash.

"I was about to say we'll try our hardest but it looks like you might have as much of a penchant for breaking things as we do," Gray smirked.

"Ha. Ha. Ha…" Tonks rolled her eyes as she scrambled up, dusted off her ropes and vanished with another popping noise, leaving the three Fairy Tail mages alone in the apartment.

"Looks like at least something's going right," Lisanna sighed as she placed the flowers back on the table. "We were probably lucky to meet her. She seems like a very nice person."

"We can only hope that's true and that this isn't some… elaborate and overly complicated trap," Gray muttered.

"Juvia doesn't think it is. Tonks-san seems to be genuine to me," Juvia threw in. "But still… Juvia truly does think we may have landed in an alternate world now. If Gray-sama and Lisanna-san look outside, they may see what I mean."

The two of them promptly did that, leaving the three of them staring out in amazement at the view - the London Eye seeming to stare at them a little even though it wasn't facing them. They could see all the cars and the boats down below, none of which looked anything like what they knew from back home and one of the bridges seemed to hold a railway line, giving them quite a clear view of a running train that was also unfamiliar in design.

While many of the things inside the apartment seemed normal, just about everything outside looked so… alien.

"If… if we are in an alternate universe… what are we supposed to do now?" Juvia asked. "We can't hide away in Tonks-san's house forever."

"Damned if I know," Gray huffed as he pulled away from the window and Lisanna trudged heavily back to the sofa and sunk down into the cushions. "Least when I was in Edolas I got given a mission to complete from start to end. I got pulled back into Earthland before I could even start worrying too much about anything in the long term."

Juvia nodded and turned to Lisanna, wondering if she was going to contribute anything, but she faltered when she saw Lisanna sitting with hands together, her face tight and with a tear beginning to roll its way down her cheek.

"Lisanna-san…" she gasped and hurried over, drawing Gray's attention. "Are you okay?"

"No…" Lisanna shook her head, sniffing as she wiped the tear away only for another to trail down the other side of her face. "None of us are. Not right now. But… it's just… not fair. How can this have happened to me again? And so quickly too?"

She placed her face in her hands and began to sob openly, her body wracking with her anguish. Gray stiffened visibly and began searching for something to say to try that didn't sound insensitive but Juvia beat him to it, placing a hand on Lisanna's shoulder.

"Don't cry, Lisanna-san. Please. You might start making Juvia cry too."

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Lisanna hiccuped, looking up slightly with her face already extremely tear-stained. "It's just… after two years stranded in Edolas, two whole years with a totally different Fairy Tail, who all thought that I was a different Lisanna because I didn't have the heart to tell them I wasn't the one they knew, I finally got back to where I belonged. I finally reunited with my

real brother and my real sister and all the friends that I'd grown up with. I was home. But I didn't even get to stay there for three weeks before suddenly I've been whisked away again. Separated from Mira-nee and Elf-niichan again. It's not… it's not fair…!" she choked, her voice strangled, as she sat there and cried her eyes out.

"Um… well… you never know…" Gray grasped for his words. "Maybe Elfman and Mira are somewhere in this universe too."

"Maybe, but that's another thing," Lisanna sniffled. "I both want and don't want them to be in this universe. I want them to be here so that I can find them and stay with them, but I don't want them to be here because this isn't where they belong either. I want them to be back home at Fairy Tail where we all should be. But at the same time I want them to be here with me so bad… is that selfish of me?"

"Not at all, Lisanna-san," Juvia assured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders slightly. "There's nothing selfish about wanting to be with your family. Juvia… never really had a family until she joined Fairy Tail but in a way that means Juvia knows all the more how precious family is. Juvia wishes that Gajeel-kun was here, or Erza-san or Cana-san or any of the others. But Juvia knows that if Elfman-san and Mira-san are in this world then we will find them, no matter how hard we have to look, right, Gray-sama?"

"Absolutely!" Gray nodded, grateful that Juvia was taking charge of comforting Lisanna because he really didn't have a clue how to go about it. "We wouldn't be Fairy Tail if we didn't, would we?"

"I guess not," Lisanna-san sniffed. "But where are they? Where are we? Where are everyone?"

Juvia went a step further and pulled Lisanna into a consoling hug, which the younger sister gratefully returned, burying her face in Juvia's shoulder.

"Juvia doesn't know. But at least Lisanna-san is with people that she does know this time, right? She is not alone this time. Juvia and Gray-sama will be there with her no matter what comes now, and we can deal with all this together."

Lisanna smiled slightly through her tears and murmured, "Thanks Juvia. I'm… I'm glad you're here, even though I haven't known you - this you, anyway - for very long. You too, Gray."

"No worries," Gray chuckled. "You're right - this isn't fair. To any of us, but especially to you. But Juvia's right too. We'll take on the entire world if we have to until we find them all. It doesn't matter which world it is - that's what Fairy Tail would do. Right?"

"Right!" Lisanna nodded, looking up from Juvia's shoulder. "Thank you. Both of you." And it was right at this point that her stomach growled, and she blinked, giggling slightly sheepishly despite the fact she was still crying slightly.

"Well, I guess that answers the question as to what we do next," Gray remarked, striding into the kitchen. "Let's see what this woman has lying around."

* * *

It took some time before Tonks was finally able to get off from work. She'd been right when she'd guessed all of the Clippers would be rounded up and taken in to the Ministry of Magic, though with so many unconscious birds they had had to request permission to set up several Portkeys to transport them all. And of course the Obliviation began shortly afterwards - an enormous number of Muggles had seen not only their own magic, but the strange magic of the three Fairy Tail members, who had been seen by many of the other Aurors too.

Which meant this was likely to be a long stakeout as they wiped all the memories they could, making the people think that there had been a stampede of the cows they let wander through their streets which had caused all the damage and injuries. And it wasn't made easier by the fact a very large number of them had called the police.

Scrimgeour himself had seen Lisanna and Gray both doing a bit of fighting against the birds, and he was adamant that they be found and brought in. He and Tonks had both had a similar thought - could these people be somehow connected to the events in Portree yesterday, with that man they'd seen on the CCTV footage destroying the bank. But of course none of the Aurors found them and Tonks had to put on a show of looking for them for a while even though she knew they were not there.

But although Scrimgeour insisted on staying at the scene until this whole mess was sorted, he did permit Tonks to head home earlier than the others, since she had been on duty all the previous night as well, and could do with some rest. Tonks gratefully excused herself and Apparated back to her apartment, though rest was the last thing on her mind. She intended to start what might be the most interesting conversation of her life.

But when she arrived back in her living room, the first thing she saw was Lisanna and Juvia lying back on the sofa, arms around each other slightly and their chests rising and falling smoothly in their sleep.

It was right at that moment that Tonks was one-hundred percent sure she'd made the right decision not to bring these guys into the Ministry. The two of them looked so peaceful, Lisanna in particular clinging to Juvia as if for comfort and Tonks could see she'd been crying. Whatever the heck was going on with this lot, the last thing they needed was to be treated like interesting specimens or monsters.

"Back, I see," Gray noted from in the chair he was sitting on, swigging a glass of pumpkin juice that Tonks had stored in the fridge. "That way you appear out of nowhere's a bit disconcerting."

Tonks' eyes widened slightly when she saw what Gray was wearing… or rather what he was not wearing. "Er… I know I said to make yourself comfortable but… that might be pushing it a bit."

"What are you… YYAGH!" Gray yelled as he looked down at himself and realised that he'd somehow taken off his trousers without realising it, meaning he was wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. He immediately scrambled to grab them from where they were lying on the floor next to him, leaving Tonks blinking in surprise.

"Did you actually not notice that you'd taken those off?" she blinked.

"It happens all the time, okay!?" Gray gritted his teeth, his face reddening as he re-dressed himself.

"Er… right…?" Tonks faltered before she grinned slightly and said, "Well, I have to say the sight wasn't entirely unwelcome. Those are some great abs you've…" but before she could finish she practically felt the malevolence behind her and turned slowly to see Juvia, who had been awoken by Gray's yell, glaring daggers at her, her teeth grinding so hard they ought to be making the sounds of grating metal while Lisanna looked on in amusement.

Tonks got the message. No flirting with this guy - he was off limits. Eh, he was a few years younger than her anyway.

"Er… wotcha, girls," she waved a little nervously, stepping away from Gray. "Are you alright?"

"As well as can be under the circumstances, I think," Lisanna nodded. "What happened back at the town?"

"Oh, usual. They were searching for you, and they rounded up the birds like they said they would but really that's not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about is you lot," she pulled up a chair and sat down on it heavily. "About who you are, where you come from. I wanna know everything, so come. Spill."

"Well… I'm Lisanna Strauss. This is Juvia Lockser, and Gray Fullbuster. You said your name was Tonks, right? What's your last name?"

"Er…" Tonks coughed awkwardly. "That… that is my last name."

"Oh… then what's your first name?"

"I really, really don't want to talk about it."

"Why?" Gray's brow furrowed. "It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Go on, you can tell us," Lisanna nodded. "You should be honest with us if we're going to stay under your roof for a while, right?"

"…Ugh… fine. It's Nymphadora, but if I hear you call me by it I swear I'll hex you until your noses fall off," she shuddered, her hair turning red very briefly before switching back to its usual pink. "God, I hate that name."

"What was that?" Juvia pointed at Tonks' hair, seemingly having gotten past the whole flirting with Gray thing. "Tonks-san's hair just changed colour for a moment there."

"Ah, well… that's because I'm a Metamorphmagus," Tonks grinned proudly. "That's a human who can change their appearance with a thought. It's a pretty neat trick, isn't it? But no, before you ask, I can't teach you how to do it. Metamorphmagi are born with their gifts."

"Oh, that's okay. We don't need to learn it," Lisanna smiled. "If we wanted to change our own appearance like that we'd learn to use Transformation Magic. My sister's an expert at it. She can change herself to look and sound exactly like any one of us in an instant flat."

"…Oh… really?" Tonks visibly deflated. "Damn… and there I thought maybe I could show off some unique talent I had that you guys don't. But I suppose I should have figured since I saw you turn into a half-bird and all."

"I can turn into a full bird when I want," Lisanna smiled. "And a rabbit and a fish and a cat and a mermaid and a penguin…"

"A mermaid? Really?" Juvia blinked. "Juvia didn't know that."

"Well, its not really useful for anything other than swimming and I can be a fish for that," Lisanna pointed out. "Though technically I just turn my lower half only into that of a fish for that - I don't actually have a Mermaid Soul, per se."

"Wait, wait, wait, I'm getting confused again," Tonks shook her head. "Look, how about we just start from the beginning? Tell me about this other universe of yours. And if there's anything whatsoever you have to say that sounds familiar, I'll let you know."

"Where do you even begin to start describing a whole world?" Gray groaned.

"We could do a Q and A session," Tonks snickered. "And I could begin by asking you how the hell you can take your clothes off without noticing. Speaking of which if you want to put a shirt on just pick any one of mine that strikes your fancy."

Gray immediately grabbed a red T-shirt and pulled it on before he avoided the topic and began the explanation with. "You wanted to know what this symbol means right? Well, it's the mark of Fairy Tail - the Mage's Guild we belong to."

"What's a Mage's Guild?"

"…We're going to be here a while…"

* * *

"DAMN IT!" Gajeel pounded the rocks before him with a massive club arm, shattering it and causing a miniature rockslide that pounded down into the river below him.

"Gajeel, calm down! We can figure this out," Lily gasped, Gajeel's arm around his body unconsciously tightening and pressing on his burn slightly.

"But we were getting closer - I could smell it!" Gajeel growled. "And now this?"

It had been a long journey up the river after Gajeel had finally caught hold of Wendy's scent. Particularly since they had had to make detours and stops to avoid being seen by several fishermen and people on bridges that crossed the gap on the way up. After what had happened in Portree, Gajeel was not eager to be spotted by any more locals until he knew more about this wacky place. But they had steadily been getting further and further up the river with Wendy's scent growing in Gajeel's nose.

And he could still smell her now.

But it seemed that they had reached the end of the road because they had reached a point where the river was flowing out from underground. A place where neither Gajeel nor the Exceed could go without help, which Gajeel guessed Wendy had had, because as well as her he'd been smelling several other bizarre scents, like a mix between humans, fish and seaweed. Not just the smell of the river though - he could tell that all those smells had come from the same source, whatever that source was.

"What do we do now?" Charla asked. "We need to go down there and find Wendy."

"Well unless Exceed can breathe underwater I don't think we'll be getting through there," Gajeel muttered. "I'm guessing that water runs underground for quite a long way."

"Then how do we follow Wendy now? Are you sure she didn't get out here?"

"Positive. We'd see signs of her clambering out the bank if she had but there ain't none. No, she went down there… Looks like I'll have to resort to tearing up the ground to expose the river or something. Damn, that's going to take time."

"There is another solution," Mavis giggled slightly as she landed on his shoulders weightlessly, leaning over him to look him in the face upside down, her long blonde hair tumbling down like a shower curtain below her. "I think you're forgetting I'm here, Gajeel. I don't have to breathe underwater."

"That's right!" Happy cheered. "Master Mavis can go down there and have a look."

"Indeed. I can find where the river comes out from underground, it if does at all, and then I'll come back and lead you to it. If you can still smell Wendy when we get to the other side, we'll know she's not down there. Assuming I don't find her myself of course."

Gajeel shook his head, grinning almost savagely. "Who'd have thought that ghosts could be so helpful? Better hurry though, First. The current is still taking Wendy's scent away. If we take too long I could lose it."

"Gotcha," Mavis flipped over and dove into the river, creating a splash which few of the others were really expecting from a ghost. But as Mavis had said, ghosts could be rather more solid than you might think. And Mavis was certainly feeling the cold of the river as she was dunked in it. But the current itself had no effect on her so she easily swum up it and underground.

It was pitch dark down here and Mavis couldn't see in front of her, but she could sense her surroundings and thanked her lucky stars that the river seemed to be rather straight and didn't have any tributaries flowing into it down here. It was all just one river, which meant that Wendy could have only gone in one direction - the one that Mavis herself was going now.

It took maybe fifteen minutes for her, going steadily, until she saw light and she burst up and out into the sunshine once more. And that was when Mavis saw it - the castle shining slightly in the light of the late afternoon sun, its tall impossible spires reaching up to brush the sky, bordered by a massive lake and a dark tangled forest.

Mavis gasped in admiration. "Wow… I should have something like that built on Tenroujima… but surely there must be a ninety-eight percent chance that Wendy went there."

She quickly darted back across the landscape, following the path of the river above the ground as she had memorised its course while going through it and shortly she was back in front of Gajeel and the Exceeds, telling them quickly about what she'd found.

"A castle? That must be it! Surely Wendy must be there!" Charla's eyes were shining with hope. "She must be!"

"Can't be sure of that yet," Gajeel reminded her. "But seems like a damn good spot to me. Geehee! Let's get going, Blue Cat. We've got a little girl to find!"

"Aye sir!" Happy called as he spurred them forwards with a flap of his wings, Charla flying ahead as Mavis led the way - the entire group now grinning as it seemed they were nearing the end of their chase.

"There it is!" Mavis pointed when the castle came into sight. "Dead ahead."

"That's got to be the place!" Charla whooshed past her, rushing ahead towards the castle. "I'm coming Wendy! I'm on my way!"

"White cat, wait up!" Gajeel bellowed as Happy shot forwards to try and keep up with her. "We don't know who lives there yet!"

"That doesn't matter! Wendy might be there! That's all the reason we need to go in."

"Yeah, but we should still be prepared to GWAH!" Gajeel and Happy both suddenly yelled at the same time as Gajeel seemed to crash right into what appeared to be a totally invisible wall of some kind, his body flattened against thin air as Happy tried to keep flying, only for Gajeel to not budge an inch further forward.

"Hey! What are you guys playing at!?" Charla cried. "This is no time for games!"

"I don't play games," Gajeel snorted, peeling is face backwards and slamming his fist forwards, only for it to stop suddenly at the same point his body reached. There was no impact - no sound that indicated he'd touched anything. He just seemed to stop here as if his body physically couldn't go any further.

"What's… going on?" Happy yelled as he tried to haul Gajeel forwards to no effect whatsoever. The blue cat flapped backwards slightly to draw Gajeel away and then zoomed forwards again, only for Gajeel to suddenly stop at the same point as if he was being repelled by a giant magnet and couldn't get a single step further.

"Oi, stop that!" Gajeel grunted as he felt his face flatten against something he couldn't see.

"It looks like the castle has some kind of magical defences," Mavis noted as she hovered through whatever it was that was blocking Gajeel's way.

"Runes, maybe?" Charla asked.

"Don't feel like runes to me," Gajeel muttered as he pushed himself back. "Runes felt solid. This just feels like the air itself is trying stopping me from going through."

"No but it may be the same kind of principle," Mavis pointed out. "Some kind of magical barrier that's preventing humans from entering the premises without being invited. I'm guess they don't have a defence against ghosts and flying cats or the rest of us might not be able to get through either."

"Put me down, Blue Cat," Gajeel grunted, and Happy obeyed, lowering him towards the floor as the Iron Dragon Slayer glared at the towering structure before him.

"Think you can keep out Gajeel Redfox, do you?" he murmured. "Bring it on. One way or another I'm busting in there. You can count on it!"


	9. Phoenix Meet Fairy

Just a heads up to everyone - I am actually on holiday right now as I post this chapter to you - I wrote most of this chapter on the plane. And I will be on holiday until a week on Sunday so I may miss the regular Friday update depending on how much time I get for writing, but if I do, I will make up time after I return. In other words, there will be two chapters in the next two weeks as usual, just that the first one might not be on the right day.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 9:- Phoenix Meet Fairy**

* * *

Tonks' brain was absolutely reeling from the information overload she was receiving. Lisanna seemed to be the one doing most of the talking and Gray and Juvia both seemed quite happy to let her - it seemed she was a better storyteller than they were. But everything she was saying… it was so much to take in.

More and more, the Metamorphmagus believed that this trio of incredible youngsters really were from another world. Everything Lisanna was saying jarred with everything Tonks knew about her own world, from the fact that the Muggles in their world not only knew about magic but asked for help from it with the magic users more than eager to oblige, to talking dragons, to the guild system - both light and dark - and everything else like it.

It was unfathomable.

Yet she didn't doubt a word of it.

Yet at the same time she was constantly asking herself how two separate worlds, both with magic in the air, could be so utterly and completely different from one another even without delving into the differences between magic itself. It seemed that magic for this lot wasn't about learning an assortment of different spells and theories that could help them accomplish multiple different tasks like levitating something to a high shelf, cheering somebody up, turning cutlery into crockery or anything like that. There were dozens and dozens of different magical types for them, each with a specific focus. In fact, when Tonks had demonstrated a little transfiguration by turning one of her cushions into a teddy bear, all three of them had found that astounding.

"This is all so much to take in," she rubbed her forehead slightly, leaning back in her chair thoughtfully. "You guys are… freaking mental. And what the heck am I supposed to do with you now? I can't very well let you stay here eating through my food but can I just let you go off and do your own thing. Nobody in this world has seen anything like you - you could be a one-way freight train to disaster under the wrong circumstances."

"And yet we cannot stay even if we wanted to," Gray pointed out. "We've got friends to find. And trust me, if we don't find Natsu before he goes and blows something up there will definitely be a one-way freight train to disaster."

"Blows something up?" Tonks blinked before she gasped and sat up. "The bank! I forgot to ask you about the bank!"

"Ask us about the what?" Juvia frowned. "What have riversides got to do with any of this?"

"Riv… You guys don't even have banks in… well, never mind. It's not important. All you need to know is that in this world, banks are places where people go to keep their money safe when they're not using it."

"Store their money? That's an utterly ludicrous idea. Why not just keep it in a safe or something like any sane person would?" Gray scoffed.

"Well, it doesn't matter. It's hard to explain the concept of a bank but the point is, yesterday in a place called Portree miles and miles and miles to the north of here some young men broke into a bank and tried to steal the money there…"

"Yep, see, stupid idea," Gray confirmed.

"Well people's personal money wouldn't have been… oh why am I defending Muggle banks anyway? The point is people broke it to try and rob the place except they were very quickly stopped by a man with extremely strange magic who destroyed half the bank in the process. My boss, Scrimgeour, and the rest of the Aurors are trying to find this guy before he exposes magic to the Muggles. Does that sound like he could be this Natsu guy? The man what looked like a freaking tornado out of his mouth!"

"Sounds very Natsu to me," Lisanna beamed slightly. "What did he look like?"

"Rather tall guy, strong arms, very long very messy black hair… oh and he seemed to turn his arm into some kind of club as well to smack the robbers with."

"Oh, that's not Natsu," Gray replied. "But it sounds like someone else we know."

"Gajeel-kun!" Juvia breathed. "It must have been Gajeel-kun."

"Who's Gajeel-kun?" Tonks blinked, not missing the fact that while Lisanna still had a look of relief on her face, she had ever-so-slightly deflated at this news that it was not Natsu.

"Gajeel is one of those Dragon Slayers we told you about," Gray nodded. "The Iron Dragon Slayer. He's not really got Natsu's penchant for blowing things up but the guy's got just about as much subtlety as him in battle. As in, none at all."

"Oh, don't pretend you don't break things all the time while on jobs yourself, Gray," Lisanna rolled her eyes slightly. "And you've taken your shirt off again."

"DAMNIT!"

"Gray-sama… stop showing your abs to all the other girls!"

"Ooookay," Tonks replied, as she pushed herself to her feet and stretched slightly. "Well at least you know that there's someone else you know in this world now. I suppose that can be your next step - tracking this guy down before he breaks something else maybe. Though how you'll find him I don't know. But anyway, I really need some sleep. I've been up for over twenty-four hours now so I could do with some shut-eye. Feel free to kip wherever you like. Heck, Gray and Juvia you can snuggle up on the sofa together for all I care…"

"THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" Gray immediately bellowed with a violent jerk while Juvia went red as a cherry and clapped her hands over her cheeks, murmuring something that sounded suspiciously like:- "Aah… Juvia and Gray-sama… snuggling together… Gray-sama could use Juvia's chest as a pillow… and…" before Lisanna suddenly covered her mouth before she could get too into it, hoping Gray hadn't heard that.

But he had. And he also hadn't put his shirt back on yet.

"Riiight…" Tonks scratched her arm, eyes flicking to each of her sudden houseguests, guessing she'd trodden on some very awkward territory there from the way Juvia was looking down at her boots and Gray was determinedly looking anywhere but at her. "Well… as was, er… saying, you can kip anywhere you want - sorry I don't really have anywhere specific but I'm not exactly used to houseguests. Anyway, I need to…"

She stopped, blinking, when she spotted something which in all her excitement and amazement before she had totally failed to notice - there was an unopened envelope sitting on her table not far from her open window. She immediately crossed over to it and ripped it open, pulling out a hastily scrawled note inside:-

_Emergency meeting at nine o'clock tonight. Be there if you can make it._

She recognised the writing as the relatively neat quillmanship of Remus Lupin - even though she hadn't know the guy for very long he was one of the neatest of the Order members despite his shabby appearance. Regardless, her head snapped up to stare at the clock on the wall and yelped when she spotted that it was now eight past nine, meaning she was already late.

"Something wrong?" Lisanna asked.

"No, nothing's wrong but I've just learned I'm late for something important!" Tonks immediately hurried to her fireplace and scooped up some Floo Powder. "Do whatever you want. Hopefully I'll be back soon."

"Where you going?" Gray demanded.

"Secret," Tonks replied as she stepped into the fireplace, swung around and cried, "12 Grimmauld Place!"

All three of the Fairy Tail members yelled as Tonks was immediately engulfed by green flames the moment she dropped the Floo Powder to her feet. Juvia acted immediately and flung a wall of water in an attempt to douse the flames, but just as it splashed over Tonks she suddenly vanished, as if she'd been whipped down into the flames and out of sight.

"…What… just happened?" Gray muttered after a short blanket of silence.

"Um… I'm guessing some kind of magical transportation of this world," Lisanna murmured. "We used to be able to transport the entire guild from place to place in Edolas. Well… Levy did."

"She could have warned us though," Gray sighed.

Juvia picked up the note that Tonks had found and read it through herself but couldn't glean anything from it. "Juvia wonders where she went," she murmured.

* * *

Because the flames of a Floo Powder transport were not really hot and did not burn, Tonks was instantly soaked by Juvia's water blast and did not dry out until she spun out of the fireplace in a sodden heap into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Spitting out water and murmuring, "Thanks Juvia…" to herself, she looked up slowly through matted hair and saw that just about the entire Order were already assembled and already sitting around the long dining room table before her. Dumbledore was stood at the head, flanked by McGonagall and Snape.

And every head in the room turned towards her as she appeared, and many eyebrows were raised at the sight of her soaked form.

"Er… wotcha guys," Tonks grinned a little lopsidedly at them.

"You alright there, cousin?" Sirius chuckled, getting up to help Tonks to her feet. "Is there some kind of monsoon in a very small, very concentrated part of London or did you decide to go for a dip in the Thames?"

"Neither," Tonks wiped water out of her eyes. "I could tell you what happened, but then I'd have to kill you."

Well really, how was she supposed to tell anyone what she'd learned that day without sounding like a total whackjob?

Sirius snickered and waved his wand, drying Tonks off instantly and letting her take a seat next to him. "Sorry I'm late," Tonks said. "It's been a long day."

"It's quite alright, Miss Tonks," Dumbledore nodded from his place at the head. "You have not missed anything. I was just telling everyone present that there has been a sudden and highly unexpected turn of events which might affect the whole magical world, but I had not got round to explaining what that is yet."

"Oh, okay. Well… what's the news then?" Tonks asked.

"It is quite extraordinary," Dumbledore addressed the room. "And I would not be surprised if, when I have explained it, some of you in this room thought that perhaps I need an extended trip to St. Mungos to have my sanity checked as a good deal of the rest of the Wizarding World seems to now. You may choose whether you believe me or not, but what I say is true."

This caused some muttering and apprehensive looks through the room, but this was quickly cut off from a thunking noise that indicated Alastor Mad-Eye Moody had decided to bang his wooden leg against the ground. It was rare to have his artificial blue eye and his regular eye focused in the same place but now they were both riveted on Dumbledore.

"We're all ears, Professor," he growled. "Tell us."

"Thank you, Alastor," Dumbledore nodded. "Perhaps some of you may know of the odd events that have been occurring these last couple of days. For those of you that do not know all the details, allow me to connect the dots but listing them:- range meteor showers, a large glowing and impenetrable sphere found in a field, an attack on a couple of dragons in the Hebrides by an unknown assailant and a Muggle attempt to rob a Muggle bank foiled by a single man wielding odd magic that took down half the place. I am year to tell you that all these events are connected in a way that I could never have predicted."

"There's more, Professor," Kingsley spoke up. "I just got in from a meeting with Scrimgeour and he was telling me of a strange attack on the town of Brockenhurst earlier today. Nymphadora, you were there were you not?"

"Don't call me that, Shacklebolt," Tonks glared sharply at him, before hesitating and saying, "But yes… yes, I was…"

"Did you see them?" Kingsley asked.

"See who?" Arthur Weasley questioned.

"The report that led to the Auror response spoke of an attack by an unknown species of large birds, presumed to be magical in origin," Kingsley replied. "But when they arrived, many Aurors claimed to have seen three young people, one man and two women, using magics that they'd never experienced before. But they disappeared before they could be taken into custody. Scrimgeour is pitching a fit, trying to find these people before they do any more damage. Tonks, did you see them?"

"…I did," Tonks nodded slowly. "Do you… do you know something about them, Professor?"

"I may do," Dumbledore was staring at Tonks now over the top of his glasses. "But… something tells me… you may already know almost as much as I do. Would I be correct in that assumption, Miss Tonks?"

"Well… what do you know, Professor?" Tonks queried, and the room was now switching focus between them like watching a tennis match - Mad-Eye being the only one to not move his head.

"I know that these individuals are not a strange new danger devised by Voldemort."

"Yep, I know that too."

"I know that they arrived in that meteor shower."

"That I didn't know but go on."

"And I know that they are from an entirely different universe."

"Oh yeah, that I definitely know."

There was a pause before a sudden clamour started throughout the room with seemingly everyone trying to ask questions or at least make themselves heard at once.

"Not from this universe?"

"What are you talking about?"

"How can this be?"

"But that's impossible!"

"How can you possibly know that?"

"Even if that's true are they dangerous?"

But Dumbledore cut off their questions by simply raising his hand, before he nodded towards Tonks. "Why don't we let Tonks tell her story and then I shall tell mine. Let's see how much they match."

Tonks rubbed the back of her head awkwardly - she had not expected that she'd have to tell the Order about this quite so quickly. But considering the circumstances it probably wasn't so surprising. So she quickly outlined everything, from the moment she'd met Juvia to how Lisanna had saved her life, how she'd decided to break regulation and harbour these three largely innocent people until she could figure out what the heck to do about them, and then some of the things that they'd told her. Lots of people kept trying to interrupt to ask a question, but whenever they did Dumbledore just indicated for them to be quiet and let Tonks go on until she saw fit to stop.

When she finally did, Dumbledore similarly unveiled his story, how Murcus had brought Wendy to Hogwarts, how he'd been given permission to look into her memories and seen some incredible things in there, and how he'd left her with Aberforth so that she wouldn't get into further trouble while they tried to figure out how to help her.

When they'd both finished, the entire room was silent for a good long time. If most of them were honest with themselves, they actually might have thought Dumbledore had cracked if he'd appeared before them to tell them that alone. But with both Dumbledore and Tonks relaying such similar information all at once… surely there was no way they could have both gone loopy at the same time.

"So… these three are currently at your residence, Miss Tonks?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Yeah, I told them they could hang there for a while. Assuming they haven't up and left while I've been here then they're still there."

"I'm sure you can guess that I'll be very interested to meet them."

"Shall I bring them here?"

"Shortly, if you would."

"But this is… this is just… so crazy," Molly was wringing her hands slightly. "How can this have possibly happened? It defies… all logic…"

"There is a prevailing opinion actually, in Muggle scientists, that there could be many thousands of universes out there across a gigantic omniverse," Dumbledore replied. "It seems that finally another one of those universes may have made contact with our own in a way that neither of our worlds anticipated."

"I think this is extremely exciting," Arthur was grinning broadly. "Think about it - an entire new world. An entire new civilisation… with its own magic, its own history, its own people… think of all the fascinating things we could learn."

"Fascinating is one word for it," Moody muttered, glowering slightly. "What I want to know is just how dangerous this lot are."

"By what I have seen, Mad-Eye," Tonks snorted. "They would make extremely dangerous enemies."

"That is a conclusion I too have drawn," said Dumbledore.

"Then perhaps more to the point, what if You-Know-Who finds out about them?" Moody thumped his hand down on the table slightly. "What if he tries to convert them to his side somehow, make them fight against the rest of us? If these guys are really so dangerous that could be the very last thing we need."

"I don't think this lot would join up with You-Know-Who," Tonks shook her head. "I may not know them very well but I definitely got the feeling every one of them are strong believers in fighting for freedom and protecting the innocents."

"Again, I agree, especially from what I have gleaned from the mind of young Wendy," Dumbledore announced. "Fairy Tail, as they call themselves, have accomplished incredible feats in the name of stopping evil in their own world. I have little doubt that Voldemort…" the room winced almost collectively… "Could not convince them to come to his cause willingly. In fact, they already fought against and defeated a group of people who wished to create a world solely for magical people back in their world. But that does not mean Voldemort could not find other ways to pull them to his side of the fight. I don't know how successful he might be, but it would be unwise to underestimate him."

"What are you saying, Professor?" Emmeline Vance asked. "What course of action should we take?"

"Why, we must do all we can to help Fairy Tail of course. We must find them and bring them together, protect them from being found and exploited by Voldemort. The Order of the Phoenix is committed to stopping Voldemort in any way it can. And that makes this now one of our highest priorities."

"You think they could make good new allies for us?" Kingsley supplied.

"It's very likely, but that is not the main reason for this course of action. It is not only about denying Voldemort this extra firepower. It is simply the right thing to do, is it not?"

There were still many in the room who doubted the validity of what Dumbledore was saying, but on that point every one of them agreed.

"Excellent. Perhaps it is time that we met some of our new… well, perhaps we cannot call them friends yet but you get my drift…" Dumbledore suggested. "Sirius, perhaps you would be willing to allow some extra house guests to stay here for a while? It might be more convenient for them to hide here than at Tonks' apartment."

Sirius looked positively ecstatic, which made Remus smile slightly when he saw it. These Fairy Tail members had become wanted fugitives through no fault of their own, much like Sirius himself. The poor man was practically under house arrest since he could not leave without risking getting found and caught by either Death Eaters or the Ministry, which meant he was often alone in the house while the others were completing Order business. Alone except for his surly elf Kreacher, a screeching portrait of his own mother and a hippogriff that is. The idea of suddenly having a house full of other, interesting people had to be the best news Sirius had had for a while. Especially now that his godson had headed off back to school once again.

"Naturally they can stay," Sirius barked, grin spreading from ear to ear. "Sounds like this lot might really liven the place up some."

"Yeah and you can definitely provide them with better food here than I can in the little dump I call home," Tonks laughed.

"Very well then," Dumbledore conjured a piece of paper and a Self-Inking quill from the air and quickly scrawled something down on the paper and then whisking it to Tonks. "Miss Tonks, if you would be so kind."

Tonks glanced down at the paper which read:-

_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London._

Tonks understood what this was for - Grimmauld Place had been placed under the Fidelius Charm - the ultimate way of keeping people hidden since the place couldn't be found by anyone unless one specific Secret Keeper revealed its location. Dumbledore was the Secret Keeper for this place, and Gray, Juvia and Lisanna wouldn't be able to get in here without him telling them about it in some way, and writing would do it.

"Be right back," Tonks leapt to her feet, caught her toes on the leg of the table and fell to the floor with a crash. Amidst the sudden laughter from the room, she scrambled to her feet, refusing to be embarrassed by it considering it happened all the time, and hurrying over to the fireplace.

* * *

"You sure that Tonks will mind us eating this?" Lisanna asked, even as she reached into the packet again.

"Why not?" Gray asked, eyeing one of the Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans that he'd found in the cupboard. "She said we can take anything we wanted."

"Juvia thinks this is quite the remarkable little snack," Juvia laughed as she popped another bean into her mouth experimentally, brightening as she added, "Oh, strawberry. Erza-san would have liked that one."

Gray bit his own in half, chewing thoughtfully before he laughed and said, "Well this one tastes a little like roast lamb."

"Eugh, this one tastes like plastic," Lisanna grimaced as she swallowed it quickly, before picking out another one and licking it briefly. "And… I'm not even sure what this one tastes of but its not bad."

"EEK! Chili! Chili!" Juvia gasped as she took a bite out of another one. "Wow, it's even spicy."

"Let's try this one then," Gray tossed another one up in the air and caught it deftly in his mouth… before blanking and hacking it out across the floor. "OH GOSH! THAT ONE TASTED LIKE FREAKING BLOOD!"

Juvia and Lisanna shivered slightly, suddenly deciding they might not be so eager to try any of the rest of the beans. And it was at this point that Tonks appeared in a burst of green flame that startled them all, causing Juvia to knock the table and send the beans flying as the packet tipped over.

Tonks blinked, before laughing, "I'm guessing you don't have that back where you come from, huh?"

"Not that we know of," Gray wiped his tongue slightly, his hand on his shirt as if unconsciously thinking about taking it off again. "Eugh, that last one was rank. Anyway, you going to tell us where you went?"

"Nope, I'm going to show you," Tonks replied. "I've got some good news for you. I know where another one of your friends are. Wendy, I think her name is."

"Wendy-san?!" Juvia leapt to her feet, the other two close behind her. "Is she alright? Is she injured?"

"She's fine and she's safe," Tonks assured them. "She was found by Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of that school that I told you about - Hogwarts. He called a meeting between me and a lot of my associates earlier but it turns out he wanted to tell us about you lot. Since he already knew about you guys from what Wendy's told him, I told them about you and now they want to meet you."

"Wait a minute," Gray narrowed his eyes. "I thought you weren't going to turn us in to this Ministry place."

"I haven't. I told the Order of the Phoenix about you. It's a special order which is devoted to protecting people from the threats of Dark Wizards. The Ministry has nothing to do with it, except for the fact that some people work for both, like me… I guess you could say the Order is the closest thing we have in this world to a guild. Or maybe Hogwarts is… I dunno. But they're really interested to meet you lot. You wanna come?"

"If they know where Wendy is then certainly," Lisanna nodded immediately.

"Juvia agrees."

Gray still looked a little disgruntled, but he nodded his head and muttered, "Sold."

"Great. Quickly you guys read this paper," she passed Dumbledore's note to Lisanna. "And then we can go via the Floo Powder."

"The what now?" Lisanna asked as she passed the note to Juvia.

"The… fire travel."

"Oh, now hold on," Gray backed away slightly before Juvia could give him the note. "No way in heck am I doing that. I'm an Ice Mage. Ice and fire do not mix under any circumstances."

"You and Natsu-san make a good team," Juvia pointed out.

"No, we don't," Gray denied stubbornly.

"Gray, it's fine. It's magical fire - it doesn't burn or anything. It's a bit uncomfortable but compared to Apparition its a walk in the park," Tonks assured him.

"I'm sure it will be fine," Lisanna smiled. "How does it work?"

"Just do what I'm about to do," Tonks replied, stepping back into the fire with a handful of powder once again and calling, "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!" All three of them flinched as the fire whooshed up around her once more, then stared at the empty fireplace where she'd once been.

"…Looks simple enough," Juvia murmured, passing Gray the note. "Juvia guesses we can try it…" she trailed off slightly when Lisanna started giggling behind her hand. "What's so funny, Lisanna-san?"

"Oh nothing really," Lisanna snickered. "I was just thinking we may have found a method of transportation that Natsu might actually like."

Even Gray laughed at that.

* * *

Tonks re-appeared to find an expectant room and this time she managed not to topple over as she stepped out of the fireplace. "They should be coming," she said. "Any moment now."

But it still took a full minute of bated breath before suddenly there was a flash of green fire and Lisanna yelped as she tipped out of the fireplace. Tonks lunged to catch her, but this time she did end up tripping over and crashed into the falling Lisanna, both of them falling the the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"Uuuhh… maybe I was wrong," Lisanna muttered as she tried to extricate herself, rubbing her head ruefully. "I don't think even the fire would stop Natsu from getting motion sick from that." But then she pushed herself up and noticed the room staring at her with wide eyes. She blushed slightly at all the attention and murmured, "Um… hi…"

"Welcome to Twelve Grimmauld Place, Lisanna Strauss," Dumbledore spread his arms wide. "Please feel free to make yourself comfortable."

"Are you Albus Dumbledore?" Lisanna asked, curiously.

"Indeed I am. My condolences for finding yourself lost in another dimension like this. Hopefully I will be able to provide some answers to the questions you seek. But before you ask, no, I do not know where your brother and sister are, I'm afraid. But I can assure you now that they are here in this world somewhere, along with all the rest of your guild that were on Tenroujima when Acnologia attacked."

Most of that passed right over the heads of the Order members, but Lisanna looked torn between feeling relief and concern. "Oh… well… thank you for telling me. At least… at least that clears a couple of things up."

Moments later Juvia arrived, looking rather dizzy and a short time after that Gray was there. The three Fairy Tail members stood together by the fireplace, staring out at the amassed Order members who stared right back, before Sirius broke the silence by asking, "Why don't you have shirt on, kid?"

"What the… where did it go?!" Gray yelled. "I'm sure I was wearing it when I stepped into the fireplace!"

"…Did you actually strip in the middle of a Floo Powder transportation?" Tonks asked, slightly deadpan. "Great, that probably means by shirt's lying in some stranger's fireplace now."

Juvia immediately stepped in front of Gray and glowered in the direction of Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones, while Lisanna ran a hand down her face slightly. Severus Snape, meanwhile, turned to Dumbledore and asked, "These children are the ones who have fought incredible battles in their world, Headmaster. Forgive my scepticism but they don't seem to be… all that disciplined."

"Indeed they are not, Severus. But if you had seen what I saw, you would know that I am quite serious. Regardless, greetings to you all, Fairy Tail. You are most welcome here at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix and we would like to extend an invitation for you to stay here for a while. This place can be your new home should you so desire, perhaps until a way can be found to return you to your true home."

"Thank you for your generosity, Dumbledore-san?" Juvia bowed her head.

"Where's Wendy?" Gray cut to the chase instead.

"Your friend is currently staying at my brother's house, and we will take you to see her soon. But first, we would like to talk to you about a few things."

"What kind of things?" Lisanna asked.

"Mostly about what we hope to happen in the future. But for now, it might be best to start with introductions. After all, you may be stuck with a few of us for some time."

"And I for one would quite like to see what these kids are capable of doing," Mad-Eye cut in, his eye flicking from one of the three to the others in rapid succession, and there was a chorus of agreement from around the table.

"This isn't going to become a pattern, is it?" Gray sighed. "Us constantly having to explain who we are to people and stuff?"

"Probably," Tonks shrugged. "But Professor Dumbledore and I already told them everything so I guess this time all they want is the demonstrations."

"Well, in that case, I guess I'll go first," Lisanna shrugged and her body shimmered briefly and suddenly she was in her cat form, tail waving and paws raised, claws extending and retracting briefly.

"Hah. That's nothing," Sirius grinned and suddenly got out of his chair. "Watch this, kid. This is how you turn into an animal." And suddenly his body shrank and a very large, very shaggy black dog was standing in his place. Sirius shook himself and wagged his tail, tongue lolling out as he gave Lisanna what could only be described as puppy dog eyes.

"Wow, that's pretty good," Lisanna leaned down to pet Sirius' head for a moment with one paw, an action which caused the huge dog to flatten his ears back and his tail to beat backwards and forwards even harder while Lisanna seemed to concentrate on him intensely for a moment… before suddenly her body shimmered again and there was an exact copy of the black dog standing in her place. This definitely made the room gasp - turning into animals for them was a long and difficult process and each person could only turn into one animal after they mastered it, but they'd just seen Lisanna turn into two before their eyes. Sirius himself seemed momentarily bewildered before he barked and the two dogs were suddenly gambolling around one another, until it became quite impossible to tell which was which.

"If we might get this back on track to a proper meeting that might be good," Snape drawled distastefully. One of the dogs turned to growl at him before morphing back into Sirius, who continued to glare.

"Talk to my guests like that again under my roof and I'll boot you out on the…"

"Sirius," Dumbledore said warningly.

The Animagus halted but gave Snape another sour look before he took his seat. "Anyway, that was pretty neat, girl."

"Thanks," Lisanna said, without changing back into a human - and that really threw them all for a loop, even Sirius. No Animagus had ever been able to talk while in animal form before. "But my magic's not that powerful compared to most of the others, I'll admit. Gray and Juvia are both much stronger than I am."

Juvia quickly took her turn to demonstrate by turning to water and sweeping in several laps around the room in liquid form before shooting over the table and reforming in the middle and sending small plumes of water out the filled several empty glasses at once. Gray then created several large ice sculptures and then whipped a couple of ice swords into his hands. Both of these acts suitably impressed the room as a whole, but before a flurry of questions about how they learned to do that could start flying, Dumbledore beat the rest to the punch.

"Your magic is quite exquisite and quite clearly comes in many different forms. But let me ask you something. When I viewed your world in Wendy's memories, it seemed to me that anyone in your world can learn how to use magic. Is that true?"

"In a way," Gray nodded. "Gramps, that is Master Makarov, always said that it takes real conviction, heart and belief to be able to learn magic but as long as you have that anyone can do it."

"I see. That is very different from our world. In our world, you either have magic or you don't. It is as simple as that. It's actually down to something called 'genetics' as the Muggles call it. The ability to use magic is built into the body of a witch or wizard. But I also saw something else about you - your magic can run out if you use too much and you have to wait for it to return naturally. How does that work?"

"Juvia can answer that one. In our world, all people have a special container within their bodies that, if they learn magic, allows their body to absorb a special energy from the air called Eternanos and convert it into magical power. As we use magic we use up some of the Eternanos in our bodies but we replenish it automatically afterwards."

"Wait… do we have Eternanos in this world!?" Gray suddenly asked, sharply. "What if we run out of magic here?"

"We did not have Eternanos before you arrived," Dumbledore replied. "But we do now as a large amount of it was transported here at the same time that you were. But it seems my theory may be correct. We of this world cannot learn the types of magic that you wield because we do not have this Eternanos absorbing container in our bodies. And you, similarly, cannot learn the magic we have because you do not have the genes that we have in our bodies that determines who can and cannot use it. I would assume that if one of us gave you a wand it would not respond to you no matter how much you screamed out a spell. Though perhaps it might be able to channel your own magic somehow, but a wand would more likely limit you than help you."

There was an air of disappointment around the room at that - a great many of them had been extremely interested in the idea of trying to learn what they had just seen the Fairy Tail mages do.

"Wait…" Lisanna turned back into a human. "How do you know Eternanos was transported here with us? How much do you know?"

"Everything I know I learned from Wendy," Dumbledore replied. "And everything she knows she learned from the founder of your guild, Mavis Vermilion herself."

"EEEHHHHHHH!?" screamed all three of them simultaneously. Dumbledore laughed and quickly explained everything, starting with how Mavis had helped save them from Acnologia in the first place with her Fairy Sphere right up until the point where all the miniature Fairy Spheres had been scattered around somewhere at random.

"Damn," Gray murmured after a while. "I'm not sure whether that's made things easier or harder. But at least Wendy is okay, and the three Exceed are out there somewhere."

"I still can't believe it," Charlie shook his head slightly - Dumbledore had already told him about the identity of the big black cat that had been seen with the dragons, as well as Wendy's involvement in injuring them. "All this stuff about talking cats is one thing but humans wielding Dragon magic that they learned from talking dragons… what I wouldn't give to meet one."

"Not as much as they would considering their dragon parents abandoned them seven years… or I suppose thirteen years now… for an unknown reason," Lisanna pointed out.

"Maybe but even so… talking dragons… it's like in the old myths. People used to say dragons could talk in the old days when Merlin and King Arthur were still alive, but nobody really believes that anymore."

"Well, regardless, we may already know where some of your other friends are," Kingsley voiced. "The Ministry now has access to one of those golden spheres which was found in a field yesterday before being transported to the Department of Mysteries. If that is indeed a small Fairy Sphere, which it surely must be, some of your friends may be contained inside."

"What!?" Gray shouted. "The Ministry has some of our members!? Why didn't you say so before! Where are they - we have to go and help them!"

"And we shall," Remus assured them. "In whatever way we can, but if I've understood everything correctly - and I'm not totally sure that I have - your friends are safe for the moment. That Sphere should keep out any attempts to break into it if it truly is impenetrable."

"That is true, but let's not forget," McGonagall chipped in. "These Spheres are supposedly on a random time limit as to when they will lower on their own. I almost dread to think what will happen if some of these Fairy Tail members find themselves in Ministry custody the moment they wake up. They won't know what's going on - it could lead to things getting ugly very fast."

"That's assuming that there actually are Fairy Tail humans in there and not some type of animal like there was with those Clipper birds," Mad-Eye noted.

"You will help us break them out, won't you?" Lisanna pleaded. "Both the birds and the Sphere? If Tenroujima really is in this world then the birds should be taken back there to where they belong."

"It will be difficult to do that," Kingsley pressed his fingers together and bit his lip. "The Ministry is supposed to be our ally but the situation right now is rather difficult. We will need to find a way to help you without exposing ourselves and our activities to them. Just violently breaking them out would only make things worse."

"Nevertheless, we shall do our best," Dumbledore agreed. "In that, and in searching for your other missing companions. But, there is one more vital piece of information that I feel you must know about our world. From what I saw in your world, you have something akin to a Dark Lord, correct? The man named Zeref?"

All three Fairy Tail members paled suddenly. "Oh gosh!" Lisanna clapped her hands to her mouth. "That's right! After Acnologia and this mess we… we forgot about Zeref! What could he have been doing to our world in the six years we've been away?"

A dead silence fell over the room as the Fairy Tail mages all looked at one another in horror. Gray in particular was clenching his fist and looking like he was fighting an urge to try breaking the dining room table in half. He knew better than the others the horror that Zeref's work could cause - images of the destruction that Deliora had caused to his town and countless others flashing through his mind.

Eventually Dumbledore picked up the thread. "Perhaps when you meet with the ghost of Mavis you can ask her - I got the impression she has an idea of what's been happening during the time you were frozen away. And I will put as many resources as I can into finding a way for you to return to your home as I said. But I must ask you to bring your mind away from Zeref for now, and learn about our own Dark Lord. We call him Voldemort. And right now, I fear what he may do as and when he finally gets word that you and your friends exist."

After another explanation about Voldemort and his actions, during which the name Harry Potter was dragged up several times, the three Fairy Tail members digested it in silence for a moment. Then, "Juvia thinks this Harry Potter sounds… like a brave soul."

"That he most definitely is," Sirius practically swelled with pride.

"And you think that this Voldemort could come after us, do you?" Gray asked, frowning slightly when everyone flinched when he said the name, but he'd already seen that happen quite a few times when Dumbledore had been talking and now knew why they did it (though he found it rather stupid).

"Almost certainly. To try and kill you if nothing else."

"Let him try," Gray snarled. "Fairy Tail does not go down easily."

"Indeed," Lisanna nodded firmly. "No matter what obstacles stand before us, Fairy Tail will overcome them."

"If this Dark Lord threatens Gray-sama Juvia will punch his lights out!" Juvia hissed. Gray clenched his teeth and grunted awkwardly but otherwise, to his credit, made no comment.

"I'm sure we'd all of us like to see that," Tonks laughed.

"We realise that you have no connection to this world and therefore no real need to help us," Arthur Weasley spoke up. "But… considering your unique abilities, if you ever did want to lend us a hand in our fight against him I think that I speak for everyone here when I say we would be… beyond grateful for your assistance."

"It will be dangerous though," Lupin informed them. "Voldemort and his Death Eaters are not to be taken lightly, even to people with your amazing talents."

Gray turned to Juvia and Lisanna, locking eyes with both of them in turn. No words were said between them, but there seemed to be some kind of silent communication going on between them, as one by one their faces shifted into firm, resolute and determined expressions. Gray then turned back around to address the room as a whole.

"We're grateful for your help. Really we are. And since we're strangers in this world we'll listen to you, and for now we'll let you call the shots. But let me make one thing clear - we're not part of this Order. We're your allies certainly, and I daresay there's a good chance we'll even be friends, but at the end of the day if we, Fairy Tail, decide to do something we feel is in our best interests, we're going to damn well do it. Whether you like it or not."

The Order collectively looked to Dumblefore for his verdict, but the Headmaster nodded. "I understand. You are not of our world - we have no right to tell you what to do. Though I hope that it won't come to that. We are as invested in your safety as you are."

"Good to know," Gray nodded. "Just making it clear that we're not your servants or subordinates. But, that said, as long as we are here in this universe…" he slammed his hand down onto the table and froze a large portion to leave several long, jagged lines of ice across its surface. "We'll do whatever we have to do to protect it and kick this Voldemort guy to the curb."

"Absolutely!" Juvia cheered.

"As if we'd do anything else," Lisanna grinned. "And trust me when I say, the rest of our guild will all agree on that score."

"And you haven't seen what we're really capable of yet," Gray smirked.

Grins and other types of wide smile were breaking out all over the room now but Dumbledore merely smiled contentedly. "Thank you," he said simply. "It is much that we ask of you but… thank you for agreeing to help us."

"Not a problem," Lisanna nodded. "But, when can we see Wendy?"

"Shortly," Dumbledore nodded. "Sirius, why don't you show them to their new rooms for now while we wrap up the rest of the meeting and then as soon as its over I will take you to see Wendy."

"Sounds good to Juvia," the rain woman smiled.

"Come on then, I'll take you upstairs," Sirius got up and began to lead them towards the door.

"I'll go with," Tonks declared, hurrying after them and falling in step beside Lisanna. "Wow, now I really know I made the right decision in not turning you over to the Ministry. You guys are freaking awesome, you know that?"

"Thank you," Lisanna blushed. "But trust me, wait until you see the really powerful members of our guild."

"I very much look forward to meeting them all," Sirius voiced from the front of the group as he took them out into the hallway. "Um… you'll have to excuse the decor of the house. It's not that pleasant. Suffice to say the people that used to live here were, not the best people in the world and redecorating is taking forever."

"It certainly is rather creepy," murmured Juvia, before a sudden crash behind her made her jump.

"Oh, Tonks, not again!" Sirius cried as he saw she'd tripped on the troll's leg umbrella stand again and brought it thudding down to the floor beside her loudly.

"Why can't you just move the bloody thing and…" Tonks was cut off by the loud scream as suddenly a pair of curtains were flung open and the livid portrait of Mrs. Black began screeching at the top of her lungs, like normal, causing the Fairy Tail members to clap their hands over their ears and almost fell over at the sudden shock.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Gray bellowed.

"FIENDS! MUDBLOODS AND FILTH! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE THIS INSTANT! FREAKS!" the painting howled, pointing straight at Juvia. "YOU'RE BRINGING IN BLUE-HAIRED WEIRDOS NOW! YOU'VE SOILED THIS HOUSE'S REPUTATION FOR TOO LONG, YOU DISGUSTING VERMIN!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP, YOU REPULSIVE HAG!" Sirius roared as he thundered over to try and pull the curtains back over the portrait.

"AAAGH! JUVIA'S EARS!" Juvia wailed.

"WHAT IS THAT!?" Lisanna shouted.

"I AM THE RIGHTFUL OWNER OF THIS HOUSE!" Mrs. Black was practically foaming at the house. "LEAVE NOW AND NEVER DISGRACE MY HALLWAY AGAIN! HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS ALL OF YOU!"

"SHUT THE F*** UP!" Gray roared, slamming his hands together. "ICE MAKE: WALL!"

Sirius leapt back and Mrs. Black screamed as suddenly her entire portrait was covered from top to bottom with a thick layer of ice, cutting of her screams instantly. The quiet was almost as deafening as the noise but Sirius blinked a few times and sighed in relief.

"Now that is a handy trick," he said. "Shame that ice will melt eventually."

"Only if you put fire or something else hot close to it," Gray grinned. "Otherwise that should stay there for a good long while."

Sirius stared at Gray with his jaw slack, for a moment before he said, "Seriously, Gray… I could kiss you right now."

Gray snorted but Juvia suddenly flared up and growled, "Kiss him!? Is Sirius-san another love rival of Juvia's!"

"Oh for crying out loud…" Gray smacked a hand to his face.

"This happen often?" Tonks whispered to Lisanna, pointing at the bristling Water Mage and the nonplussed Sirius.

"From what I know… all the time."

"Ah."

* * *

Gajeel grunted sourly as he paced over the rugged turf, kicking the rocks out of his way even it they were as big as he was. He'd been scouting around this place for hours now, always trying to find a way to get closer to the castle but always being pulled up short.

And his mood wasn't being helped by Charla's increasing fretting. While totally understandable, it was grating on his nerve - the white cat was desperate to head to the castle on her own and find Wendy since whatever was keeping Gajeel out seemed to have no effect on the Exceed, but Lily and Happy both pointed out that they should wait to have Gajeel for backup just in case the people of the castle weren't friendly. Lily himself was not really in a condition to fight right now. His burns were not healing as well as they normally would. Perhaps there was some magic in that dragon's fire that was causing its effects to last longer.

The thought made Gajeel want to backtrack and beat the crap out of the dragons himself but Mavis pointed out to him that these dragons didn't know any better. They were not like Metalicana. They were just animals here.

Speaking of Mavis she was currently nowhere in sight, meaning Gajeel and the Exceed were skirting around the castle by themselves for the moment. But that didn't last long, as the ghost suddenly hovered into view and alighted on the ground before the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Tell me you've found a way in," Gajeel murmured.

"Not exactly," Mavis shook her head, her long blond hair swaying rhythmically behind her. "My analysis of the wards leads me to conclude that the castle is completely surrounded by them just as we suspected. I've also been able to conclude that there are a few places where you would be able to get through them unimpeded, the tunnel into the lake that Wendy used being one of them. Of course that one we cannot reach and I have not yet located any of the others. But, I believe I have located a weak spot you might possibly be able to get through."

"Then lead the way," Charla pressed immediately. "We can't waste a single second."

"Charla's right. Let's go!" Happy lifted into the air and shot off.

"Happy… it's that way!" Mavis called out before he could get far and pointed off to the cat's right.

"Oh…" Happy grinned sheepishly. "I knew that."

Gajeel bounded after Mavis so hard his feet were cracking the ground whenever he passed over rock, until eventually Mavis pulled to a stop and pointed ahead.

"I can only assume that that's the main entrance," she said, pointing to a set of large metal gates set in a high stone wall - a long dirt road winding across the ground towards it and through it and two statues of boars with great sweeping wings sitting on the columns flanking the gates. "The wards are a little weaker here, presumably because they had to let people in at this point while the rest of the castle is better protected to prevent people coming in from unexpected angles.

Gajeel marched forwards towards the gates and said, "Alright then. I'm going to try smashing my way again!"

"No, that still won't work," Mavis shook her head. "I've analysed the defences here and although the magic here is quite different to what I'm used to I am able to discern some of it. There's spells woven into the gates to prevent them from being forced open, smashed or knocked off their hinges. Similarly there are defences designed to keep people from climbing or flying over them or the walls on either side of them, and even protection against tunnelling underneath. Clearly whoever wove those wards only wants those gates to be opened with the use of the right key.

"Well then, how is Gajeel supposed to get through here?" Charla asked.

"Do you think that if you unleashed your full power, Gajeel, you might be able to break through the spells as well as the gates?" Lily asked from where he was clinging to Gajeel's shoulder.

Gajeel said nothing for a moment, but then a wide, savage grin spread out across his face. "Geehee! I dunno," he claimed. "But I bet I have a way in that these wards don't block."

And he marched straight up to the gates, cracking his knuckles as he went. Mavis and the Exceed watched him silently, wondering what he was going to do. Gajeel stopped right next to the gates and took hold of the bars in his hands, inspecting them shrewdly.

"Wrought iron," he laughed. "Piece of cake. And I was getting hungry anyway!" And he suddenly lunged forwards and sank his teeth into one of the bars. The iron splintered under his fangs and broke, leaving Gajeel to chew and swallow noisily before taking another bite, then another and another, attacking the bars in front of him almost at random and starting to create a hole in the gate.

"Of course," Happy grinned. "No way that anything made of metal is going to stop the Iron Dragon Slayer."

"Wow, I guess the wards were not prepared for this," Charla noted.

"No, indeed they are not," Mavis laughed. "I don't think that whoever cast them ever thought to cast something to prevent someone from eating their way through their doors."

Gajeel cackled slightly as he gripped another bar in his teeth and munched his way merrily through it. In practically no time flat he'd created a hole large enough for him to step through as long as her both ducked and raised his legs. Gripping the bars that remained he quickly pushed his way through the hole, encountering no resistance whatsoever.

He was in.

"Take that, wards," Gajeel laughed. "I told you you couldn't keep me out. Come on, you lot. Let's go find Wendy."

"Right behind you, Gajeel," Happy cheered as he whooshed into the air and followed Gajeel through the hole he'd made, Charla and Mavis right behind him as Gajeel bolted up the path.

Towards Hogwarts.


	10. Redfox, Red Hair

Well, sorry about that folks but considering I was on holiday I'm sure you can let me off for not uploading last week. So, let's just consider last week a week off and I'm back to the schedule as planned today. So, here we are with my next chapter and now the number of chapters is in double digits. And the fun can truly start to begin soon.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 10:- Redfox, Red Hair**

* * *

"Do we really have to do this?" Ron muttered as he trudged down the corridor, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to keep them open. "All the teachers are always telling us how much we need to work hard and pay attention for our OWLs this year and surely a decent way of doing that is to actually get a good night's sleep."

"It's our duty as Prefects, Ron," Hermione chided him. "You should consider it part of the privilege. Prefects help the staff by patrolling the corridors to ensure the younger students obey the curfew - that's the way its been since the concept was introduced to the school."

"I know, I know. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for being a prefect but it's just… I dunno… I feel like I could do without this part. I'm tired and I don't reckon anyone else is out of bed anyway."

"Says a boy who has snuck out of the dormitory at night many times for various reasons."

"Well, yeah, but never for any bad ones, right?"

"Well… I suppose not, surprisingly. But just because you and I never disobeyed that particular rule without a cause doesn't mean that everyone else will. And that means we have to help uphold the rules."

"Yeah, I suppose," Ron sighed. "But is it weird that I still feel like I should be creeping around so that I don't run into Filch or something while I'm out here? Speaking of which, when does Filch get any sleep anyway? He's always patrolling the castle at night. What does he do - take naps every now and then during the day?"

Hermione laughed slightly, but shook her head. "You really shouldn't say things like that in a place where Filch could be around the corner and hear you."

"I guess, but its not like he could do anything. I reckon the guy knows that none of the students like him anyway - he doesn't seem to care what they think. Wish we'd brought the Marauder's Map with us though. We could see where… hey, there's an idea! Maybe we should ask Harry if we can bring it with us next time we have to do this. That way if anyone's sneaking around out here we can just head straight to where they are and lynch them or something."

"That's… actually a pretty good idea," Hermione ran a hand through her hair. "Why didn't I think of that? It could be a really useful tool. Though I can just imagine the look on Sirius' face if he ever found out that we were using the mischief making tool of the Marauders to catch mischief makers."

"He'd be horrified," Ron grinned. "Bet Lupin would approve though. He was a Prefect wasn't he? I wonder if he ever used it for that reason."

"He might have tried, but I imagine Sirius and Harry's dad might have tried to stop him if he did. But then again, they were probably the ones breaking the curfew anyway so I don't know."

"Maybe we should ask him next time. Wonder what he would have done if he ever caught them?"

"What will you do if we happen to catch Fred and George out here?"

"Um… side with you?" Ron said uncomfortably, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

"I bet you will," Hermione rolled her eyes slightly. "Anyway, we should probably split up a little now so we can cover more ground. You want to head out and check around the Entrance Hall and the greenhouses or do you want to search around the first and second floors?"

"I'll take the greenhouses," Ron yawned. "Maybe a little fresh air will wake me up. I still can't believe we have to do this until bloody two in the morning."

"I really don't know what you're complaining about since you probably caught up on all the sleep you're missing in History of Magic this morning."

"…True but still…"

"Like I said, Ron. All part of the privilege. Meet back here later, okay?"

"Yeah, alright. Um… what do I do if I do catch anyone out of bed again?"

"Deduct points off them and send them back to their dormitories off course."

"But what if they're from Gryffindor?"

"Deduct points off them anyway?"

"Seriously, you want me to deduct points off our own house? Isn't that just like… punishing myself as well as the ones disobeying the rules?"

"It's what Prefects do, Ron. You wouldn't hesitate to deduct points from other houses so you can't hesitate to deduct points off your own."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess so. But still, if I do catch anyone I hope they're from Slytherin. Anyway, see you later."

* * *

Gajeel had to admit that he was seriously impressed by this place. The closer he got the more real it seemed to get, and he found himself standing at the edge of a large sports field of some description, though what in the world they played here with those strange hoops he couldn't even begin to guess. But Wendy's scent, while a little faint, was definitely here.

The only trouble was, it didn't seem to lead anywhere.

"Gajeel, what's taking us so long?" Charla wrung her paws together.

"Look, I'm doing my best, alright?" Gajeel snapped, a little more angrily than necessary. He hadn't been able to smell Wendy around the front doors so instead of marching right in the a building that could have anyone or anything inside he'd headed down to the lake to try and pick up where Wendy could have got out, and indeed he had found Wendy's scent by the boathouse and followed it up here with no trouble at all. Except that her scent had now seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Look, the girl's scent moves around the pitch a little bit, and I can definitely smell her clearly wherever she went, but it doesn't go anywhere. The only scent trail there is is the one she used to get up here from the lake. It's just… gone cold."

"But it can't just go cold, surely," Charla protested. "It has to go somewhere."

"Well, I'm telling you it stops here. And there's no other scent of anything I can pick up that indicated she could have flown away or something. The scent just stops."

"There was some kind of fight here," Mavis suddenly said. "Recently."

"Fight?" Happy turned to look at the ghost. "What kind of fight?"

"I'm not sure. But certainly some kind of scuffle. Look - there are marks in the turf that look very much like something crashed into it dotted around the place. And that's not forgetting the fact that those stands up there seem to have been damaged somewhat. It seems its mostly been repaired now but from the look of it I'd say the damage was quite extensive when it was made. And rather recently too."

"You… you think Wendy was attacked?" Charla's paws clapped over her mouth.

"What kind of coward would attack a lost and confused young girl without provocation?" Lily bristled angrily.

"I dunno," Gajeel thumped a fist into his hand, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "But I'm done snooping around. Now, its really on." And he suddenly barrelled out of the door to the pitch and hurtled across the grounds towards the castle, an angry snarl set across his metal-studded face. Now he was well and truly pissed.

"Gajeel! Wait!" Lily cried as he tried to follow after him but gasped and fell to his knees - his back panging at him painfully.

"I'm with him," Charla whooshed off after the Iron Dragon Slayer. "If they've hurt Wendy, whoever they are…"

"Charla, wait up!" Happy hurtled in her wake while Lily pulled himself back to his feet and started to try and follow when he suddenly found himself gently being lifted up in small arms. He looked up at Mavis, who smiled warmly as she picked him up, carefully avoiding touching his back and motored off after the others.

Gajeel really didn't have a plan of action, but he had rarely ever needed one before. He was just going to bust his way into that castle and rampage through it until he found some answers if that was what it took. It was always what he had done before and usually it worked pretty well for him.

But, as he got closer, his nostrils started picking up another scent - the smell of another human. Another human that just so happened to be walking along past the greenhouses. Gajeel altered his course, homing in on the scent with eyes blazing, a loud roar escaping from behind his teeth as he barrelled in towards the unfortunate soul.

Every muscle in Ron's body stiffened when he heard the terrifying bellow, his imagination immediately conjuring up an image of some massive werewolf or maybe even a dragon as he whirled around, eyes wide and fumbling for his wand. But even as he was dismissing those ideas as ridiculous the stone wall next to him exploded into dust and a viciously snarling humanoid shape burst through it in the same instant, seizing Ron's already reeling body by the front of his cloak and slamming him back against the greenhouse so hard it was a wonder they didn't both go crashing through the glass, although the glass did fracture into thousands of pieces and shower to the floor.

And thanks to the faint light of the greenhouses that was always on even at night, Ron got a very good view of the clenched fangs, twisted snarl, red eyes and wild black hair of the man standing before him.

"Where is the girl!" Gajeel roared into the face of the ginger-haired boy he'd got hold of.

"What the… gah… who are…?" Ron went white as a sheet, his body feeling like it was trying to got stiff as a plank and limp as a sheet at the same time.

"Wrong answer!" Gajeel bellowed and flung Ron sideways to land sprawled on his back on the stonework, thankfully clear of the broken glass. "I'll ask again, where is the girl? What have you people done with Wendy Marvell?"

"Who?! I don't know who that is… who are you?" Ron babbled slightly as he scrambled backwards, Gajeel advancing towards him as he seized his wand and frantically searched for some spell he could try and use - he knew how the Stunning spell worked but he'd never used it before or tried it. Damn, he should have been practicing it alongside Harry last year when Harry had been preparing for the Triwizard Tournament.

"I am the Iron Dragon Slayer!" Gajeel snarled. "And I'm looking for the blue-haired girl that found herself at this castle yesterday - now what have you done with her!"

"I dunno her! I swear!"

"Hoh? Not talking, huh? Well, maybe this will loosen your tongue!" Gajeel raised his arm and suddenly morphed it into his giant, chainsaw-like Iron Dragon Sword - the Tetsuryuuken - and glared menacingly at Ron.

And Ron took one look at the long blade that comprised Gajeel's arm and slumped backwards, eyes rolling into his skull as he fainted dead away. Gajeel grunted in annoyance and stepped forwards to look down at the boy, nudging him with one foot to see if he was faking it. But then he spotted a little badge pinned to the front of the boy's cloak and he bent down to examine it.

"Prefect?" he murmured. "What the bloody hell is that supposed to be?"

"I think you probably could have handled that a bit better," Charla said from where she was standing on the top of the wall with Happy, while Mavis and Lily were just arriving. "That boy looks about fifteen or so. I doubt he's in charge of the place."

"I know he ain't in charge of the the place, but he might know something."

"Sounds like he didn't to me. And you terrified the life out of him," Happy rubbed the back of his head. "That would be enough to get me to talk unless you wanted to know where I keep my stash of fish… wait a minute… it's been six years - MY FISH WILL ALL HAVE ROTTED! NOOOO!"

"Is that all you ever think about?" Lily muttered.

"More to the point, Gajeel - do you smell Wendy anywhere around here?"

"If I did then I would have…" Gajeel started before he suddenly faltered, his studded brows lowering as his nostrils twitched repeatedly. "Wait a minute… I… I think I'm… getting something."

"You smell Wendy?" Charla perked up. "Where? Where's the smell coming from."

"It's faint but its…" Gajeel suddenly stopped when a musical trilling noise filled the air, the clear notes seeming to waft in from all around them and causing them all to turn their heads in several random directions almost comically to try and locate the source.

But it was Happy that quickly gasped and pointed up to the top of the greenhouse. "Look! Look at that!"

All of them swung around to face the same direction and beheld a rather large, red feathered bird standing on the roof above them, its beautiful plumage almost seeming slightly luminous in the half light of the greenhouse. It cocked its head to the side as its gaze seemed to wash over all of them at once and it raised its wings to sing out another greeting.

"What is that?" Lily asked.

"It is not a bird that I am familiar with," Charla replied.

"Nor I," Mavis agreed. "But I sense great benevolence coming off it. Whatever it is, it is definitely intelligent. And, I would wager, friendly."

"And it's where the smell of Wendy is coming from," Gajeel noted, stepping forwards and sucking in a deep breath through his nose. "Yep, definitely the source."

"WENDY TURNED INTO A BIRD!" Happy cried. "I THOUGHT THAT WAS LISANNA'S THING!"

"SHE DIDN'T TURN INTO A BIRD, IDIOT!" Gajeel roared back before forcing himself to regain his composure. "But she did touch this bird. I'd stake my life on it."

"Um… please, Mister Bird - do you know where Wendy is?" Charla asked imploringly, her eyes shining with hope.

Fawkes the phoenix trilled again and lifted himself into the air without even flapping his wings, curving over the heads of his audience, turning around and bobbing his head.

"Well, if that's not an indication to follow him then I don't know what is," Lily noted.

"Come on then. Let's move!" Gajeel bolted after the bird, the others close behind. Happy zipped downwards to grab Gajeel and hoist him up into the air in pursuit of their new companion. Fawkes wheeled around and swooped low to the ground, flapping just ahead of the party and leading them back over the greenhouses and out towards the lake again, leaving the unconscious Ron groaning on the ground, just starting to regain his senses.

And it was at this point that Hermione arrived on the scene, having heard some kind of commotion going on from the first floor and, deciding Ron might need some help, hurrying out to see what was happening. When she spotted the youngest Weasley brother lying prone on the ground not far from some shattered glass and a smashed wall, she gasped and darted over to him.

"Ron! Ron, are you okay?! Wake up! Wake up, Ronald!"

"H'mi'ny?" Ron mumbled as he blearily opened his eyes, before he suddenly remembered exactly why he had fainted and yelled, bolting upright and seizing his wand, looking around wildly for his attacker.

"Ron! Ron, what happened?" Hermione gasped. "Why were you lying on the ground?"

"Hermione… there was… there was… long black hair… like some kind of demon… the scariest… he… his arm… sword… arm turn sword… he… he just… out of nowhere…"

"Ron, calm down! Tell me, what happened!"

"Didn't you see him?" Ron cried wildly. "Didn't you… there was a man… and he… Hermione… his arm… it turned into a sword!"

Hermione blinked. "Ron, this really isn't the time for a joke."

"I'm not joking! He smashed through that wall and started screaming at me about some girl and then his arm… where did he go?"

"Ron, are you sure you weren't… dreaming…?" Hermione questioned.

"Dreaming? Hermione, do you think I dreamed someone smashing that wall in? That one, right there, that's been smashed?"

"I'm not saying that something didn't happen but… Ron, why would someone turn his own arm into a sword? If he wanted to threaten you or something, all he would have to do is threaten to use the Cruciatus Curse or something and transfiguring your own body is extremely complicated and dangerous and…"

"Hermione, you don't get it," Ron said earnestly. "He didn't even use a wand. His arm just… switched from being an arm to being a sword. Just like that, right in front of me. No incantation or anything."

"But… what… that's impossible, Ron. No magic like that exists."

"I know what I saw!"

"I… I'm sure you do. And I'm not saying I don't believe you but… there must be some explanation. Some hallucinogenic magic maybe or… well, I don't know. But the point is I'm sure it wasn't what it looked like."

"That was no hallucination," Ron shook his head stubbornly. He grabbed me by the cloak, he smashed me against the bloody glass. That guy was real. Through and through. I know it."

Hermione bit her lip - none of what Ron was saying made any logistical sense to her at all. So she simply sighed and said, "Well… regardless of what happened or didn't happen we should find a Professor and report this. At the very least some act of vandalism happened here."

"And at the very worst, which it is, there's a sword-wielding maniac running around here!" Ron agreed as they hurried back towards the castle. "You should have seen the guy, Hermione. He was huge, muscled… covered in metal studs… his eyes were red. Just like Harry said You-Know-Who's were…"

Hermione looked across at Ron sharply. "You're saying that you saw…"

"No! No, not that. It wasn't him. But… I don't know what it means… that guy was not a normal wizard, whoever he was, Hermione."

"Well, whatever the case, you were definitely attacked by something," Hermione murmured, looking ahead and focusing on the path to the front doors once more.

* * *

"I don't get it. Where's he taking us?" Charla was practically whimpering as they swept low over the surface of the lake, looking back over her shoulder at the castle that they were notably getting further and further away from. "Isn't Wendy in that place?"

"We don't know for sure," Mavis pointed out. "Remember, her scent disappeared. It's entirely possible she was magically transported somewhere else."

Fawkes keened musically at this, almost as if he was replying in the affirmative.

"But you know where she is, do ye, Flame-bird?" Gajeel asked, to which Fawkes looked back at him and chirruped, but distinctly nodded his head.

"Flame-bird?" Happy asked. "Why would you call him that?"

"He smells like fire. A little bit like the Salamander."

"Oh… I… I wonder where Natsu is right now. If it took us this long to find Wendy even after Wendy was part of our group at the start…"

"Oi, none of that, blue cat! Salamander will be fine. He'll bull his way through any situation that he faces without thinking his way through it in the first place like he usually does. He don't need you to be fretting about him, alright?"

"Yeah… yeah, I know… wow, I'm hungry, I wonder how many tasty fishies there are in this lake…"

"AND DEFINITELY NONE OF THAT! YOU TRY AND CATCH A FISH WHILE YOU ARE CARRYING ME AND YOU ARE DEAD!"

"AYE SIR!" Happy squeaked. Mavis laughed, knowing Gajeel wasn't serious but now unable to stop herself from picturing him being dunked into the water. She also decided not to mention that they had actually passed through the wards around the castle again, but it had let them all out just fine. It seemed they were mostly one-way wards designed only to keep people from getting in easily.

"Wait…" Gajeel suddenly lifted his head, nose twitching again. "This… this smell… yes…"

"Is it Wendy…? You smell her again?" Charla asked immediately.

"Believe it, white cat! And it's getting stronger!"

"Look, there's buildings across the lake," Lily pointed ahead. "Some kind of village I think."

"Then that's where we're going," Gajeel grinned.

Fawkes led them down over the street of Hogsmeade, the scent getting stronger in Gajeel's nose with every passing second. Most of the windows in the village were dark - all the businesses having closed for the night and most people having gone to bed. Even the Three Broomsticks was quiet. But there was one business that was, for the moment, still open.

And it just happened to be the building that Fawkes stopped in front of.

"This is it!" Gajeel growled as Happy set him down. "She's in there!" And without another word he thundered to the door and slammed it off its hinges with a single blow, sending it flying into the room to crash against a table, and a couple of witches within shrieked and fell over.

"WHERE IS SHE!?" Gajeel bellowed at the top of his lungs, glaring at the few customers and the astonished barman. "TELL ME WHERE SHE IS OR I SWEAR I'LL BEAT YOU ALL BLOODY!"

"Where who is!?" cried one of the witches.

"Who do you think you are!?" cried the other.

"You wanna tell me what I want to know!?" Gajeel growled warningly, preparing to morph his arm into a club. "For the sake of your health, I highly recommend it."

"Get out!" Aberforth rounded the bar angrily. "Get out of my pub now, you halfwit! Or I'll throw you out!"

"Oh, you will, huh?" Gajeel's furious glare settled on the aged barman. "Well… we'll see about that, shall we?"

But even as he took a step closer, his intimidating entrance was suddenly ruined when Wendy suddenly hurried into the room from the back, took one look at the situation and screamed, "GAJEEL-SAN!" before dashing over and throwing herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. "Gajeel-san! You found me! You came to find me!"

"Uh…" Gajeel looked down at her awkwardly, arms spread wide as if afraid of touching and breaking her somehow. "Yeah… yeah girlie, we sure did."

"It's so good to see you, Gajeel-san!" Wendy looked up at him, smile wide and eyes shining, evidence of tears pricking at the corners. "I mean I knew you were in this world somewhere but I was sure it would take longer before anyone found me."

"Don't underestimate a Dragon Slayer's nose, kid," Gajeel shrugged, patting her head a little but then looking even more awkward for it. "Though you left me a confusing trail sure enough. Anyway, got someone here that might want to see you. Just guessing, but I think she was worried about you."

"WENDY!" Charla seemed unable to contain herself any longer and whooshed in through the door, her glowing wings flaring as she made a beeline straight for the Sky Dragon Slayer tears streaming down her furry cheeks and her eyes round as saucers.

"CHARLA!" Wendy gasped and immediately seized her in her arms, spinning her round in circles a couple of times at arm's length before pulling her in tightly to her chest and holding her as if her life depended on it. "Charla… you made it. You made it!"

"Wendy, you're okay," Charla bawled into Wendy's dress. "Oh thank the gods you're okay. When that dragon knocked you off the cliff and you vanished from sight, I thought… I thought you… I was so scared that you might be…"

"Don't say it, Charla, don't say it. I'm fine," Wendy hiccoughed, now not even trying to stop tears of relief and happiness beginning to flow. "But I was so worried too… I didn't know what had happened after I fell off the cliff and I thought… maybe if… oh Charla, I'm so sorry. I was stupid, I was…"

"No, Wendy, you weren't," Charla sniffled earnestly, looking up at her. "If I'd been raised by a dragon I wouldn't want to believe it either. But that's not important. None of that's important. What is important is that you're safe and we're… we're together again… I feared sometimes that… we might have lost you."

"I'm not going anywhere, Charla," Wendy pulled the cat even closer. "And don't… don't you dare go anywhere either."

"I… I promise I won't. And I promise… I'll try harder to look after you. I promised I would and I… seem to keep failing."

"No, you don't. Don't you ever say that, Charla. You're the best guardian I could hope for. It's always me doing the childish and naive things that gets me in trouble, not you."

Charla chuckled and tried to hold back a happy sob at the same time. "You Wendy have got to be one of the least childish people your age ever. In any universe."

"Aye, that I definitely agree with," Happy piped up from where he and Lily were standing in the door, Mavis hovering over them.

"It must have been a horrendous shock to you to see the dragons acting like that after all," Lily nodded.

"Happy! Lily!" Wendy cried. "So good to see you too, and you Master Mavis though I thought you'd be alright for sure," she sniffed with a grin.

"We would have still been looking for you if we hadn't bumped into Gajeel," Happy grinned. "It was his nose that tracked you down after all."

"Thank you, Gajeel-san," Wendy beamed up at the much taller Dragon Slayer before bowing her head slightly. "I'll never forget this."

"Yeah, well," Gajeel shrugged. "If you really want to show thanks then you can start by healing Lily's back. Apparently real dragon fire isn't quite as easy to shrug off even for a tough Exceed like him."

"Oh gosh!" Wendy gasped and immediately hurried over to Lily, placing Charla down on the floor and staring in horror at the slowly healing burns over Lily's guild mark. She quickly held her hands up and began the healing process and Lily felt relief from the throbbing pain beginning to fade very quickly and he sighed in relief.

"Don't exert yourself, Wendy. They were already on their way to healing."

"No, it's okay. I easily have enough magic for this," Wendy assured him. "I'm amazed you kept going from such a blast though. It must have washed right over you."

"Takes more than that to bring me down, I assure you," Lily grinned a little lopsidedly.

"I think it would take less than that to bring me down," Happy murmured, a little despondently.

"Geehee! That's my cat! Toughest on the block," Gajeel grinned.

"So…" Aberforth Dumbledore suddenly announced in a slightly clipped, reminding everyone that he and the two witches were still actually present in the room and had witnessed all of that. "I take it that this lot are your friends… Wendy. One of them appears to have knocked my door down."

Wendy smiled sheepishly. "I'm surprised that's all he knocked down, Aberforth-san."

"Meaning what exactly?" Gajeel raised a brow.

"Gajeel, I think you know exactly what it means, and I think you can't really argue with it," Lily chided him.

"…True…"

"Anyway, yes, Aberforth-san, these are some of my friends from Fairy Tail. This is my closest friend and partner Charla, and the other two Exceed, Happy and Pantherlily. And this is Gajeel Redfox, my fellow Dragon Slayer. And this is Master Mavis."

"Master Mavis? Who are you pointing at, girl?" Aberforth looked around with a frown.

"He can't see me," whispered Mavis. "Only those with the Fairy Tail mark are currently able to see me."

"Oh."

"Dragon Slayer?" one of the witches scoffed. "You mean to tell me you've both killed dragons?"

Gajeel was about to growl at her and do something he might regret when Aberforth whipped out his wand and cast a spell over the two witches, which caused their eyes to go rather blank. "You two, out, now. Bar is closed," Aberforth instructed and the two witches dazedly turned and left, become lucid once again when they were down the street but not remembering anything that had happened since a moment or two before Gajeel bashed the door in.

Aberforth sighed and strode forwards, levitating the door up and reattaching it into its frame with a flick of his wand and a quick Repairing spell right as Wendy lowered her hands and said, "How's that, Lily?"

Lily flexed his shoulders and suddenly shifted into his battle form, which caused Aberforth to stumble backwards in shock and almost knock the door off again as he crashed into it. Lily lashed out a hand to grab his shoulder and steady him before twisting himself around painlessly. "I feel invigorated. Thank you, Wendy. At the risk of give a pun which I assure you is not intended - you are a marvel."

Wendy blushed and smiled. "It's my pleasure and my job to help."

"If I might interrupt," Aberforth huffed, recovering from his surprise at the sight of the giant cat and watching warily as Gajeel passed him his sword back. "I wasn't exactly expecting any more otherworldly visitors today. What exactly am I supposed to do with all you lot? I don't even remember the last time I bought cat food."

"Cat food? Ugh, repulsive stuff," Charla wrinkled her nose. "I could go for a cup of Darjeeling tea right about now."

"Darjeeling… we don't serve that kind of thing in this place," Aberforth grunted, almost sounding revolted.

"Oh? But they do have it in this universe? Well, that is a relief."

"I want fish!"

"Who's shocked? I'm not," Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't mind a couple of kiwi fruits right about now actually," Lily patted his stomach, stowing his sword back on his back.

"…Kiwi fruits?" Aberforth coughed. "Did I just hear that correctly? The enormous, muscled cat creature likes… kiwi fruits?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Well, it is if you can't eat anything else, though I can't imagine for the life of me why you wouldn't. We don't have kiwi fruits here. Or tea. Or fish. I don't like fish."

"You don't like fish!? WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOOUU!?"

"Happy… need I remind you that I don't like fish either?"

"I TAKE IT BACK, CHARLA! I TAKE IT BACK!"

"Dear God you lot are noisy," Aberforth sighed, before he caught sight of Fawkes perched on a nearby table. "Ah, I see my brother's pet has paid me a visit. Does that mean he knows you're here?"

It was at this precise moment that a whoosh of green flames roared into life in the nearby fireplace and Albus Dumbledore stepped out. It took him but a glance to see that the room not only had his own phoenix, his brother and Wendy, but also the three cats and another of the Dragon Slayers he had seen in Wendy's memories.

"Ah," he said, his face focusing on Gajeel. "Well now. This is a surprise."

"And that answers my question," Aberforth muttered. "He does now."

"Who are you!?" Gajeel growled, taking a defensive stance. "What was that magic you just did."

"Be at peace, Gajeel Redfox - I mean you know harm," Albus raised a steadying hand. "And before you ask, I know what your name is because Wendy has, to put it simply, given me a vivid description of you."

"…Ah…" Gajeel blinked, not entirely sure what to say next.

"Perhaps it would actually be better if you didn't assume that anyone who appears in the room is a possible threat, Gajeel," Mavis rested a ghostly hand on the big man's shoulder. "You already terrified that poor boy back there. Besides, I sense no malice coming from him whatsoever."

"Yeah, yeah," Gajeel muttered.

Dumbledore's eyes rested on Mavis for a moment, which gave the First Master pause for thought. She knew he couldn't see her, but she had the distinct feeling he somehow knew that she was there. Not that that surprised her. She could sense great power and wisdom coming from this man and she winced slightly when she realised he reminded her somewhat of Purehito, before he had become Master Hades of course.

"Dumbledore-san is the one that brought me here to where I would be safe," Wendy explained.

"Then you have our gratitude, Mister," Pantherlily placed a hand on his stomach and degenerated back to his small size. "For looking after one of our own when we were otherwise unable."

"Mine especially," Charla nodded. "Thank you."

"It is both a fascination and a pleasure to assist beings from another universe such as yourselves. But, I am delighted to find that this reunion between you has taken place because I believe I may be able to make it even bigger. Excuse me." He turned back to the fireplace and threw a piece of paper and a little powder into the fireplace and with a whoosh of green light the paper, somehow unburnt, was whisked away.

"What did you just do, Albus?" Aberforth glared irritably.

"Only sent a message to let the Order know that the coast was clear."

"And… who else?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I see you're still as sharp as ever, my brother," he chuckled before there was a yell from the fireplace and a man without a shirt toppled out and crashed to the floor behind him.

"Damn it, I'm not sure whether I prefer that or that Apparition thing," Gray muttered as he rolled onto his back.

"Gray-san!" Wendy cried.

"Gray!" Happy echoed.

"Hey, it's the Stripper Boy," Gajeel snorted.

"Huh?" Gray looked up, startled. "Wait… Gajeel, you're here too? And all the Exceed? I thought it was just Wendy that…"

"KYAA!" Juvia squealed as she was almost thrust out of the fireplace, her arms windmilling as she tried to stay up before failing and toppling down to land right on top of Gray, just managing to catch herself before their heads clunked together painfully. And the moment Juvia realised where she was and how close her lips were to Gray's she immediately went as stiff as a board, the two of them staring at each other silently for a moment.

"G…G…Gray-sama…" she murmured weakly.

"You can feel free to get off me any time now," Gray coughed pointedly.

Juvia blushed and stuttered, "Um… sorry… Juvia apologises for… for landing on Gray-sama…" but notably did not get up.

However, Gajeel's voice suddenly registering to her when he said, "Jeez, Juvia, at least get a room before you try and pull the moves on the Nudist King," snapped her back to reality and her head shot up, wide-eyed.

"Gajeel-kun! It's you, Gajeel-kun!" she bolted off Gray and ran across the room and Gajeel suddenly found himself swamped in a hug from another blue haired Fairy Tail girl.

Though this time he reacted a little more aggressively and cried, "Gahh! Get off me, ye crazy water woman!"

Juvia smiled and refused to do anything of the sort. "Juvia's happy to see you're okay, Gajeel-kun."

Gajeel tried to pry her off for a moment but Juvia's grip seemed to be more iron than his own in his case, obscurely. So he just breathed heavily through his nose and muttered, "Yeah… it's good to see you too, I guess, rain woman."

Juvia smiled into Gajeel's chest - as her only friend from before she met Fairy Tail, Gajeel was the only one who could call her a rain woman without upsetting her. Well, of course Gray could do it too if he wanted. Gray could call her anything. And despite Gajeel's aversion to anyone showing him affection, she knew how to read him and could tell he was actually greatly relieved she was okay.

And then Lisanna bounded out of the fireplace with considerably more grace than the other two, but she still almost knocked Gray over again because the Ice Mage had only just finished getting back to his feet. "Whoops. Sorry, Gray," she chuckled as she helped steady him. "Didn't mean to hit you. I…" She paused when she suddenly realised who was in the room. "Huh…?"

"Lisanna-san, thank goodness your okay," Wendy clapped her hands together before suddenly Happy whooshed over her shoulder with a cry of:-

"LISAAAANNNAAAAAAAA!"

"Everyone! Happy!" Lisanna exulted as she seized the blue Exceed and held him close, rubbing her cheek against the top of his head as Happy bawled his eyes out. "Thank the heavens, you're okay."

"Wonder what else is going to be thanked before the night is up," Aberforth muttered to himself, but fortunately neither Lisanna nor Happy heard him.

"Lisanna, you're back! You're safe. I was worried that we might lose you for another two years!" Happy cried. "Just after we got you back!"

"I know the feeling Happy," Lisanna smiled as she rubbed between the cat's ears affectionately. "I was having similar thoughts. But it's alright. We're together again now and we can make sure that it doesn't happen again, right?"

"Aye…" Happy sniffled, looking up at her with earnest eyes. "And you can help us find Natsu right? We need to get him back. Him and Lucy and Erza and all the others."

"Natsu's not here then?" Lisanna asked, her face falling slightly as she looked up at the room. All three Exceed were present and Gajeel and Wendy were both clearly here so she'd been hoping the third Dragon Slayer would also be around.

"No. We don't know where he is," Happy whimpered. "We don't know where any of the others are."

"Is this all from your group?" Gajeel asked.

"This is all, yes," Gray nodded. "Professor Dumbledore here told us that Wendy would be here when we came. We weren't expecting the rest of you though. There's nobody else here from the guild?"

"None," Pantherlily confirmed. "All we know is that they're somewhere in this universe."

"Yeah, we know that too, Lily-san," Juvia nodded.

Lisanna smiled sadly and looked down at Happy, holding him closer than even before. "Don't worry, Happy. We'll find him again. I promise. In fact, I'll more than promise. I'll make sure of it."

"Aye… me too," Happy nodded, as Lisanna stood up, still holding him in her arms.

"Well, with all of us here that makes eight Fairy Tail members," Gray noted. "Not even half of the ones that were on Tenroujima accounted for."

"How many of us were there again?" Wendy tried to count on her fingers.

"Twenty-one," Mavis replied instantly. "Twenty-two if you include me."

"Oh, that's right. We haven't introduced you yet," Charla noted.

"Introduced who?" Aberforth asked grumpily. "Is there some reason you're staring into thin air, White Cat?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Unless I am very much mistaken, there is an ghost that you and I, brother, can neither see nor hear hovering right there. And I believe her name would be Mavis Vermilion, would it not?"

"Indeed it would," Charla nodded.

"So, its true," Gray murmured, a look of awe crossing his face. "It really was you who saved us from Acnologia."

"Not merely me," Mavis shook her head. "I activated the spell certainly but I have very little magical power in this form. Certainly not enough to cast a Fairy Sphere big enough to contain the island. I used the bonds of friendship between you and drew on your own shared magical power to activate it."

"Well, regardless, your actions saved our lives," Lisanna smiled. "Who would have thought that even after all this time you'd still be watching Fairy Tail's back?"

"Juvia agrees. And Juvia wants to thank First Mavis for creating Fairy Tail. Without it, Juvia's life might still be miserable."

"More than my pleasure," Mavis said. "But let's see if I can work up what limited magic I do possess so that people besides those with the mark can see me." She extended her hands to the sides, closed her eyes and glowed briefly and suddenly, with a smoky *foof* noise she became visible to both the Dumbledore brothers.

"Ah, there you are," Albus smiled. "The pleasure is all mine, Master Mavis."

"Just how much more crowded is my bar going to get?" Aberforth moaned.

Mavis ignored the younger brother's protest and curtsied in mid-air. "Good evening."

"You are certainly not like any ghost I have ever encountered," Dumbledore noted. "All the ghosts at my school, and indeed every other ghost in this world, are utterly intangible, transparent and colourless."

"You have a school?" Mavis' eyes brightened slightly. "Oh wow. Would that be that castle back across the lake?"

"Indeed it would," Dumbledore nodded, and he didn't fail to notice that Gajeel was suddenly looking rather awkward.

Mavis, on the other hand, immediately beamed and said, "Oh wow, a place of learning. You must have a lot of books there. I like books. I used to read a lot of them when I was a child. I didn't really have much else to do for quite a while. Hey wait… do you have fairies in this world?"

"Yes, indeed we do."

"REALLY!?" Mavis gasped and spun around on the spot several times giddily. "You've seen them?"

"Many times yes."

"Can I see them too? I love fairies."

"Oh I'm sure you'll get the chance. In fact around Christmas time we gather them in the castle and allow them to flit around at their leisure."

"That's amazing! What's Christmas?"

"Oh, you don't have it? Have you perhaps heard of Yule instead?"

"Oh yes, we have that!"

"Well, we also call that time of year Christmas. And if you are still around by then I will ensure that the castle is filled with fairies for the occasion."

"YAY!" Mavis backflipped happily, before then her expression turned much more serious and she asked. "Do they have tails?"

"Ah yes, this was something I gleaned from Wendy - the name of your guild being that nobody knows if fairies in your world have tails because they have never seen them, meaning it is an eternal mystery and adventure. Well, I am sorry to inform you that in our world, they do not have tails. That are very much tailless."

"Oh, how interesting. But then again, magic and dragons between our two worlds are very different so there is no guarantee our fairies are the same as yours."

"Very true. Mister Gajeel, is there something that you want to say?"

"Er… yeah, you own the castle, right? Well… I should mention I think you need to fix your gates. And a wall and some glass. And I reckon one of the people there might need to be treated for shock or something. Heck, I dunno. The point is, I busted in. And then this bird came and brought us here before I started trashing things… more."

"You got in through the wards? Impressive. How did you manage that?"

"I ate through the gates."

"Excuse me, you what?" Aberforth coughed.

"Ah, I see," Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, indeed we didn't have any wards to cover that. Thank you, Gajeel - I will be sure to sort that out. But for now, more explanations may be at hand."

And that was how the the rest of the active Fairy Tail members learned about the existence of Voldemort and about the promise that Gray, Lisanna and Juvia had all made to help in the fight against him for as long as they happened to be in this world.

"That's just typical, isn't it?" Gajeel muttered, rolling his eyes. "You'd think after we got involved in sorting out Edolas we'd at least be able to stick to the problems of our own world but apparently not."

"You don't want to help, Gajeel?" Lily looked up at him.

"I didn't say that. I think it might be fun," Gajeel grinned toothily. "I was just remarking that this guild really does seem to find trouble no matter where the heck we go."

"It certainly seems that way, doesn't it?" Lisanna said wryly.

"Hold on a minute," Charla objected. "We're really considering this? I mean, don't get me wrong I'm extremely grateful for the help of the people of this world, especially in looking after Wendy. But this fight is no business of ours. Why should we put our lives on the line when we should be focusing solely on finding the others and getting home."

"Charla, that's not the way we do it," Wendy knelt down next to her. "After these guys helped us so much how can we not help them in return."

"They're asking us to help them fight a war," Charla shook her head. "If you want to repay a debt there are other things you can do to settle things, rather than throw yourself recklessly into danger."

"But Charla…"

"No buts! I won't have it!" Charla looked up with shimmering eyes. "This isn't the first time I thought I might have lost you, Wendy. And I only just got you back. You're not getting involved in a war. You could be… you could… I won't let it happen. I won't let you put yourself in danger, even for them!"

There was a moment of silence, during which everyone in the room stared at the white cat, who was shaking in barely suppressed fear. But not for herself. Wendy sighed slightly - Charla was never afraid for herself, but was always afraid for Wendy. And she couldn't really blame her. They were in a world they didn't know, facing a threat they didn't yet fully understand and could only rely on strangers to set them on the right course.

It was enough to make anyone worry for those closest to them.

But still…

"Charla… if you want to make sure I never get into any situation where I could maybe get hurt… I think we joined the wrong guild."

"She's right, Charla," Happy murmured. "Fairy Tail looks after its own most of all but we look out for all our other friends too."

"Indeed. And we've made friends here," Lisanna nodded. "To bail out on them now… it would be against everything we stand for."

Charla bit her lip and looked at the floor, saying nothing.

"You know they're right, Charla," Wendy whispered.

"…Yeah… yeah I know…" Charla wiped her eye slightly with a paw. "You're… you're right, I'm sorry. I don't like it but you're right. I guess… there's really nothing else we can do. I guess if we refuse we'll always be looking back, wondering what could have happened if we'd made a different decision."

Mavis smiled. She'd been right. Her guild really had grown into everything she had hoped it would be. Unimaginable levels of pride swelled within her as she looked at these youngsters. Her youngsters. All together because of the dream she'd had when she was younger.

"Well," she said. "It looks like you have yourself a deal, Mister Dumbledore," she smiled. "The Fairies will bring our light down upon these Death Eaters and show them that our world does not take any more kindly to Dark Lords as this one does."

"And it is greatly appreciated," Dumbledore nodded. "Come now though. It seems there are more introductions to be made tonight than I thought. The rest of the Order are waiting for us to return even now. We should probably get back before Miss Tonks falls asleep."

"Oh terrific, we have to go through the fire again," Gray moaned. "Why can't we just use a train or something?"

"We have a train but it would take nine hours to get back on it. And it's currently over there right now so it would take nine hours to get it to us first."

"…The fire it is then."

* * *

The rest of the night went rather swiftly for Fairy Tail and the rest of both groups got to meet each other, culminating in the Order calling Gajeel to demonstrate his Iron Dragon Slayer abilities which he did by cutting the entire dining room table in two pieces with a single stroke of his arm. Fortunately they were able to repair it quickly and the new Fairies were fully welcomed. Though Bill Weasley had to physically pull his brother Charlie away from Wendy, since he was over-excitedly plying her with questions about Grandine.

Arrangements were made for where they would stay and to most people's surprise, Wendy volunteered to stay with Aberforth at the Hog's Head. She said that, "He's a bit grouchy but I think he's a nice old man at heart and… I don't know… I feel like he could do with a bit of company. And I'll only be a… fireplace… away… wow, I never thought I'd say that."

Naturally Charla immediately wanted to stay where Wendy was and Happy wanted to stay where Charla was - a fact which made Lisanna giggle slightly. But everyone else was rather surprised when Gajeel also immediately volunteered to stay with Wendy, swiftly claiming it was because he thought the Dragon Slayers and their Exceed partners should stay together because "it makes sense that way." What he actually meant was that he was not about to leave Wendy without another Fairy Tail member watching over her. Only Juvia caught that subtext though, and she smiled, pleased at how Gajeel was coming to care more despite his extreme reluctance to let people know about it.

Aberforth had complained of course, but Gajeel's glare had quickly told him that either he was going to stay at the Hog's Head, or he would find a way to make Aberforth live at Grimmauld Place so that Wendy would stay too, possibly by destroying the Hog's Head entirely.

Mavis decided she would take turns staying at different places, but would stay at Grimmauld Place for now as she wanted to get to know the other three from her guild a little more for the time being.

But even as Fairy Tail were beginning to settle into bed at about half two in the morning and the rest of the Order began to head home with an information overload preventing them from getting much sleep, except Tonks, who was out like a light, Ron Weasley was still up, sitting in an armchair in the Gryffindor Common Room and still looking rather wide-eyed.

After his unfortunate incident with his unknown assailant earlier that night, they'd hurriedly found and reported what had happened to Professor Sprout, who had been rather angry at the damage to the greenhouse and had hastily fixed the damage before hailing the other teachers still on campus to conduct a search of the grounds for anyone dangerous, before sending Ron and Hermione back to the Common Room since that was one of the safest places they could be.

Hermione had given up trying to convince Ron to just go to bed a while ago, but had refused to wake Harry up to give him the news. Doubtless he'd be angry about that in the morning but goodness knows he needed all the sleep he could get.

"Look, I'm not denying that you were attacked by something but are you absolutely sure that you saw what you saw?"

"Oh yeah," Ron nodded. "I really don't see how it could have been a trick."

"There are certain spells that can cause hallucinogenic effects that aren't even felt when they hit you. Or maybe you could have been caught in the pollen of a Makumura plant. You were next to greenhouse four and that was the glass you smashed through as soon as you were attacked."

"Does that cause hallucinations?" Ron asked.

"It does, yes. We should be covering them at some point this year I think, but Professor Sprout always has to cast spells on days where the plant releases its pollen to stop people from getting affected when they go in. Maybe today was one of those days."

"…I dunno… if that was a hallucination it was a bloody real one," Ron shivered. "Okay, so maybe the whole arm turning into a sword thing might not have really happened but there's no way I imagined that guy."

"But how did he get through the Hogwarts wards?" Hermione murmured.

"Do you think he got in through the tunnel from the Shrieking Shack?"

"Ron, Dumbledore knows that You-Know-Who knows about that tunnel. Peter Pettigrew would have told him. I bet that tunnel will be heavily protected by now."

"Good point."

"But he was screaming about a girl, you said?"

"Yeah, he kept asking me where 'the girl' was. For a moment I thought he might mean you because he'd seen us both patrolling earlier and then attacked only to find me alone. But then he used a name… can't remember what it was… Wendy something… Are there any Wendy's in this school?"

"I think there's one in the second year Hufflepuff house, but I'm not sure. I can't remember everyone's names."

"He sounded like he thought we'd done something to her."

"You think this man thought _we_ were the bad guys?"

"I dunno what the heck he thought. All I know is I'm not gonna sleep tonight after all."

Hermione opened her mouth to say more before there was a sudden flash of fire over the table, which made them both yelp and almost fall backwards. But suddenly there was a piece of paper and a long red feather lying on the table. A feather that both of them recognised as belonging to a phoenix, giving them a clear message as to who sent it.

Hermione picked up the paper and read aloud from it, "Mister Weasley. I am terribly sorry for the misunderstanding that occurred outside today. I'm afraid that the man who accosted you outside the greenhouses was actually one of a few that I hired for extra security to the school this year as I am sure you know we may need. I can assure you this will not happen again, but I would appreciate it if this story did not become public knowledge."

"That Dumbledore's writing?" Ron asked.

"Definitely," Hermione sighed in relief. "Looks like there's nothing to worry about after all though. Extra security. That's a relief."

"Not so much of a relief when the security attacks the bloody students," Ron muttered. "And that still doesn't explain why he attacked me and why his arm became a sword."

"I maintain it was probably the Makumura plant pollen that made that last one happen. But if Dumbledore says its alright then I think it's alright, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess. Still… I hope I don't run into him again. I'm telling you, this guy was a nutcase. Dunno what Dumbledore's thinking… but then again, he did have a giant three-headed dog guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Wonder what happened to Fluffy anyway."

"Well, the point is that everything's fine," Hermione sighed. "Still…" she turned to look out of the window and the moon shining high above - just gone full a few days ago and the cycle beginning again. "Extra security might not be enough one day. One day an attack like that might be from a real threat. And we're not learning how to defend ourselves thanks to that… I refuse to call her a teacher."

Ron grinned widely, before his face became more sombre. "But what can we do? She won't let us practice spells."

"Maybe. But I'm beginning to think… we should… start taking matters into our own hands."


	11. What Will Come

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 11:- What Will Come**

* * *

When Harry woke up on Tuesday morning to find Ron so deep in sleep that he was hanging half out of his bed and didn't appear to notice, he could only laugh and roll him back onto the covers before he hurt himself. But when Ron woke up and quietly recounted the story of his encounter with the strange man last night, making sure the rest of the dorm couldn't hear him, the Boy-Who-Lived was, just as they'd predicted, annoyed that they hadn't woken up to tell him about it immediately.

"This isn't like in the summer when Dumbledore was telling us not to tell you anything, mate," Ron protested under Harry's angry glare. "I told you just now didn't I? But after what we learned, waking you up in the middle of the night wouldn't have made any difference."

Harry was still annoyed, but he'd calmed down a little by the time they joined Hermione in the Common Room and they were all walking down to breakfast together. "Well, I suppose its good to know that Dumbledore's at least taking extra steps to make sure that the school's kept safe, but why didn't he mention these extra security people at the welcoming feast like he normally would?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione asked. "It's most likely that the Ministry doesn't know about these extra security people. After all they refuse to believe that You-Know-Who is back at all so if they learned that Dumbledore was hiring men to protect the castle they might think that was an attempt to secure Dumbledore's grip on the school. Fudge already thinks he might be trying to turn the students into an army. The idea of extra security guards being part of an army isn't a far leap from that."

"Though its a far leap from sanity to come up with an idea like that in the first place," Ron shook his head. "And I thought Fudge used to be pretty decent. Now he's gone barmy."

"And he's got Umbridge toadying to his every whim here now," Harry growled slightly. "I suppose she doesn't know about these guys either."

"Dumbledore definitely couldn't announce that he was taking precautions against You-Know-Who in front of her, certainly," Hermione agreed.

"There's still things that really don't make sense though," Ron voiced. "I was thinking about it and… there's a lot of stuff that just doesn't add up. Like all the stuff that guy said. Demanding where this Wendy girl was, for instance. Why would a security guard charge in and demand to know where a certain girl was?"

"Maybe Wendy's his daughter?" Harry shrugged.

"I dunno man. The way he was talking it sounded like Wendy wasn't a student. And I remembered something last night - he said she had blue hair. Blue hair! When was the last time you saw a girl with blue hair at Hogwarts?"

"…Maybe he was drunk?" Harry asked as they started to cross the Entrance Hall.

"He seemed damn sober to me," Ron shook his head.

"Ron, you also saw his arm turned into a sword thanks to the Makumura plant pollen, remember? It really is entirely possible that all this stuff about a blue haired girl called Wendy was part of the hallucination that the pollen caused," Hermione pointed out.

"You think?"

"Do you have a better explanation?"

"Only that maybe Dumbledore's lying and this guy isn't extra security. But Dumbledore wouldn't do that… would he?"

Harry's face suddenly went a little dark, and now all three of them looked doubtful. They all knew it was true that Dumbledore and the Order were keeping them in the dark about certain things. Not only had he refused to let Harry have any information over the summer but the entire Order were refusing to tell him things about their secret operations, despite his protests and his wishes to become more involved. Was this something else they were trying to keep him from learning about? If the guy was on their side why would they feel the need to lie about him? Was he on their side at all?

"We should talk about this later when there aren't other people around," Hermione whispered. "In fact, we really should discuss that kind of thing in the hallway where anyone can hear us anyway. We need to keep things under wraps a little more."

"Fine," Harry murmured. "What have we got for first period again?"

"Double Charms. And then Double Transfiguration before lunch," Hermione replied instantly.

"Well, that's something at least. Definitely better than Monday," Ron yawned.

Breakfast was a rather sour affair for Harry, poking holes in his bacon as he brooded over his current situation. Why couldn't people just let him be more involved in combatting Voldemort? Surely he of all people had a right to know what was happening. He couldn't help but feel bitter. It was bad enough that most of the Wizarding World thought he was some kind of attention-seeking loony, but having those who didn't think he was a loony treat him like a child irked him to no end. Even if, technically, he was still a child.

And this latest development, learning about extra security people being hired for the school, made him wonder what else he didn't know.

"Something up, Harry?" said a voice, and suddenly Fred was sitting next to him, grinning merrily as he usually did.

"Course something's up, Fred," George settled into the seat opposite his twin and next to Ron. "Something's always up these days - Harry walks around with a face so long that at one point I saw him and thought that our family ghoul had escaped and come to the school."

"Har har har…" Harry rolled his eyes, but felt a slight smile tug at his lips. Fred and George Weasley were, at the very least, always able to lift the mood somewhat even when Harry felt at his most down. He'd been right when he'd given them his Triwizard Winnings last year - the world did need more laughs right now and the twins certainly knew how to provide them. "No, its probably nothing important."

"Detentions with Umbridge getting you down?" Fred asked. "If ever you need a couple of Puking Pastilles to foul it up for Toadface then we'll let you have a couple free of charge."

Harry grinned, but carefully moved his hand to make sure the twins didn't notice the fresh scars on the back of it from last night, though Hermione looked like she was torn between scowling at the idea of the Pastilles or wondering if Harry should actually try using one to avoid the horrendous detentions. But she just sighed and said, "It wouldn't do any good. You know her. She has it out for Harry - she might make him do extra just for being forced to miss one, even if she thought he was genuinely ill."

"You may be right. Speaking of her Royal Pinkness though, I heard that Professor Trelawney had a rough time in her inspection of your class yesterday," George voiced.

"Yeah, I almost felt sorry for the old bat," Ron agreed.

"Looks like she's feeling rather sorry for herself too, look," George nodded up towards the Staff Table. The others looked over too and their curiosity piqued when they saw Trelawney and Umbridge engrossed in a quiet conversation. Though 'conversation' might not be the right word because Trelawney was quite evidently rather distressed and appeared to be stumbling over whatever she was trying to say and flinching whenever Umbridge replied.

"Wow, its rare to see Trelawney anywhere but up in her stuffy tower," Ron murmured. "What do you think she's doing?"

"Probably trying to convince Umbridge that she's not the fraud that she probably made herself look like yesterday… and is," Hermione scoffed, turning back to her Daily Prophet. "Honestly, I don't know which one of those two disgusts me more."

"…Really, Hermione?" Harry gave her a pointed look.

Hermione hesitated before she sighed and murmured, "Alright, alright, Umbridge disgusts me more but Trelawney disgusts me too. Oh, look at this!" She splayed the paper across the table. "There's a report on some kind of… giant bird attack down in Hampshire. They reckon someone's been illegally experimenting on animals to create a new species."

The others craned their heads to get a look at the paper, blissfully unaware of the fact that the newspaper had actually failed to mention the presence of three young people with unusual magic at the scene since the Aurors were trying to hush it up until they had more information. But even as she scanned the article, Fred nudged Harry in the chest and murmured, "Watch out, mate. Here comes the thunderstorm."

Harry blinked, but a split second later he found out what Fred meant when suddenly Angelina descended on him, furiously screaming at him at pretty much the top of her lungs about how he'd managed to land himself in detention with Umbridge and therefore miss Quidditch practice for yet another week! Harry feebly tried to protest against Angelina's verbal bombardment but fortunately she was quickly hushed by McGonagall as the Head of their House hurried over from the staff table, deducting five points from Gryffindor.

But she too grew angry when she heard the reason behind Angelina's shouting. "Did you take in a single word of what I said last week about controlling your temper, Potter? Another five points from…"

"_The dance of the Fairies has begun!"_

Practically everyone in the entire room jumped at the sudden rasping voice that seemed to echo around the entire Hall, coming from almost every angle at once. Most of them were looking wildly around for the source, but Harry's eyes swivelled towards the staff table like laser beams. He knew that voice. He'd heard it once before in his third year, right after an appalling Divination exam.

Just as he suspected, Professor Trelawney had gone stiff as a plank, her mouth looking almost unhinged and her eyes behind her thick glasses rolling around and making her look eerily like a zombie. Umbridge had drawn away from her in shock as Trelawney continued speaking, slowly gaining the attention of the rest of the room as they realised where the voice was coming from.

"_It will begin with the lowering of the fifth Sphere. As darkness gathers, the Fairies will converge to join the fight of the Wizarding World. But the fight will not be an easy path, for they shall be met with fear and the darkness will rise to greater heights than ever to oppose them. Magic, new and old, modern and ancient, will clash together. Doorways will open. Old battles will be rekindled. Bygone evil will be unleashed - thirsting for revenge against that which imprisoned it. Alliances will rise on both sides. The skies will burn with the fire of Dragons and the land echo with the cries of beasts, devils and the dead. The war will begin… when the fifth Sphere diminishes."_

The silence of the Great Hall when Trelawney was so thick you could have used it is butter on the toast. The Diviniation teacher slowly seemed to regain her senses, shaking her head in slightly bewilderment before noticing that every eye in the room was on her and shrilly demanding, "What!? Do I have something on my face?" Before suddenly hurrying away from the table in a fluster and storming across the hall and out, probably to head back to her lonely tower.

Almost as soon as she was out of sight the entire room broke into fevered whispers. McGonagall, who looked rather pale, murmured, "Look, all of you… just keep the noise down, alright," before she hurried over towards Dumbledore.

Fred whistled slightly. "Well, I have to hand it to Trelawney, when she gets desperate she really goes all out. She never did anything like that when she made fake predictions in our Divination classes."

"Lucky break for you, eh, Harry?" George grinned. "She interrupted McGonagall before she could finish docking points off you."

"Honestly, what was all that about anyway?" Hermione huffed. "I admit that was an impressive piece of theatre but we all know she's a fraud. And of course she couldn't keep all the death and doom out of it, could she?"

"Hermione…" Harry said slowly. "I don't think that was fake. I think… that was a real prediction. Right then, she was acting just like she was when I heard her predict Wormtail's return to Voldemort's side. Exactly the same."

Despite the collective flinch at the name, Hermione blustered, "But Harry, really, come on. The woman's been predicting your death for the last two years and you're still alive. You know you can't take what she says seriously…"

"Look, Hermione!" Harry growled, shutting Hermione up with his tone of voice alone. "I know you don't like her, but I know what I heard her say that day. Everything she said came true. It wasn't just some crap that she said to make herself look all mystical. Even Dumbledore agreed with me when I told him about it. And she just gave another one, right there and now in front of us. Everything she just said… it was a real prediction."

A deathly hush fell over the table at his words, Hermione looking somewhat stricken, while Ron looked he was torn between being annoyed at Harry for snapping at her and worried about what the consequences of Trelawney's words might be. Harry caught his slightly accusatory stare and sighed. McGonagall was right - he really did need to reign in his temper.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. But it's true."

Hermione slowly nodded her head before nervously voicing, "But… if that prediction was a real one… all those terrible things she said would happen…"

"I didn't get half of it but… holy crap it sounded bad," Ron agreed. "All that stuff about dragons and beasts and bygone evil… what kind of hell is the Wizarding World going to come to. And what was up with all that stuff about fairies rising up to fight. You've got to admit that part is mental - fairies are useless at everything except looking pretty. That can't even fight each other properly."

"I don't know what it means," Harry muttered, clenching his fist and the cuts on the back of his hand going white. "But how much worth is school education going to be if half that stuff comes true? I should be out there! Doing something. Not sitting here at breakfast getting ready to go and learn how to make a cat howl like a wolf or whatever Flitwick will be teaching us today."

There was another brief silence amongst the group, before Fred murmured, "Looks like Dumbledore's taking it rather seriously too." And indeed McGonagall and Dumbledore were holding some sort of whispered conference.

"I bet the Order will be hearing about this before the day is out," agreed George.

"Be that as it may, Harry, we don't really know what the future holds for us," Hermione noted. "Maybe learning a new Charm isn't as important as saving the world, but right now that is what our future definitely holds. So come on… let's finish breakfast and get going."

Harry nodded slightly bitterly. But he knew he wasn't going to enjoy today. Trelawney's words were going to weigh far too heavily on his mind for that.

* * *

"Why the hell do I have to do this!?"

"I'm not having freeloaders living under my roof doing nothing but gulping their way through my food and drink. Don't pull so hard - you'll hurt her!"

"If the bloody thing tries to bite me again then I swear to all the gods out there that I'll chuck it through the nearest window!"

"You will do no such thing! Stop pulling so hard and she'll stop biting!"

"Sure she will. HEY GUH! OH, SHE DID THAT ON PURPOSE!"

"Well that's what happens if you pull too hard - you make them panic. Haven't you ever tried being gentle?"

"I'm the Iron Dragon Slayer! I don't do gentle!"

Wendy did her very best not to laugh as she watched Aberforth and Gajeel arguing as the elderly man tried to teach the reluctant mage how to milk a goat. And the goat had just panicked and bucked around, stamping its hoof right into the bucket of milk that Gajeel had already made and splashing the milk all over Gajeel's front.

"I can hardly believe I'm seeing this," Happy snickered. "Gajeel, of all people, milking goats. I just wish Natsu could see this."

"Though I have to admit, I am a little concerned for the goat's safety," Lily remarked.

"You could get over here and help me, you know," Gajeel griped as he glared at his Exceed partner.

"But my hands aren't built for milking a goat in this form. And my other form would just scare the poor girls," Lily grinned.

"Bastard," Gajeel muttered. Lily laughed.

"Amusing as this is, what exactly are we meant to do today?" Charla asked as she folded her arms. "Just sit around like a family of lobsters waiting for something to happen?"

"There's not much else we can do, Charla," Wendy pointed out. "Dumbledore-san said that he was going to try and think of a way for the Ministry to find out about us and not have them think we're a threat."

"Which might be hard to do considering the trouble we've already caused," Happy noted.

"Nevertheless, if it can be done, it should be," Lily agreed. "We'll have a much easier time if the official governing body of this world is on our side than if we have to skulk about in the shadows all the time. Besides… I may not have been in this guild long but I definitely got the impression that skulking is generally something most of us do very badly."

"Very true," Charla accepted. "But so is sitting still. It really does feel like we should be doing something more than just…" she suddenly stopped and looked up sharply, her pupils shrinking into dots as her eyes gained a rather vacant look.

A sudden flurry of images seemed to blur their way rapidly and unbidden through the white Exceed's mind:-

Some kind of massive explosion as men and women in long cloaks and pointy hats went running all over the place.

A woman with long dark hair and wearing chains that she didn't know grinning maniacally as the door to what looked like a cell was ripped off its hinges.

Natsu barrelling down a brightly lit hall of some kind with Gajeel and Wendy both right behind him, using their magic to sweep several startled, squat humanoid creatures aside and their faces all absolutely livid.

A young boy with dark hair and glasses angrily throwing throwing a red flash of light from his wand right at an ugly woman with a toad-like face dressed all in pink.

Juvia collapsing to the floor and thrashing about in what looked like unbearable agony while Gray, Tonks and Lucy looked on in horror.

Erza falling to her knees and clutching her head, wailing in what appeared to be utter horror and despair, tears streaming down her face and shaking violently as Cana and Sirius tried desperately to hold something back but not looking much better off.

A village of some description that had been practically levelled with smoke still rising from the buildings, the area littered with the bodies of the dead while a couple of dark figures she couldn't see moving away from the carnage through the smoke.

Several dozen men riding broomsticks and casting spells at each other madly before Laxus blitzed in and added his lightning to the mix, closely followed by all three members of the Raijinshuu, throwing the entire area into chaos.

A man with a pale face, slitted nostrils and red eyes laughing as he fired flashes of green light at a furiously dodging Elfman before Mirajane appeared in front of the man and threw a punch at him only for the man to vanish into thin air before she could hit him.

Lisanna pinned to the floor by some kind of giant, clawed foot and staring up in fear as what looked like the two oldest Weasley brothers and a woman with silvery hair she didn't know fired on whatever it was that had her pinned down.

A group of children in black robes fleeing down a hallway as several adults pursued them angrily before McGonagall suddenly lurched out of a door nearby and angrily started hexing at the adults.

And finally another vision of a woman with long dark hair she didn't know, but a different one this time and garbed in what appeared to be a long, black dress kneeling on stone and staring into a crystal, a smirk growing wide on her face as she looked up and seemed to stare straight at Charla herself. After this last one, the visions broke off and Charla fell back with a gasp and almost fell off the table, panting for breath and looking decidedly frightened.

"Oh… oh my gosh…" she whispered hoarsely to herself. "That was… that was…"

"Was that a vision?" Wendy asked hurriedly. "A premonition of the future?"

"What did you see?" Happy asked. "Did you see Natsu?"

"Yes I… yes, I saw him," Charla nodded slowly. "But not just him… I saw… I saw… oh gods… why do I get the feeling that all the stuff I saw then… was just the beginning?"

* * *

"This place… it's fantastic…" Charlie Weasley breathed as he drank in the sights around him. "Now this is a place where I'm sure I could quite happily settle down. And that tree! Man, if Professor Sprout got a load of that tree, she's probably die happy on the spot."

"Best not bring her out here then," Mavis smiled as she hovered nearby, looking out fondly across the island. "Though Sirius seems to be enjoying himself."

"He would be," Remus grimaced lightly as he watched the dog running around snapping lightly at each other's tails nearby. "After months of being cooped up in a house full of unpleasant memories, anyone would be."

When the group at Grimmauld Place had woken up that morning, Mavis had started talking with some of the remaining members about some of the more short-term plans for both Fairy Tail and the Order Lisanna had, naturally, been very quick to bring up the rescue of the Clipper birds from the Ministry. Though the Order remained adamant that probably the best way of getting the birds free was to try and befriend the Ministry somehow instead of doing something that would only make Fairy Tail look worse in their government's eyes, they had agreed to do their best to make sure the birds got back to their island safe and sound.

And in lieu of that, Mavis had volunteered to take a group to Tenroujima so they could see the place for themselves, which is where they were now. Mavis had been able to point out the island's exact location on a map she was shown despite the fact she couldn't pick out any of the other places they'd visited, and the group comprised of Remus, Charlie and Alastor Moody, all of whom were available. But since there was no chance of being recognised by anyone here, Sirius had been eager to come and this time nobody had denied him, which was why he and Lisanna was currently playing together.

"It's impressive, I grant you," Moody clunked over the stones, his eye spinning in his head to look up at the tree while the rest of him focused on Mavis. "But are you certain there's no chance of someone stumbling on this island by accident. That tree doesn't exactly strike me as something people won't notice."

"That is true, but there are spells woven around the island, raised by myself while I was still alive and held in place by the Tenrou Tree. Special magical filters ward people away unless they specifically intend on going there and if they do come in sight of it they usually don't notice it. They see it of course, but the magic keeps their minds from registering its presence."

"The principal sounds a little similar to a Fidelius," noted Moody. "But can anyone give the location of the island away to an enemy?"

"Yes, that they can."

"Well, perhaps its not as precise as a Fidelius then, in which only one person can give the location away effectively, unless of course that person is killed."

Sirius bounded back over and reverted back to his human shape, stretching his arms wide and grinning like a lunatic. "Oh, now this is nice. Wish this place had been around when I'd been on the run without using my lovely old family home. I'm pretty sure I could live here."

"Well, this is a place where all animals and all people with good hearts are welcome," Mavis smiled. "Which means that my answer is yes. Should the need ever arise, I give you permission to use this island as a base for the Order. There's no buildings here anymore though so you'll have to use a cave or construct something it you want a roof over your head but you may indeed use it."

"We appreciate it," Remus nodded. "But hopefully it will never get to that stage. Astonishing as this island is, it is rather out of the way, whereas Grimmauld Place is right in the middle of London, which means its more ideally located to responding to any Death Eater threats. But should Grimmauld Place ever become unusable for whatever reason, this will make a good back-up."

"As far as I'm concerned, Grimmauld Place is already unusable," Sirius scoffed.

"Unpleasant perhaps, but not unusable," Remus chuckled pointedly.

"What I wouldn't give to have a home like this though," Sirius murmured. "I dunno how the heck you'd be able to transport yourselves and this entire island back into your own universe, Mavis, but I'm half tempted to ask if I can come with. In fact, I probably would if there weren't still a few very important things to keep me here."

"Like Harry?" Mavis asked. She'd not met the boy but she'd already heard much about him.

"Like Harry," Sirius confirmed.

"Family is very important," Mavis looked up at the tree, smiling fondly as she felt nostalgia wash over her, remembering well the seven years that she'd spent living here with Zeira. "Even if that family is not yours by blood."

"Got that right," Charlie agreed. "Anyway, we should probably head back. We now know where we need to take the birds - now we just need to figure out a way of transporting them all here. Assuming we can find a way to get them out of the Ministry. Let's just hope that we can get that sorted soon. We should go - Kingsley will be waiting to escort you into the Department of Mysteries to get a look at that Sphere."

* * *

"Damn, this place gives me the willies," Gray murmured as he walked down one of the halls of Grimmauld Place, staring at the slightly macabre decorations on the walls, or rather doing his absolute best not to.

"Juvia doesn't think that Sirius-san was exaggerating when he spoke of how horrible his family was," Juvia shivered. "Sirius-san must have had a horrible childhood growing up in a place like this."

"I'm astonished anyone could grow up in a place like this at all. Or at the very least grow up and not become as twisted as the rest of the family," Gray muttered, pausing and grimacing as he belt a row of small and decidedly non-human heads on spikes nearby. "I don't even know what those are but whoever thought that would be a nice thing to put in the hall has to have gone round the twist."

"Those poor creatures," Juvia agreed.

"Shows what she knows," a grumbling voice from nearby made them both jump, and they turned to see a small, wrinkled… thing… with large and drooping bat-like ears and a long pointed nose just like row of heads. "Think they can come swanning in here, all talk of another universe and use my poor Mistress' house like a free hotel. Oh, that nasty brat's done us shame bringing in all these Mudbloods and blood traitors already but now he brings people who don't even belong in this world. People who desecrate the house even more and even freeze my Mistress' portrait. Slimy, foul alien scum tainting our very world with their unnatural magic…"

"Who the heck are you?" Gray demanded, glaring at the small thing as it continued its grumbling tirade.

"Oh, now its talking to Kreacher, poisoning his ears with the very noises it makes. Oh, it cannot go on. What other atrocities will they be bringing in next? What have they not brought in already?"

Juvia shivered slightly, under the sunken glare of this little creature, but she reasoned that he must be a resident of this house so she decided it might be best to try and get along. She knelt down in front of him and, smiling openly, she said, "Juvia is delighted to meet you, Kreacher-san. That is your name, isn't it? Juvia is sorry for intruding upon your house but Juvia is sure that if you get to know us…"

But Kreacher was bristling angrily and hissing slightly, "It thinks it can come into Kreacher's own house and mock him! Filthy water woman! Kreacher hopes it dies horribly from drowning - that would be ironic."

Juvia pulled back in shock, stung by Kreacher's words, and Gray immediately flared up and stepped up next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and glaring down at the small humanoid thing. "How dare you talk to her like that! You call us filthy!? That's rich coming from something that doesn't look like its had a bath in decades!"

Feeling Gray's comforting hand there and having him come to her defence would normally send Juvia into a maelstrom of romantic fantasising but she was too shocked by Kreacher's violent reaction to attempting to befriend him to fully register it. "Ju… Juvia is sorry if she's offended you. Is there anything Juvia can to to make up for it!?"

"It's apology is still a mockery! What has old Kreacher done to deserve being derided by some blue-haired wench from another world!"

Gray snarled. "If you don't shut that mouth of yours right now I swear I'll…!"

"What's going on here?" Mrs. Weasley's voice broke across him as she hurried up the hallway.

"This thing keeps insulting us!" Gray growled. "I thought we'd had enough of that when we'd left that Jarvey behind."

"To be fair to the Jarvey, Juvia doesn't think that his insults were attempts to be mean… like Kreacher-san's."

"Who does she think she is, coming in here where Kreacher has lived his whole life and making fun of him, and then complaining to blood traitors when Kreacher defends himself," Kreacher muttered to himself. "Vermin and wizarding wastes, every one of them."

Mrs. Weasley sighed and said, "Just leave him. He won't listen to me if I tell him to stop. Come on dears, come down to lunch. I hope you're hungry because after all you've been through you deserve a good meal."

"But why did he get so angry at Juvia?" Juvia asked as they complied and followed her towards the stairs. "Juvia was only trying to be nice."

"I think… he may have thought you were making fun of the way he talks," Mrs. Weasley ventured. "Kreacher's a House Elf, you see. Many House Elves speak in the third person and I must say its rather unusual for a human to do the same, like you do, dearie. Out of curiosity, why do you choose to talk like that? Is it how you were raised perhaps?"

Gray raised a brow at this question. Despite having known Juvia for almost six months now that was a question that he'd never asked her or even thought to ask. He'd just taken it as a personality quirk, like Elfman's constant repetition of the word 'man' and not brought it up. But now he found himself rather curious to know the answer.

Juvia rubbed her arm lightly and said, "Well… Juvia… I mean, I never had any friends when she… I… was a child. Nobody ever wanted to be friends with J… me… because… I… couldn't control my magic for most of my life. Wherever I was, it was always raining. Twenty-four hours idea, seven days a week, for seventeen years. I never saw a blue sky. Nobody ever wanted me around, and those that tried to be my friend mostly gave up quite quickly, always sick of the rain I brought with me. Only Gajeel-kun ever tolerated me but he wasn't really close with anyone back then. It's possible even my parents gave me up because of it - I have no memory of them. I grew up in several orphanages, and was always being shunted from one to another because both the other kids and the staff wanted the sun to come back."

Mrs. Weasley had stopped walking and was staring at Juvia in abject horror. "Oh my goodness… you poor girl… that's… that's one of the most horrible things I've ever heard in my life."

"It's… it's okay… Juvia has… I have control of it now," Juvia smiled slightly. "And I have more friends than I ever thought anyone could have. But it was lonely those seventeen years, where I only had dolls for permanent company. With my dolls I could pretend that I was somebody else and that all the loneliness was happening to another girl. So I started referring to myself in the third person even when not playing with dolls to try and keep up the pretence. It didn't really work but… Juvia guesses the habit stuck. Even now, when she's happy with Fairy Tail."

Gray was staring at Juvia with something akin to admiration. He'd had a traumatic past himself to say the least, but his troubles had been more based around several specific events that caused him great pain to remember. But terrible as they were, he had dozens of happy memories to go with them. For Juvia to spend seventeen years living through the rain and the fact that most everyone hated her for it… he was amazed she'd had the strength to keep going all that time and still be able to become the cheerful and exuberant girl she was now.

Her character was stronger than he'd been giving her credit for.

Mrs. Weasley though quickly hurried forwards and wrapped her arms around Juvia, pulling her into a tight hug. She was shorter than Juvia so the water woman had to look down in surprise, but the redheaded woman murmured, "Even so, no child should have to go through what you have, without the love of family or friends. And let me tell you… I may not be your mother… but I can try my best to be one for you. If you want. There's always room for one more in the Weasley family."

Juvia gasped slightly, her heart swelling in her chest at Mrs. Weasley's kind words. She could feel tears pricking at her eyes as she slowly wrapped her arms around the shorter woman to hold her close. "Th…thank you… Mrs. Weasley. Juvia thinks that… she would like that."

Gray couldn't help but smile at the touching moment, waiting patiently for them to them to break apart so they could head down to eat again. His stomach, however, was not so patient and loudly rumbled. Mrs. Weasley and Juvia both laughed and broke apart, the former smiling while the latter wiped her eyes and sniffed happily.

"Come on, let's get going," Mrs. Weasley said. "Though Gray, I recommend you put your shirt back on."

"GOD DAMNIT!"

The Weasley mother shook her head slightly as Gray scrambled to put his shirt back on before she added, "Where's Lisanna? I'm sure she must be hungry too."

"She's probably still exploring the house," Gray replied. "I saw her heading upstairs towards the attic earlier."

"Towards the… oh gosh!" Mrs. Weasley gasped. "Oh my goodness, how could we forget to tell you!?"

"What? Tell us what?" Gray cried sharply but Mrs. Weasley was already hurrying back the way they'd come and up the stairs. Confused, the two Fairy Tail mages followed quickly behind her, racing up the stairs hard on their heels until they came to the wooden staircase that lead up to the very top floor. Mrs. Weasley bolted up it and threw the door open…

Lisanna looked up from where she was sitting on the floor and said, "Wow, you made me jump there. Is everything okay?"

Gray and Juvia moved in so they could see what was happening and blanched when they saw what Lisanna was sitting next to. They had thought the Clippers were big, but this bird was absolutely massive - the size of a horse easily. In fact… its entire back half seemed to be that of a horse, while its front half looked like some kind of giant, fierce-eyed eagle with grey feathers and a viciously hooked beak. It was currently lying down on it stomach, and allowing Lisanna to run her fingers through its feathers but as it beheld these strangers that had suddenly entered its room, it tensed and cawed at them, eying them beadily.

"Easy, easy," Lisanna murmured slightly, scratching him lightly beneath one wing. "They're friends."

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright," Mrs. Weasley sighed in relief. "I'm so sorry we forgot to tell you about Buckbeak. Good thing you knew how to approach a hippogriff."

"A hippogriff, huh? Is that what he is? I've never heard of them before," Lisanna smiled as Buckbeak lowered his large head down towards her and allowed her to stroke his beak, closing his eyes contentedly.

"You haven't?" blinked Mrs. Weasley. "But then… how did you know the procedure?"

"Procedure? What procedure?" Lisanna frowned.

"The one to approach a Hippogriff? You're supposed to bow to a Hippogriff and then if it bows back you're meant to approach it very slowly. If you don't do it right they usually attack. You mean to tell me you… didn't do that?"

"No. No, I didn't. I came forward cautiously of course but I didn't bow. I didn't know you should," Lisanna shook her head.

"But then… why didn't he…?"

Gray chuckled. "Lisanna's just got a way with animals. Always has. Most of the time they just naturally seem to like her. Takes a very aggressive creature to try and attack her."

"But why is he shut away in this house?" Juvia asked. "Shouldn't a big bird like him be out in the sky, stretching his wings?"

"That would be ideal yes, but poor Buckbeak here was labelled dangerous by the Ministry after he attacked a student at Hogwarts school. He was scheduled to be executed, before Sirius made his escape on him and now he lives here, where the Ministry can't find him."

"Labelled dangerous? Scheduled to be executed?" Lisanna looked up with wide eyes. "But then… what about the Clippers? What if they get labelled as dangerous?"

Mrs. Weasley gasped when she realised she probably shouldn't have said that, quickly remedying, "Well, I gather the student in question ignored the warnings of the teacher and deliberately provoked him. And I also gather he's a rather unpleasant boy who disliked the teacher but has a father who's very influential in the Ministry. I think it was his father who pushed the Ministry to act in such a manner. He has no grudge against the Clippers though so I don't think he'd intervene."

Lisanna grimaced. "But… if they do label them as dangerous…"

Mrs. Weasley hesitated before she sighed and murmured, "They will probably kill them, yes."

There were grimaces on Gray and Juvia's faces too now, before the former said, "And what about our friends still locked in that Sphere? What if they're labelled too dangerous?"

"…I really don't know. I wish I did."

"…We've got the get them out of there…" Lisanna murmured. "All of them - friends and birds. One way or another… we have to get the out of there. And if I ever meet the father of that boy… I swear I will punch him in the face."

"Blimey," Gray murmured. "You've got to be a bad person if you can make Lisanna angry."

* * *

Speaking of the father of said boy, Kingsley Shacklebolt was currently doing his best to ignore Lucius Malfoy. The long, blonde-haired man was standing not far away from him with his usual superior smirk, looking down his nose slightly at everyone else in the room as if he knew, with one-hundred percent surety, that he was better than them. And whenever he chipped in to make a comment, it was usually something that grated on Kingsley's nerves. Really, it was so frustrating to have the man - a known Death Eater - standing right there in the room and be unable to do anything about it.

Because when Lucius Malfoy appeared in the Ministry, he was rarely ever seen outside the company of the Minister himself. And said Minister was blindly refusing to believe that the Death Eaters were even in operation, let alone a threat.

And where were they right now? They were both with Cornelius Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour in the Department of Mysteries, in the exact same room as the golden Fairy Sphere that had been found a few days ago, surrounded by several Unspeakables and a few more Aurors. Tonks would probably have been here too had she not been given the day off to catch up on her rest.

But there was another being in the room. Mavis was hovering just behind the tall Auror, her eyes locked on the Sphere shining in front of her. But of course Kingsley was the only one that could see her - she'd made sure of that. After they'd finished their business at Tenroujima, Charlie had escorted her into the Ministry on the pretence of going to visit his father, and then Arthur had taken her to meet up with Kingsley afterwards, and he, in turn had been able to bring her down here with the other Aurors.

"Can't you tell me anything more about all this?" Fudge asked as he twiddled his bowler hat in his hands slightly anxiously. "I need to know what these attacks mean and what this thing is supposed to be. If this keeps happening how long do you think we're going to be able to keep the information from leaking out. And how many people do you think will be angry with me for keeping that information concealed."

"We're doing our level best to track these people down, whoever they are," Scrimgeour promised. "All we know so far is that these strange occurrences seem to have begun after that meteor shower a few days ago. A meteor shower that resulted in this… orb. And a couple of my Aurors have reported that they saw that self-same mark," he pointed to the Fairy Tail symbol etched into the side of the sphere, "tattooed on the one of the strangers in Brockenhurst. There is a link between them. We just don't know what it is."

"Well, he's right about that," Mavis said, which made Kingsley have to try very hard not to flinch and make sure nobody had heard her because Mavis could scream at the top of her lungs and nobody but him in the room would hear her. "That is definitely one of my Spheres. And I sense… there are two life-forms inside it. Both human."

Kingsley couldn't answer her for obvious reasons, but he slowly inclined his head to show that he'd understood.

"Well, then what is this thing?" Fudge pressed.

"We've been running magical tests on it," said an Unspeakable. "But nothing we've done has made any impact on it. We even threw a combined Bludgeoning Hex at it and it simply took the blow without any sign of damage."

"Of course it didn't," Mavis grinned smugly. "The Three Great Fairy Magics are not to be trifled with."

The Unspeakable continued. "All we know is that its a powerful shield and that there is, in fact, something inside it. Something that is very definitely still alive. We can't tell what it is… but its there."

"Well, I want that shield to be disabled as soon as possible," Fudge huffed. "If whatever's in there is capable of speaking English then I have some questions I want to ask them. I want this whole mess cleared up quickly. Do you realise how much of a fool I will look if the public hears of these people with unusual magic running amuck and I am powerless to do anything about it? The people want a Minister who can ensure that they are safe."

"If I might dare to venture a suggestion, Minister," Lucius Malfoy suddenly spoke up for the first time in his typical slow and superior drawl. "I won't even begin to pretend I know what's happening either but all this… perhaps it is part of some elaborate scheme to specifically make you look like a fool in front of the people."

"Scheme?" Fudge asked sharply. "Who by?"

"Well, like I said I don't even know that this is true," Lucius shrugged smarmily. "But these attacks, these unexplained phenomena… they could be orchestrated by someone seeking to gain power. Someone… who wishes to take your seat at the top. Someone… who seems to want the public believe that there is a cause for fear. Someone… powerful enough to potentially know spells we can only ever dream about."

Kingsley bristled slightly, seeing exactly where Lucius was going with this but unable to intervene. Unfortunately, Fudge seemed to understand what Lucius was implying too and his eyes widened as he breathed, "…Dumbledore."

"Well, it's only a suggestion of course," Lucius seemed unable to keep the smirk out of his voice. "But has he not been spreading the lie that the Dark Lord has returned to power for the whole summer. You know as well as I do, Minister, that were the people to believe that story they might rally to Dumbledore in the hope he would protect them from a threat that didn't even exist. But you've been doing such an excellent job at exposing his lies to the world that perhaps he thought he needed to take things a step further. Perhaps he though… he needed to find of way of making sure the public really thought there was a threat… by making one."

Fudge gasped at the though, but Scrimgeour frowned. "I don't know. That doesn't sound like something Dumbledore would do. And more to the point these strange happenings don't sound like the kind of things the Dark Lord would do, and does not Dumbledore's story rest on the fact the Dark Lord is back? Even if he introduced a brand new threat, which I doubt, why would he make it so very different from the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters?"

"Who can work out the mind of such a man?" Lucius pointed out. "He is, I shall grudgingly admit, quite brilliant. Perhaps he has his reasons."

"Or perhaps everything you're implying is utter rubbish," Scrimgeour replied coolly, and Kingsley fought the urge to smile. Scrimgeour might not really believe Voldemort was back either but at least he didn't believe Dumbledore really was trying to gain power, it seemed."

"Enough," Fudge called out. "You have both… given me a lot to think about. I suppose we should adjourn for now but I want to be alerted the very instant that that Sphere…" he continued speaking, blissfully unaware of the fact that Mavis had just gasped, her eyes widening.

"What is it?" Kingsley dared to whisper through the corner of his mouth.

"The Sphere," Mavis whispered back. "It's power levels are dropping. Rapidly… it's time has come."

Right as she started speaking the Sphere suddenly flashed, drawing everyone's eyes. There were several more flashes, before the surface of the Sphere seemed to burn brighter and ripple like the surface of some strange orb of water… before it suddenly faded out of existence from the top down.

"It vanished!" Fudge acknowledged.

"Wands at the ready!" Scrimgeour cried immediately as all the Aurors, including Kingsley just because he had to, drew their wands and pointed them en masse at the space where the Sphere had been, which was still glowing with a brightish but slowly diminishing light. Everyone in the room was on tenterhooks, straining their eyes to see what had been inside when the light faded.

"I didn't expect this to happen," Mavis bit her lip as she strained to look as well. "What are we going to do now?"

What they eventually saw were two human forms lying on the ground, apparently unconscious - one of them male and the other female. But even as they all slowly began to lower their wands, the girl stirred, prompting them to raise them back up again.

"Nnnghhh…" Levy McGarden moaned as she pushed herself up slightly and massaged her forehead with one hand. "Whuthhapnnd? M'sure I wuz jrrsstt…" she rubbed her eyes slightly and looked up, blinking to try and clear both her vision and her mind, but at first only able to make out several tall silhouettes standing in front of her. "Guys?" she asked. "Gajeel? 'Zat you?"

And then everything swam into focus and she saw the multitude of strangers all pointing their wands at her. Immediately she snapped out of her haze and gasped, rolling onto her backside and scrambling backwards slightly, wide-eyed like a deer in the headlights.

"Who are you?" Scrimgeour demanded.

"What? What's happening?" Levy gasped, looking around at them all in shock. "Where am I? Who are you people? What happened to Acnologia and all my friends?"

"Those are all very good questions, Levy," the man suddenly said as he pushed himself upwards, recovering quite a bit quicker than the bluenette had. "And another good one is why are they all looking like they're about to attack us at any moment."

As the man pushed himself to his feet, several of the Aurors couldn't help but take a step back as they took a good look at him, taking in his long brown cloak, his heavily bandaged and scarred torso, his artificial left arm and leg and the sheer aura of power he seemed to exude.

"And I'd like to hear the answer to every one of them rather quickly," scowled Gildarts Clive.


	12. Phantom Fear

Well, looks like I'm back on my regular Friday schedule again, on the day where Fairy Tail manga chapters USED to come out right up until the point I started. Seems they've moved to Monday now for some reason, though I'll keep aiming for Friday. XD Also, well done **forgetfulperson** for noticing that who appears together in which Fairy Sphere depends on who was standing next to who in the circle they made when they were all holding hands. Hehehe. Thanks to everyone who's reviewing. I greatly appreciate your support. Also, many of you may have noticed that I've changed the title of this story. I hope you all like this alteration. XD

And btw, the things I mention in this chapter about Levy's past are entirely made up by me since we know very little about Levy's life before Fairy Tail. If we ever do learn about it I'll probably come back and edit this chapter to incorporate it.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 12:- Phantom Fear**

* * *

"Are you saying, Dumbledore," Professor Dolores Umbridge was turning a rather horrible shade of purple as she stewed in her own bubbling anger. "That I should take the words of that woman seriously? That that… garbage… she spouted at breakfast today was an actual prophecy?"

"You can take it any way that you wish," Dumbledore replied lightly. "I won't deny that our dear Trelawney has always had, shall we say, a flare for the dramatic. I won't pretend to understand Divination. I was terrible at it at school. Sometimes I would make up some ludicrous stories of what I could see in the crystal balls just to see if the teacher would believe me, when all I could really see was swirling mist."

"If we could keep this on topic please, Headmaster," Umbridge huffed from where she was standing before Dumbledore's death, saying the last word as if he was physically sickening to do so. "We both know that your lies, your insistence that the Dark Lord has in fact returned to the world, haven't been bearing the fruit you hoped they would when you started them. Hoping that the masses would flock to your side like frightened sheep. But this is the most blatant and obvious attempt to inspire fear that you've ever done. Convincing that terrible excuse for a Seer to make up something like that in the middle of the Great Hall. It's so desperate, it's almost laughable."

"I did nothing of the kind. In fact I haven't actually spoken to Sybil for almost two whole months - I see her so rarely."

"Then you continue to deny it was a thinly veiled attempt on your part to scare the students away from their faith in the Ministry?"

"On the contrary I very much want them to have faith in the Ministry, though I would prefer it if the Ministry would help us take the necessary actions into ensuring their safety."

"So be it," Umbridge turned to flounce out of the office. "Well, just wait until Minister Fudge hears about this. We'll see what he thinks of this blatant attempt to seize power."

"I would actually be very interested to hear the Minister's opinion. But I must warn you, Dolores. There is a reason I hired Sybil to be the Divination teacher. She may be extremely hard to make sense of but sometimes her words do ring true. You might want to bear that in mind in this case."

Umbridge said nothing else. She merely scoffed slightly before strutting out of the office, leaving Dumbledore alone to his thoughts. As far as he was aware, four of the Fairy Spheres scattered around the place had already been lowered. Wendy and the Exceed had been the first. Gajeel the second. Gray, Juvia and Lisanna the third and the Clippers had been the fourth. And Sybil's warning had been quite clear… the war would begin when the fifth sphere was lowered.

Did this new prophecy nullify the old one?

No, he didn't think so. After all, there was nothing in this new one that suggested as much.

Still… when the fifth sphere was lowered… it seemed that that would be when things truly did kick off.

* * *

Even Lucius Malfoy's arrogant expression slipped and he found himself stepping backwards a little, eyes flicking towards the door to make sure his path to it was clear. The man standing before the Ministry personnel was taller than any one of them, and the way he squared his shoulders told them all quite clearly that he meant business. There was just something about that meant every one of them, even Kingsley, were trying hard not to wilt under his stony gaze.

Needless to say, Gildarts didn't have a clue what was going on. He had no more knowledge of the events that had led him to be in this place than any of the other Fairy Tail mages had when they'd awoken from their own suspended animation within the Spheres.

One moment Acnologia. And the next this.

It was enough to throw anyone off pace.

It was Rufus Scrimgeour that spoke first, clearing his throat a little and saying, "You… You are currently in the custody of the Ministry of Magic. We discovered the strange glowing Sphere that you were inside, which apparently fell out of the sky and brought you here until the Sphere dissipated just now. That means you… are our…"

"Please tell me that you are not about to say 'prisoners,'" Gildarts raised a brow, that one motion causing several of the Aurors to flinch slightly. "Because I'm not entirely sure that I would like that."

"Well… not prisoners," Scrimgeour actually found himself floundering a little. "I'm not sure there is a word for it but… we cannot allow you to leave until you've answered our questions. And there are a lot of questions."

"Indeed, like all the ones that my friend Levy just asked. Where are our friends? Where… is my… _daughter!?"_

The last word was growled out so forcefully that Scrimgeour took a step back as if he'd been physically shoved. Levy, who was still on the ground behind the S-Class Mage, frowned in confusion - not having heard that Gildarts actually had a daughter before. As she pushed herself to her feet, the atmosphere seemed to grow even tenser with both sides wondering if the other was going to strike out at them.

But before something could kick off, someone said, "They can't answer those questions because they don't know the answers." And both Levy and Gildarts' had their attention drawn to the girl with the long blond hair weaving her way hurriedly through the Aurors to the front without touching the ground with her feet. And simultaneously both their jaws dropped, gasping in disbelief. This time Gildarts was the one who took a couple of steps backwards and Levy almost fell over again, the both of them absolutely stunned.

For they definitely knew who this girl was.

"You… you're…" Levy stammered.

"You can't be…" Gildarts breathed.

"I can and I am," Mavis replied quickly. "But please, now is really not the time for questions. Listen carefully - those men behind me cannot see or hear me. They don't know I am here. I am invisible to all who do not have the Fairy Tail mark. Well, mostly, but the point is they don't know the answers to your questions so please don't do anything rash. You're not in danger right now unless you start something first."

"But… how is…" Levy gasped.

"Please, just listen to me. I'm quite real but you need to act natural. And calm… please just pretend that I'm not here because as far as these people are aware, I'm not." Mavis insisted, glancing back over her shoulder to where most of the rest of the room were giving the two mages strange looks now, wondering what was wrong with them.

Fortunately, despite his shock that the First Master of Fairy Tail herself - whom he recognised from when Makarov had shown him the photo taken to commemorate the founding of the guild - was somehow standing in front of him, Gildarts was able to recover quickly and suddenly chuckled, lowering his guard a little and giving the rather bemused Aurors a smirk.

"My apologies if I came off a little intense there," he grinned. "But look at it from our perspective - one moment we were under attack and then suddenly we're in a room with a bunch of strangers with all our friends missing with no knowledge of what happened in between. It's really no surprise we'd be highly strung, is it, Levy?"

"Um… oh… oh no, indeed not," Levy confirmed, forcing herself to look away from Mavis. "We're sorry to trouble you like this but… don't know know where the rest of our friends are? We're so worried about them. They could be dead for all we know!"

Mavis chuckled, recognising that while Levy was talking to the Ministry members, her questions was actually aimed at Mavis. But the ghost let Scrimgeour answer first to avoid confusing overlap.

"I am afraid we do not. We did not even know that there were people inside that Sphere until it suddenly lowered."

"Don't worry, your friends are safe," Mavis then answered. "All of them are alive for I cast the Fairy Sphere over you all to protect you from Acnologia's attack."

Gildarts and Levy both sighed in what might look like frustration, but which was actually profound relief, before Gildarts suddenly questioned. "And this Sphere… you say it fell out of the sky?"

"That's right. Care to explain that?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Events beyond my control unfortunately caused us all to be sent to another dimension," Mavis chipped in. "I had to split the Fairy Sphere up to keep it from falling apart on the journey."

Levy's eyes widened but Gildarts managed to contain his shock and keep up his casual and rather disarming smile, though even he was thanking the gods that the whole Edolas debacle had happened before the S-Class exam because his knowledge of that event made this news much easier to swallow. "Let me ask you, did more than one Sphere fall or was it just us?"

"There were multiple lights in the sky certainly," Scrimgeour nodded.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what's going on," Gildarts shrugged his shoulders. "But my guess would be that those other lights contained our friends. That's good - it means they are probably safe too."

"Oh yes… my guess is they are indeed safe," Scrimgeour's face tightened slightly. "I haven't had the… honour… of meeting any of your friends yet as far as I am aware, but unless I'm very much mistaken… they've been making themselves known to us. And in a pretty big way."

"Scrimgeour, allow me," Fudge stepped forwards and, clutching his hat slightly, he drew himself up as tall as he could and still only came up to about the same level as Gildarts' ribs as he said, "I am Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic! And I demand to know who you are."

Gildarts grimaced slightly, for the name Cornelius reminded him suddenly of his deceased ex-wife, Cornelia, and that just brought thoughts of Cana back to the front of his mind. He ached to go charging out there to find her, but he trusted Mavis' word that she was fine even though he was still dumbfounded that Mavis was here at all.

Still, he quickly ordered his thoughts and held out his hand. "Gildarts Clive, S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail. And this is my young friend, Levy McGarden. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Minister, even though I've never heard of you before."

"Never heard of me?" Cornelius blustered without shaking the hand before him. "How is that possible - I am the Minister for Magic of Great Britain. How could you not know who I am!?"

"Maybe because I'm not from Great Britain?" Gildarts shrugged. "Wasn't trying to offend you - there's lots of people I don't know. Heck, I don't even know the name of the King of my own country."

"And what country would that be?"

"It's called Fiore. And my guess is you've never heard of it before. My guess is that most people you know won't have heard of it before." Gildarts finally lowered his hand, deciding that he didn't particularly want to shake this man's hand anyway.

"Questions about where you come from can wait," Scrimgeour stepped up next to the bristling Minister. "What's more important is learning more about who you are. For instance… that mark I can see on your chest, right there?" He pointed at Gildarts' left pectoral, where his guild stamp was located but mostly covered by bandages. "What exactly does that mark mean?"

"That?" Gildarts looked down and pulled his bandages aside slightly to reveal the whole thing. "That's the mark of Fairy Tail. Everyone in our guild has one."

"Here's mine," Levy spoke up - she decided to let Gildarts do most of the talking since he was probably better at this kind of thing than she was but here she turned around so that they could see the white mark on her left shoulder-blade.

"And what craft does this guild of yours practice?" Scrimgeour knitted his eyebrows.

Gildarts blinked a couple of times. "Magic…" he eventually said. "What else would we practice?"

"I see… well…" Scrimgeour's gaze hardened. "Ever since those lights appeared in the skies there have been a lot of strange people cropping up all over the country. And just yesterday one of our towns was attacked and strange magic users with that self-same mark were spotted at the scene, but eluded us before we could question them about who they were. If they bear that same mark, that means you know them, correct?"

"Indeed it does."

"And are you aware of the damage they caused?" Fudge cried out. "Are you aware of how much work was required to put right the things that they did and keep up the Statute of Secrecy?"

"Well, that sounds like our friends sure enough," Levy sighed slightly. Honestly, sometimes it felt like she was pretty much the only one in the guild that didn't destroy things on a regular basis.

"Whoa, whoa, don't take it out on us, buddy," Gildarts raised his arms slightly. "It's not like we were there. And honestly, can you blame them for being a little confused? After all, we are from…" before he could finish the sentence he suddenly spotted Mavis waving at him out the corner of his eye and slowly shake her head. Gildarts got the message - these people were not aware that they were from another world and it was a subject that would have to be brought up delicately so he simply said, "…a strange place, with no idea how we got here."

"I am _not_ your buddy," Fudge reddened slightly, but Scrimgeour started speaking again before he could go any further.

"Nevertheless, as you are apparently associates with these people we have to hold you accountable for their actions until such a time as we can find them ourselves. And we have no guarantee that everything you have thus far told us is the truth and I can definitely tell there's a few things you're not telling us. So… I suppose that means that you are our prisoners after all."

Levy groaned slightly and pressed a hand over her face. "Dear gosh, no matter what world we're in we just always seem to get in trouble with the authorities," she muttered.

Gildarts though raised a brow again, before giving a lopsided grin and spreading his arms out slightly. "Ah, come on, there's no need for that surely. We certainly don't mean any harm, and we really need to find our friends."

"I'm afraid that there is a need for it," Scrimgeour said primly. "We have to ensure national security, so I'm afraid just saying that you're not a threat is not going to cut it. And based on the kinds of things we've seen your friends doing, we cannot let you leave until we have no more questions for you and we're sure you've answered them all honestly. Please do not try to resist, or we will be forced to stun you and take you to a holding cell."

Gildarts exhaled in annoyance, glancing towards Mavis, who nodded at him.

"It's important that we get these people on our side if we can," Mavis told him. "It would be far less hassle for us if we could get on the side of this world's leaders. It's probably best if we just go along with this for now."

The C-Class mage heaved a great sigh and said, "Alright, alright, fine. We'll co-operate. Lead on and we'll follow."

Scrimgeour nodded and the Aurors quickly fanned out across the room to encircle the two Fairy Tail mages. Levy quickly drew closer to Gildarts, biting her lip a little nervously at this turn of events, but suddenly she felt a large hand grip her shoulder and squeeze it reassuringly. She couldn't help but feel reassured by Gildarts' presence. Honestly, if you had to get stuck with someone in an alternate universe, Gildarts was probably one of the best people to be stuck with.

"Where are you taking them, Scrimgeour?" Fudge demanded immediately.

"I was planning on taking them up to Level Two, Minister," Scrimgeour replied. "To place them in the Holding Cells of the Auror Office."

"And you intend to question them there."

"Indeed."

"Well, I must insist on a change to that plan," Fudge coughed. "When word of this gets out I want people to know that I was personally involved with ensuring their safety. Take them to a holding room on Level Ten. I will be back soon, so do not question them until I get back."

Scrimgeour wrinkled his nose, but nodded, "Of course, Minister." And he led the group out of the door, the Aurors surrounding the two Fairy Tail mages they could actually see to guide them in the direction of the lifts. Gildarts walked with his hand still resting on Levy's shoulder as if he was some mother hen keeping a child under its wing, but as that thought occurred to him he grimaced again, feeling like his other arm should be holding Cana in a similar manner.

When they reached the holding cell and Scrimgeour directed them inside he said, "I must ask you to surrender your wands to us."

"Wands? We don't carry wands," Levy blinked. "I thought people only used wands in the old stories or something."

"Oh did you?" Scrimgeour raised a brow. "Well, I insist that you hand them over and if you do not then we will be forced to search you for them."

"Is that a fact?" Gildarts turned to face the rest of the Aurors, most of which cringed under his heavy gaze. "Well, go ahead and search us because we have nothing to hide but I warn you… if I see a single one of you trying to cop a feel of my companion here you will not like the outcome."

"EEK!" Levy squeaked, looking like she was trying to curl into a ball. "I'm not sure whether you saying that makes me more or less comfortable about the idea!"

"Erm, actually we were going to magically scan you. Not… give you a pat-down," Scrimgeour coughed.

"Ah, well that makes sense," Gildarts chuckled. "Well, get on with it then."

Eventually the two of them were left alone, the search having turned up empty of wands, though they had found Levy's Light Pen and her Gale-Force Reading Glasses, which she kept at all times in magical pockets on the inside of her dress. She bit her lip as she was handed them over reluctantly, but after that, the two of them were shut in the cell and none of the Aurors tried to speak to them. Most of them were dispatched back to their offices but a couple remained outside as guards.

And one of those dispatched was Kingsley. He exchanged a quick glance with the mostly invisible Mavis, who nodded at him, giving him a silent message to tell the others what had happened when he had the chance.

"Well," Levy sighed to herself. "I always hoped I'd be one of the very last members of the guild to find themselves locked in a cell by officials like this. But, I suppose that it was only a matter of time."

"If it helps, I could bust out of here any time I wanted," Gildarts tapped the wall with one finger, causing it to splinter slightly but speaking in a low voice so the Aurors outside wouldn't hear what he was saying. "This cell doesn't have any magical cancelling capabilities like those of the Council."

"That is because the people of this world are generally rendered unable to use most strong magic without the use of their wands," Mavis said as she stepped over to them. "They don't have the same type of magic we do. To put it in our terms, almost every magic is a Holder-type magic for them."

"Like Lu-chan with her keys. Well, that makes sense considering what we learned about the magic of Edolas." Levy nodded, before she remembered that she was actually talking to Mavis and gasped, "But hang on… how is it possible? How can… how can you be here?"

"Yes, I'd quite like to know the answer to that one too," Gildarts turned to face her. "I take it you're a ghost."

"Indeed I am. It's nice to see members of my guild who actually know who I am without me having to tell them."

"Oh, I know all about you," Levy's eyes were shining slightly. "I've read every book in the Fairy Tail library and every word about you that's in there, along with every picture."

"You must like reading then," Mavis beamed. "I loved reading when I was alive. I suppose I still do though I haven't got round to reading many new things since I passed away. But I grew up in a library before I founded the guild so reading was pretty much the only thing I had going for me for some time."

"I love reading too," Levy smiled. "I guess it was sparked by my parents. They were renowned archeologists you see, and they uncovered all kinds of ancient ruins and made their living translating ancient writings so I got into it really young too. I could already read Gheel by the time I was six…"

Gildarts cleared his throat. "Much as I'm sure you'd love to compare notes about the things you've read, I think the current situation might be more important to talk about."

"Oh, right," Mavis chuckled, while Levy rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry… I just get enthusiastic about books, but you're quite right. Well, I'll tell you what I know so far. You see, when Acnologia fired his breath attack…"

And so it went that Gildarts and Levy became fully updated with everything that had occurred from the dragon attack to now. Levy, naturally, found it absolutely fascinating and asked a lot of questions along the way, clearly in awe about learning details of an entirely different culture. Gildarts was a little more sombre about it, and when Mavis had finished the big man murmured, "That's all quite a lot to swallow. But… for what its worth… thank you First Master for protecting us as you did. If that dragon had killed us all right after I'd discovered that Cana was my daughter that would have left a sour taste in my mouth in the afterlife."

"CANA'S YOUR DAUGHTER!" Levy gasped, almost falling over in shock at this news and her shout even attracting the attention of the Aurors outside. She blushed slightly at her own reaction before repeating, in a quieter voice, "Cana's your daughter?"

Gildarts smiled. "Surprised? Not half as surprised as I was when I learned it, I can tell you. But are you sure there's been no word of her yet, First Master?"

"Not yet. It's most likely she's still contained in another Fairy Sphere out there somewhere."

"I should be out there trying to find her," Gildarts sighed.

"Well, at least we know she's safe as long as she's inside one of those, right?" Levy piped up. "And its great news to here that Gajeel and the others that have already been released are safe too, right?"

"There is that," Gildarts nodded. "But you say we've gone and landed ourselves in the middle of another conflict against this… Voldemort guy?"

"That's right. And that's part of the reason why it would be better for this Ministry to be on our side if we can manage it. We already have one enemy. It would be better if we didn't have two."

"Definitely less hassle," Gildarts agreed. "Alright then, we'll play nice. But I could really do with stiff drink."

"Well, there's one thing that leans towards Cana really being your daughter," Levy murmured. Gildarts laughed.

* * *

"There, are you happy now?" Gajeel muttered venomously as he gestured to the three buckets of milk that he'd managed to finally wrestle out of the goats.

"Only three? They can normally produce eight," Aberforth shook his head. "You were still scaring them too much - when they're scared they produce less milk."

"Well then give me another bloody job instead of sticking me with this one!" Gajeel yelled, ignoring the giggles of Wendy and the Exceed from behind him. "Heck, I'd rather do the washing up than have to deal with them again!"

"Do the washing up!? Ha… like I'm letting you get anywhere near my cutlery. I'd quite like to end the day with the same number of knives and forks that I had when I started."

"Can't you just use your magic to conjure new ones!?"

"I could. But that's a hassle and I can't remember what the spell is."

"Well, how's that my problem? All I know is I'm not having anything to do with those damn…"

Suddenly the fireplace flared green and with a yell, Gray stumbled out of it and accidentally kicked one of the buckets, knocking it over as he fell the the floor and sloshing the contents everywhere.

"OH COME ON!" Gajeel roared. "THAT BUCKET TOOK ME AGES TO FILL!"

"Hello, Gray-san," Wendy said, more politely. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm not sure," Gray pushed himself to his feet quickly, clicking his shoulder. "One of the Order just got back from that Ministry place - the guy called Kingsley. He said that the Sphere inside the Ministry's done down."

"What!?" Gajeel gasped, milk forgotten. "Who was inside it?"

"It seems it was Levy…" Gray replied and Gajeel stiffened, eyes widening a little. "…And Gildarts."

"Gildarts!" Happy sprang up. "Gildarts is back! That's great!"

"What a relief," Wendy smiled. "Are they okay?"

"We think so. Luckily Master Mavis was there when the Sphere went down so she stopped them from doing anything like attacking the Ministry, but they're being held there for questioning. Looks like the Ministry might be about to learn about us."

"Well, Gildarts-san and Levy-san are great people. I'm sure they'll like them," Wendy noted.

"…I don't like this," Gajeel bristled slightly.

"What's wrong, Gajeel?" Lily cocked his head. "If you're worried about Levy, Gildarts will look after her."

"I ain't worried about her!" Gajeel denied rapidly. A little too rapidly. "It's just… I've got a bad feeling about this. In my gut… I dunno what it is… but I've learned to trust my instincts over the years and they're telling me now that there's reason to be concerned… Come on, let's go."

"Go?" Aberforth asked as Gajeel seized a handful of Floo Powder. "Go where exactly?"

Gajeel turned to give him a look, and smirked slightly. "Where do you think?"

* * *

It was perhaps half an hour after they'd been placed in the holding cell that noises from the corridor beyond told Gildarts and Levy that something was happening. They both swung around to face the thick wooden door of the room, which opened suddenly to reveal Scrimgeour looking rather disgruntled on the other side.

"Alright, it's time for questioning," he stated. "And I'm sure you can understand that the Minister wants to question the two of you individually. And apart. So, girl, if you'd like to make my job simpler, which would be nice, please come with me."

Levy stiffened slightly at the prospect. "Why? Why can't it be together?"

"That's just what the Minister wants, kid. Now, are you coming?"

Gildarts scowled slightly - he could tell what was happening. They were hoping that the small and defenceless looking girl would be an easier nut to crack than the grizzled, scarred man when it came to asking questions, and that they would be able to do it easier if they separated her from her only protector.

Still, he'd promised to play nice, so he said, "Levy, it'll be alright. I'm not going anywhere - I'll be right here when you get back."

Levy smiled gratefully at the reassurance before slowly nodding her head and stepping towards the door, which closed behind her with a low thud. She turned to see that Mavis had slipped out of the room as well and was hovering along behind her, so at least she still had someone watching out for her still. That allowed her to walk a little more confidently, even if Mavis was only a ghost.

But that confidence melted a little when the Aurors walked her into a large room with row upon row of wooden seats on three sides of it and a large space in the middle except for a single solitary chair that was set facing the front, where Fudge was sitting in his presiding seat. The other seats were also filled with several dozen men and women all garbed in purplish robes with a silver W on their left pectorals, the majority of them mostly bathed in shadows from the lights of the flickering torches on the walls, and all of them were staring at Levy with interest as she was marched towards the chair.

Once Levy was seated, the Aurors moved to the back of the room, barring the door just in case Levy tried to escape. But any thoughts of escape were quickly put paid to anyway because, just as Levy was about to speak she suddenly felt pressure on her arms. She looked down and gasped when she saw golden chains of some kind wrapping themselves around her wrists and elbows to pin them to the arms of the chair.

"H-HEY!" Levy gasped as she wriggled around slightly, wrenching at her sudden bonds and clenching her fists, her heart rate increasing rapidly. "What's this? What's going on?"

"Be calm, Miss," an authoritative voice came from a woman with a monocle and short grey hair in the seat to the Minister's left. "It's just a precaution to make sure you don't try anything."

"But I wasn't going to try anything!" Levy protested.

"Nevertheless, as I said, we must make sure," the woman replied sternly. "Or at least in this circumstance I have been told that we must."

"We do not know what we are dealing with here, Madam Bones," Fudge responded a little tartly. "Many of the things these people have said have made very little sense. But they are involved somehow in the strange events that have been happening recently, and this emergency session of the Wizengamot is here to find out how."

"Is this a trial?" Levy gaped. "But… but I haven't done anything wrong."

"No, Miss, it is not a trial. We will not be passing a sentence on you - we are just here to learn the truth," Madam Bones replied shortly. "If you have indeed done nothing then you surely have nothing to worry about."

Levy relaxed a little at that - a memory of that time Erza was arrested by the Council coming to mind. That had just been an arrest for show, to assure the public that the Council was on top of things and she remembered how this Fudge had said he wanted the public to know he was taking action. So this must be pretty similar. Thank the gods for that.

"Before we begin, can we offer you a drink?" Fudge asked. "We expect you to do a lot of talking, after all."

"Yes please," Levy licked her lips, suddenly realising in all the excitement just how thirsty and hungry she was. Well, if what Mavis had said was true it had been six years since she'd last eaten.

"Levy, remember that these people have no clue who we are," Mavis pointed out from where she was standing next to her, as an Auror brought a goblet forward and allowed Levy to take a few gulps from it. "The fact we're from another universe will need to be broken to them gently, which is why I haven't revealed myself to them yet because apparently their ghosts are different than ours. When they ask you questions about where you're from and what your magic is like, answer them truthfully, but then I'll need you to act like you're slowly coming to a realisation that you might not be in your own world. So we're mostly being honest with them. Okay?"

Levy managed to disguise a "Mm-hm," as a hum of appreciation as she finished the water and smacked her lips slightly. "Thank you," she said, as she looked up at the Minister.

"Alright then, let's get on with the interrogation. Weasley, are you ready?"

"Yes sir," called a skinny man with short red hair on the front row with a long roll of parchment and a quill.

"Alright then. Interrogation of unknown suspect on the tenth of September. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley. Would the suspect please give her full name?"

"Levy McGarden," Levy replied dutifully. "Levy spelt with a Y."

"No middle name?" Madam Bones asked sharply.

"If I have one I don't know what it is."

"Very well." Madam Bones swished her wand, but when nothing happened she frowned slightly and fixed her piercing eyes upon Levy. "It appears that we have no witch called Levy McGarden in our records. Which is very interesting considering we are supposed to have a file on every witch and wizard in our country. Care to explain that?"

What Levy tried to say was, "I'm not sure. What country am I in?"

What she actually said was, "That would be because I'm from another universe."

This sentence was followed by an immediate gasp as Levy tried to cover her mouth with her hands, only to be pulled up short by the chains binding her arms. What the hell? Why had she said that? She hadn't meant to say that at all but somehow the words seemed to have strolling out off her tongue totally unbidden.

"Oh no…" she heard Mavis mutter. "They can't… they can't have!"

The rest of the hall was deathly silent, as if everything and everyone in it had suddenly been buried five-hundred feet below the ground. Every eye was staring at Levy with mixed amounts of shock and incredulity - evidently whatever they had been expecting Levy to say, that had not been it. Even the red-haired scribe was staring with an open mouth, allowing ink to drop off the end of his quill and spatter across the parchment.

Eventually Fudge coughed slightly and said, "Excuse me? Where… did you say you were from?"

Levy's brain was struggling with what to say next but her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own and she said, "From another universe. We call that universe Earthland and I live in the city of Magnolia, in the country of Fiore."

"You expect us to believe something like that do you?"

"It's the truth. All the members of my guild that have been running around causing problems recently are from Earthland." Oh Gods, what was happening? She hadn't meant to say that either.

Fudge and Madam Bones took a glance at each other as the rest of the hall broke out into whispers, before Madam Bones cleared her throat and said, "If that fantastical story is true, how did you come to be here now?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Apparently it was something to do with a strange dragon attack that sent me and my friends from my universe to your own," Levy gushed out, even after she'd tried to keep her mouth shut and remain absolutely silent.

"I… see…" Madam Bones asked. "Are we sure she wasn't given a Babbling Beverage?"

"No, quite sure," Fudge was leaning forwards a little, his eyes bulging slightly. "It was definitely Veritaserum that was put in that water. I saw it administered myself. Everything that she's saying… is what she believes to be true."

"You _drugged_ me!?" Levy gasped, shock radiating through her. Oh no! That wasn't fair!

Mavis' hand was over her mouth. She'd made a horrible miscalculation thanks to her lack of knowledge about this world. Truth serums did exist back in their world, but they were extremely rare, and were outlawed anyway. They certainly weren't allowed in trials. But evidently this world… had a very different set of rules.

What should she do? Should she reveal herself or would that just make it worse?

"It's possible there was a mistake in the brewing. Or that this girl is resistant to it. You know people can resist truth serum if they know how."

"Indeed they can… but I very much doubt that anyone seeking to lie to us would come up with a story like that unless they were incredibly stupid," Madam Bones murmured. "And I don't think this girl is stupid. She seems rather intelligent to me."

"P - Please… please understand… it wasn't our fault. We didn't ask to be here - it was a total accident," Levy blustered.

"Well… perhaps… this fantastical story… explains what your friend was talking about when he mentioned you were part of a guild of magic," said Fudge. "Magical guilds have not been around in our society since ancient times. Tell me about yours."

"Our guild's name is Fairy Tail," Levy felt tears appearing in her eyes as she continued to blurt out answers against her will, even though this was the kind of thing she would have said had she been asked about her guild anyway. "Guilds are where magic users, which we call mages in our world, can gather to find work when other people send requests to the guild for certain jobs with money rewards if the mage succeeds."

"You said the mark on your back is the mark of your guild? That means everyone in your guild has that mark?"

"Yes, and nobody else. It's forbidden by magical law for anyone to wear a guild mark unless they are part of that guild."

"You say that you have magic, yet you carry no wands. Do you not use them?"

"No, but we can use other magical items. We have two kinds of magic - Caster Type and Holder Type. Caster type magic is when the magic user channels magic out of their own bodies. Holder type is where they have to use special tools for the magic to work…"

"And what kind do you use?" Fudge seemed to be on a roll now.

"Caster Type."

"Which means you could actually still use your magic right now at this moment?"

"W… Well… my Solid Script Magic requires hand movements to pull it off so I can't really use it that well while chained like this… but I could still use it, yes…"

"Then that means… we haven't disarmed you at all. And your companion back in his cell can still use magic too," Fudge got to his feet amongst the hubbub that was breaking out. "Call in the extra security at once! Do it now!"

A couple of the Aurors hurriedly left the room, but Madam Bones choked a little and protested loudly. "Minister! Can't you see the poor girl is distressed and frightened? Bringing them in would only make the situation worse."

"Until we know exactly what we are dealing with here, I will not take any chances," Fudge growled forcefully.

"No, I really must protest. Don't you think this is a little extreme? She's just a girl that by all accounts doesn't seem to have done anything wrong…"

"We have to maintain our security as well as the security of others. If they can still use their magic that means they are still in a position where they could potentially harm us and I will not take the risk until we know exactly who they are and what they can do!"

"But we don't want to harm you," Levy screamed. "We want to be friends. We really don't want any trouble - we just want to find all of our friends again and then see if there's a way we can get back to…"

Suddenly the words died in Levy's throat and her entire body went rigid, stiffening up as if suddenly petrified. Her entire body suddenly felt as though it had been plunged into icy water, water that was seeping through her skin to chill her insides right down to the bone marrow. A horrible sense of despair began to form seemingly of its own accord in her gut, washing over her like a wave, as she felt every hair on her body stand up, her eyes wide, her mouth agape in a silent scream and feeling as if frost should be forming over her skin when it wasn't.

She faintly heard the heavy wooden doors behind her open again, and heard Mavis gasp slightly. Slowly, trembling without knowing why, Levy turned her head around to look towards the door out of the corner of her eye.

And she saw them. Four of them, gliding eerily, weightlessly, their towering bodies covered by long black cloaks that covered their entire form that billowed across the ground as if they didn't have feet, complete with a deep hood that covered their faces. Levy felt her eyes widening as they approached her, saw the Aurors backing away from them slightly as well, hearing the deathly quiet in the room as everything seemed to get darker and colder around her by the second.

Her heart was pounding in her chest but even it seemed to be feeling the cold that came with the creatures, and it practically stopped as it heard the horrible, unearthly rattling breaths that were coming from deep within the hoods of the… things…

And then a voice… in her head… a voice that wasn't hers, but that she remembered, creeping to the front of her mind unbidden…

"_Are you Levy McGarden?"_

"_Yeah… I am. Who are you?"_ suddenly her own voice replied, but it sounded younger, a little more high-pitched.

"_I'm… so sorry to have to tell you this… but its about your parents."_

Levy froze up even more if that was at all possible. Oh gods, what was happening? This conversation… she knew this conversation… and it seemed to ring ever louder in her mind while everything else seemed to fog up, her vision going dark, struggling to see, but at the back of her eyes she could only seem to make out a fuzzy image of the moustached man from that day.

"_There was an unfortunate incident at the ruins today. One of the passages that they were excavating… collapsed. There was a huge cave-in and… we spent hours searching for them, trying to dig them out, hoping they were alive but… I'm sorry. They didn't make it."_

"…_.You're… you're lying…!"_

"_I wish I was, child. I wish I…"  
_

"_NO! NO, ITS NOT TRUE!"_ She could practically feel herself trying to charge past him out the door only to be held back, feel the tears that had started to pour their way down her face. _"IT'S NOT TRUE! THEY'RE NOT DEAD! THEY'RE NOT! MUMMY! DADDY! COME BACK! COME BACK AND GET ME PLEASE! PLLLEAASSEEEEEE! MMUUUUMMMMYYYYYYYYYYY!"_

Levy was vaguely aware she was breathing heavily, and beginning to sweat despite the intense cold all around her, but she was unable to think clearly. She could barely even wonder why she was suddenly remembering this so vividly. She heard, as if miles away, Mavis calling her name. Heard Madam Bones booming, "Minister, she's having a violent reaction to the Dementors - they shouldn't be here," but all Levy could really focus on was the terror and despair that seemed to be coursing through her veins.

And that's when she heard it. The memory of when she'd learned of her parents deaths faded… to be replaced with the sound of cruel, harsh, cackling laughter.

"_Levy! Get back! Run for it!"_

"_We'll handle this! KNUCKLE PLANT!"_

"_GUYS NO! STOP! YOU'RE INJURED!" _she heard herself screaming as she dimly so the shape of Droy hurling several plant seeds to the ground, which rapidly sprouted out as plant fists, whooshing towards their target. Only for that target to dice the plants into pieces with a whirling leap and flurry of slashes from his sword before landing right in front of Droy and smashing him with the flat of the viciously spiked blade, and send him crashing into a nearby wall hard enough to splinter the bricks.

"_DROY!"_ Jet cried out as he suddenly shot around behind the shadowy man and pile-drove into the back of him with his Falcon Heavenward, only for a metallic clang to ring through the air as the man refused to budge an inch. Jet cried out as he stumbled backwards clutching what might just be a broken leg before their attacker wheeled around to seize him by the neck and whirl him around by it, sending him crashing into Droy just as the latter was trying to get up. And even as the two struggled to rise again, the attacker pounced on them and drove them through the wall entirely with a vicious blow to each of their chests with his two clubs.

"_No!" _Levy heard herself cry as her past self ran towards them while the attacker lifted both her teammates up by their necks and leered as he watched them struggle for breath. _"SOLID SCRIPT: STONE!" _ she tried to jump into the attack and conjured up a rocky version of the word 'stone' in front of herself, hurling it at him like a cannonball. Only for her to gasp in horror as he flung Jet and Droy into the path of the attack so it hit them instead, shattering to rubble and flinging them back down the street.

"_Geeheehee… how cruel for you to attack your own comrades like that,"_ the man stepped forward into the light a little more, revealing his long, ragged black hair, the studs over his face and arms and his terrible red eyes, staring at her like she was prey. _"And I thought you Fairy Butts were supposed to stick together or some crap like that."_

"_You'll pay for this. You'll see - we'll make make you pay…"_ Levy choked bravely before conjuring the word 'stone' again and throwing it at him once more. But Gajeel, the Phantom Lord S-Class Mage, charged straight into the attack and smashed it to rubble with a metal fist, thundering in towards her and slamming his other fist into her gut before she had a chance to do anything. The impact lifted her off her feet with a strangled cry of agony but before she went flying he seized her by the ankle and slammed her straight downwards into road, fracturing the cobbles beneath her.

Levy heard her cries echo through the street before Gajeel suddenly seized her by the lower face in one hand, clamping his palm over her mouth to silence her and sneered as he lifted her up by it to slam her against the wall, pinning her there by her face even as she struggled feebly.

"_Now now. No screaming. I want the pathetic trash you call friends to find out about this when they wake up next morning and not before. But there's quite a bit of time left until dawn… which means plenty of time left for some more fun, don't you agree?"_

Even as Levy felt the terror pounding through her veins as the memory filled her consciousness, there was a tiny part of her that was screaming, 'That's not him! He's not like that anymore! He changed! He saved you from Laxus and from Grimoire Heart! He's good now!'

But that part was drowned out by the dread and hopelessness trying to swallow up the rest of her and all Levy could do was scream. Writhe and thrash and kick in the chair, the chains biting into her arms as her wails filled the room.

Mavis was leaning in front of her, unseen to the others and trying desperately to get her to snap out of it but as the cloaked beings closed in around Levy the bluenette's struggles seemed to weaken as her consciousness began to fade. She grimaced as she looked up - whatever these creatures were doing to Levy wasn't affecting her as much, possibly because she was a ghost, but she could still feel a terrible fear seeping through her body. And she could see that many of the people around the room were looking highly uncomfortable themselves, most trying to keep as far away from the Dementors as they could but a couple of the Aurors wondering if they should step in, keep the Dementors away from the prisoner.

What should she do? Should she reveal herself and demand this stop? Those things were hurting Levy just by being nearby. She couldn't allow this to happen!

"Minister, how are we supposed to even question her when she's like this?" Madam Bones pointed out.

"We'll just have to wait for her to adjust," Fudge said firmly. "But until we know what she can do, the Dementors stay as an added precaution. Now, we must…"

_**BANG!**_

Just as Levy was on the verge of losing consciousness the entire room was practically thrown off balance. For a fraction of a second, a large lattice of criss-crossing white lines appeared on the heavy wooden doors and about half the back wall before both suddenly exploded inwards, shattering into hundreds of pieces in an instant flat as a single, solitary figure thundered through the door, fist first.

The Aurors were forced to dive forwards to avoid being crushed under falling chunks of brick, while all those in the stands jumped to their feet in shock and most of them fell over. Even the Dementors lurched around and backed away, hissing and rattling. But Mavis could only smile as Gildarts stood there amongst the debris. He must have heard Levy's screams from his holding cell and come thundering to the rescue, and with a single punch to the door he'd shattered pretty much the entire wall!

Gildarts took one look at the slumped Levy chained to the chair and his expression grew thunderous, glaring up at the stunned, cowering Minister for Magic.

"You know, I really was planning to play nice," he said as he strode forwards, his cloak billowing behind him. "But perhaps there's one thing you should understand about our guild. We look out for each other. And we'll do anything… and I mean anything… to protect each other. No matter who the enemy may be."

And his hand crashed down on the back of Levy's chair, disintegrating the entire thing, chains and all, in a second flat. Levy, barely conscious, groaned as she fell but Gildarts caught her and slung her over one shoulder with surprising gentleness.

"I get the feeling you guys aren't really bad, per se," Gildarts announced. "But if this is how you intend to treat even someone as gentle and kind as Levy, I think we're done here. Good day." And without another word he swept around and thundered back towards the massive hole where the wall had been, Mavis right behind him.

"S…STOP HIM! DON'T LET THEM LEAVE!" Fudge gave a strangled cry. One Auror reluctantly tried to obey and pointed his wand, only for Gildarts to swing an arm out and generate a white wave across the ground beneath the Auror's feet, which was blasted to pieces and flung the Auror backwards against a wall, while Gildarts charged out of the gap, down the corridor and away.

"Put everyone on high alert!" Fudge cried. "We've got an extremely dangerous man active within the Ministry! He must be stopped at all costs! Now! After him!"

And with a horrible rattling, the four Dementors whooshed off in pursuit.


	13. Ministry Mayhem

Hey guys. Please excuse the delay to this chapter but while Friday is the day I usually try and update by, this time I was hindered by the fact that I moved into my university flat for the first time on Thursday and spent two days doing virtually no writing because I was trying to sort everything out. But I shall endeavour to get back on track as soon as possible, and I hope that uni doesn't take me away from the keyboard too much, though of course uni does have to be my top priority so if it does, there's nothing I can do about it. But we shall see how it goes.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 13:- Ministry Mayhem**

* * *

"Look, guys… this really isn't a good idea," Tonks murmured as she pretending to check out a menu in her hands, biting her lip as she fought to keep herself from looking around at all the Muggles. She was sitting at a table in a pub off of Whitehall, London and despite the fact she was certain none of the other members of the Ministry out of the Order of the Phoenix knew about her friendship with the Fairy Tail members, being so close to the Ministry headquarters meant it was highly possible there would be one or two people she knew around somewhere.

And considering she was sitting with just about all the Fairy Tail members she knew right now, if there was another Ministry member around it might lead to a couple of questions.

Well, that wasn't precisely true. All the human members of the guild were sitting at another table together, and the Exceed were keeping themselves hidden away on the roof. She herself was actually sitting at her own table with Mad-Eye Moody, who had a bowler hat pulled down slightly over his magical eye so that the Muggles wouldn't see it.

She'd just come to Grimmauld Place briefly to check on Gray, Juvia and Lisanna after a long and well-deserved rest, only to discover that all of Fairy Tail except Mavis were present and all looking rather concerned. It wasn't until then that she learned that the Sphere within the Ministry had faded and now they were all insisting that they head out immediately to join them, or at least go somewhere that they could be close by.

Gajeel in particular had been adamant that they get going now. And whenever Tonks had asked why they needed to go, he just replied, "In case something happens."

"In case what happens?"

"I dunno! Something."

"Do you think this something's going to happen?"

"I don't know if anything's going to happen but just in case something does, we want to be there."

And the conversation had circled around like that several times before Moody finally put his wooden foot down with a loud _thunk_ and declared that they could consent to taking Fairy Tail somewhere they could at least receive a vague understanding of what was going on down below, but that they'd have to do their best to blend in with their surroundings, so to speak.

Which was why they were all sitting in the pub right now, Moody's one real eye staring down at his menu while the eye that had given him his nickname was currently swivelling around in its socket, unseen by the others and looking almost straight downwards through his own chin and the ground beneath them.

Fairy Tail were doing their best to remain casual. Gajeel was quaffing a beer that he'd bought with money Tonks had given him. The man at the bar had asked him for identification, but Gajeel had just given him a look and he'd quickly filled the glass up without asking again. Wendy and Juvia were running their hands through their hair as if comparing them, hoping to give anyone who noticed their blue locks the impression that they'd been rather impressively died. And Lisanna elbowed Gray in the ribs whenever his hand started to pull his shirt up seemingly of its own accord.

To be frank, they weren't doing the best job in the world at blending in, but the grizzled, scarred form of Moody was actually drawing far more attention than they were. Everyone just seemed to notice him like he was setting off warning bells in their heads before they had even set eyes on him.

But he ignored them and focused on staring through the floor.

"It doesn't matter if this is a bad idea or not," Gray stated firmly as he folded his arms, grunting as Lisanna elbowed him for the fifth time since they'd sat down. "Our friends are down there and we'll be damned if we're going to leave them."

"But I thought you said this Gildarts was the most powerful member of your guild," Tonks pointed out. "Surely he, of all people, is the someone you don't need to worry about too much. Or your friend if she's with him."

"Nevertheless, it just wouldn't feel right to sit back and do absolutely nothing. Even if there's nothing we can do, it does make us feel a little better to be… involved somehow."

"I don't see much of a difference, honestly," Gajeel grunted. "Between sitting where we're sitting now and hanging out somewhere else. We should be going in there, trying to bust them out. That's what the Salamander would be doing, don't you think?"

"Well, that just makes me glad that he's not been released from his Sphere yet," Gray scoffed. "You weren't even there the last time something like this happened, when Erza got taken by the Council for show. The idiot went charging in there and made everything worse. He actually tried to convince the Council that he was the real Erza by dressing in a wig and armour he made out of a freaking barrel!"

"GEEHEE! Oh, not that I do wish I could have seen," Gajeel snorted.

"And what are you going to do if something actually does go a bit sour down there?" Tonks questioned.

There was a beat of silence before Wendy rubbed the back of her head and said, "Probably make things a lot worse anyway. Like Natsu-san would."

"Oh brilliant," Tonks sighed. "This idea just keeps sounding better and better. Mad-Eye, why did you let them come here?"

"Ssh, I'm trying to concentrate," Moody growled slightly as he focused down through the floor. "The further I'm trying to see through things the more I have to strain the magic… but I think that I can see the Wizengamot chamber from here if I push myself hard enough… there seems to be a small girl sitting in the chair in the middle… short girl, orange dress… blue hair again - well, isn't that a surprise?"

"That's sounds like Levy-san alright," Juvia raised her head slightly. "Moody-san can see Levy-san from here?"

"Just," Moody confirmed. "My eye can see through solid objects for up to three-hundred yards if I stretch it far enough."

"Well, don't leave us in suspense, man - what's going on down there?"

"She doesn't look happy," Moody said gruffly, his eye twitching minutely beneath his hat. "In fact she looks rather distressed."

"What?" Gajeel bristled slightly. "The hell are they doing to her?"

"It looks like they're just talking."

"What about?"

"Oh yes, I of course have magical ears that can hear whatever my eye sees," Moody turned glower at him slightly while his eye remained fixed on the events below. "She's talking to the Minister and the Wizengamot though so it must be an interrogation."

"Why would they interrogate Levy?" Lisanna's eyes widened slightly. "There's nothing about Levy's personality that could make anyone believe she was a dangerous or even an untrustworthy person."

"I won't pretend to know what's going through Fudge's mind these days," Moody snorted. "And people call me mad." But then he stiffened slightly and said, "Ah…"

"Ah? What's ah? What's going on?" Gajeel snapped.

"Gajeel-kun!" Juvia gripped his arm slightly to prevent him from rising out of his seat and doing who-knew-what? "Moody-san… what's happening?"

"They've called in some Dementors."

Tonks stiffened, a shiver passing down her spine at the mere name. "Oh no… they wouldn't… surely they wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what? What's a Dementor?" Wendy hugged herself, shuddering at Tonks' reaction to them alone.

"Dementors are about the closest thing to a demon we have in this world," Moody wrinkled what remained of his nose. "Creatures that feast on human happiness, draw it out from the air around them as if they're sucking it up through a straw. And when they're done, all anyone who gets close to them is left with is their worst experiences, which are get replayed in their minds over and over again. Spend too long in a Dementors company and people have a tendency to go truly insane, which is what often happens to people sent to Azkaban the wizard prison, where the Dementors act as guards for the Ministry."

Gajeel's hand was now gripping the table so hard he was splintering the wood, while Gray's glass of water had frozen solid in his hand. Even Juvia and Lisanna were looking slightly thunderous.

"They'd bring… creatures like that… close to one of our friends?" Gray's snarl sounded slightly feral.

"Why would they even employ creatures like that!?" Lisanna gasped. "That's… surely that's inhumane."

"It's not like we're happy about it," Tonks protested. "But having the Dementors on our side and guarding a small minority of horrible people is better than having them against us and roaming free across the land. It was a compromise we came up with to prevent them from wreaking havoc on everyone."

"It doesn't look like your friend's reacting well to them," Moody observed. "No, that's definitely a rather violent reaction. She must have one or two horrible memories in her past somewhere."

Gajeel stiffened even more, something that Juvia and Gray both noticed. The Iron Dragon Slayer's eyes were wide but his slitted pupils had shrank to dots, this teeth gritted so hard they would have snapped if he were an ordinary human.

If Levy was reliving some terrible memories then that meant… could one of them be… the one about him?

Abruptly Gajeel surged up from his seat and roared, "That's it! I'm going in!" and he suddenly barrelled out across the room, slamming an unfortunate waiter across a table as he passed and busting the door straight off his hinges as he ploughed into the street.

"Gajeel! Gajeel stop!" Tonks gasped, leaping up and tripping over in a single fluid motion, but she was thankfully caught by Lisanna even as Gray and Juvia thundered out after them.

"Sorry," Lisanna said grimly, as Wendy pushed her way up as well, the both of them helping Tonks back to her feet. "But remember what Gray said about us doing what we felt was best for our friends no matter what? Well… looks like this is one of those times."

"Looks like they might not be needed," Moody said almost conversationally. "The big man down there's just smashed down half the Wizengamot hall and taken the girl off."

"Then hopefully it won't be too difficult to find them," Wendy replied, before she and Lisanna dashed out the door after the others. Tonks ran after them, pausing at the entrance as she watched Whitehall dissolve into chaos - it seemed Gajeel had smashed the hood of a taxi to mulch as he'd run across the street and all the Muggles were gasping and pointing as the three Exceed, who had clearly noticed something was happening, swooped down from overhead to join Fairy Tail as they ran.

"Oh god, this is a disaster," Tonks murmured to herself as she reached for her wand, preparing herself for trouble. "But, how are they planning to get down there? There's no main entrance to the Ministry. There's only the Floo, Apparition and the…"

Her words died in her throat when she saw Gajeel bolt down one particular side-street, closely followed by the others. A side-street that contained…

"Oh no. How did they know about the visitor's entrance?" she gasped.

"I told them about it," Moody growled as he stepped up beside her.

"You told… MAD-EYE!" Tonks yelled at him. "WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING!?"

"The way I saw it, there were only ever going to be two outcomes to this encounter once the Sphere in the Ministry went down," Moody turned to face her with both eyes, though one still couldn't be seen. "Either everything would go smoothly and the Ministry might gain some new allies in a fight they're so far refusing to fight. But that what sounded far-fetched. This was the far more likely alternative."

"What and you thought you'd just… help them do it!" Tonks blustered.

"Put it this way, Nymphadora," Mad-Eye actually grinned, albeit a little lopsidedly. "Whatever happens here today, perhaps the Ministry will start heeding the advice I myself give to everyone - CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"I knew you were going to do that," Tonks wiped some spittle from her cheek.

* * *

Gajeel pounded forwards down the street until his gaze sighted on the red, windowed box thing that Moody had told him would be there. The concept of telephone boxes was lost on him, but that wasn't what that really was anyway. He thundered straight for it, the growl in his throat building up into a roar as he ran.

"Gajeel-kun, slow down!" Juvia shouted as the others struggled to keep up.

"What's going on down there!" Lily called as he swooped in low overhead.

"It doesn't matter what's going on down there! What matters is we're going in and getting them out!" Gajeel bellowed.

"How are you planning to…?" Charla started to ask, but then Gajeel suddenly hurled himself upwards into a colossal flying leap that almost took him up to the height of the building roofs around him. The Iron Dragon Slayer set his sights on the telephone box and channelled his magic into his legs.

"METSURYUU OUGI!" he roared as a magic circle formed beneath his feet and his legs suddenly morphed into a large, furiously spinning drill. "GOUMA: TETSURASEN!" He plunged down like a falling bomb and slammed into the top of the telephone box, shredding it to shrapnel in an instant flat and smashing into the ground beneath it, throwing up chunks of concrete everywhere as he burst down through the space beneath it, down, down, down…

Until he suddenly emerged out in a large room filled with people, crashing through the ceiling with a spray of dirt and sending several witches and wizards diving for cover as he morphed his legs back to normal and slammed into the floor so hard he splintered the tiles. He looked up, ignoring the screaming, the yelling and the sudden frenzy of activity that began all around him, ignoring the high walls, the impressive architecture and the golden statues in a fountain nearby, focusing all his attention to his nose as he searched for anything familiar.

"Gajeel, don't go rushing in so fast!" Lily chided him as he swept out of the hole Gajeel had made in the ceiling, closely followed by Happy, who was carrying Gray.

But Gajeel ignored his Exceed when he caught a sniff and said, "This way, quick!" and plunged into the crowd, who parted before him like the Sea of Reeds before Moses except for a few Aurors who were trying to fight their way to the front.

"Damn, and I thought he was the one who always pointed out how messed up things were," Gray muttered as he took off after him, the two Exceed right behind him. One of the Aurors managed to make his way to the front as they ran but Gray swept his arm to one side and conjured up an ice shield that the unfortunate Auror ran straight into with a solid thunk.

A couple of moments later and Lisanna dropped through the opening with her arms morphed into wings, flaring them to swoop low over the heads of the crowd, closely followed by Charla carrying Wendy and Juvia, bursting down on her own as a jet of water and reforming on the ground.

"There they go!" Wendy pointed to where Gajeel and Gray were disappearing into the distance.

"Come on, let's go after them," Juvia shouted.

"No, wait!" Lisanna interrupted, flapping over to them and landing in front of them smoothly. "Gajeel and Gray are capable of looking after themselves. We don't all need to go to the same place! But since we're here, we should work on trying to find a way to free those Clippers."

"You mean the birds?" Wendy blinked.

"Oh, come on, Lisanna," Charla wrinkled her nose. "I know they're innocent but are they really our top priority right now?"

"Maybe not, but I have faith that Gajeel, Gray, Happy and Lily will be more than enough to cover our top priority," Lisanna reasoned. "And since we're here we might as well do both the things we came here to do. Those birds are relying on us too."

"She has a point," Wendy stated. "But we'd better make a decision soon. Look!" she pointed across the room to where the wizarding security were trying to calm the crowd, many of whom were trying to dash for the exits covering their heads, but several of them were running right towards them, wands being drawn.

Juvia hesitated, looking down in the direction where Gray had gone and longing to go after him and watch his back as well as Gajeel's, but she clenched her fist and said, "Juvia knows Gajeel-kun and Gray-sama are up to the task. Juvia believes in them too. Juvia says we go for the birds."

"Alright," Wendy lifted her head and started using her own Dragon Slayer's sense of smell to take stock of her surroundings. "Got them!" she cried. "This way!" She pointed ahead and Charla whooshed off in the direction she indicated. A couple of spells were thrown up at them but Charla zig-zagged rapidly and easily dodged, and moments later the wizards firing the spells were bowled over by a wall of water as Juvia ploughed over their heads, flanked by a winged Lisanna.

And Tonks arrived in the hall shortly afterwards to watch the last of the mayhem unfolding as the girls rushed their way into another corridor.

"Well… how's this one going to be hidden from the public I wonder," she muttered to herself as she hurried to join the bedlam.

From the moment that Gildarts rushed out of the broken wall, people were there trying to block his way. The noises of the explosions he'd made busting out of his cell and getting Levy out of the interrogation room had certainly attracted a fair amount of attention and as he rounded a corner he saw a group of about ten witches and wizards running towards him.

"Stop!" One of them yelled as he pointed his wand ahead right at Gildarts. "Surrender in the name of the Ministry!"

Gildarts grimaced - most of these guys seemed to be fairly decent guys so he didn't want to do anything to hurt them if he could manage it. So he merely slammed his fist into the wall and ran off, down a different corridor instead, the corner behind him fracturing into dozens of pieces and falling in on itself like a landslide, blocking off the corridor and causing the security behind it to come skidding to a halt to avoid running slap-bang into it.

"Nnnn… nooo… keep… keep away… stay away…" Levy spasmed slightly on his shoulder, batting at the air with her arms as if trying to ward away an evil spirit weakly.

"Just hold on, Levy. We're getting you to safety," Mavis assured her, looking over her shoulder as the four Dementors pursuing them rounded the bend and swept through the air towards them, scabbed hands scraping at the air in a disturbingly zombie-like way. "Gildarts, those things are gaining."

"Well, let's see if we can't slow them down," Gildarts grunted as he spun around on the spot. "Because for some reason I mind the idea of hurting them a lot less. RRRRRHHHHAAAAAAGHH!" he bellowed as he slammed the palm of his real hand down to the ground, bursting his Crash magic down the corridor to seemingly splinter the floor and both walls into fractured, even bits, the cracks running past the Dementors.

As they approached, Gildarts couldn't help but feel several shivers running up his spine the like of which he'd not experienced for a long time, along with a terrible gnawing in gut that created an almost unfamiliar sense of despair, but Gildarts blocked it out, clenching his teeth and bursting the splintered floor and wars inwards in a colossal explosion. The Dementors screeched as they were suddenly smashed from seemingly all sides by flying bits of rubble that fell in around them, burying them in a veritable landslide.

Gildarts had no idea whether that would work on such creatures or even hold them back for long, but he didn't need to wait to find out. He turned and ran on. "First, how do we get out of here?" he asked.

"I don't know the layout very well, but we need to find the elevators," Mavis replied.

"The what?"

"The small rooms that move around on their own to take people places!"

"Oh, those. Well, where are…"

"Stop! Stop right there!" Scrimgeour's voice bellowed as Gildarts rounded another corner with no idea where he was going whatsoever. Gildarts hesitated as Scrimgeour, whom he had judged to be a decent enough man for sure, and several other Aurors, came charging in towards him.

"Don't make me hurt you guys!" Gildarts shouted across at them. "Just let us leave!"

"Can't do that! Surrender immediately or we'll have to use extreme force!" Scrimgeour replied, his wand at the ready even as he ran.

Gildarts grimaced and spun around with a swish of his cloak to run in the opposite direction. But as he did, he heard Scrimgeour shouted, "You asked for it. Now, men!"

"Stupefy!" multiple voices shout all at once and Gildarts felt the rush of an incoming attack behind him, spinning about to see several red streaks of light surging in towards him like speeding bullets. Gildarts gritted his teeth and thrust his hand forwards, generating a wall of criss-crossing lines across the whole corridors like a shield, and when the spells hit the wall they burst into teensy pieces that scattered to the wind.

Many of the Aurors actually pulled to a stop to ogle at that, but Scrimgeour pressed on with a couple of the others anyway.

"Now who's asking for it?" Gildarts asked as he seized a wall with one hand and tore a huge strip of it the size of himself away from the rest, hefting it over his head and lobbing it down the corridor like an enormous, square javelin. The Aurors yelled and skidded to a halt, Scrimgeour firing a Reductor curse up at the wall to try and break it, only for the flying wall piece to break into dozens of smaller bits under the effects of Gildarts' magic. The Reductor curse pulverised only one of these smaller cubes while the others rained down to collide with stomachs, chests, arms and legs… one of them connected with Scrimgeour's cheek and knocked him backwards and off his feet, dazed and smarting.

"This way, Gildarts! It's this way!" Mavis waved from the end of the corridor and Gildarts hurried off after her, hearing the clamour of more wizards coming in his ears. But it took him another couple of corners before he ran into something else - one man who was blocking his path ahead. Gildarts reacted instinctively, seizing the man by the front of his robes and preparing to swing him out of the way, when Mavis stopped him with, "Gildarts, no! That's Kingsley. He's one of the Order I mentioned before."

"Oh… right…" Gildarts let go, immediately but his arm movement had already yanked Kingsley to the side and he crashed into the wall slightly, but was stopped from falling over when Gildarts steadied his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Grateful that you're accompanied by a ghost mentor certainly," Kingsley chuckled wryly as he pushed himself upright. "Look, Gildarts, isn't it? I just want to quickly apologise on behalf of the Order and the wider Ministry for what's happened here today. Suffice to say the Minister has had… a lot on his proverbial plate recently and he may have acted rather rashly out of fear…"

"I'm afraid now's probably not the time to apologise on the behalf of your government," Gildarts stated simply. "I'm taking Levy out of here and as far away from those… creatures… as possible."

"Mm okay… I can walk…" Levy protested slightly, kicking a little from her place over Gildarts' shoulder, prompting Gildarts to slowly lower her to the ground, but hold her steady as she wobbled a little.

"Kingsley, can we get out of here? Can't you Apparate them out?" Mavis asked.

"Unfortunately no," Kingsley shook his head. "There are Anti-Apparition Wards throughout the Ministry in all rooms except the Atrium, designed to protect Ministry officials from surprise attacks by wizarding terrorists… And even if I took you away in the Atrium, people would definitely see me do it. I fear you will need to make your own way out now. Unless I can convince you to stay and try and sort this out diplomatically."

"Do you think that would actually happen in the current situation?" Mavis asked. "People who bring in those creatures as extra security because of one girl with a magic they didn't even understand most likely won't be willing to handle things diplomatically after the damage that's been done now. I fear we'll have to make our escape now and hope that we can make peace with the Ministry when we all have cooler heads."

Kingsley grimaced, turning around at the sound of rushing footsteps a few corridors away, heading right for them. "You're right," he said. "Alright then, listen. You're on Level Ten right now and the Atrium is the big room with the golden statue fountain on Level Eight. You can escape from there via Floo Powder if you wish. Mavis, you can show these two how to do it."

"Then we need to get to the lifts," Mavis nodded.

"That won't work," Kingsley replied quickly. "The Ministry's being put into lockdown and all the lifts have been stopped. You can't use them anymore."

"Then how do we get up two floors?" Levy asked a little weakly, still trying to recover her strength.

"The hard way," Gildarts replied immediately, as the shouting grew much closer. "But first," he suddenly slammed his fist into Kingsley's gut and the Auror gasped and stumbled backwards, clutching at his stomach and wheezing. "Sorry, have to make it look like you're not helping us," Gildarts apologised before he gripped Levy tightly in his arms and focused his magic down towards his feet. Levy gasped as she felt the floor cracking underneath them, felt as if an inferno of magical energy was brewing all around her as Gildarts' body glowed brightly for a moment…

And then Gildarts blasted his magic into the floor to not only shatter it, but propel himself straight upwards like he'd been fired out of a cannon, wrapping his arms tightly around a screaming Levy and angling himself so his shoulders were the first thing to smash into the ceiling and crash straight through it as if it was made of paper, blasting it to bits as they shot up into the ninth level above.

Levy got only a fleeting glimpse of the room beyond, and it was certainly a very big room - with a ceiling so high above that it reminded Levy of the Kardia Cathedral back home in Magnolia, but instead of stain glass windows and columns it was filled with what looked like dozens of rows of immensely tall shelves absolutely covered with strange-looking glass orbs.

But as Gildarts punched his way through the floor directly beneath one of these shelves and therefore splintered it to shards as he crashed straight through it, the strange room was very promptly thrown into chaos as large bits of shelf and orbs went flying everywhere, smashing into other shelves and knocking them over and creating a chain reaction through the room with countless glass orbs raining down to the floor and smashing to fragments against it even as more shelves were overturned.

But through it all, Gildarts still rocketed upwards even to the high ceiling and smashed his way through that one too, leaving the practically collapsing room behind.

They emerged onto the eighth floor in a fountain of brick, tiles, wood and other bits of building; a couple of wizards falling backwards in shock as the floor erupted in front of them and scrambling backwards as Gildarts landed next to the gaping hole he'd just made with a swish of his cloak. Levy stumbled backwards slightly as he let go of her, gasping for breath and rather wide-eyed.

"Are you okay?" Gildarts asked, as Mavis rose up through the hole to meet them.

"I… I think so…" Levy leaned over the edge of the hole to look down and see several Aurors gather underneath it, gaping in disbelief. A couple of them aimed their wands up and fired spells at her, but she quickly dodged backwards. "I think we'd better go though."

"Indeed," Gildarts nodded. "Let's move!"

* * *

Wendy's foot accidentally knocked the hat off yet another witch as Charla whipped her around another corner just high enough to avoid actually kicking the startled woman in the face. The Sky Dragon Slayer was constantly sniffing the air, tilting her head around and able to see Lisanna and Juvia through the corner of her eye behind her, one turned to water and pulsing herself along through the air and the other with wide wings that pretty much touched either side of the corridors she was swooping down.

"Getting any closer, Wendy?" Lisanna shouted.

"Not really!" Wendy called back. "The smell keeps fading and getting stronger. I think that it might be coming from above."

"Then we need to find some stairs or something!" Juvia called. "Has anyone seen any since we got in here?"

"No, not… wait!" Wendy cried as they whooshed past some kind of metal doors, Charla practically screeching to a halt as Juvia and Lisanna had to pull back to keep themselves from crashing into her. "The smell… it was a bit stronger through those doors!"

"Alright… but Juvia doesn't see a door handle…" Juvia frowned slightly. "How do we get through."

"We'll have to get through the traditional Fairy Tail way," Lisanna replied as she landed in front of the doors, shifted into her giant rabbit form and planted her back feet on the wall behind her, kicking off from it like a springboard to catapult herself into the door of the elevator. A fraction of a second before impact she morphed again into her giant penguin shape, which was the heaviest of her Take-Overs. And the force of the collision was enough to tear the doors out of their moorings as Lisanna punched through into the empty space beyond.

Lisanna gasped as she suddenly realised she was in open air, but even as she started to fall she shifted back into her bird form and flared her wings, catching herself to fly back up. Wendy and Charla came through the doors to meet her, Wendy looking around and sniffing urgently, before declaring, "Up! The smells coming from above."

"Lead on, Wendy!" Lisanna called as Charla transported the Sky Dragon Slayer up higher, followed closely by the others.

They had to weave in and out of the metal tracks that carried the lifts all around the building until Wendy pointed to another door and cried, "I think that's the one we have to go through now."

"Alright then, its Juvia's turn," Juvia curved her body over Wendy's head and streaked in towards the door, spinning herself in a vicious corkscrew with her arms out to the side and crying, "WATER SLICER!"

Multiple water blades peeled away from her spinning hands to form a rough circle of high-pressure projectiles that crashed into the doors and managed to cut their way clean through to the other side. Juvia washed through the gap that dropped out into the room beyond, settling on the ground and noting a large sign in front of her that read; 'Level 4 - Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.'

"This looks like the place," she noted as the other girls joined her.

"I hope the others are okay," Wendy noted. "They may have run into more trouble than us."

"Well, there's really not much we can do for them up here. We should focus on finding the birds, though how we're going to get them out of the Ministry is anyone's guess."

"One step at a time," Lisanna noted. "But we'll think of something. We'll have to."

* * *

"Get outta my way!" Gajeel bellowed as he heaved an unfortunate Auror that had gotten in his way around by his robes and sent him crashing into three others as they made their way out of another corridor.

Gray was right behind him, creating a wall of ice to prevent several other Aurors from following them now that he's established that the girls weren't following. But he could tell that while they certainly had gained the element of surprise with their sudden entrance to the Ministry, which have been a very big help in bulldozing their way through everyone so far, the forces of the Ministry now seemed to be rallying, and were converging on their location, trying to come from all directions at once.

"Gajeel, are they close!" he yelled as several spells hit his ice wall, including one that caused a couple of cracks to appear in the other side.

"Not far away now!" Gajeel replied. "I can smell them much more clearly now!"

"But we're surrounded now!" Happy yelled from next to Gray's legs, watching as several robed men came running in from both the corridors that Gray had not blocked off. They'd found themselves at a T-junction and were now several spells of various colours came lancing in from both directions. Gajeel had no clue what any of them did but he flattened himself against a wall to avoid them and growled as he morphed his hand into a club.

"Then we'll just have to tear our way through!" he snarled.

"Oi! Gajeel, these guys aren't supposed to be our enemies you know!" Gray yelled at him, grimacing as his shield took another battering from a Bludgeoning Hex. "We should try and do this with the minimum number of horrific injuries!"

"Tell that to them!" Gajeel growled.

"Urgh, there's no room to swing my sword in here!" Lily groaned as he gripped his currently small blade. "I'll just end up slicing through the walls!"

"That might not be such a bad thing at this point cos there's no room for dodging either!" Gray called, the group of four crouching for cover from the spells around the corner next to Gray's shield even as the Aurors drew in closer. The Ice Mage whirled around, slamming his hands together and generating an Ice Cannon in his hands, which he propped up against the wall. "We'll have to be quick! Lily, take that and wait for my word."

Lily wanted to ask what he was meant to do with it when he was given the word since he couldn't exactly fire the thing himself, but there was no time so he did as bid and grew into his battle form, seizing the cannon and valiantly ignoring the fierce chill it instantly created in his hands.

"Clear a path for us, Gajeel!" Gray called.

"Geehee! My pleasure," Gajeel sprang to his feet furiously swung his fist towards the wall in front of them. The iron club that lengthened from it punched through the stonework with ease to create a gaping hole, and moments later the other arm shot up to widen the gap until it was easily large enough for people to get through.

"Now, Lily!" Gray shouted as he bounded out into the corridor to face one group of approaching Aurors and slammed his hands into the ground to call, "ICE GEYSER!" and conjuring up a veritable tidal wave of icy shards that washed down the walls and sent several of the front-running Aurors flying as it crashed into them, bowling them over. And then he spun around to face the other way, to see Lily already in position.

The big Exceed had guessed what Gray was planning and was crouched behind him with the cannon pointed at the oncoming Aurors, who hesitated at the sight of the huge cat levelling the weapon at them and what had happened to the others. But Gray didn't give them a chance to recuperate, seizing the back of the cannon and generating his magic into it, firing the icy blast down the hallway to envelop several of the Auror and send them crashing back into one another like skittles.

"Thanks, Lily," Gray nodded, as he dispelled the cannon. "Molding Magic may be fast, but having it already waiting for you makes it even faster."

"Come on, let's move it!" Gajeel shot through the hole he'd made, the others close behind him.

A few more turns later and suddenly something rounded another corner and ran slap-bang into Gajeel, literally smacking into his chest and yelping as it lost its balance and toppled backwards onto its backside. Gajeel, fortunately, was quick enough to pull to a halt and found himself looking down at a wide-eyed, breathless Levy.

Even Gajeel couldn't deny the surge of relief that washed right through him at the sight of her, looking a little worse for wear but otherwise okay. His face split into a grin and he said, "Hey, Shorty. Ya miss me?"

But the grin faltered slightly when he saw that Levy was looking up at him not with relief… but with terror. Her pupils had shrunk into dots, her body was shaking slightly, her breath was coming out in ragged gasps and it looked like every muscle in her was trying to seize up on her at once.

"Oi… Levy… what's wrong?" Gajeel stepped forwards and reached down towards her, but Levy screamed and kicked up at him, knocking his hand away. Gajeel recoiled, not hurt but rather shocked as Levy scrambled backwards like a panicked animal.

"Levy! It's me!" Gajeel stepped forwards, but Levy flinched and covered her face with her arms, closing her eyes as if bracing for an impact. "What's gotten into you?"

"Stay away!" Levy shouted, shoving herself to her feet just as Gildarts, Mavis and the rest of Gajeel's group all caught up with them. Levy immediately fled back to Gildarts and hid behind him, putting him between herself and Gajeel as she clutched her head and bit her lip, quivering like a scared rabbit.

"She's just had a rather traumatic experience," Gildarts noted. "I'm not sure what happened exactly, but it hasn't left me in the best of tempers I can tell you."

"Levy…" Gajeel started again, but the mere sound of his voice was enough to make Levy flinch. She turned around slowly, peering around Gildarts to look him in his studded face, but even though he was frowning in apparent concern… she could also see a savage, sneering grin plastered across his features in her mind's eye. She could also hear his cackling laugh echoing in her memory, could practically feel the places where his iron fists had once smashed into her like a dull itch.

"_Now now. No screaming. I want the pathetic trash you call friends to find out about this when they wake up next morning and not before. But there's quite a bit of time left until dawn… which means plenty of time left for some fun, don't you agree?"_

Those words, which had once come from his mouth, were ringing through her brain, memories that she'd tried very hard to bury and never remember forced back up to the front of her mind by the Dementors. And now, when she looked at him… she just couldn't help but remember it all over again.

_Stop it, Levy, stop it! Stopitstopitstopitstopit! Look at him, he's worried about you! You should be happy, not scared! He'd never say that to you now, never do that to you now! Look at the mark on his shoulder! He's Fairy Tail. He's a friend now, and you know he is! So why are you scared of him again?_

That was what her heart and conscience was screaming at her, her instincts seemed to be trying to overrule her rational thoughts and the memories within her screaming, _Enemy! Phantom Lord! Run! Hide! Fear him! Enemy!_ And those thoughts forced her to look away, eyes screwed shut and teeth gritted with frustration.

Gajeel himself could feel his fist clenching so hard he had to turn his palm to iron to stop his nails from drawing his own blood. His fear had practically been confirmed. Moody had said that the Dementors caused people to relive their worst memories. And despite everything that had happened since he'd joined Fairy Tail, all the progress he'd made to resolve things with the girl he'd so viciously beaten… it was like it had all been undone in an instant flat!

Of course what he did to her would be one of her worst memories. No matter how many years passed by, that would always be the case.

"Shit," he muttered to himself under his breath and looked away and summing up the situation in what he felt to be a pretty adequate manner with that one word.

"Gildarts!" Happy cheered as he hovered over to the big man. "So you really are here! Wow, its so good to see you."

"And you," Gildarts smirked wryly. "Though this may not be the best time for a reunion. We still need to get to the Atrium place and get out of here."

"But we can't yet," Happy shook his head. "Charla and the others aren't here - Wendy and Lisanna and Juvia… we got separated from them somehow."

"Where the heck could they all have gone?" Gray muttered irritably.

"Most likely to try and find the Clippers," Mavis replied. "Getting them out was another one of our goals of course."

"Yeah, but now!?" Gray scoffed. "Of all times they do that now?"

"On the contrary I think it was the right call," Mavis stated. "If we'd left them here and escaped ourselves then its likely they'd realise the Clippers are just as alien to this universe as we are, and possibly exterminate them since they don't belong here. We may never get another chance to save them than this."

"…Fair point…" Gray noted. "But how do we find them now? Gajeel, can you track them?"

"I believe I know where they will have gone," Mavis pointed upwards. "The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is on Level Four - I saw it on the floor plan of my tour earlier. We must head up there."

"But the transport up there's been shut down," Gildarts pointed out.

"Well then we'll make our own transport," Gray stated. "Come on… let's…"

He stopped talking suddenly, his eyes widening as the hair stood up on the back of his neck. His whole body had suddenly gone frigid, as if he'd been dunked into a lake of freezing water and Gray couldn't remember the last time he'd actually felt cold. Especially not cold this biting.

"Guuh… what's happening!?" Gajeel had stiffened too. Gildarts' eyes widened slightly and he swore under his breath as the tails of both the Exceed stood up straight.

"Not more of them…" Gildarts cursed, as a wizard ran into the hallway nearby, pointing towards them and crying, "There they are. Quick, subdue them!" Before many, many tall cloaked figures wafted around the corner and swept down it towards the gathered Fairy Tail members. And down the hall where Gildarts and Levy had just come from, more of them emerged.

"What… what are those things!?" Happy yelled.

"What… what's wrong with me?" Lily's hands were clutching his stomach. "Why do I feel this way?"

"Are these… those Dementor things?" Gajeel sucked in a breath through his teeth before he suddenly clutched his head, gasping as a feeling of despair washed over him like a pit opening inside him and seeking to swallow him up from within. As the Dementors drew closer, a faint voice began to ring in his ears… was that his own?

"_Metalicana…! Hey, Metalicana, where are you!? Get… get back here, you… you… damn dragon! This isn't funny anymore. Where've you gone!…. Please, come back!"_

All around him the others were having similar reactions. Gray's was perhaps the most violent, falling to his knees and clutching his stomach as if he was going to be sick, the sounds of burning and screaming and a terrible, grating, booming roar - one that he would never forget - seeking to shatter his eardrums even now when it was just a memory. Sweat was beginning to spring up across his whole body as vague images of the huge bestial demon laying waste to his hometown swept through his consciousness, as well as the terrible image of his father's broken body with the massive gash torn across his left temple.

"N… No…" he gasped. "D…Dad… Deliora… not… not this…"

Even the Exceed were reacting harshly. Happy had fallen onto his backside and was shaking like a leaf as he too heard his own voice. _"My… my mission… was to kill Natsu," _shortly accompanied by Charla's screams of despair as the black Exceed named Nadi told them about how their friendship with the Dragon Slayers was all a lie. While Lily was clenching his fists and clenching his fangs so tightly he could probably chew through iron himself as he heard the words again, _"You are now made one of the Fallen, and are banished from Extalia…"_

"No… no, no, no, no, no…" Levy had practically shrunk into a ball, covering her head as the harsh laughter began to ring in her ears once more. "Not again… go away… just go away…"

Mavis looked round in horror as each of her guild members began to succumb to the Dementors effects, shaking and gasping as their memories tried to drag them downwards, as the horrible wraiths themselves slowly drew in towards them, their horrible breath filling the air almost gleefully as if they sensed they were winning. What should she do? What could she do?

Even Gildarts stumbled slightly, one hand covering one side of his face and panting for breath as several memories seemed to flash through his head in rapid succession.

"_Cornelia, why… can't we try a little more?"_

"_I'm sorry, Gildarts, really I am… but you're never around. You're too involved with your work, always going away on jobs. I can't stand being alone so much anymore and I just don't think this is part of you that you can change… I'm sorry… I want a divorce…"_

Then another memory:-

"_Stop this, Ivan! Stop this now or I'm going to have to stop you! Don't make me do this!"_

"_Step aside, Gildarts! This has nothing to do with you, this has to do solely with me and my father."_

"_Ivan, I'm warning you…"_

And another - the almost mocking roar that shook the mountain he was standing on as Acnologia descended on him with a blur of speed that belied his enormous size and the ghost of the searing, indescribable agony as in a flash what felt like a third of his entire body was torn from the rest of him in a single, brutal strike.

"Guuuhnn…" Gildarts growled slightly as he looked up at the Dementors gliding in ever closer, imprinting the most horrendous moments of his life back and all the others with their own pasts. He felt his fist clenching as he tried to block out the memories, but the more he tried to ignore them they more they seemed to press down on him. But now the Dementors were reaching their hands forwards grasping towards the closest of their targets.

He had to do something…

_Cana! _his mind suddenly screamed at him.

_Think of Cana! Think of how indescribably happy you were when you'd got over the shock of her being your daughter. How you watched the daughter you never knew you had growing over the years. How she said she was glad to have met you, how she let you, despite having not known who she was for eighteen years, have the right to love her!_

That moment had, perhaps, been the happiest moment of his life, and it was certainly the freshest of his best ones in his memory. And as he focused on it, he felt the despair inside him lessen as if his memory of Cana was somehow buoying him up. The other memories seemed to be purged from his head and his gaze became hard as steel as he suddenly sprang forwards like a giant leaping panther, seizing a Dementor's scabby hand in his own moments before it touched Gray.

The Dementor actually screeched and jerked back slightly but, with a face of stone-cold fury, Gildarts smashed his hand and the Dementors own hand into the hooded face, knocking it back even further and summoning an immense amount of Crash power into his palm. With a roar of power, a massive white blast of energy detonated from his palm and flooded down the corridor, washing over all the Dementors from that side of the group and fracturing the top layer of the walls, floor and ceiling into pieces.

The wizard who'd been escorting the Dementors could only gape from where he was peering around the corner, watching in absolute disbelief… as lines appeared across the bodies of all the Dementors… and several seconds later, they disintegrated into tiny pieces which then vanished into thin air, bits of black cloak drifting down to the floor. The other Dementors coming from the other direction screeched and immediately backed off, sensing that which was surely impossible… other Dementors… had been killed?

Gildarts looked over at the rest of the Dementors and raised his hand at them, but they got the message and quickly retreated, bumping into each other in their haste to get away from this man. Gildarts smirked with satisfaction as the rest of Fairy Tail began to come round, before turning back to the lone wizard watching them, who cringed slightly as their eyes met.

"I don't know why this Ministry has creatures like those things in their employ," Gildarts said to him. "But I believe I already said. We will do anything to protect each other. And let me tell you… for as long as you still want any of those things anywhere near one of us… then you have made an enemy out of Fairy Tail. Go and tell your Minister that."

The wizard gasped and dashed off like he had the devil chasing him. Gildarts smirked in satisfaction before he gripped Gray's shoulder and hauled him to his feet. "Come on, you lot. We need to regroup with the others. The sooner we're out of here the better!"

"I hear that," Gray moaned, clutching his head, but hurrying off.

"Gajeel, lead the way," Gildarts instructed.

Gajeel took one last look at the still visibly distressed Levy, who was still trying hard to keep away from him and grimaced, but nodded. "Follow me."


	14. Up and Away

Really, really sorry for the delay folks but I did start at uni again and its taken quite a bit to sort out everything like the house and stuff, and not to mention I've been getting to know my new course mates and getting to grips with my new timetable so I hope you can all understand. Very much hoping that I will have the next one up quicker.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 14:- Up and Away**

* * *

The sound of rending metal filled the air as the doors to the lifts buckled and were torn away from their roots. The Iron Dragon Slayer holding them hefted them to the side with seemingly no effort at all, and peered into the open space beyond.

"The hell are we supposed to go now?" he asked.

"We're on the eighth floor now," Mavis slipped past him and out into the air, looking up through the dark space and the many doors at seemingly random places above them. Some of them didn't even look like they were built into walls, but were just hanging in empty space. "We've got to get up to the fourth floor if we want to join up with the others. And I believe I can see an open door on that level from here. See," she pointed up and those that could actually look in through the broken doors could indeed see another set higher above that looked like they'd been smashed in.

"That must be where the others went," Gray agreed.

"We should move quickly," Gildarts noted, his arm outstretched into the corridor they were standing in to create a white lattice of lines from floor to ceiling, causing the spells being fired at them to splinter to pieces and dissipate before they reached them. For despite his previous warning, after the Dementors had backed away it had not taken long before more Ministry officials tracked them down. It seemed in view of the attack most of the civilians had already fled the Ministry, leaving behind only those who were bold enough to try and take Fairy Tail down. "These guys just don't seem to be willing to leave us alone."

"Why do we always seem to make enemies somehow everywhere we go," Levy murmured right before a red Stunning spell slammed into the wall inches from her shoulder. She yelped and almost fell over, whirling around to see none other than Rufus Scrimgeour himself coming hurtling towards them.

"Stand down, all you you!" the head of the Auror Office bristled as he led a couple of other high-ranking Aurors forward. "Stand down and accept arrest or you shall only make things worse for yourself!" And he lashed out with his wand again, along with the others, to fire three consecutive red light beams right towards Levy's stomach.

"Levy! Get back!" Gajeel instantly whirled around, but Levy had been ready for the attack this time and flung her hands up in the direction of the oncoming spells.

"Solid Script: Guard!" she shouted, and with a flash the word GUARD appeared in brown letters in front of her, the spells crashing into it and fizzling out of existence before Levy swung her hands down and added, "Solid Script: Hole!" This spell generated the word actually on the floor and it swept down the hallway towards the oncoming three. Scrimgeour quickly leapt into the air to avoid it, but the other two were not quick enough and when the word touched their feet they suddenly fell straight through the floor, yelling as they plummeted down to the level below.

Scrimgeour landed next to the gaping hole in the corridor behind him and growled as he looked over his shoulder at it. "What kind of unnatural magic…?" he growled before suddenly he was tossed backwards by a blast of wind generated from another of Levy's words, and with a yell he plummeted straight down into the hole himself.

Levy sighed and turned back to face the others, who all had rather blank expressions on seeing this little display. "What?" she demanded, folding her arms. "It's not like I don't have any battle skills at all even if they're not that strong, is it?"

"Geehee!" Gajeel grinned. "That magic has some potential if its used right."

But all his compliment did was make Levy flinch and turn away from him, as if the very sound of his voice terrified the life out of her. Gajeel scowled in irritation and had to resist the urge to flatten something before he changed the subject and demanded, "So, how are we getting up there? Lily, Blue Cat, looks like you're up."

"We don't have time to wait around for them to make multiple trips," Gray interrupted before either of the Exceed could make a move, slamming his hands together in readiness for his next move. "We all have to get up there now!" And he slammed his hands down into the floor by the lift doors and suddenly a jet of ice shot upwards through the air, curving its way around the lift rails until it connected the door to the open one higher up and solidified into ice stairs.

Gray altered the properties of the ice to make sure it wouldn't be slippery, before he yelled, "Come on then," and instantly charged up it, the others piling in behind him. Gildarts ushered Levy inside ahead of him and ran up behind her, but when he reached the tenth step he turned and punched down onto the ninth one, disintegrating the bottom steps into fragments to make sure they wouldn't be followed before he turned to follow the others. The staircase had no real visible means of support, but they didn't have to since they were being held in place by Gray's magic.

Lily and Happy weaved their way through the lift space under their own power while the others ran, but as they flew Happy spotted something out the corner of his eye. When he turned to look, he abruptly gasped and yelled, "LOOK OUT!" veering around in a tight circle and crashing straight into Lily, knocking him out of the way of another red flash of light that skewed past their tails and slammed into the staircase right in front of Gray, who skidded to a stop and looked up with a glare.

"Now what?" he muttered, but his eyes widened slightly when he saw a phalanx of Ministry officials zipping their way in from above, about ten in total riding on broomsticks. It seemed the Ministry had got word that grounding the lifts was not stopping the intruders from moving about their headquarters as they pleased and were now attempting alternative methods to stop their progress.

"Get down!" Gajeel yelled as a couple of brooms whizzed in towards them. The Iron Dragon Slayer dodged backwards to avoid being clipped by one and spun around as another came swooping in to fire a Reductor Curse right at him. He leapt backwards as the curse impacted the stairs and splintered the ice, sending it cascading down into the lift, but even in mid-air Gajeel spun around and seized the man even as he tried to run past, scooping him off the broom and slamming him down into the stairs with a yell of pain.

"Why you little…!" Gajeel's fist was already in the air, ready to pound down into the man's face, but a sharp scream from behind him halted him in his tracks, and he glanced back to where Levy was staring at him with wide-eyes from across the gap in the bridge, hand covering her mouth. Gajeel hesitated, and that was just long enough for the man to suddenly lash up with his wand and hit Gajeel right in the chest with a Stunning Spell.

"Nnngh!" Gajeel gasped, his hand going slack as he let go of the man's robes. He'd suddenly gotten rather woozy, and he teetered on his feet, struggling to clear his head. The man looked rather shocked that the spell had not been as instantly effective as he'd expected but he quickly lashed up with two more that impacted with Gajeel's stomach. He promptly blacked out and tipped backwards, plummeting through the gap in the stairs and dropping like a stone.

"NO!" Levy yelled in horror, dashing to the edge and watching him fall.

"Bastard!" Gray seized the man by the back of his robes and slammed a fist into his gut to knock him out.

"Gajeel!" Lily shouted.

"I've got him!" Happy cried and whooshed down in pursuit of the falling man, dodging a few more lift rails and scooping him up by the back of his shirt, hoisting him up and into the air again moments before he crashed into the bottom.

Levy sighed in relief as the blue cat transported him back up to them and Gray fixed the gap in the stairs, but there were more brooms swarming around them, swerving in from every angle and raining spells on them. Gildarts hurried created a Crash Dome around them that blocked every spell - and there were a wide variety - but he grunted and cursed under his breath.

"I can't strike back," he yelled as Happy transported Gajeel back up and laid him on the ice stairs. "If I do I could knock them off those brooms and send them to their deaths!"

"Happy!" Lily yelled. "Come on! It's up to us."

"Aye sir!" Happy called. "You guys go on! We'll handle these guys!"

"But… are you sure…?" Levy started.

"No time for that," Gray cut her off. "Let's move. Levy, help me with Gajeel!"

Levy stiffened as Gray threw one of Gajeel's arms around his shoulder and hoisted him up. Dear gosh, what was going on with her!? She'd just been horrified when she'd seen him fall but now she was suddenly back to being scared of him, even though he was unconscious. Images abruptly flowed through her head of him suddenly waking up and snapping her neck like a twig or something and she drew back, bile rising in her throat both at the thought and at the sheer fact she was having it!

What the heck? She knew he wasn't like that now! She knew he wouldn't do it! She'd had his arm around her shoulders before now. Why couldn't she get these images out of her head!? Even now when he needed her help.

Fortunately Gildarts saved her the trouble by squeezing past her and hoisting him up by the other arm, holding it under his own like a bedroll and helping Gray move the unconscious Dragon Slayer up the stairs. Levy stood there for a moment, trembling with anger and shame at herself for hesitating like that, before she hurried after them as well.

Pantherlily and Happy were now zipping through the air in their smaller forms, dodging brooms wildly as the owners of those brooms either tried to chase them or continued to focus their efforts on the humans below instead. But either way, it was absolute chaos, with the brooms having to constantly veer to avoid hitting each other or one of the lift rails.

Lily shot up towards one of those rails and whooshed tightly around it in a swift U-turn, diving back down towards two of the others who were veering up at him. Red Stunners filled the air, but Lily skimmed underneath three and dodged another, shooting straight down the middle and between the two, and in that moment he suddenly grew to his battle size and threw his hands out.

His heavily muscled arms crashed into the pair and knocked them off their brooms, but before they could fall Lily seized them by their fronts and hoisted them up, depositing them onto one of the rails and leaving them clinging there for dear life as he drew his sword from his back and swept it through the air to sweep a couple spells aside, bellowing as he charged in towards the others and forced them to swerve aside to avoid his mighty swing.

Happy zig-zagged rapidly around, spells breezing past him as another of the broom riders followed in close behind him aiming for his flicking tail. But then Happy turned up sharply and did a tight loop-da-loop over the broom riders head until suddenly he'd landed on the twigs of the broom itself.

"Mind if I steer?" he asked as he gripped the broom and shoved it sideways, powering his Aera to turn the broom's direction sharply right. The rider yelled and clung on for dear life as Happy veered him around so he was shooting straight towards another broom rider. Happy leapt off as the two crashed into each other and fell, crashing onto the ice stairs below with their splintered brooms falling all around them.

Happy grinned to himself right as a couple of jets of light whisked by his wings. "WAAH!" he shouted, dodging to the side and wheeling around the stairs, only to discover that he wasn't the target. The remaining wizards were concentrating their fire on Lily, who was much bigger and therefore seemed to be the bigger threat. As Lily shot upwards with several wizards in hot pursuit, Happy flared his wings and shot up to meet them, attaching himself to the back of the head of one of them and placing his paws over the woman's eyes. The woman yelled and suddenly careened sideways, crashing into another woman before twisting the other way and knocking into a man, sending them both spinning as tried to pull Happy off with one hand while desperately holding the broom with the other.

"Nice, Happy!" Lily chuckled as he shrank back into normal form and dropped straight downwards, shooting by another couple of riders and then growing big again, swinging his sword around to slam another set of elevator doors out into the hall beyond. He then spun around to face the two riders that Happy's had hit. As they struggled to regain control he lengthened his sword to maximum, holding it horizontally with the flat side facing up. The two riders actually landed on the sword blade with a thud, standing on it as if it was a platform. But before they could recover their wits Lily twisted them around and stuck the tip of his sword through the open doors and raised the handle up, causing them to slide down the blade and out into the hallway beyond.

One of the last few remaining on their brooms, seeing most of his companions were now grounded, raised his wand and searched his memory for the biggest spell he could muster, determined to take at least the big cat down. But before he could find a spell a girl with long blond hair suddenly popped into existence in front of him, actually standing upright on his broom, and said, "Hi!"

"AAHH!" he bellowed and lost his grip on his broom, falling sideways and plummeting down. He landed with a thud on the broom behind the woman that Happy was still clinging to, and the blue Exceed steered them both around so they were shooting straight towards the open doors and let go, sweeping up and away. The two riders yelled as they landed with a crash into the hallway beyond.

That left only one rider, another woman, left. But as she readied her wand and pointed it at Lily, Happy suddenly grabbed her from behind and hoisted her off the broom. The broom itself was then grabbed by Lily, who snapped it like a dry twig in one hand and flew up towards her.

"Who… who are you lot? And what are you?" the woman croaked, ceasing her struggles when she realised that if Happy let go she'd go plummeting.

"If you don't already know then its a long explanation," Lily replied as he stowed his sword away. "But I'll tell you what we're not. We're not people who want to be your enemies. This is all one big mess, really, but you can tell your superiors this. We can be friends when they decide to be. And if they leave us alone, we'll leave you alone. But if we're attacked, we will defend ourselves. Simple as that."

"Nothing personal," agreed Happy as he set the woman down on another rail. Then he, Lily and Mavis all took off towards the door that the others had reached a while ago, leaving the woman staring after them, nonplussed.

"I think we did rather well there," Lily said as he shrank back to regular size. "We took all of them out but none of them fell to their deaths."

"It's so much better when we can just hit things with everything we've got," Gray muttered. "Instead of just holding back."

"How's Gajeel?"

"Damned out of it, that's for sure," Gildarts muttered as he shook Gajeel none too gently and smacked him across the face slightly. This last act served to knock some sense into the unconscious man and he gasped and heaved for breath.

"What… the hell happened?" he coughed.

"Damned if I know. They hit you with something but I don't know what," Gildarts hefted Gajeel back upright. "Doesn't seem to have done much lasting damage though. You alright?"

"Yeah… yeah… I'm fine…" Gajeel rubbed his eyes slightly. "Feel a bit dizzy but I'm fine."

Levy let out a sigh of relief, but when Gajeel's gaze turned towards her she winced and took a step back again, re-igniting her frustration with herself. But before Gajeel could comment, Mavis quickly said, "Gajeel, which way now?"

Gajeel grunted and took a deep sniff in through his nose. "This way," and he barrelled off down the corridor in the lead once more.

* * *

Several minutes prior to the events of the stairwell saw Wendy, Charla, Lisanna and Juvia dodging around the various officials that flattened themselves against the walls of the corridors to get out of their way, Wendy still taking the lead as her nose homed in on the scent of the Clippers. Right up until the point where Wendy pointed to a door up ahead and said, "Through there. They're definitely in there!"

"Coming through then!" Juvia shot past her and expanded her body out into a blast of water that impacted with the door and slammed it off its hinges, her body solidifying again as the four girls spilled through into the room beyond… and almost crashed straight into Charlie Weasley.

"Whoa! What the…!" Charlie stumbled backwards as Juvia's water stopped inches from washing over him, the water woman pulling back and solidifying at the last second.

"Who are you!?" cried one of about a dozen other people in the room, all of them in green robes and reaching for their wands. Juvia acted instantly and threw her hands out, encasing all of them at once into their own, individual Water Locks. Including Charlie.

Charlie gasped and floundered madly in the water for a couple of seconds before he realised… somehow… he could breathe. It was only then he felt the small air pocket that Juvia had created around his nose and mouth that was giving him the oxygen he needed. But the rest of the people in the room were quite clearly not able to breathe, kicking and struggling as they fought to reach the edge of the liquid spheres and break out, only for water to keep them very firmly in the middle no matter how much they flailed.

But the sounds of their kicking and clawing from breath were very much drowned out by the racket that was being kicked up by the Clippers.

Lisanna stepped forwards slowly, staring up at the huge cage the dominated the middle of the room in revulsion. It was at least twenty-five feet tall and twice as wide, and all thirty of the birds were crammed into it at once. Every time they flapped their wings they were beating them against the other birds and many of them were pecking and clawing at the bars, trying to get out to the open air where they belonged.

"Well, at least we've found them," Lisanna murmured. "And we're sure as heck not keeping them all cooped up like that. We need to get them home."

"I really hate to be Miss Negative," Charla landed on the ground behind Wendy after setting the Sky Dragon Slayer on the ground. "But how exactly are we planning to do that? The island is hundreds of miles away and its not like we can transport them all there without setting them loose. And once we set them loose how are we planning to get them to go where we want them to go?"

"I don't know," Lisanna shook her head. "I haven't had the chance to work on my Take-Over nearly enough to control all of them at once. But we have to think of something… anything. We can't let anything get in our way. I'm sure if we put our minds to it, we can come up with something."

"I hope so," Wendy murmured.

Juvia was carefully watching all the people in her Water Locks and each time one of them drifted into unconsciousness she released them from her attack, allowing them to fall to the floor in a sodden heap. Eventually Charlie was the only one still conscious, so she released him too and he gasped as he fell onto his backside, lifting his arms up and watching the water droplets cascade off them.

"You know… I might have preferred a little warning," he muttered as he clambered to his feet and ran a hand through his drenched hair, flicking his hand and to send a small splash of water to the floor.

"Sorry about that, Charlie-san," Juvia replied a little sheepishly. "Juvia thought that she should probably make it look like she was attacking you too or the others might notice and wander why she left you alone."

"No, it's fine, I get it. But what are you guys doing here!? I came up to scope out the birds that you want to rescue and try and come up with a plan only to have you come charging in yourselves shortly afterwards anyway. You've blown the secret of your existence to the entire Ministry not a day after the Order decided to help keep you concealed."

"Well, I believe we did mention that we're very, very bad at doing anything incognito," Lisanna pointed out.

"So bad you go barging straight into the headquarters of the ones we were trying to get you on the good side of?"

"Yes, that bad. Evidently."

"I was rather hoping that with Natsu not here, this kind of thing would happen less often," Charla folded her arms. "Guess that was a rather stupid thing to hope in hindsight."

"Well, we're here now, so we need to figure out what to do next," said Wendy. "Charlie-san, do you think you could help us… Apparate them out or something? Maybe if Lisanna-san used Take-Over on them a couple at a time we could transport them through a series of trips."

"That would take a while, but that might be an option," Lisanna tapped her lip.

"Actually I'm afraid its not," Charlie shook his head. "Anti-apparition wards throughout the Ministry prevent people from leaving that way in any room except the Atrium."

"Oh… well… that's my plan gone," Wendy sagged a little.

"It was a good plan, Wendy," Lisanna placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "But if we can't get them out via Apparition how are we going to…"

"Actually I have just the answer," Charlie replied. "You'll take them out the same way that they were brought in. By Portkey."

"By what?" Juvia blinked. "Juvia has not heard of that one."

"It's not surprising," Charlie shook his head. "But that cage they've got the Clippers in now is designed to contain something much larger, like a dragon if ever they need to get one in here. And there's certainly no door big enough to bring a dragon through into this room is there?"

"…No… there's not. The only door is… was… a human sized one," Wendy agreed.

"Exactly. And even if they could get a dragon in through the door there's no way they'd transport one through the Ministry to load it into the cage. That would be a horrendous hazard to all the people that work here. Instead, they bring the cage to the animal and then transport it back. Portkeys, you see, are objects that can transport people to a specific place and back. Normally they're small and can be made from anything, like an old boot. But in this case that entire cage is one big Portkey, which gets sent to the place where the animal is, and then when the animal is loaded inside they can send it straight back here."

"Brilliant! That's perfect!" Lisanna clapped her hands together. "So that means we can transport all these birds at once to anywhere we like, right?"

"Well, you need to set the location properly," Charlie explained. "If you activated the Portkey now it would just take the cage back to where they were captured in the first place. But you want to take it straight to Tenroujima right?"

"If we can, yes," Wendy nodded. "How do we change the place it gets sent?"

"Leave that to me," Charlie raised his wand and grinned. "I must say, if you had to come on this avian rescue mission so early after arriving, its a bloody good thing that you chose to do it at least after I went and visited the island, or I wouldn't have a clue where to send it."

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Lisanna beamed as Charlie got to work, waving his wand at the cage and murmuring under his breath. "I'm sure I'll owe you one for this."

"No problem. But this is a big Portkey so it'll take me a few minutes."

"Guard the door. We can't let anyone get in," Charla cried.

"Right," Wendy hurried back to the smashed door, Lisanna on her heels. Juvia kept an eye on all the unconscious workers to make sure that none of them started stirring, and they all listened with bated breath to Charlie's murmuring, his eyes focused with the intensity of lasers on the cage as he looped his wand up and down quickly and efficiently.

"You look like you've done this before," Juvia noted.

"Well I do work at a dragon sanctuary that contains multiple species of dragon from many different countries," Charlie pointed out. "We use this kind of Portkey to transport them all the time. There aren't many feasible ways to transport a live adult dragon overseas in a way that's safe for both the dragon and the people doing the transporting."

"Your Dragon reserve does sound amazing," Wendy smiled. "I hope it wouldn't be too much trouble for me to ask if I could maybe visit it one day. The idea of dragons not being intelligent is still weird to me, but if there's lots of different kinds I'd quite like to see them."

"I'd be only too glad to have you come," Charlie grinned. "Though like I said once before, there are legends that speak of a time when dragons actually could talk, way back when the most powerful known wizard of our world - Merlin - still lived. And those that know those stories don't really believe them anymore. But after meeting you guys and learning what I've learned about your whole other world… who knows what else might be possible. Maybe our dragons just lost the ability to talk over time. Maybe the speaking dragons were their own separate species that died out. Maybe Merlin actually knew a couple of dragons from your own universe that ended up here by mistake just like you did. Or maybe it really is all nonsense after all… wow, you guys have really expanded my view on life…"

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Juvia asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, a very good thing," Charlie grinned.

"Someone's coming!" Charla abruptly interrupted. Lisanna instantly morphed into her cat form and readied her claws while Wendy sucked air into her cheeks.

But it was Gajeel that came crashing around the corner up ahead, and the rest of his group right behind him. The two of them instantly relaxed and Lisanna in particular beamed when she caught sight of Gildarts bringing up the rear.

"Gildarts! Oh, it's so good to see you!" she called.

"Yo, Lisanna," Gildarts gave her his usual disarming smirk and ruffled her hair once they'd all spilled into the room. "Glad to see you don't look any worse for wear after everything that's happened. How're you holding up?"

"Alright," Lisanna bit her lip slightly. "It's… it's a bit hard not to worry a lot when I don't know where Mira-nee and Elf-niichan are. And Natsu and all the others. But… but seeing you here now gives me much more hope that we'll find them all again eventually."

Gildarts smirked knowingly at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't you fret, little lady. I'll see you reunited with everyone in no time. You have my word on that."

"Gray-sama, are you okay?" Juvia asked immediately.

"I'm fine," Gray shrugged her concern off quickly. "But you lot sure picked one hell of a time to split up the rescue mission."

"Mind you, it was probably the right call," Pantherlily noted. "It was already cramped enough fighting in the hallways with the numbers we had."

"How about you, Levy-san?" Wendy asked. "Are you okay? You look a bit pale."

"I… I'm fine," Levy replied quickly.

"Are you sure? You don't look fine, you look a bit sick. Should I use some of my Healing Magic on you?"

"Well… maybe a little," Levy smiled faintly. "Thanks Wendy." But even as Wendy lifted up her glowing hands to Levy's arm, all she could think was that she was definitely not alright at the moment, but she very much doubted that even Wendy would be able to do anything to fix this problem.

"So what the heck are we supposed to do now?" Gajeel looked up at the cage.

"We seem to have lost the authorities for now," noted Happy. "Looks like stopping those lift things has proved to be more helpful to us than it was to them."

"But they'll probably be working on starting them again so it may not be long before we have more company," Lily added.

"We have a plan," Lisanna said, and quickly outlined the basics of the cage to them. "So all we need to is hitch a ride with the cage to Tenroujima and we'll be out of here. Hopefully before more of the authorities show up."

"Ah…" Charlie looked up. "You were hoping to escape with the cage? Well… that might be more of a problem - this cage only transports things that are inside it. If you wanted to go with it, you'd have to get in there with the birds."

As if on cue, one of the Clippers lashed its head through the bars and snapped at Gildarts, who was just out of reach but who didn't flinch either at the beak clacking shut right before his eyes.

"Well… that might be problematic," he muttered.

"Doesn't any one of us have some kind of Sleep Magic?" Wendy asked.

"Only Sleep Magic I have is putting people to sleep with a fist to the head," Gajeel muttered.

"We can't do that! We have to find another way," Lisanna protested.

"Well whatever you're going to do, you have to do it soon," Charlie was holding his wand steadily at the Portkey now. "Because I've set the location. All I have to do now is set the timer and once I do it will disappear to Tenroujima whether you're in it or not. And…"

Suddenly there was a large screaming noise that radiated through the room, causing several of them to clap their hands over their ears, and Gray to yell, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"

"Uh-oh… that's not good," Charlie whispered as the noise died down.

"What's not?" Gajeel demanded.

"That's the alarm that signifies the Anti-Apparition Wards have been disabled," Charlie murmured. "I've never heard it go off before but if you hear it you're supposed to leave immediately because its assumed an enemy is the one that disabled it. But I don't think it is this time…"

"The Ministry will be here any moment," Mavis agreed, rising into the air so everyone could see her. "Quickly now! We must move. Charlie, set the timer so it will leave one minute from now."

"Are you sure? I mean…"

"Just do it!" Mavis glanced at him sharply, and the whole room was left momentarily stunned at how such a cheerful girl could switch into an authoritative commander in an instant flat."

"Alright," Charlie nodded and flicked his wand. "Sixty seconds and counting!?"

"How do we get into the cage?"

"There's the key to the only door," Charlie pointed to a large key hanging off the wall. "But you can't seriously be planning on…"

"Gajeel, knock him out," Mavis interrupted.

"Huh?" Charlie blinked, before he was suddenly poleaxed by Gajeel slamming him in the gut in just the right place. Charlie gasped and slumped to the floor, blacking out in a heap.

"Sorry bro," Gajeel cracked his shoulder. "First's Order."

"Everyone spread out - be ready to attack from all angles," Mavis instructed. "Happy, Charla, you get the key and unlock the door. Lisanna and Juvia with me."

Levy found herself smiling to herself as Mavis gave her instructions. "Looks like the Fairy Tactician… is back in action."

Despite their lack of knowledge of the first Master, every Fairy Tail member in the room found themselves leaping to obey. Gildarts, Gray, Gajeel, Wendy, Levy and Pantherlily rushed to stand around the cage and face outwards, readying themselves for attack while Mavis took Juvia and Lisanna to the door of the cage. And not a moment too soon, for a couple of seconds later, with a flurry of loud _cracks_ several Aurors emerged into the room, wands at the ready.

But before any of them could rattle off a single spell each of the Fairy Tail members lashed out with their own. Gildarts sent a huge blast of white lines out from his hand that enclosed around five of the Aurors and caused them each to explode into hundreds of miniature versions of themselves, which all fell to the floor in shocked, yelling clumps.

Gray formed a layer of ice across the floor that rose up around another four to trap them inside small boxes like coffins made out of ice. Gajeel ducked down and morphed one arm into a club that he swept out in a wide arc to bowl another three over to the side, an action that was mimicked by Pantherlily swinging the flat of his sword. Wendy fired a swirling tornado from out her mouth that blasted yet another trio back against the wall and Levy formed the word MUD in the air above a few others, which caused viscous liquid to cascade down and plaster another two against the ground.

Another couple of Aurors appeared next to where Charla was taking the key off the wall, and one of those Aurors spun around to fire a Stunning spell at the white cat, which she only managed to dodge by kicking sharply away from the wall. Happy flew in and aimed himself at the Auror's gut in an attempt to headbutt him, but the other cried, "Protego!" and Happy crashed straight into the shield charm and was knocked back to the floor.

"Happy!" Charla cried, but before she could make a move a couple of red flashes of light slammed right into the backs of the two Aurors and they crumpled into unconsciousness. The two Exceed blinked and looked up to see Tonks standing not far away. The Metamorphmagus raised a finger to her lips and winked, before she turned and fired a Stunner in Levy's direction, only for it to hit the bars of the cage instead and rebound to hit another Auror in the side.

"Come on, quick!" Happy yelled as more Aurors were still Apparating into the room, and the two cats quickly weaved in and out of the conflict to the door of the cage where Mavis was waiting for them.

"Have you got that?" Mavis said as they arrived.

"Yes," Lisanna nodded.

"Juvia gets it!"

"Then quick, unlock the door," Mavis instructed the Exceed.

"But won't the birds…?" Charla asked.

"Don't worry, Charla, there's a plan. Hurry!" Lisanna cut across her. Charla moved automatically after that and inserted the key into the slot and twisted it. Lisanna seized the door of the cage and wrenched it open, but before any of the cawing Clippers could charge out she bounded straight in, her body glowing as she took on the form of a Clipper herself and spread her wings, cawing right back. She then began to use her Take-Over magic to implant suggestions in the heads of the nearest Clippers one by one to try and head to the other side of the cage. Which immediately caused a frenzy of activity as the Clippers obeyed the sudden compulsion and ended up squabbling and pushing against the other Clippers that were trying to go the other way and get out.

"Now, Juvia!" Mavis called. "Only ten seconds!"

"Right!" Juvia yelled and turned to water, splitting her liquid body into two and sweeping around the room. One by one she engulfed the other Fairy Tail members inside her, whisking them off their feet in the current she produced and then swirling back around, carrying them all as they tumbled over and over, crashing into each other and bubbles streaming from their mouths. But Juvia swept them all right through the door of the cage, which Happy and Charla closed behind them with a snap after they ducked in too.

"Three… two… one…" Mavis cried.

"Stop them, quick!" Scrimgeour's voice echoed through the room, but too late. Even though most of them were still floating inside Juvia's water, they all felt a sudden jerking sensation as if they'd been snagged by a hook and launched into the air and the world around them went blurry, then black…

* * *

...and then clear again.

Except what they could see this time were the rocky peaks, sandy beaches and the incredibly tall, domineering tree that made up Tenroujima.

They'd done it. They'd arrived.

"Quick! Everyone out!" Mavis cried. Happy and Charla pushed open the door again and they all hurried to obey, sweeping aside as the Clippers stormed out behind them, fighting their way through the door and kicking off into the air in a flurry of feathers and a cacophony of caws. And this time they didn't try picking a fight with the mages. They simply arced their way up into the sky and swept on their way, glad to be back in the open air and heading back to find their roosts once again.

Lisanna collapsed back against the sand of the beach they'd landed on, smiling as she watched the birds wing their way home above. "Well, that was intense," she smiled. "But we did it. We got everyone out of there, people and animal alike."

"I felt it was touch and go there a few times," Charla murmured. "But it looks like we pulled it off after all."

"Sorry everyone," Juvia bowed her head as she finished solidifying back into her regular form, leaving everyone that had been inside her sopping to the skin. "Juvia hopes you weren't too startled by her actions but the First said it was the best way."

"Think nothing of it," Gildarts chuckled, whipping off his cloak and beginning to wring it out. "Maybe a little warning next time would be nice but it worked well."

"You can say that again," Gray chuckled. "You did good, Juvia… hey, your hair's come undone."

Juvia was quite abruptly knocked off the cloud that Gray's compliment had immediately put her on by that statement and she looked down, realising Gray was right. At some point during the commotion her hair had come loose from the tight curls at the base she normally wore it in and now fell down past her shoulders.

"Oh…" Juvia grimaced, knowing it would probably take her a while before she could get it back to the way it was.

"It looks good," Gray noted.

Juvia looked up sharply with a bright red face. "It… it does…?"

"Yeah," Gray shrugged. "I guess…"

"Then if Gray-sama likes it this is how Juvia will have her hair all the time!" Juvia cried, placing her hands on her cheeks and squirming on the spot. You could practically see the hearts coming off her.

"Er… right…" Gray coughed. "You do that."

"Juvia will!"

Levy, meanwhile, felt utterly drained. It had been one hell of a day for her and all she could do was lie back with her eyes closed, breathing heavily.

That is until she heard a voice in her ear go, "Oi, you alright?" A voice which made her stiffen and open her eyes… and find herself staring up into Gajeel's face. Incredibly she'd somehow failed to notice in all the confusion that she'd been swept right into Gajeel's arms by Juvia's water and it hadn't even registered with her that he was still holding her now.

Two things happened at once. Levy suddenly screamed and her hand came up to smack the Iron Dragon Slayer in the nose. Gajeel cried out in shock and let go of her, causing Levy to fall to the sand and scramble away from him.

"The hell was that for?!" Gajeel rubbed his nose angrily, but that tone of voice did nothing but make Levy cringe even more.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" she murmured. "I really am. I just… I… I can't…"

"Can't what?"

"I just… can't…" Levy shook her head. "Sorry… really…" And without another word, she turned around and hurried off to speak to Lisanna and Wendy, leaving Gajeel staring after her with a slight scowl.

"What was that about?" Lisanna asked.

"Oh… nothing important…" Levy bit her lip slightly.

"You sure you're okay?" Wendy asked. "Did I not use enough Healing Magic? You still look rather pale…"

"No, Wendy, it's fine," Levy offered her a vage smile. "It's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine…" but she added so quietly under her breath that nobody heard her:- "I hope."

Gajeel felt his fingers tightened into a fist so hard that if he'd been holding anything in it then it would likely have fractured into pieces. But his gaze turned down to his partner when Lily stepped up beside him and said, "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll come round. She's had a bit of traumatic experience today, that's all."

"Like I care what she thinks," Gajeel grunted and looked away. Lily rolled his eyes and refrained from commenting on how stupidly obvious it was that he was lying.

Mavis stepped over to the edge of the sea, the wind catching her hair and sweeping it out to one side like a large, blond flag. She inhaled, taking in the familiar scents of her beloved home and the unfamiliar ones that came with this new world it was now in, and slowly breathed it out in a long, slow sigh.

"Not quite the way you wanted to introduce ourselves to the people of this world, was it?" Gildarts asked as he stepped up beside her.

"No, it wasn't. I think we were all hoping that it could be done a little more… peacefully."

"Sorry about that. Maybe I acted a little rashly but when I heard Levy's screams… well… I couldn't let that stand."

"Don't apologise. That's the way I always wanted my guild to be. Doing whatever it took to keep one another safe. Defending one another from anything and everything that seeks to bring them harm, no matter what their reason for doing so… if nothing else I think we at least gave them an accurate representation of that. Though in this case it might have been nice to do it with a little less explosions and damage… but that's another thing that Fairy Tail is renowned for so again, at least we were honest."

"That's one way of putting it, I suppose," Gildarts chuckled, the surf lapping at the toes of his boots. "And we're always at odds with the Council back home so it makes sense that we be at odds with its alternative in this world too."

Mavis giggled, before her face grew a little more sombre. "Still… good relations with other people are important. That was shown today too - we would not have been able to rescue those birds without the help of Charlie."

"The guy with the red hair?"

"Yes, him. And a couple of others that helped us out when we needed them to. I agree with the principal that we look out for ourselves and put the needs of our friends first… but now the Order of the Phoenix are also our friends. Today we acted against their Ministry and they still helped us out. Which means from now on… I think we should work more closely with them. Co-ordinate with them instead of acting on our own and leaving them to pick up our mess when we can. To all intents and purposes, they're like the Fairy Tail of this world. And we definitely should treat them as such."

"You clearly have a high opinion of them," Gildarts smirked. "I look forward to meeting them properly. But I agree. We probably should lay low for a bit if we can after this anyway. And from what you said, they have enough problems without us making more for them. Like we probably did today."

"We owe them that much," Mavis nodded.

* * *

"How could this have happened?" Fudge asked as he made his way through the room where the Clippers had been housed, which was full of Healers providing medical assistance for battered Aurors and workers. "How could a bunch of strangers we know next to nothing about just storm into our headquarters like that, make some of our best witches and wizards look totally incompetent, and escape to parts unknown through the use of a Ministry-authorised Portkey?"

"They were like nothing else we've ever encountered before, Minister," Scrimgeour murmured, nursing a bruised side as he stepped past a recovering Charlie Weasley, who was being looked over by a Healer. "Quite clearly if what they said about being from another world is true. And after the things I saw them do today, if I had any doubts from the verdict of the Veritaserum they're gone now."

"And these people… they've been appearing all over the country?" Fudge asked.

"Yes sir. One of them matched a description of the man who was responsible for the attack in the Muggle Bank in Portree and three of the others matched the description of the incident in Brockenhurst."

"That's nearly the entire distance of the country apart from one another and yet they were here today at the same time to break into the place right at the time we're interrogating two of their own? That cannot just be coincidence, Scrimgeour."

"No, it cannot. I agree, Minister. If we assume everyone from their world arrived during that meteor shower a few days ago then they definitely had to have had help from someone from our own world. Though I really have no idea who it might be."

"Well then we must find out," Fudge cried, marching out of the broken door and into the corridor. "We must find out who it is that would allow foreigners to our very air to come barging right into the heart of our Ministry and cause unparalleled damage to everything in their path. But even more importantly, these Fairy Tail members themselves must be found. What happened here today is going to cause nothing short of widespread panic. When people learn there's a man out there who can disintegrate an entire wall just by touching it they won't want to come out of their homes."

"By all accounts though, sir, this bunch from Fairy Tail want to be left alone."

"We cannot let them run free, Scrimgeour. They've already caused two massive problems with keeping up the Statute of Secrecy, and who knows what else they might be capable of? We cannot take the chance they they won't strike again somewhere. We have to find some way of bringing them in and making sure that they stay in."

"…Of course, Minister," Scrimgeour nodded through pursed lips.

"As for who it is that's been helping them… I don't know who it is, but I know where I want you to start looking," Fudge turned to fix Scrimgeour with a serious eye:-

"Dumbledore."


	15. Prophecy Problems

Excuse the delay again everyone but I caught a minor bug that kept my from writing for a couple of days. Despite my uni lectures I pulled out the stops these last couple of evenings to try and make up for it and here you go. Please enjoy.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 15:- Prophecy Problems**

* * *

Tonks sighed as she did her best to help with fixing a broken wall. It was probably going to take quite a while to get everyone from Magical Maintenance back into the Ministry - most of them had fled when the fighting broke out and for good reason. She'd known that the Fairy Tail members were powerful, but she hadn't counted on quite how destructive they could be. When she'd seen Gray, Juvia and Lisanna fighting in Brockendale they'd managed to keep themselves from breaking anything. This time… it was like they'd never heard of restraint.

Fortunately though nobody had noticed her stunning two of her fellow Aurors from behind in the final escape to assist Happy and Charla. That would have been a little difficult to explain. She could have always used the excuse that she'd been aiming for the Exceed and missed, but while she was extremely clumsy in most walks of life, when it came to spell casting she was a dead-shot. Most of them wouldn't have believed that excuse.

Still, about a quarter of the Ministry seemed to be a total wreck and if it hadn't been for Mavis telling them where they needed to go, they probably would have trashed a lot more of it before they got loose.

Speaking of Kingsley, he stepped up close to Tonks and murmured, "I assume you know what exactly is going to be happening tonight."

"Big meeting, yeah, yeah, I know," Tonk muttered as she levitated a couple of bricks into place and used Reparo to fix them up. "Something tells me that this one's going to be a doozy."

"Yes… I'd say that it is," Kingsley nodded.

"After all… there's no way that the Ministry's going to be able to cover this up," Tonks muttered. "The entire Wizarding Populace is going to know about this tomorrow… or at least that the Ministry was attacked even if they don't find out exactly who did it…"

"Indeed, but that's not the only reason why this meeting is going to be quite significant," Kingsley agreed. "Still, we can't talk so until tonight."

"You think we'll get some Fairies in attendance?"

"Well… this does concern them… so I would hope so."

"And where's our esteemed Minister Useless?"

"Nymphadora…" Kingsley raised a brow warningly, not just because it wouldn't do for anyone to hear her calling him that but also because he was her superior.

"Sorry… but well… by all accounts he handled the knowledge that they were from another universe with different magic very poorly indeed."

"It certainly could have been handled better, but you know, I cannot entirely blame him for over-reacting. It's a fact of all human life that when faced with something dangerous and above all something we don't understand that we tend to act rashly. Minister Fudge received a dramatic information overload in the space of a couple of minutes and instantly went on the defensive."

"But I didn't react like that when I found out about them. And neither did you or the rest of the Order."

"Yes, but the difference is that you were convinced that they were not dangerous people before you were told the information. And the rest of the Order were given ample warning about who Fairy Tail were before we met them and I'll be honest, even I thought for a while that trusting them might not be the best of ideas when we knew so little about them. The fact that Dumbledore had put his trust in them first greatly helped to assuage my own misgivings. Minister Fudge had no such forewarning. All he saw were powerful intruders in his Ministry which was filled with innocent people… being a Minister and looking out for the well-being of those people is an enormous responsibility. You'd have to be a very calm-headed Minister not to panic under such circumstances."

"…I guess that's true. Maybe I can cut him a little slack then, even though I still think calling in Dementors like that was a bonkers idea," Tonks shrugged. "And even though his paranoia about Dumbledore is still beyond ludicrous… Anyway, like I asked before, where is he? Haven't seen him for a while."

"Well, you pretty much answered your own question," Kingsley chuckled wryly. "He's following up a little more on his paranoia about Dumbledore…"

"Oh… I wish I could see how that goes."

* * *

"Admit it, Dumbledore. You had something to do with this, didn't you? It's no good lying to me, you know."

Albus Dumbledore interlaced his fingers and stared calmly at the rapidly colouring Minister now standing in his office. Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour was also there, standing at the door with another Auror and looking rather disgruntled about all this, and Dolores Umbridge was now at the Minister's side, her eyes washing over Dumbledore up and down as if probing him for signs of weakness, while McGonagall was standing off to the side and looking very much like she wanted to intervene, but was barely restraining herself from doing so.

"I am afraid you still have yet to fully enlighten me as to what happened at the Ministry today," Dumbledore replied. "And I assure you that I have had no business there whatsoever. Its almost as though I'm not welcome there anymore."

"Don't play games with me. You know what happened."

"I know that the Ministry was attacked today certainly, as you told me so yourself when you first stormed into my office to begin this pleasant conversation. But I'm afraid I don't know who by, who if I were to hazard a guess, would I be correct in thinking that they were black-robed men with skull-like masks perhaps."

"Ha! You are already fully aware that they were not! They were a total rabble… a collection of men and women of various ages, some of them with oddly coloured hair. They had talking, flying cats with them! And they claimed to have come from another universe and used ridiculous, wandless magic the like of which not one of us has ever seen before."

Dumbledore's expression did momentarily slip into one of surprise, causing him to blink a few times, before he recovered his composure. "How fascinating. And you believe these claims do you?"

"They were given under influence of Veritaserum!"

"I see. Then surely, if Veritaserum was given to one of these intruders, you would have asked them whether or not I was involved, would you not?"

"I did not get the opportunity. Because shortly after that revelation we were invaded by several more intruders that helped to break the original ones out."

"And every one of them claimed that they were from another universe?"

"We didn't get the chance to question each of them but the things they did, Dumbledore… they could only have been from another world. There's nothing like them in this one. But how could they have known that we had some of them in our custody unless somebody told them that we did? These people have been causing chaos on different sides of Britain until yesterday when they're suddenly all in one place. And one of them happened to attack a Muggle settlement not far away from this very school. Can you still deny after all that that you are involved?"

"I can certainly deny that I had anything to do with this break-in at the Ministry, Cornelius," Dumbledore nodded calmly. "What would I have to gain from such an action in the first place?"

"Power, of course. I know you desire it, Dumbledore. Everyone with any sense knows that you are trying to scare your way into the Minister's Chair with all those ridiculous allegations of yours."

"And what ridiculous allegations would those be?"

"That He-Know-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned of course!"

"While I continue to assert that that is far from ridiculous, you have already hit the proverbial nail on the head, Minister. I have been telling you for months now that Lord Voldemort has indeed returned, and I still maintain that it is true now. Sadly most people seem to refuse to heed my warning but can you not see how organising an attack on the Ministry such as this would accomplish nothing for me even if I did want your seat?"

"You aim to spread panic and fear, to get people to rally behind you to oppose this new threat."

"I fear that you are now grasping at straws, Minister. Even in the face of a new threat, as you put it, your attempts to ridicule me would surely ensure that nobody would turn to me for help. After all, these people, whoever they may be, have nothing to do with Voldemort. So, logically, people would still view me as the old man spreading lies in attempts to scare them. Not exactly a figure to rally behind, is it?"

"Well… no… but that doesn't mean you didn't try…" Fudge pressed on, though there was some slight doubt in his voice now.

"I fear that much of my credibility has now gone in the eyes of the public, and I very much doubt I will get it back until you realise that Voldemort truly has returned."

"He is not back!"

"Is that really so difficult to believe? You are willing to believe in people from another universe but are unwilling to believe that a man people thought to be dead can turn out not to be?"

"There is no magic that can raise the dead!"

"Correct. But he was never dead in the first place."

"That's enough… we're getting off topic. This isn't a talk about You-Know-Who, it's about these interlopers."

"Quite right. Go on. You were saying that they couldn't have organised such an attack without help from the inside?"

"Exactly!"

"And yet you also maintain that they must be from another world because they did things that nobody in this world could have?"

"Yes!"

"Well, there you are then. If they truly are from a different world and can do things we can't, how can you be absolutely sure that they did have help from the inside? We certainly don't know everything about them, do we? Is it entirely without the bounds of possibility that they might be able to do something else that would enable such a thing? Telepathy perhaps? Some kind of magical way of finding people that they know? Who can say but themselves as to what they are capable of?"

Fudge's look wavered, and now he looked like he'd swallowed a frog. "Erm… then you maintain that you had nothing to do with this?"

"Certainly not. But of course if you wish, I would be more than willing to help you track down these people who claim to be from another reality."

"Do you really take us for fools, Dumbledore?" Umbridge suddenly chipped in to the conversation, her wide mouth upturned in a smirk. "What of the prophecy that you made that fraudulent Divination teacher of yours give this morning?"

"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Fudge asked sharply.

"The one that spoke of the Fairies joining the fight of the Wizarding World? Clashing magic? Bygone evil being unleashed? Made it sound like the apocalypse was coming. Honestly, she still thinks she can keep her place in this school with such a ridiculous foretelling?"

"As I told you this morning, Professor Umbridge, that was a genuine prophecy. I had no more to do with organising that than the attack on the Ministry, and when prophecies such as that are foretold, we would all do well to listen to it."

"The… Fairies… did you say?" Fudge asked.

"Yes, exactly," Umbridge nodded. "A ridiculous notion obviously. Fairies are useless in a fight of any kind."

"Perhaps real fairies are… but Fairy Tail on the other hand…! That is what the intruders from another universe referred to themselves as! A wizard guild called Fairy Tail! And do you still claim after that that you truly had nothing to do with this assault on our government, Dumbledore?"

"I assuredly do, Minister. I certainly have no more control over a prophecy than you do. But if you want my honest opinion, I think that it would be a mistake to hunt these people down."

"A mistake, Dumbledore? Don't be absurd. They levelled parts of the Ministry! Whole rooms demolished, panic spread throughout the populace. One of them even destroyed a bunch of Dementors! Dementors, Dumbledore! Vaporised like they were nothing. The newspapers will be reporting on this tomorrow and the people will expect me to take action."

"And take action you should, but not by making them into enemies. You should extend the hand of friendship, make them feel welcome in this world. Surely it would be better to have such powerful people on your side than against you?"

"You think there will be negotiation with these people? Even if they were willing to accept it, which frankly I doubt, the public won't want anything like them to be walking the streets. And if they wanted peace they wouldn't have charged in to attack us like that in the first place."

"Yet you claimed to have two of them in custody. This sounds more like a rescue mission to me than anything else. Can people who would throw themselves into potential danger to rescue a couple of their friends be all that bad?"

"Well…" Fudge hesitated again.

But again, Umbridge intervened. "Oh you'd like that wouldn't you? All part of your big plan I suppose. Get powerful people like them close to our beloved Minister and then when you want to make your move, you'd have incredibly strong allies just waiting in position to help you take control."

Fudge's eyes widened. "Is that what you're thinking, Dumbledore?"

"I am certainly thinking that you could do with powerful people like them by your side in the near future. But more as added protection against another threat…"

"I do not have any need for added protection against the Dark Lord when there is no Dark Lord to need protection against!" Fudge snapped. "You still deny any connection to these Fairy Tail people?"

"I swear to you by the names of the Founders of Hogwarts themselves that I had nothing to do with what happened today," Dumbledore replied.

Fudge stood there and pursed his lips for a second. He couldn't take Dumbledore in for questioning when he had no actual proof that Dumbledore was behind this attack and Dumbledore had not given him any. Yet he remained convinced that Dumbledore was involved in all this somehow.

"This is getting us nowhere," Fudge replied. "I will be in touch, Dumbledore. In the meantime though, I need to begin the manhunt for these people. Whoever they may be, they must be stopped before they, at the very least, render the Statute of Secrecy nothing but history."

"You must do what you feel is best, of course," Dumbledore nodded.

"I'll see myself out," Fudge turned and swept from the room, Umbridge waddling along beside him. Moments before Scrimegeour followed him out, he gave the Headmaster a disgruntled look as if to say that this whole thing seemed stupid to him but that if Fudge was correct he had better watch himself at the same time, before he too followed the Minister down the stairs.

"This whole thing is getting quite out of hand, Headmaster," McGonagall eventually said when she was sure they were out of earshot. "Even if by some miracle he sees sense and extends the hand of friendship to Fairy Tail, what will happen when he finds out that you actually did know who they were, even if you had nothing to do with their actions today. They're fugitives now, after all."

"True, Minerva. But in case you've forgotten we're already harbouring a fugitive. And one who Fudge believes to be a mass murderer. Near as I can tell nobody was killed during that attack from Fairy Tail earlier today. If there was, he would have mentioned it. It is a bridge we must cross when we come to it. For now, we will need to keep Fairy Tail as far away from the Ministry as possible. Especially since we may soon be needing them."

"What makes you say that?"

"Sybil's prophecy. The one she foretold this morning. It has already begun. The fifth Sphere has now lowered and that is when she said the war would begin."

"The fifth Sphere, Headmaster? But there have only been four groups of Fairy Tail that have been found so far."

"You are correct, but you are forgetting that there was another Sphere involved. The one containing Wendy and the Exceed was first. Gajeel's was second. Gray, Juvia and Lisanna's was the third, but Gildarts and Levy did not come out of the fourth Sphere."

"…The Clippers. Those birds. They came out of the fourth," McGonagall gasped.

"Indeed. They may not be Fairy Tail members but they were still in a Sphere. And that means the events today are probably about to kickstart this war. And they have been met with fear, just as Sybil said that they would."

"Well… at least we know that these Fairy Tail members can hold their own in a fight. Even You-Know-Who will surely have a hard time getting the better of them."

"That may be. But something tells me that Voldemort and his followers… may not be the only threat that we will have to face."

"What makes you say that?"

"Some of the other things that Sybil foretold in her Prophecy… Things about doorways… and bygone evil, old battles and devils, and ancient magic… Many of those things could potentially apply to Voldemort, so it could be assumed that Sybil was talking about him. But… I am not so sure that she was. I think she may have been referring to other things too. There is no denying, that even with Fairy Tail with us in this fight, Voldemort is still a major threat to us all. But… there may be more to contend with than just him."

"Like what?" McGonagall wrung her hands together slightly. "What else could there be out there besides him?"

"I couldn't tell you. It is, as they say, a hunch. But as you know… my hunches have been known to be rather disturbingly accurate many times before."

* * *

"There's eleven of us now, if you count our ghostly First Master," Gildarts noted as he stood on the beach of Tenroujima with his arms folded, the rest of the group gathered together in a circle on the sand around. "And that means we now total exactly half of our original number, again if you count Master Mavis amongst that number."

"And the third Master is amongst that number," Levy agreed. "I wonder where he is now."

"I wonder where all of them are now," Lisanna sighed. "Natsu, my brother and sister, Erza, Lucy, Cana, Laxus and the Raijinshuu… all of them are still out there somewhere, hidden away in their respective Spheres. And all of them unaware of the new situation they're in."

"That includes all of our S-Class Mages except you, Gildarts," said Gray. "Does that make you our leader now?"

"Your leader?" Gildarts snorted. "Trust me, I'd never assume to take the place of the First Master herself. Or any Master, come to that. I'm not exactly… Master material, I don't think?"

"You do realise that you're the one that Master Makarov will most likely pick to be his successor right?" Gray raised a brow.

"It might not be his decision to make anymore," Gildarts shrugged. "In all likelihood Fairy Tail has a Fourth Master now. One of the ones left behind in our world will have had to pick up the mantle."

"Dear gosh… can you imagine how horrible it must be for them?" Lisanna gasped. "And we think we've got it rough here in this world when they're the ones who must surely think we've all been dead for the last six years."

"Juvia wonders what the guild is like now," Juvia murmured, drawing little patterns in the sand with her fingers.

"And who took up the mantle of Master," Levy mused. "Macao and Wakaba are the oldest remaining guild members I think, so they might be the most likely candidates."

"Thinking about them at this time probably isn't going to help us very much," Pantherlily interjected. "We need to focus more on what exactly we are going to do. Even if we are staying here to help out our new companions we should probably still be thinking of a way to get home."

"Maybe if we could do some research we could find something from this world capable of dimension travel that could help us…" Levy tapped her chin before sighing. "Too bad those Ministry people took away my Gale-Force Reading Glasses. They would have been helpful for that."

"Oh, of course!" Gildarts suddenly clapped a hand to his forehead and stuck the other inside his coat, before he pulled out a familiar pair of red-rimmed glasses and a light pen. "These look familiar to you, Levy?"

"Those are… how did you get hold of those?" Levy gasped as Gildarts tossed them back to her.

"They were in a box on the outside of our cell," Gildarts chuckled. "When I blew my way out I knocked the box over and I spotted them on the ground so I picked them up before I rushed off to get you."

"Gildarts, you're the best," Levy grinned, perching the glasses on her nose and smiling widely.

"Even so," Wendy raised her hand as if she was in a classroom. "Dumbledore-san thinks that dimension travel has never happened in this world before. If that's true then there might not be anything for us to find about it here."

"I see… that is rather disappointing," Gildarts murmured.

"What about you, Lily?" Happy suddenly turned to his fellow Exceed. "Do you think that you could do something?"

"What makes you think I can do anything, Happy?"

"Well… you worked with the Anima from Edolas, didn't you? That was something that could transport things from one world to another. Do you think we could build something similar to that?"

"That's not actually a bad idea, Happy," Charla blinked, and she wasn't the only one surprised that Happy had come up with an idea that wasn't totally ludicrous. "Maybe with that, we could transfer the entire island of Tenroujima back home with us to."

"It's a nice thought, certainly," Pantherlily scratched his arm. "But a rather distant one I'm afraid. It was the humans who constructed the Anima from our world. I knew very little about how it worked. Maybe if the Prince was here… Mystogan… he might know how to duplicate it. But sadly he is not. And I remain clueless."

"Well… good try anyway, Happy," Lisanna placed a hand on the disappointed blue cat's head and ruffled between his ears lightly.

"So we've come up stuck?" Gajeel asked, grumpily.

"For now, yes," Mavis said from where she was perched on a rock nearby. "But as the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way. And that saying is especially true of those with magical ability. I'm sure somewhere along the line we will be able to return home. But that is not our first priority right now either. Finding and securing our missing comrades is. That, and helping our newer friends with their own struggles. Speaking of which, I calculate there is a seventy-three percent probability that one of them will Apparate to our location within the next five seconds."

There was a brief pause before suddenly there was a loud crack and none other than Sirius appeared not far away with a rather lop-sided grin on his face. Another crack saw Remus Lupin arrive alongside him, the man looking a little more haggard than even just that morning.

"Well now," Sirius grinned as he strode towards them. "Looks like I may have been replaced at the top of the Ministry's Most Wanted list if even half the stuff we've been hearing is true. You lot really went and made a mess, didn't you?"

"It's practically our calling card," Lisanna tapped her fingers together sheepishly. "Sometimes I get the feeling most of us feel that if we don't make a mess we're not doing it right."

"Well no complaints from me," Sirius laughed. "Except maybe for the fact I wasn't there to see Fudge's face when it happened."

"But you might be hearing quite a lot of complaints from everyone else," Lupin added. "Anyway… where are my manners? It's a pleasure to meet two new members of your group and to see you're both looking well, though of course I'd rather the circumstances were rather different."

"The pleasure's ours," Gildarts nodded with a smirk. "I gather you're more members of this Order we've been hearing so much about."

"And I gather you're the one who almost tossed Kingsley through a wall," Sirius snorted. "And you also vaporised a few Dementors? I would give… practically anything… to have witnessed that, believe me."

"Not fond of them, I take it?" Gildarts asked dryly.

"That's one way of putting it," Sirius growled slightly. "I'm not normally one that would call for something to be hunted to extinction but… if there was every anything…"

"I think the chatting can wait until we're back in Grimmauld Place," Lupin placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder consolingly. "As you can probably tell we've been sent to come and collect you."

"More Side-Along Apparition, you mean?" Gray asked.

"That's the stuff," Sirius wrinkled his nose. "Sorry to tell you first timers but its really not the most pleasant experience. I'll be one-hundred Galleons that you'll both fall over when you reach the end."

"That's not exactly the best way of inspiring confidence I've ever heard," Levy face faulted slightly.

"Er… there might be a slight problem with that, if that's the case," Gildarts rubbed the back of his head a little. "When I hit things rather hard I have a tendency to… smash it to pieces. And that includes walls, floors and sometimes… entire buildings. It might be difficult for me to, erm… contain myself."

A brief beat of silence.

Then…

"You mean you might break Grimmauld Place!? Well no arguments from me!"

"You would say that," Remus heaved a sigh.

* * *

Eventually though they did manage to get Gildarts into Grimmauld Place by Apparating him into a side-alley instead of onto the front step of the building as normal. Gildarts did indeed stumble and obliterate an old dustbin and everything in it, which would leave on of the tenants of the street rather puzzled with they came out to throw something else away tomorrow, but Sirius and Remus managed to intrust them with the secret of the Fidelius Charm and get them to walk into the door, where Mrs. Weasley immediately insisted on feeding them up, especially Levy, who had had the most trying experience of the day.

It was a few hours after that that the planned meeting of the Order was called to full attendance and as the members gathered around the table, each of the eleven Fairy Tail members stood at the head beside Dumbledore. There was quite a different atmosphere in the room to last time. Last time there'd been mostly awe and respect, but this time there was a slight edge. Every one of them had been fully updated of the damage that had been inflicted, and while they'd all known Fairy Tail had powerful abilities before… now they had an idea of just how powerful.

"Its certainly rare that we have to call together more than one meeting of this size in such a short space of time, but these are, as you will all know, exceptional circumstances," Dumbledore replied. "You're all aware now that any attempt to help Fairy Tail make peace with the Ministry will most likely now not end well."

"That's an understatement," Hestia Jones piped up. "For all the damage they did, you'd think a dragon had gone storming through the Ministry."

"Geehee! Thank you," Gajeel grinned savagely at that, and even Wendy looked a little proud, despite her embarrassment.

"They certainly are the very definition of loose cannons," nodded Emmeline Vance. "How are we supposed to be able to trust you to help us against You-Know-Who when you go off and do your own thing like that, trashing even our governmental building?"

"It's called a rescue mission," Gray raised a brow. "Perhaps you've heard of it."

"That's right!" Happy raised a paw into the end. "We were just doing what we needed to do for our friends."

"Besides, the fault doesn't entirely lie with them," Tonks turned and gave Mad-Eye Moody a sharp, reproachful glare. "After all, some of us may have hoped that they actually were going to get in there and tear the Ministry apart, it seems."

"Yes… I have heard about this. Care to explain the reason for your course of action, Alastor?" Dumbledore swivelled his face around to gaze upon the war torn Ex-Auror.

"I say that this is actually good for us," Moody grunted, his eyes whizzing around from one Fairy Tail member to another and giving most of them a slight shiver or to. "Least now the Ministry is alert, isn't it? Soon as they've finished the repairs they'll be working round the clock to fortify the place and keep up a long vigil. They'll want to stave off as many magical threats as they can. And not just Fairy Tail. Now You-Know-Who's going to have a harder time than before getting into the Ministry."

"That is true, Alastor," Dumbledore agreed. "Though in future, please run it by me first if you're planning on getting somewhere practically levelled. I would have preferred it if they were on the alert for Voldemort and not our new friends."

"At least they're on the alert for something now, and that's going to be a real sting in the Dark Lord's tail, to say the least," Mad-Eye humphed with satisfaction, not looking in the least bit ashamed.

"Yes, well speaking of the Dark Lord," Snape interrupted fluidly. "I'm hope everyone here realises that now that Fairy Tail have introduced themselves so… spectacularly… to our magical world, it won't be long before he finds out about them either. I'd be surprised if he hasn't already, in fact."

"Yes… Lucius Malfoy was one of the ones who first saw them come out of the Sphere," Kingsley agreed.

There was a slight groan from around the table, before Dedalus Diggle threw in, "Well… sounds like we've lost a great element of surprise there. If it had come to battle it would have been wonderful for him and his Death Eaters to run across them without any idea what they were facing."

"Oh, I wouldn't say you've lost the element of surprise entirely," Gildarts suddenly grinned, attracting everyone's attention to the man who stood taller than any one of them there. "I won't pretend this isn't all a bit overwhelming a situation to be thrust into and I'm still coming to grips with this whole other world and other war thing, but I'd say we have a surprise or two left in us. After all, we didn't exactly show everything that we're capable of back at the Ministry, believe me."

"Gildarts-san is right," Juvia nodded. "We were holding back a fair amount to keep from harming innocents as much as we could."

"And yet there were many with broken bones after you were done with them…" Tonks muttered.

"Besides, he still doesn't know that we've allied ourselves with you," Gray clenched his fist, Juvia hurriedly picking up his shirt from where it was suddenly on the floor. "All he thinks is that we're a bunch of lost offworlders without a clue."

"That means he won't be expecting us to be his opponents if he does make a move," said Pantherlily.

"Well, that's something, I suppose," Kingsley tapped his chin.

"All of that is true," a low voice drew everyone's attention to Mavis, who was sitting above the fireplace with her eyes closed and apparently in deep thought. "But we must not be so quick to assume that that will give us a total advantage. I know very little about this Dark Lord we are facing, but I calculate that when he learns of our existence he will start taking steps to try and counter us, even if he does not expect to need to soon. And we must not assume that just because we are powerful that it will go all our own way."

"That would be a grave mistake to make, certainly," Gildarts nodded. "You should never underestimate an opponent, even ones that physically look like they couldn't crush a beetle if they stepped on it."

"Yes, but its more than that," Mavis slowly opened her eyes. "One thing I have foreseen of this world's magic is that it is extremely diverse. More so than our own, I would say. We can certainly do many things with out own individual branches of magic, but ultimately we are still limited in what each of us can do. Gray, for instance, may be an expert with Ice Moulding Magic, but our opponents could throw potentially anything at us. And today has proven that their magic _does_ have an effect on you. They succeeded in knocking Gajeel out, after all."

Gajeel grimaced slightly and Levy flinched, a guilty rush passing through her since she knew that had been her fault for distracting him in the middle of a battle.

"It may have taken three of the same spell to actually do it," Mavis went on. "But they still succeeded. And as I said, its likely they'll be trying to prepare for us next time - both the Ministry and the Death Eaters. Are we more powerful? Maybe. But that doesn't mean we should just assume we will win."

"Then do you have an suggestions on how to proceed, Master Mavis?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course," Mavis smiled. "We must learn. The magic of this world may be diverse but any spell of it can be learnt by anyone. Meaning that if we learn all that we can about this world's magic, we will gain a better understanding of what might be used against us. Our magic will remain a mystery to the enemy until we reveal it to them. But the same cannot be said for the other way around."

"Sounds like you're up then, Levy," Lisanna nudged the small bluenette. "You wanted to do some research. This sounds like a good way of putting those glasses of yours to good use."

"I'll get on it straight away," Levy beamed.

"An excellent suggestion," Dumbledore nodded. "And perhaps one or two of us could help out in that regard. Remus, Alastor… I don't suppose either of you would be willing to take up the title of Professor again? Only this time for a select and rather unique group of students.

"I would be delighted," Remus nodded.

Moody shrugged lopsidedly. "Might be good to actually get to do some teaching during the time I possess that title."

"Good," Dumbledore nodded. "Now, onto other matters. Some of you are already aware of this, but a rather specific Prophecy was just invoked by my faithful Divination teacher this morning. One that you may all be most interested in hearing."

When Dumbledore outlined exactly what Trelawney had said, a hush fell over the table. Not one of them liked the sound of any of it. Not in the tiniest bit.

"Well… from the looks of things… it sounds as though we may soon be needing you Fairy Tail members quite soon," Arthur grimaced.

"We sure about that?" a voice none of the Fairy Tail group recognised, and everyone turned to face a man at the corner of the table. A rather unkempt, short man with straggly ginger hair and bloodshot sunken eyes. "Sounds to me like this lot might be more trouble than they're worth."

"Oh? And what do you mean by that, Mundungus?" Dumbledore asked, peering over his glasses at the unshaven man. "Do enlighten us."

"Well, seems to me like how do we know this here Fairy Tail bunch might not turn against us?" Mundungus Fletcher asked. "This new prophecy thingie that only comes about when they arrive in our world? Talk of all this destruction and ancient magic and stuff? Doesn't sound very well like You-Know-Who to me. When he was last active fifteen years ago he had us all cowering in fear under our beds sure but this? Skies burning and all that? Sounds like the bleeding end of the world to me. Sounds more like something Fairy Tail's capable of."

"Are you suggesting that these… most of them are children, Mundungus!" Molly gasped. "You cannot possibly be saying that they would willingly side themselves with the Dark Lord."

"They might do," Mundungus countered. "What if he was to promise them to get them back to their own world or something at the end of it? Everyone has a price after all."

"And you'd know that better than most, wouldn't you?" Molly snapped at him. "You're one to talk about whether we can trust someone or not. He who skips out on his guard duty to buy a bunch of stolen cauldrons."

"Nevertheless," Dumbledore interrupted before the argument could come any more heated. "Mundungus does raise a valid point. Yet I am certain that Fairy Tail will not turn against us willingly. Remember, Mundungus, I have seen more into their lives that you. And I guarantee you, this guild is not the kind that raises bad people."

"Got that right," Gildarts chuckled and Mavis practically glowed with pride.

"But, just to assuage suspicions that may have arisen at that accusation, what would you do if Voldemort offered you a way home?" Dumbledore asked.

"Turn him down of course," Lisanna said immediately.

"That's right," Wendy nodded. "We might want to go home but we'd never sell out a single person to do it, let alone an entire world."

"Besides, who would trust a person with the title of Dark Lord to honour their word in the end anyway?" Charla scoffed. "We'd have to be utter idiots."

That generated a few laughs from around the table before Mavis added, "And for those of you concerned that we'll go off and smash our way through something without your consent in the near future, don't worry. We've resolved to work a little more closely with you in the near future rather than swan off to do our own thing. Unless we feel the situation requires immediate intervention with no possible delays of course."

"There. Is everyone satisfied?" Dumbledore asked.

After a little nodding, Kingsley suddenly raised his voice. "Speaking of… prophecies though. There is one other rather important piece of news that we should discuss. And that is that our… guard duty assignments in the corridor outside the Department of Mysteries… is no longer needed."

That set the table abuzz but led to nothing but confused frowns from all of the Fairy Tail members.

"No longer needed?" Bill Weasley asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… that we needn't bother anymore. The prophecy that we were guarding… isn't there anymore. It was smashed. Along with most of them other prophecies in the entire hall… when Gildarts ploughed his way through the floor and the ceiling in one big go."

Now there was more than a buzz, now there was a hubbub, with many people trying to get their opinions heard at once. But it was Gajeel's voice that rose above the din as he asked, "What the bloody hell are you talking about? How can you smash a prophecy?"

"You can smash a record of a prophecy," replied Dumbledore, who looked rather grave at this news. "Whenever a prophecy is made in this world, a record of it is magically stashed inside a glass ball in a specific room of the Department of Mysteries… one which Gildarts has apparently destroyed. This particular prophecy depicted, shall we say, the potential fall of Lord Voldemort. But Voldemort does not know how the entire prophecy goes, so we were secretly guarding the record, hoping to make sure it stayed out of his hands, for if he learned what it said he might try and find ways to make sure he did not fall."

"Why not just destroy it yourselves?" Gildarts asked.

"I had my reasons for wanting it kept intact. And we could not steal it either because they can only be taken off the shelves by those they are about, such as Lord Voldemort himself in this case. Still, what's done is done and Voldemort can never get his hands on that prophecy."

"He's not going to be happy," Sirius chuckled.

"Sorry…" Gildarts rubbed his arm. "It was not my intent to damage anything valuable."

"I do not blame you for it, yet this changes the situation a little."

"What about that prophecy that was made this morning then?" Juvia asked.

"Good question. It will most likely have already been recorded if there are any intact empty glass balls left in the Halls of Prophecy. But that prophecy is not about Lord Voldemort or any of his followers specifically, so most likely it could only be retrieved by one of you."

"Meaning we don't have to guard that one now," Arthur sighed. "Well, that's a weight off all our minds I'm sure."

"So what did this prophecy say about Voldemort's fall?" Mavis asked.

That caused a hush over the table, as Dumbledore had not told any of the Order members exactly what the prophecy said either.

"That… is something of a delicate matter," Dumbledore replied slowly. "But I can certainly tell you one thing. This new prophecy featuring you Fairy Tail members does not negate the old one. Which means… no matter how much you help, no matter how much you try, none of you will be the ones to finally take Voldemort down. No… that job… remains in the hands of those from our universe."

Or one in particular, Dumbledore thought. With the prophecy record gone, the only way that anyone would learn of its contents was if he told them what it was. That's why he'd wanted to keep the prophecy intact and out of Voldemort's hands - just in case something happened to him and he could not pass on the message to the one who eventually needed to hear it. Because there was one other that would eventually need to know what the prophecy entailed. One other who could have removed it from the shelf.

But… Dumbledore wasn't certain that person was ready for the information just yet.

* * *

Harry couldn't sleep. His mind was too full of the events of the day. The prophecy at breakfast that morning had been shock enough, but it hadn't exactly calmed down as the day had gone by. He'd gone and landed himself an extra detention with Umbridge after lashing out in the Care of Magical Creatures inspection at the Slytherins attempts to undermine Hagrid even though the half-giant wasn't even there, though he'd also watched McGonagall put Umbridge firmly in her place in the Transfiguration inspection later.

But it was what had happened that evening that was really keeping him up. Hermione's suggestion.

The one where he, of all people, would teach Defence Against the Dark Arts to other students.

The idea seemed utterly ludicrous to Harry and when both Hermione and Ron had insisted that it was a good idea, he'd gotten angry and lashed out, annoyed that they were both making him sound like some kind of great hero when he was really just an extremely lucky fifth year schoolboy. He'd yelled a lot of things he shouldn't have and now he was annoyed at himself. He seemed to be doing a lot of lashing out recently.

But now he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Hermione was right about many things. Umbridge wasn't helping them to prepare for the fight in the way they desperately needed to, and they definitely needed to do something to make sure her attempts to sabotage their learning were circumvented. Especially in light of that prophecy and the stuff that was apparently on the horizon. Harry couldn't even remember half of it and what he could remember made no sense but… yeah… it sounded bad.

But him… teach Defence Against the Dark Arts? It was just… mental… wasn't it? It was certainly true that he knew more about it than most beginning fifth year students because he'd had to learn fast for the Triwizard Tournament last year but still… what would he do? What would he say? How the hell would he go about it? He wasn't qualified to teach anything to anyone and yet both Ron and Hermione seemed to think he didn't need to be.

He just couldn't make up his mind.

Still, eventually tiredness won out and despite his overwhelming thoughts, Ron's snoring and the throbbing in the back of his hand from yet another painful session with Umbridge, he eventually drifted off…

"WHAT!?" Harry screeched in a cold voice that practically split his own ears. "Say… that… again, Lucius…"

He was standing in a darkened room, illuminated only by the eerie flickering of multiple candles and he was slowly striding forwards. The familiar long, blond-haired figure of Lucius Malfoy was backing away from him as he advanced, stuttering out his next words.

"I… it… it was unfortunate, my Lord," he stammered. "But there was nothing I, or anyone, could have done to prevent it."

"The prophecy was destroyed, you say?" Harry hissed. "You realise what that means, Lucius? You remember, don't you, how eager I was to get my hands on it. To finally learn all its secrets. Secrets which are now forever lost to me if what you say is true."

"I am sorry for your loss, my Lord, truly I am, but it was not my doing."

"Oh, I believe you," Harry swept around him, slowly circling the slightly trembling man and slowly drawing out a wand from the sleeve of his dark robe, clutching one end in his long-fingered, almost skeletal hand. "I know that you would never be foolish enough to break such a thing even if I had not wanted it. Oh no… but tell my Lucius, if it was not you, then who was it?"

"It… it was a stranger, my lord. A man that I've never encountered before. A man like nothing anyone has ever encountered before."

"What are you saying?" Harry hissed. "You have better start making sense soon, Lucius, or I might just… lose… my… patience."

"But my lord… if I tell you… you will likely not believe me."

"…Is that so?" Harry whipped around until he was standing right in front of Lucius, fixing his eyes with the Malfoy father's own and almost seeming to transfix him on the spot, staring at him in the face like a terrified rabbit standing in front of onrushing car headlights. "Well then… if whatever you have to say is so fantastical, then I suppose I'll take the direct route to finding out shall I?"

Lucius screamed as Harry almost seemed to dive at him, his conscious plunging right into Lucius head… no… into his mind. And suddenly a blur of images flashed by his consciousness at once. Images of a bright sphere fading away, and a tall cloaked man and a blue-haired girl emerging and claiming to be from a guild called Fairy Tail. Images of the girl claiming under Veritaserum that she was from another world with different magic. Images of the man smashing an entire wall in as if it was nothing to rescue the girl from Dementors and pull her out of there. And images of the devastation the man had left in his wake, and of Lucius receiving the news that more people with strange magic had broken into the Ministry to help them escape.

And then, suddenly, Harry was back in his own body and Lucius was on his hands and knees, gasping for breath and clutching at his head. Harry was silent for a few moments before he murmured, "…Interesting."

"You… saw all you need to see, my Lord?" Lucius wheezed.

"Indeed… and you are right, Lucius. Had you told me of that beforehand I would have assumed you had lost your senses. But… people from another world? With such powerful magic at their disposal… how intriguing…"

"And it was them that destroyed the entire Prophecy room, my lord," Lucius said as he scrambled to his feet, looking extremely dishevelled.

Another spike of anger seemed to pierce its way through Harry's brain. "Indeed," he growled. "A severe blow. Now I may likely never know the full contents of the prophecy. But there is nothing that can be done about that now. We must now alter our plans. And this… Fairy Tail… may have added an interesting new aspect to the game."

"What do you mean, my Lord?" Lucius asked as Harry strode out the room, the Malfoy patriarch scurrying along behind him like an obedient House Elf.

"Perhaps. Just perhaps, we can use this Fairy Tail to our advantage," Harry smiled, more to himself than to Lucius as they walked down a short corridor and made their way into another, larger room, from which a faint glow was emanating. "After all… it seems as though I already have a couple of their pieces on my board."

And both he and Lucius stared upon the two, glowing Spheres emblazoned with the Fairy Tail mark that lay just beyond the door…

Harry shot up so fast that he fell right off the side of the bed, almost ripping the curtains off the four-poster and landing on the floor with a loud whump that caused Ron to snort and turn over in his sleep and what sounded like Dean to murmur, "Huh… whuzzhapnnin?"

But Harry didn't care… all he could do was sit there, panting for breath and eyes wide, wondering what the hell it was exactly that he had just seen.


	16. Knowledge

Real sorry for the delay to this chapter folks, but suffice to say university work has been rather catching up to me recently. Hopefully it won't take me quite so long to get round to the next one, but for now here I am again.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 16:- Knowledge**

* * *

Needless to say, Harry didn't get any more sleep that night after that crazy dream. He couldn't drive the visions he'd seen out of his head, and they just kept repeating themselves over and over and over. He'd had strange dreams before… but this one was a whole other level of weird.

And frightening.

Harry wasn't ashamed to admit to himself that he was bloody terrified at this point. Not least because he was already well aware that the person that had been talking to Lucius Malfoy in the dream had not really been him. It had been Voldemort - he was sure of it. But… why had he been looking through Voldemort's eyes? That hadn't happened before. He'd had dreams about Voldemort before last year - dreams which made all too much sense now. But he'd never seen them from Voldemort's perspective until now.

Had something changed? Was the fact that Voldemort now had a body back that changed things?

But why the hell would a change like that be made?

Or was he just overthinking things and that was just some random aspect of the dream and that if he had another one he could be watching it from directly above or something like that instead?

Ugh, his mind was such a mess. Not only was he worrying about all this, but he was also wondering whether he should be worrying at all. All the stuff that had happened in the dream, with Voldemort and Lucius talking about people from another universe… some group called Fairy Tail… all that seemed utterly ludicrous. Since discovering magic existed Harry's imagination had been much more open than before, and even then there had been many times where he'd been left gobsmacked by something he'd just seen. But people from another universe with magic that was effectively like superpowers? Get real.

Head swimming, Harry decided to spend the rest of the night in the Common Room in case he woke someone else up. He tried going over a couple of homework assignments in an attempt to get his mind of it, but gave up in the end. He just couldn't focus on anything but what he'd seen, even the whole thing still sounded nothing but mad… it had just seemed so… real.

Eventually the sun rose and Gryffindor students began to filter down from the dormitories and go to breakfast, some of them nodding to him, others ignoring him. Seamus Finnegan was one of the first up, and looked rather startled to see Harry sitting there, but he quickly bustled on past without saying a word. Harry frowned, trying not to feel angry at the cold shoulder that Seamus had been giving him this year for telling the truth, but honestly considering how well they'd gotten on in previous years, it was hard not to.

Hermione came down shortly afterwards and she too looked rather shocked to find Harry there. "Have you been here all night?" she asked.

"No… not all night…" Harry sighed, rolling up his parchment. "Didn't get much sleep though."

Hermione bit her lip. "This isn't my fault, is it?"

"Huh?" Harry blinked. "Why would it be your fault?"

"Well, you know, the thing I mentioned last night? The idea I had where you… well, you know I don't really want to talk about it in public…"

Harry blinked. The idea of him teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons in Umbridge's place had been completely driven from his head after that dream, but now it all came rushing back. "Oh… no… no, nothing like that. No it's… it's nothing important."

Hermione raised a brow, quite clearly not believing him for a moment, before murmuring, "Right… well… you should probably go and wake Ron up. If you don't then it'll take him hours to crawl out of bed."

"Yeah… yeah, okay," Harry nodded, hefting himself heavily up to his feet and trudging up the stairs once again. While the dream was still on repeat in his mind, now it had suddenly been joined by Hermione's idea. A very large part of Harry still thought it was mad but… Voldemort was definitely out there. And regardless of whether that dream was true or not, which he doubted, he was certainly planning something. They did need someone to teach them… and since nobody else was going to be able to come into the castle while Umbridge was on the prowl… he guessed they'd have to take it upon themselves to do it.

Hmm… it might take some thinking about.

Eventually though he managed to wake Ron, and the redhead came stumbling down the stairs behind him a few minutes later. But when they reached the Great Hall, they found the place in uproar! It was usually quite quiet at breakfast, with many people still half-asleep, but this time everyone was wide away and talking at the tops of their voices just to be heard over one another.

"What the heck's going on?" Ron asked.

"Beats me," Harry replied.

"Harry! Harry! Ron! Hermione!" Neville Longbottom suddenly came huffing up towards them as soon as he caught sight of them, waving a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ in one hand and looking practically panic-stricken. "Have you seen? Have you seen?"

"Neville, slow down," Hermione stepped in quickly. "Seen what?"

"This!" Neville shoved the newspaper into Harry's arms so hard he almost knocked him over. But Harry quickly flipped the paper right side up and felt Ron and Hermione crowd in on either side of him to get a good look. And there was a collective gasp when they caught sight of the title that blared out at them from the front page.

_MINISTRY ATTACK! CULPRITS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD!_

"What the hell?" Ron cried, but Hermione shushed him as she leaned over Harry's shoulder and read aloud.

"Yesterday at approximately four in the afternoon, the Ministry of Magic Headquarters in London was subjected to a sudden and terrifying attack from a group of unknown wizards and witches that left a trail of destruction behind them almost too terrifying to comprehend. Several whole rooms and corridors were half obliterated in the struggle and though miraculously no humans was killed in the horrendous assault, there were several dozen left with major injuries."

"You think my Dad could have been one of them?" Ron's face was pale.

"Maybe. But if he's hurt at least we know he's alive," Hermione added before moving on. "Panicked Ministry workers fled in terror as the unknown aggressors tore the Ministry apart and made short work of the Ministry security that attempted to stop them. And they were eventually able to escape through the use of a Portkey cage in the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, which took them away to an unknown location. None of them were captured or arrested.

"Many questions remain, such as who are these people and where did they come from. The fact of the matter is that the answer we have been given is nothing short of extraordinary.

"'This will be difficult to stomach for anyone who hears this,' Minister Fudge gave a statement last night. 'But it seems they came from the meteor shower we experienced last weekend. Shortly after that event a large glowing sphere was discovered on the outskirts of Nottingham and transported to the Department of Mysteries for study. And some of the attackers were inside that Sphere.'"

"Inside the sphere?" Harry breathed, his eyes widening as the image of the glowing spheres from his dream were called to the front of his mind.

The rest of the article detailed what had happened next, how under questioning the two from the Sphere had revealed that they believed to be from a totally different universe, and how without any provocation they had suddenly attacked the Ministry employees while others had, from nowhere, stormed the Ministry to lay waste to it.

"'But despite the staggering odds our Aurors and Security forces rallied and they were forced to make a hasty retreat,' Ministry Fudge stated. 'Yet I am afraid to say that they very much remain at large. And despite how far-fetched their claims may seem, considering their magical abilities we have no choice but to take it at face value for now. They are aliens on our turf and must be stopped. So, for that reason, I am declaring everyone from the mage guild known as Fairy Tail to be public enemies number 1. If you see anything suspicious or if you see anyone with a tattoo of the symbol below then I urge you to call the Auror Office immediately.'

"Ministry officials have assured people that despite the devastation there is no need to panic for next time they shall be much more prepared."

There was quite a hush after that, before Ron cried, "What the actual heck!? People from another universe? They've got to be kidding, right? It's just not possible."

"I don't know, Ron. Even many Muggles believe there could be other universes out there," Hermione rubbed the back of her neck. "It does seem a little… hard to believe though…"

"It's true," Harry said immediately. "I know its true."

"What makes you say that?" said Ron.

"Because… look… I don't really think talking about it here's a good idea…"

"Who's going to hear you? We barely hear ourselves as it is over this noise!" Ron pointed out, gesturing to the frightened looking mass the filled the hall.

Harry hesitated as the three of them took their seats, but after glancing up to make sure that Umbridge wasn't looking his way, which she mercifully wasn't, he said in a voice that required the other two to lean in to hear him. "I had a dream last night. I dreamed about Voldemort again."

Ron coughed at the sound of Voldemort's name and Hermione went a little paler. "That's why you were up so early," she murmured. "I knew there was a reason."

"Yeah… but not just about him. I dreamt about him talking to Lucius Malfoy. And Malfoy was telling him… about something called Fairy Tail. And Voldemort… he's got two glowing spheres with that very symbol on the side of it." He tapped the newspaper. "Whatever's happening, whoever the heck these guys are, Voldemort's got some of them."

"But how can you know that, Harry?" Hermione pressed. "How can you be sure that this wasn't just some dream?"

"What, that he happened to have the evening after the Ministry was attacked but before he'd heard about this lot?" Ron pointed out.

"Yes, I know that part Ron. What I meant is… how can you know what V… Voldemort… is doing? How can you suddenly dream him up and think its fact?"

"It's happened before Hermione. I've dreamed of Voldemort doing things that I've learned he actually did before. I saw him murder an old man once and when our wands connected last year, that man was one of the phantom things I saw come out of Voldemort's wand. Don't ask me how it works cos I sure as heck don't know. But I'd stake my life that I'm right."

"…Blimey…" Ron breathed. "This is nuts. This is like something even Beedle the Bard wouldn't have thought up."

"Oh gosh, can you imagine?" Hermione covered her hand with her mouth. "How confusing and scary it must be to find yourself suddenly in a completely different universe?"

"Doesn't sound like they're that confused and scared to me," Ron pointed out.

"And when has the _Daily Prophet_ printed a totally unbiased and accurate version of a story recently?" Hermione said. "I think we have to take this story with a pinch of salt if you ask me. I mean… who knows what these people must be feeling?"

"You think they might not be bad guys?" Harry asked.

"I didn't say that. I'm just saying we shouldn't assume they are just because the _Prophet_ says they are. After all, the _Prophet_ also says that Harry and Dumbledore are bad guys too."

"That… is very true," Ron blinked.

The three of them sat in silence for a while before Hermione suddenly said, "Harry… I really think that you need to go and talk to Dumbledore about this. And not just because of the fact that you're having strange dreams above V-Voldemort. If you really think its true and he does have some of these Fairy Tail people with him, regardless of whether they're really from another world or not, I think the Order should probably know about it."

Harry grimaced slightly, feeling a familiar anger bubbling up inside him. Why should he go and tell Dumbledore something important when Dumbledore had been neglecting to tell him anything important whatsoever since Voldemort had returned?

But… nevertheless Hermione was right. The Order probably did need to know about this and though he'd rather talk to Sirius about it, that was somewhat out of the question.

"She's right, mate," said Ron. "We've got a free period first thing. You should probably try and talk to him then."

"Yeah… yeah, fine. I'll go," Harry nodded, before he helped himself to some bacon.

* * *

It was only when Harry reached the Headmaster's office that he realised he no longer knew the password, which led to him standing outside and feeling rather stupid as he stared at the stone gargoyle that guarded the door, the gargoyle staring right back - immobile but somehow with an air about it that seemed to indicate it was amused.

"Uh…" Harry stood there dumbly, trying to think up what the password would be - Dumbledore usually used some kind of sweet he was partial to, but not necessarily magical ones. But just before he was about to try 'Chocolate Frogs' the door opened. Harry blinked as none other than Luna Lovegood stepped out, a slight expression of relief mixed in with her usual dreamy gaze.

"Oh, hello Harry," she smiled.

"Er… hi Luna… what were you doing in there?"

"Just enquiring after a friend of mine," Luna replied vaguely. "And I take it you're here to talk about what you saw in the paper this morning."

"I… how did you…"

"Well, it's what everyone's talking about, isn't it? And obviously you would be concerned about how this could impact the fight against You-Know-Who and since you and Dumbledore are at the forefront of that it is natural you'd want to speak to him."

Harry blinked several times. He was certain that Luna didn't know a thing about the Order of the Phoenix, and yet for someone who seemed to believe in the existence of Crumple-Horned Skorkacks she was amazingly insightful. "Er… yeah," he said lamely. "Did you ever think that there could be people from another universe?"

"Not until recently. But I'm always telling everyone that they should keep open minds about these things. Things will come as much less of a shock if you assume anything is possible. Anyway, I have to get to class. Bye, Harry."

Harry stared after her, nonplussed, as she skipped down the corridor until she rounded a corner and vanished from sight. He was beginning to wonder how he'd never known about that girl before. She was a right little mystery - he could never figure out whether the things she said made sense or were utterly bonkers.

Still, he had to focus so he turned back to the open door, but right before he could knock he heard Dumbledore's voice from within say, "You may enter."

Dumbledore himself was standing by a window - one of the few that didn't have a windowsill covered in strange devices, and had his back to Harry when he stepped into the office. Without turning around the Headmaster began with, "And what can I do for you today, Mr. Potter."

Harry frowned - normally when he entered Dumbledore's office the Headmaster would greet him with a warm smile, perhaps offer him a sweet and generally be very friendly, but just like at the hearing that summer he was being assertive, distant, perhaps even slightly cold. It was rather unnerving, and part of the reason why Harry had been reluctant to come and talk to him. But he eventually cleared his throat and said, "Professor… I think there's something you should know."

"I think there's a lot of things that I should know," said Dumbledore. "But alas, there are many things that I do not. Still, what is it that you want to tell me?"

"I… I had another dream last night. Like the one I had last year about Voldemort torturing Pettigrew about letting Crouch escape. I think… I think that he may be up to something big."

This caused Dumbledore to turn around and eye him stonily. "Lingering on dreams like this is unwise, Harry. It is true that dreams can sometimes be prophetic but often they really are just nonsense. Still, what was your one?"

"I dreamed that… he was talking to Lucius Malfoy. About the break-in that happened at the Ministry yesterday. He was talking about some kind of… broken prophecy at first I think. I didn't really understand it."

Dumbledore closed his eyes slightly, before asking, "Anything else?"

"Um… yes. Then he asked Lucius about this… Fairy Tail bunch and when he found out what Lucius knew… he said that he wanted to try and find a way of using them to his advantage. And I saw… two golden glowing sphere thingies just like the one described in the paper this morning, and with the same symbol on them. I don't really know what they are Professor, but I know that Voldemort has two of them. I'm sure of it."

Dumbledore said nothing for a while, looking as if he was in deep thought, or possibly as if he'd fallen asleep where he stood. Finally he said, "I see… and may I ask… where was he when this dream took place? Could you see anything that might tell us exactly where Voldemort is?"

"Um… there was a long, dark corridor but other than that I didn't really see much."

"Very well. And you? Where… might I ask… were you?"

"…What do you mean, Professor?"

"Where were you watching the scene take place from in the dream?"

"I was…" Harry swallowed, a lump appearing in his throat and a shiver running down his spine at the recollection. "I was… inside Voldemort. I… saw what he was seeing."

Dumbledore said nothing for several moments, appearing to look through Harry rather than at him which made Harry seriously struggle not to either fidget or trying and get him to stop. But eventually Dumbledore swept across the room until he could slowly settle down into the chair behind his desk, his fingertips pressed together.

"Very well then," he said. "I thank you for calling this to my attention, Harry. You may go."

"Go?" said Harry incredulously. "But… but Professor? Shouldn't we talk about this? About what it means?"

"Harry, I do appreciate you coming here to tell me this, but really what is there to discuss?" Dumbledore looked at him from over the top of his glasses, the familiar twinkle in his eyes very noticeably absent.

"…How about the implications of Voldemort having people from another universe in his possession? How we can stop him from using them? How we can stop him from doing anything at all! Professor, I want to be involved. I'm the one that Voldemort's after so even if you won't let me be out there to fight him why won't anybody talk to me about opposing him!"

"Harry," Dumbledore started, but Harry was on a role now and kept going.

"Why wouldn't you tell me over the summer about the Order until you had to? Why won't you tell me what Voldemort's doing? Why are you just talking to me only as much as it suits you instead of including me in something that started because of me!?"

"Not because of you, Harry. Voldemort's resurrection was not your doing. He would have used another's blood if he could not get hold of your own."

"BUT HE DID GET MINE! HE SPENT A WHOLE YEAR TRYING TO GET TO ME SO THAT HE COULD UNDO MY MOTHER'S PROTECTION! AND EVEN THOUGH I GOT AWAY FROM HIM HE WON'T STOP CHASING ME! SO WHY WON'T YOU LET ME BE INVOLVED! WHY WON'T YOU LET ME FIGHT INSTEAD OF SITTING HERE AND…!"

"**HARRY POTTER!" **Dumbledore's voice suddenly boomed so loudly that all of Harry's anger evaporated, along with his words, staring at the elderly man who was now on his feet and looked more imposing than Harry had ever seen him. But after a second, Dumbledore closed his eyes and calm returned to the room once more.

"Harry…" Dumbledore said slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. "I understand why you would feel resentment for being kept in the dark about so many things. I understand that it must be frustrating and more than anything I understand your desire to actively participate in the war against a man who had caused you nothing but grief for your entire life.

"But I want you to understand something to. I want you to understand that I have my reasons as to why I do not tell you things and do not want others to tell you things either. Those reasons are many and varied, but they are also valid. One day you will know everything. One day there will be no more secrets, I promise you. That day is not today, but I suspect that it will come sooner than I once anticipated. And I hope when that day comes, you understand why I have acted this way. Why I choose not to tell you. Until then, I must ask you to just trust me. A tall order perhaps given my apparent lack of communication skills… but nevertheless Harry… I am on your side."

Harry opened his mouth, but his brain couldn't seem to come up with any words to send out of it from a while before he coughed and said, "…Yeah… well… alright. Sorry, Professor."

"That is quite alright. Now, once again, thank you for bringing this information to my attention. You may go."

Harry nodded and headed out without another word. As he descended the steps, a little of the bitterness returned, frustration that he'd left the office without a single one of the questions he had rattling around in his brain answered. But while he felt that he could trust Dumbledore with his life, he was damned if he was going to just sit back and do nothing at all like he seemed to want him to.

Suddenly Hermione's idea of learning defence in their spare time was looking far more attractive than before.

* * *

Dumbledore sat back down, placing a hand to his forehead and rubbing his temples. He always hated raising his voice, but not as much as he hated having to leave Harry so frustrated and clueless. But he had not been lying. He did indeed have many reasons, though one of them admittedly was the vain hope that Harry could have a somewhat normal childhood whenever possible.

But it truly seemed that that hope was never going to be fulfilled, especially now.

"Well… that was pleasant," said a voice by the windowsill he'd been standing at before, where Mavis was sitting and swinging her legs periodically.

"Far from it," Dumbledore replied with a sigh.

"So, that's him?" said Mavis. "That's the Harry Potter that we've all heard so much tell of?"

"Yes, that is him," Dumbledore nodded. "A boy that truly cannot seem to escape misfortune no matter how many good things also come his way. I had hopes that after so long with such uncaring relatives that Hogwarts could truly be a place where Harry was happy. And yet every year seems to bring new things with it that prevent poor Harry from simply sitting back and enjoying his childhood."

"Everyone should have the chance to enjoy their childhood," said Mavis ruefully. "But not everybody gets it."

"You sound like you are speaking from experience."

"Actually for the most part I very much enjoyed my childhood. But there were definitely a few moments that… left me wishing I could forget what just happened with all of my soul."

"My condolences."

"Thank you. So… perhaps you would be willing to share with me the reasons why you are refusing to tell that boy anything he wants to know?"

"Like I said there are many. And I have not told the full list of them to anybody."

"I see. Then perhaps I could hazard a guess. Based on what I have heard and understand so far… you fear that he has some connection to Lord Voldemort that could possibly mean that Voldemort could look into his mind and know what he knows, see what he sees and hear what he hears. Just as he apparently did to Voldemort in his sleep last night."

"…You are quite brilliant, Mavis Vermilion. What made you deduce that?"

"Simple facts, like how Voldemort apparently has Harry's blood running inside him and the fact that Sirius told me about how even before that happened Harry's scar, which was inflicted on him by Voldemort, hurt whenever something big happened that involved Voldemort. I do not believe I know the full story, but there is clearly some kind of link between them that goes beyond simple fate."

"Indeed. And this new dream of his… it only further raises my suspicions."

"It would be rather traumatic for him to learn that. Is there anything that he can do to block Voldemort from entering his mind, or his own from entering Voldemort's?"

"There are ways, and I will very soon try and implement them before it is too late."

"Well, for what its worth, I do think that you should tell him about us. About Fairy Tail. He already knows we exist and so does Voldemort."

"That is true, but what Voldemort does not know is that you are working with us already, or who you all are or the full extent of what you can do. If he were to discover he could look into Harry's mind and he knew about you, that would spell the end of any element of surprise we had."

"And we will deal with it," Mavis replied simply. "Just as we always do. Fairy Tail had faced down many enemies who think they know who we are and how to deal with us. They have always found us to be more of a surprise than they anticipated. And if Harry thinks we are a second threat, he will be most angry that you knew we were not and you didn't tell him. He would have been worrying for nothing."

Dumbledore pursed his lips. "I will… think on your words, Mavis. But what of you. Now that you have learned that Voldemort has two Fairy Spheres, what do you intend to do?"

Mavis' expression darkened. "At all costs, whoever is in those Spheres must be rescued. I already know that they would never willingly agree to work with someone like Voldemort, no matter how silver his tongue might be. But we cannot allow them to stay in his clutches any more than necessary."

"I agree," Dumbledore replied. "But sadly there is little that the Order can do to help other than what we have already been doing - keeping our ears to the ground in the hope of finding where any bases the Death Eaters may have might be located. He is not using the houses of any of the identified Death Eaters as a permanent base. If he were then we would have found him already."

"The Fairy Spheres will not be easy for him to transport," Mavis pointed out. "Even if he is constantly on the move, wherever he is keeping those will most likely be at his most permanent base."

"Then all we can really do at this time is continue with our efforts to try and find that base. But I can promise you, Mavis, when we do find it, you can count on our full support in retrieving them."

"Thank you," Mavis nodded. "That is greatly appreciated."

"And with that in mind, I think it best that we inform the other members of both our orders and guilds as to what we have learned. Phineas, I need you to head to your portrait at Grimmauld Place and inform anyone you see that Voldemort has two Fairy Spheres in his possession."

"Honestly, Dumbledore," the portrait of Hogwarts' least popular Headmaster sniffed. "I still can't believe that you would leave such destructive beings such as them into my own house. I graciously allow you to use it for the purposes of your war and you do this?"

"Phineas," Dumbledore replied mildly. "If you would be so kind."

The portrait sighed and walked out of frame.

"Now, I don't suppose you would be willing to share with me the rest of your suspicions about Harry Potter, would you?" Mavis asked.

"There is much to tell," Dumbledore grimaced. "And I am rather averse to the idea of telling anyone else. If my suspicions are correct… then the fewer people who know about it the better, for Harry's sake. If Voldemort were to learn of it… everything could be lost."

"And Voldemort would never learn anything from me," Mavis pointed out. "I am an astral body. I may choose to be solid most of the time, but I can be as intangible as any ghost if I so choose. I can only be seen by those I wish to see me, heard by those I wish to hear me, and Voldemort is neither of those things. Nor are any of his followers. He could not capture me, he could not torture me, he could not hear my voice even if I yelled all your secrets down his ear. Not to mention, Dumbledore, two minds are better than one, and it is far better to have someone to confide in that to hold everything inside. I wish to help, Dumbledore. Just as much as Harry does."

Dumbledore spent a moment rubbing his thumb and forefinger together thoughtfully before he said, "We must be blessed indeed that you ended up falling into our universe, Mavis. You and the rest of your guild… very well. I will tell you what I know, but much of what I know is primarily guesswork so do bear that in mind. Tell me… does your universe have anything known as a Horcrux?"

* * *

"Ugh, I hate this," Gray growled as paced up and down the kitchen, seriously fighting an urge to pull a Natsu and break something in his frustration, and only just refraining from doing so because of the fact he was a guest in someone else's house. "I can't stand sitting here and doing nothing like this."

"But its all we can do, Gray," Lisanna was wringing her hands together at the table where she was sitting with Juvia on one side and Sirius on the other. "We all feel the same way… but without knowing where to look there's nothing we can do… nothing at all…"

After the additional Fairy Tail members had been brought in, it had been agreed that Gildarts and Levy would stay at Grimmauld Place while Wendy, Gajeel and the Exceed returned to the Hog's Head once again - a situation that made Levy very relieved indeed, as she hoped to high heaven she could get her conflicting thoughts out of her head as long as the Iron Dragon Slayer wasn't around to keep freaking her out. And Tonk had profusely thanked Gildarts after he had accidentally broken the troll's leg umbrella stand in the hallway, splintering it into tiny pieces and thus ensuring that Tonks would never trip over it again.

"We'll keep our ears peeled for any information we can," Lupin promised. "And when we have something we'll inform you straight away, we promise."

"They'll be alright for the time being, won't they?" Levy asked. "As long as the Fairy Sphere remains up then there's no way that Voldemort can get to them, whoever they are, right?"

"Yes, but we don't know how long the Spheres will last," said Lisanna, her voice cracking slightly. "Mavis said that the amount of time they remain up has been totally randomised, but all of us were released from our Spheres within a few days of getting here. Will those Spheres also drop quickly? Or do we have a year in hand before we have to worry about whoever's in there?"

Juvia reached over and placed a hand on Lisanna's shoulder. "Are you okay, Lisanna-san? No, wait, that is a stupid question to ask. Juvia can tell you're not."

"I'm sorry," Lisanna screwed up her face, trying to swallow the lump in her throat and make her heart stop beating. "But I just can't help but fear what would happen if my brother and sister were in that Sphere. Of course I don't want any of them to be in there but…"

"But they're your family. It's natural you should worry," Mrs. Weasley said as she bustled over and placed a warm bowl of soup down in front of Lisanna. "Quite frankly Lisanna, if I was in your position, I would be having a full-blown panic attack. I don't think I could stop crying and fretting until I knew where every single member of my family was for sure. I am amazed you have the strength to not do the same."

Lisanna smiled gratefully. "I guess… there's a part of me that knows if it is Mira-nee or Elf-niichan inside those Spheres… that they'll put up one hell of a fight when they get free. But that doesn't stop me from worrying from the bottom of my soul. And not just for them but for all of the others too."

"And that is why we'll get them out," Sirius said simply. "We may not know where to look for them, but we will get them out. We're not just going to try. We're not just going to attempt it. We are going to make sure that all of you Fairy Tail members are reunited once again. You watch. Dumbledore will put every resource he can into finding them."

"And what if we want to step in and contribute to the search effort ourselves?" said Gray.

"We'll involve you if we can," said Lupin. "But remember you are supposed to be keeping a low profile. Thankfully the Ministry didn't seem to get any pictures of you, but you especially Gray could be a hazard to any mission we send you on."

"Huh? What the hell makes you say that?" Gray asked.

"You read the paper this morning. They may not know your face but the public will be looking out for your guild mark."

"So?"

"Perhaps, Gray," Gildarts smirked. "He is referring to the fact that you keep taking your shirt off without realising it and exposing your guild mark to the world. As you have done now."

"OH CRAP!"

"Regardless, believe me Lisanna, you are not the only one fretting," Gildarts' expression darkened. "If it turns out that my daughter's in there… and if that Voldemort tries to pull something on her… I swear I'll knock him into the middle of next millennium."

"…When you say… 'pull something'…" Gray murmured. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"…I'm saying if he tries to cop a feel then there will be a retribution!" Gildarts yelled. Everyone else facefaulted.

"Not everyone thinks of copping a feel first you know," Gray murmured.

Juvia squirmed slightly on the spot, not even trying to push several thoughts about Gray copping a feel on her out of her head. If Gray noticed this then he pretended not to notice.

"Like I said though," Sirius said as he pushed himself to his feet. "We will get them back. Don't know how, don't know when, but we will. Remus, do you think you could help me with feeding Buckbeak?"

"Sure," Lupin got up and made a quick exit from the room with Sirius, grabbing a fresh bag of dead ferrets from the fridge as they went.

"Do you think there's something to worry about?" Sirius asked in a low voice as they ascended the stairs. "I mean obviously I'm concerned about the well-being of whoever's in those Spheres but… do you think that's all we'll need to worry about or… is there anything else?"

"You mean the possibility of Voldemort actually succeeding in turning some Fairy Tail members to his cause?"

"…Yeah…"

Remus sighed. "If I'm honest, I don't know. If all the Fairy Tail members are like the ones we know, I do not believe for a second that any one of them would willingly sign up to Voldemort's cause, even without knowing that the rest of their guild are against him. But… Voldemort has always been a master at converting people. We should know that better than anyone."

Sirius grimaced. "Wormtail was a coward, scaring him into submission wouldn't have been too difficult. Fairy Tail members… I get the feeling they would not be so easily swayed."

"True, but fear is not Voldemort's only weapon. He has many others at his disposal. The question is… would any of them work?"

* * *

Despite everything that had happened in the last few days, the next few weeks were surprisingly uneventful. Wanted posters featuring the Fairy Tail guild mark appeared up all over wizarding public areas but considering all the Fairy Tail members accounted for spent their time in Grimmauld Place or hidden away in the back of the Hog's Head away from the eyes of the public, with occasional trips to Tenroujima for fresh air, there was nothing for anyone to report. Of course, that didn't stop a few people from crying wolf, and there was more than one occasion where Tonks or Kingsley were called to a place where a suspected Fairy Tail mage had been spotted, but it turned out to be a mistake every time.

The security at the Ministry was certainly upped, which made it much more difficult for the Order members to communicate to one another in the workplace, but they were still able to organise a raid on the Malfoy Manor with the use of an anonymous tip-off, that was actually Moody, informing Arthur Weasley that they might be storing several contraband items in their basement. All a lie of course but their real intention had been to try and discover if the two Fairy Spheres were somewhere in their manor, yet they found nothing.

Despite the increasing tension in the Wizarding community as a whole, many of whom were freaking out at the fact that nobody seemed to know where Fairy Tail had gone or what they might be doing, Sirius was happier than he'd been for some time. He finally had a house constantly full of interesting people to talk to, and he quickly became very popular amongst the Fairy Tail mages. And the same went for the rest of the Order too. While most of them only filtered in on occasion, every one of them were gradually getting used to the existence of these newcomers, and Fairy Tail found themselves becoming less guarded around them in turn.

If only all the Fairy Tail members could become less guarded around each other. Despite making several attempts to approach Gajeel and apologise for the way she was acting around him, Levy kept chickening out and backing away every time, cursing herself for being an idiot, but the more she tried to force the images the Dementors had brought to the surface out of her head, the more they seemed to fester and try and consume her.

But other than that, things almost settled back to as normal as things could be under the circumstances and there were more than a couple of times when Mrs. Weasley or Aberforth had gotten angry at walking into their kitchen or bar and finding most of it had been wrecked when Gray and Gajeel had gotten into a fight. Though Gildarts noted that if Natsu was here, they'd probably be having this problem daily.

Lisanna was the most disturbed of them all, and could often be found by the window staring across at the landscape beyond and wondering where her siblings were, where Natsu was, where any of them were. But when the others found her like this, they were usually able to take her mind of it and bring a smile back to her face.

Yet, there was still one person that remained very much in dark about all the goings on and that was Harry. Though he finished his detentions with Umbridge at last and he was able to get back to things like Quidditch and focus on his homework, he would still often dwell on the vision he had seen, and what Dumbledore had said to him before.

He was so confused. His natural instincts were to follow Dumbledore's advice and trust him, trust that he had his reasons, but he couldn't seem to scrub away the part of him that wondered whether Dumbledore even cared as much as he'd once thought. Sometimes it didn't seem like he cared at all anymore.

Yet unbeknownst to him, he was often being silently watched. Invisible to all, including the ghosts that roamed the Hogwarts Halls, Mavis Vermilion would often sit at the back of a classroom and watch him silently. The things that Dumbledore had told her had very much unnerved her, and she now understood why Dumbledore was keeping things from him. If Voldemort learned what Dumbledore suspected… there was no telling what he might do.

And for an entire prophecy to be made about him no less… it seemed that Dumbledore was right to think that despite everything Fairy Tail did, Harry and Voldemort would still have to settle things between them. Mavis had read many accounts of prophecies from her own world and knew that, just like with this one, they were unavoidable. They were some of the few times when somebody's fate truly was set in stone. At least in some capacity.

The poor boy.

He just couldn't seem to relax and enjoy himself at the moment for longer than a few minutes at a time. The one exception to this was when Hermione's birthday came around, making her officially sixteen. Sometimes it was strange for Harry to think that Hermione was almost an entire year older than him. There weren't even two whole months between the dates of their birthdays and he wouldn't be sixteen for some time yet. But he'd still been granted a much needed chance to unwind that day and just have fun

Harry still didn't know about Fairy Tail, but after his long conversation with Mavis he had agreed to let her be the one to decide when Harry would learn of them. The guild master was now waiting for the opportune moment to tell him as she still felt he had the right to know, and that was why she overheard the conversation that occurred as September slowly began to draw to a close and Hermione approached Harry late at night when the Common Room was mostly empty.

"Harry… have you… you know… thought any more about what we discussed before? You know… about… opposing Umbridge's attempts to get us to sit back and do nothing for a year in her classes?"

"…Yeah… sometimes," Harry nodded, slowly, though the truth was he'd been doing it quite a lot recently.

"So what do you think? Ron and I are quite eager to get started."

"Er… well… yeah, I think it would be really cool," Ron coughed, looking a little edgy just in case Harry got angry again. "I mean… we gotta do something, right? Especially since we think we've got two enemies out there now - You-Know-Who and those weird guys that attacked the Ministry."

Mavis frowned at that, but Harry just said, "Yeah I know. But… but… I think maybe we could do it. I mean, I still think that me being the teacher is just stupid but… yeah, if you guys want to learn I'll definitely help you with the same things you helped me with last year."

"Ah, well there's the thing Harry. It's not like it would just be Ron and me doing it," Hermione's face lit up at his acceptance. "I was thinking that we should invite anyone who might be interested. From any of the years, any of the houses… it's not just us that are in danger after all, Harry. It's all of us. We all need to learn how to defend ourselves against a Death Eater. Or against anyone like them."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… exactly how many are you hoping I'm going to teach?"

"You never know. There could be as many as fifty students who'd be prepared to do this and that's even with selective asking."

"I hope you don't ask anyone in Slytherin," Ron shuddered. "There's not a single one of them that wouldn't rat us out straight away."

"I had no immediate plans to involve Slytherins," Hermione shrugged. "But you never know. There might even be one or two of them that might want to learn. But… for now I think you may be right."

"Nobody will go for it, Hermione," Harry shook his head. "Everyone in this school thinks I'm a nutter, remember?"

"I think you might be surprised," Hermione smiled. "The general public might be influenced by the _Daily Prophet_ Harry but we students… we know the real you better than they do. There are probably more out there that believe you than you think."

Harry hesitated, not sure what to say to that, before he murmured, "Well, even if that's true, how the heck am I supposed to teach that many people? Let alone without getting caught?"

"We can worry about that later when we know how many are coming," Hermione waved it away. "But first we need to talk about a meeting for the first time. Somewhere secure where none of the staff will overhear us… do you guys know anything about the Hog's Head?"

And from where she was sitting on the back of an empty armchair, a slow smile spread across Mavis' face.

* * *

A couple more days passed, and Harry and Ron could only sit back and let Hermione do all the arrangements, preparing for the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend and what it might contain along while they were constantly doing their best to finish homework that Hermione had easily completed a while ago.

But draw away from Hogwarts Castle and its various problems. Draw away from Grimmauld Place, draw away from the Ministry, draw aware from where Voldemort has made his main base… and pull focus down into the centre of the Forest of Dean.

There, nestled far from the path and mostly hidden in dense foliage that were scattered on top of it when it crashed to the ground two weeks ago… lay another Fairy Sphere.

There was also a squirrel hopping across the ground, picking up an acorn in its little paws and chewing on it briefly to ensure it wouldn't germinate before the light of the Fairy Sphere drew its needy eyes. The Sphere pulsed feebly several times before suddenly dissipating, light particles wafting up into the sky and fading away into nothingness like a small flight of tiny fairy lights dancing about like fireflies before they vanished.

For a while there was nothing, before sounds of scuffling could be heard in amongst the leaves. The squirrel watched the branches start to wave and sniffed the air, blanching when it caught a strong smell that it knew very well. The smell of a human.

And with that, the squirrel bolted into the undergrowth just as a slender arm shoved a tangle of leaves aside and a single woman pushed herself to her feet, grunting irritably and brushing at her arms in an attempt to get rid of some of the dirt encrusting them, shaking her head to allow leaves to fall from her brown tresses and peering out at her surroundings through the lenses of her glasses.

"Alright… where the hell am I?" asked Evergreen.


	17. A Bad Time to be Queen

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 17:- A Bad Time to be Queen**

* * *

"You know, I think its really good of you to continue to shelter us like this, Aberforth-san," Wendy murmured quietly as she continued to dry the inside of a wine glass with a little dishcloth. "What if the Ministry was to come in here to try and find us?"

"No talking about that now, girl," Aberforth said gruffly. "We're about to open up for the day. Don't want anybody hearing you mentioning anything about hiding from the Ministry of Magic. Or anything about Fairy Tail."

"Still, Wendy has a point," Charla noted from where she was sitting next to Wendy on the bar. "This place isn't under the protection of a Fidelius Charm like Grimmauld Place is. Why would you continue to shelter us?"

"Heh, Ministry never comes in here," Aberforth shook his head. "And why would they? They don't know I've got a connection to Albus. I'm not suspicious to them."

"They don't?" Wendy asked. "But you're his brother. How can they not know that?"

"Oh they know he's got a brother. But it's pretty common knowledge that we don't exactly get along."

"Why is that?" Happy questioned.

"It's none of your concern," Aberforth glowered at the cat, making him jump and almost fall back off the counter. "Let's just say we had a pretty big difference of opinion at one point in our lives and we've never exactly made up for it since. More to the point why are you cats still in here? You know you can't be seen when the customers walk in. You don't exactly look like normal cats."

"That would be because we're not," Happy grinned helpfully.

"Why do you let Wendy stay in here then?" Charla asked. "People in this world don't have blue hair after all."

"We have magic, remember," Aberforth snorted. "An unusual hair colour might make people look a second longer than they would do but its not something suspicious. Long as she keeps that mark on her shoulder hidden away you should be fine."

"No problem with this outfit," Wendy smiled, looking down at herself. She wasn't wearing her usual shoulderless green dress with the yellow armbands. She was wearing instead the white shirt under a blue-rimmed black blazer with a yellow sash that had been given to her by Horologium when the Clock Spirit had saved her life. She and some of the others had headed back to Tenrou Island at one point in the last few weeks to salvage the remains of their campsite that Acnologia had blown away with a mere roar. They'd managed to recover quite a few things, including some of their own clothes and possessions, which saved them from having to borrow too many outfits from the others.

"If I might ask you a question now?" Aberforth turned to look at Wendy. "Why did you come back here? Why did you not just stay at Grimmauld Place with the rest of your friends?"

"…Well… I thought you might… be lonely, Aberforth-san. Nobody should have to live on their own," Wendy murmured.

Aberforth stared at her for several moments, momentarily nonplussed. "I… I'm fine. You don't need to think about me like that, kid."

"Maybe not, but you ain't going to stop her," Gajeel's voice came from the door to the back, the Iron Dragon Slayer grinning lopsidedly. "All that mushy crap… it's just her nature to feel it, I guess."

"My theory is she got it from having such a motherly dragon for a foster parent," Pantherlily chuckled. "And if I'm right, I'd guess that Metalicana was a rather crass and standoff-ish sort, wouldn't you say, Gajeel?"

"You implying something, Lily?" Gajeel scowled. "Come here - I'll box your ears!"

"Not in my bar you won't," Aberforth said. "Get in the back, all the rest of you. I'm heading over to open the bar. And somebody milk the goats for me."

"Ah, not the bloody goats again!" Gajeel snarled as the Exceed followed him into the back. Aberforth paused by the door to look back at Wendy through the corner of his eye as she set another wine glass back under the counter. He couldn't remember the last time his bar had looked so clean, although it was still rather messy.

She really was so considerate. Just like Ariana. And although he'd deny it… Aberforth did quite enjoy having them around. All of them. They weren't boring at the very least.

And with that thought, he opened the bar.

* * *

For a while it was just the usual sort, the occasional witch or wizard appearing and trying to keep to themselves and most often hiding their faces. Aberforth and Wendy went through the day as usual, serving them their orders but mostly not saying anything. Occasionally a loud crashing noise came from the back, indicating Gajeel had gotten annoyed with a goat again and had kicked something over.

But nothing interesting happened until about midday.

When it suddenly got very interesting indeed.

The door opened and three Hogwarts students walked in, two boys with black and red hair between them and a brunette girl. Aberforth looked up, momentarily baffled, before he realised that it must be the first weekend trip to the village for the students this year. He'd totally forgotten about it. After all, it was not often that students actually came into his bar. They, along with most everyone else, preferred the Three Broomsticks. And even these ones looked a little edgy. They held a brief, muffled conversation with each other by the door, as if concerned they'd be attacked if they took another step further, before slowly making their way to the bar.

"Hello," Wendy said brightly, as she always did. "Can we help you?"

"Can we have three Butterbeers please?" the redheaded boy asked.

"Sure," Wendy smiled and scooped the bottles, reaching up to plant them on the bar. "That will be… um… how much again?"

"Six Sickles," Aberforth replied gruffly, but he'd just noticed who the black-haired boy was, and his eyes had gone up towards his forehead, locking momentarily on the lightning bolt shaped scar visible there. The boy coughed and handed over the money to Wendy, before turning away and very deliberately smoothing down his fringe to try and cover the scar. He looked like he very much wished he'd decided to cover his face too now.

"Enjoy your stay," Wendy smiled.

"Hold on," the brunette girl suddenly frowned. "How old are you?"

"Um… twelve," Wendy replied.

"Then why haven't I seen you before? Surely someone at your age should be in their second year at Hogwarts by now at least, but I don't remember seeing you there."

"Um…" Wendy faltered. Nobody had actually asked her that before, possibly because they either didn't make the connection or didn't care. She didn't know what to say.

"She's a Squib," Aberforth came to her rescue. "Going to a school to learn magic wouldn't help my great niece learn what she doesn't have."

"Oh?" the girl blushed slightly. "I'm sorry… I… I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay," Wendy replied. "I've got used to it by now. Enjoy your Butterbeers."

The girl nodded and turned away, though the redheaded boy stayed stood there for a moment, staring at Wendy. Wendy blinked and opened her mouth to speak, but wasn't entirely sure what to say. The boy was frowning slightly as he looked at her. Or more precisely, looked at her hair.

"Ron… what are you doing?" the girl hissed, nudging the boy in the ribs and making him gasp and redden slightly.

"Sorry…" the boy coughed, grabbing his drink and heading off with the others to the back of the bar.

"What was that about?" Wendy shifted uncomfortably, looking up at Aberforth.

"Damned if I know," Aberforth grunted. "Some people just can't help but stop and stare at something unusual I guess. But I tell you what, this is quite a surprise. That boy with the black hair there. You know who that is?"

"No."

"That's Harry Potter. The kid that Voldemort himself is so hellbent on taking out."

"Really?" Wendy gasped, watching the boy as he settled down to the table with his friends. He looked so… ordinary. Skinny, short, round glasses on his face… at first glance you probably wouldn't think that there was anything special about him at all. And yet… that was the boy she'd been hearing about since she'd got here. Sirius' godson. The one that had beaten the odds so many times and managed to come out mostly on top.

And one critical player in the fight against Voldemort that Fairy Tail had yet to introduce themselves to.

"Um… I'll be… right back…" Wendy murmured, as she headed through the door to where the others were. They needed to know about this.

* * *

"What was wrong with you there, Ron?" Hermione hissed at him. "You can't just stare at a little girl just because she's a Squib. That's rude on every level."

"That wasn't why I was staring," Ron glowered at her. "I was staring because of her hair."

"Yeah… her hair's blue. So what?" Harry asked. "She probably had it changed for her."

"You really don't remember?" Ron asked. "I told you. That guy who jumped me two weeks ago. The one that Dumbledore said was extra security for the school? He told me he was looking for a little girl with blue hair. And she's the only girl with blue hair that I've seen around here."

"…Oh yeah…" Hermione's eyes widened, turning back to the bar, only to discover the girl had disappeared. "I forgot about that. You think that might be her? What was the girl's name?"

"Um… Wendy I think…"

"How strange? Maybe we could ask her if she can tell us more about these guards."

"Interesting as this is, we did come here for a different reason, remember?" Harry raised his voice a little. "Hermione, how many people will be coming?"

"Oh… a few…" Hermione replied vaguely. "I asked anyone who I thought might be interested. And who I thought could probably keep a secret."

But when said interested people arrived… and then kept arriving… Harry found himself glowering at Hermione a little. This was not a number he would categorise as a few.

* * *

"So that's the kid, huh?" Gajeel murmured as he peered around the door, not used to acting sneaky, but wanting to stay out of the sight of all those students that were filing in. "He's shorter than I expected."

"What are we going to do?" Wendy asked.

"Do?" Charla looked up at her. "Do we have to do anything? He's just happened to walk in here where we're hiding out. We don't actually have to go over and introduce ourselves."

"I know we don't have to but… shouldn't we?" Wendy asked. "I mean… we have promised to help out in the fight against his mortal enemy. Surely he should know we're involved."

"Dumbledore gave Master Mavis permission to let Harry know when she felt the moment was right," Pantherlily replied. "She is technically our leader. I think that she should be the one to decide when we actually greet him."

"But Master Mavis isn't here and he is," Happy pointed out. "Does that mean we should do something about it anyway? Take advantage of the opportunity or something like that?"

"That's what I was thinking," Wendy nodded.

"I dunno," Gajeel grunted as he turned back to look down at the others. "I ain't normally one for caution but remember just about everyone in this world thinks we're the enemy. Probably including him. This ain't a situation where you can just march out there and say, 'Hey, we're Fairy Tail. Fancy a drink?' It'd freak him out. Him and all the others out there with him."

"That's true," Wendy bit her lip.

"I didn't know you could think things through like that, Gajeel," Happy laughed.

"What d'you say?" Gajeel snarled. Happy yelped and was about to scream that he was sorry before Charla clamped a paw over his mouth to keep him quiet.

"Gajeel's right. We should wait for Mavis' approval," she said. "Let's just get back to what we were doing."

"You kidding?" Gajeel snorted. "I'm not moving. I want to hear what's going on."

"That's eavesdropping, Gajeel," Lily frowned disapprovingly.

"Geehee. What's wrong with that?" Gajeel snickered. "Oi, little girl, you better get back out there. Aberforth might need some help serving all those people."

"Oh… okay," Wendy nodded and hurried past her fellow Dragon Slayer back to the bar.

The crowd was getting steadily larger as more and more students filed in, most of them with red and gold symbols emblazoned on their black robes but several with either blue and silver or yellow and black. But Wendy stopped when she noticed one particular person had entered the room - Luna Lovegood, the girl that she'd met at the campus that day. And about two seconds later, Luna's eyes locked onto her as well. The dirty-blonde haired girl gave her a vague but bright smile and seemed to drift over to the bar. For a moment, Wendy wondered whether she'd actually floated.

"Hello Wendy," said Luna. "I wondered if I might run into you somewhere in Hogsmeade. It seemed to be one of the most logical places for you to go."

"Um… hi Luna-san," Wendy smiled back, slightly nervously, not entirely sure what to expect next.

"So, you're a Fairy Tail mage, aren't you?"

"SSHH!" Wendy hissed, looking around to see if anyone heard what Luna had said but it seemed the noise that the crowd of students were making had drowned out her words. "Luna-san… you… you mustn't say that. You know that the Ministry will be looking for us."

"So it is true," Luna said knowingly and Wendy froze, realising she'd just answered Luna's question without meaning to.

"Um… well… yeah…"

"You know, some people say that Wrackspurts originally come from another dimension, but that they were transported across through shared dreams that were being had by people from our universe with people from another. Do they have Wrackspurts in your world too?"

"…I don't know… Luna-san, please… can you promise you won't tell anyone? We really don't mean any harm - none of us. Not me and not my friends. This whole thing with the Ministry's just a really, really big misunderstanding."

"I know. My Dad says that the higher ranking members of the Ministry will sacrifice anything to gain further power. I bet that the Minister thought you and your friends might even be a threat to his Heliopath army."

"His… what?"

"Heliopath army. They're fire spirits that roam across the land, destroying everything in their path and burning anything that they touch, and they're almost impossible to tame because they usually like to pick fights with everything they can…"

There was the sound of cracking wood coming from the back and both Luna and Wendy looked round at the door. The outer edge of the door had splintered as if it had been squeezed too hard and they could both here the sounds of hysterical cackling coming from the other side, along with a few other voices trying to shush it up.

"There are more of you," Luna noted.

"Er… yeah. Luna-san, we really can't talk about this now. Just… can you keep our secret?"

"I don't usually keep secrets. My Dad says that keeping secrets is what led to our government becoming so corrupt in the first place. But I have been keeping this one so far, even when I figured out who you really were."

"Thank you. Then how about you meet me in the alley beside this bar when everyone's gone and I can introduce you to my friends?"

"Okay, see you then," Luna turned around and wandered off, just like that, allowing Wendy to rush back into the back where Gajeel was furiously trying to stop laughing but had mostly got it under control. "Sorry," he snorted. "But it sounded like that girl was describing the Salamander just then. Flaming things that destroyed everything in their path… oh I hope I get to fight one of those things one day."

"It did sound a little like Natsu-san, didn't it?" Wendy giggled.

And as Luna made her way back to the table she was met by Ginny Weasley, who had noticed her talking to Wendy across the room. "Do you know that girl, Luna?" she asked.

"In some ways yes. In some ways very much no," was Luna's only reply as she took her seat, leaving Ginny momentarily bewildered before she shrugged it off and went to help Fred and George round up the drinks.

Eventually the crowd quietened down until every one of them was staring at Harry, as if waiting for him to speak. But it was Hermione that stood up and began speaking, causing all eyes and ears to swivel to her, including those of the Fairy Tail mages, though Wendy tried hard to make herself look busy.

"Erm… hello everyone… thank… thank you all for coming here today. I… I know it was short notice and this is probably taking a big chunk out of your Hogsmeade visit but… well it's really important and um… well you all know that, don't you? We're here to… to discuss the possibility of us studying Defence Against the Dark Arts… properly… instead of reading from a book and boring ourselves out of our minds…"

"Reading a book is boring Hermione Granger out of your mind?" George Weasley snickered.

"Shock, horror! Alert the media!" Fred laughed.

"Thank you…" Hermione coughed. "You know what I meant. Actually practicing how to defend ourselves instead of just the theory behind it. It's no good knowing what a defensive spell does without practicing it after all and… we won't get that from under Umbridge…"

"Got that right," said Terry Boot. "How's she expecting us to pass our exams with that junk?"

"I'm not entirely certain that she is," Hermione replied. "But as you all know… we're hoping that Harry will consent to teach us. And really, given the circumstances, he is the most qualified for the job in a lot of ways."

"I'm not sure 'qualified' is the right word, Hermione," Harry muttered, a little darkly. "Or the word 'most.'"

"Regardless of who or who isn't the best choice for teacher," Hermione ploughed on. "We need to learn how to defend ourselves from… what's really out there. And you all know what that is. Even if the Ministry want to hush it all up… it really is true that… Voldemort's returned."

The loud and fearful reaction that spread around the gathering made Gajeel snort from where he was hidden behind the door. "Morons," he muttered. "Nobody from our world's scared of using Zeref's name."

"Oi, have a little more respect, Gajeel," Pantherlily nudged his foot. "Voldemort is a much more recent threat to them before his rebirth than Zeref was to us."

And so the meeting progressed on, most of the members of the audience adding in their opinions, positive or otherwise. It seemed that the majority of them were strongly in favour of the idea, though one or two didn't look quite as keen as the others. A girl with reddish-blonde hair was looking a little shifty throughout the whole thing and the loud, blonde-haired Hufflepuff named Zacharias Smith seemed to be trying his hardest to make himself as distasteful as possible. As he tried to grill Harry for information about an experience that was obviously quite traumatic, Pantherlily had to actually grow to his battle form and grab Gajeel by the shoulders to stop him from walking out into the bar and thumping the boy in the face.

But most of them lavished praise on Harry for all the many achievements that he'd accomplished in the last four years, which made Harry look more uncomfortable than anything. And the expression on Harry's face when a certain asian girl started contributing to the compliments - an expression that looked like he was struggling to stop his insides from floating out of himself - was not missed by Wendy.

But in the end, every one of them signed their names onto the peace of parchment that Hermione presented to them. And eventually they all began to file their way out of the bar. Luna caught Wendy's eye briefly before she wandered out with such a dreamy expression that Wendy wondered whether she would forget entirely. But she excused herself from the bar shortly afterwards.

Eventually Harry, Ron and Hermione were the only ones left, and Hermione rolled up the parchment with a broad smile on her face as they stepped up to head out. "Well, I think that went really well," she said. "Not only did they all sign but most of them looked really keen on the idea, even the students that are older than you, Harry. What does that tell you?"

"That they're mad?" Harry asked. "I dunno why Angelina came after she's been so mad at me recently for missing all those Quidditch practices."

"Obviously because despite her temper and dedication to her sport, she believes you, Harry. Every one of them do."

"Except possibly that Zacharias git," Ron interjected. "But after what he did I don't really care what he thinks anyway. But we did tell you Harry that more people would believe you than we thought, didn't we? Most of that lot in there were people you knew. We all know you're not mad."

"Not all of them though," Harry murmured. "Seamus didn't turn up."

"He'll come round, mate," Ron clapped him on the shoulder. "They all will eventually. Sooner or later."

"Considering what's out there… I'd much rather it was sooner."

"Yeah… anyway I didn't really know who all of those people were. I understand why you asked most of them, Hermione, but not all of them."

"Well some of them just overheard me talking about it with the others. In retrospect I probably should have been more careful but alls well that ends well. Although Michael Corner and his friends only came because Michael's dating Ginny of course."

"SAY WHAT!?" Ron roared.

But before he could launch into a barrage of questions, Harry suddenly said, "Hey… isn't that Luna?"

The trio stopped by the edge of the Hog's Head, staring down the alleyway at the side of the dingy bar, and sure enough there was Luna, with her head cocked to one side and her eyes bulging a little more than usual. Standing next to her was the blue-haired girl from the bar, but Luna wasn't talking to her. She was talking to someone just out of sight, through an open door.

"What's she doing down there?" Hermione asked, sounding worried. "Who's she talking to?"

"I dunno, probably the bartender. But there's that girl again," Ron noted. "You reckon we should go ask her what her name is. See if she really is this Wendy person?"

"That's really none of our business, Ron. We can't just… Harry wait…!"

But Harry was already in motion, walking down the side-street towards where the fourth year girl was standing. He already knew the Hog's Head wasn't really the place to go to if you wanted to talk to someone trustworthy and concern for Luna's well-being moved him before he could think about it. Ron and Hermione quickly caught up with him, though they both looked nervous.

Both Luna and the girl had their backs partially turned to the three of them. So they didn't see them coming until Harry walked over and said, "Hey Luna. What's going… on…?"

"Oh, hello Harry," Luna smiled.

But Harry didn't reply because he'd just spotted the guy that Luna was talking to and had to keep from taking a step back, his hand almost immediately going for his wand. He was a real bruiser of a man with a strong build, metal studded face and a wild long hair. But his reaction was absolutely nothing compared to Ron's. Ron yelled and stumbled backwards so fast that he crashed into the wall, eyes wide as Galleons and pointing up at the man.

"Harry! Hermione! That's him! That's the guy that attacked me while doing my rounds two weeks ago!"

"What?! You mean that's the extra…" Hermione started before halting, staring open mouthed at Gajeel's left shoulder. Harry's eyes followed her gaze and locked on the large, black symbol emblazoned on the man's skin.

"…Fairy Tail…" he breathed. "You… you're one of those Fairy Tail guys!"

"Well, this just got awkward," Gajeel muttered.

"Quick! Let's go!" Ron yelled as he pushed himself to his feet, grabbing Hermione and starting to try and pull her back down the alleyway, but they stopped in their tracks when a small blue cat with white wings suddenly whooshed out of the door next to Gajeel.

"Wait! Stop! Don't go!" Happy cried. "You can't tell anybody we're here. We can't let the wrong people find out about it!"

"What the…!" Ron gasped, and their momentary hesitation was all the time that Gajeel needed to suddenly barrel out of the door, rebound off a wall and leap straight over their heads. Harry turned and whipped off a Stunning Spell at Gajeel as he passed but Gajeel's skin changed to iron scales in a second flat and the spell rebounded off his arm to hit a wall instead. He came crashing to the ground behind them, cutting off their way out of the alleyway.

"Oi, you ain't going anywhere until you've heard us out," he smirked, as both Ron and Hermion also drew their wands.

"Oh… oh my God…" Hermione blustered, staring wide eyed at Gajeel's metallic skin, her jaw feeling like it was going to hit the floor. "I don't… I don't believe it… you're actually made of metal…!"

"Observant, aren't you?" Gajeel chuckled.

And even in the face of what looked like terrifying danger, Hermione couldn't hold her curiosity at bay. "Can you actually turn your arm into a blade?"

Gajeel snorted and lifted his arm, morphing it into the Iron Dragon Sword in an instant flat. Ron looked like he was going to fate, Hermione looked astounded, Harry looked just plain shocked and Luna… looked vaguely interested.

"Perhaps doing that in the street where anyone could walk past and see you is not a good idea, Gajeel," Pantherlily said as he stepped out from the door with Charla.

"Good point," Gajeel nodded, morphing back until he looked like an ordinary human again. "Still… this is a rather untimely development."

"Well… we were going to meet them eventually, right?" Wendy said a little sheepishly. "Guess… sooner is probably better than later."

"Aye… and it was probably always going to be a shock when it happened so this is as good a way as any," Happy agreed.

"Perhaps, but its still not ideal," Charla wrinkled her nose.

"Okay, can somebody else tell me that they're seeing talking cats… just in case its just me and I really need to go and see Madam Pomfrey," Ron mumbled.

"They are certainly interesting," Luna noted as she crouched down on her knees in front of the cats. "What species are you?"

"We're Exceed, Miss Luna," Lily bowed his head slightly. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Welcome to our universe. We hope you enjoy your stay," Luna smiled as she if she was some hotel attendant greeting an ordinary customer.

"Hold on a second," Harry looked around suspiciously, as if not sure what direction to point his wand in before settling on Gajeel because he looked like the biggest threat. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think we're doing?" Gajeel raised a studded brow. "We're hiding from those imbeciles you call a government."

"Because you're the ones that broke into the Ministry two weeks ago and trashed the place," Harry pointed out. "To be honest it seems fair enough to me that they'd be looking for you."

Gajeel growled. "I saw the stories those jokes sent out to the public. Shouldn't always believe everything you read, kid."

"Are you saying you didn't trash the Ministry?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, we did," Gajeel grinned savagely. "We definitely did."

"But it was because they had our friends," Wendy pushed her way past Harry to step between him and Gajeel. "Please, you have to believe us. We only broke into the Ministry because they had some of our friends held prisoner and we were trying to break them out."

"We didn't try, we succeeded. Geehee. But the girl's right," Gajeel nodded.

"What and we're supposed to believe you're just some innocent party?" Ron asked, glaring at the Iron Dragon Slayer. "You broke into our school and attacked me even before you attacked the Ministry."

"Because he was looking for me," Wendy protested. "Because we were lost in a strange world we didn't know and I got separated from everyone else. Gajeel-san was just trying to find me and make sure I was safe. He didn't mean to hurt you."

"Though he can be a little scary," Happy muttered.

"Wait… wait… you're saying all that stuff they said in the papers… about you being from another universe… that's… really true?"

"Well, put it this way," Charla said as she stepped over to Hermione and folded her paws, looking up at her with a slightly deadpan expression. "Is there anything like us in your universe? Is there anyone like him, who can turn his arms into swords, or her who can shoot tornadoes out of her mouth. It was her that damaged your Quidditch pitch by the way."

"You did that!?" Ron gasped, staring at Wendy in amazement.

"Yes, it was very noble of her," Luna said conversationally. "She was defending me from the rather unpleasant bullying I was receiving from the Slytherin team. And the result was quite fascinating."

"I… I don't believe it…" Hermione gasped, a hand over her mouth. "Another universe. People and creatures that really are from another universe. This is… this is… astonishing. I can't process it."

But while Harry was also astonished he was also not so ready to drop his guard yet. "Why should we trust anything you say?" he asked. "You've already admitted to attacking the Ministry. How do we know the rest of it isn't a pack of lies?"

Gajeel fixed him with a flint-like eye and said, "Same reason why you believe that your godfather, Sirius Black, is innocent."

Harry stepped backwards as if he'd been physically struck. "You… you know about Sirius?"

"Indeed we do," said a voice from up above, prompting everyone to turn their heads to the edge of the roof, where Mavis Vermilion was standing, staring down at the scene below. "We've met him in fact, and he seems to be a thoroughly pleasant man. And based on everything we've heard about you, Harry James Potter, Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger, we know you to be good people too."

"Who are you?" Harry asked, as Mavis stepped off the roof and slowly floated to the ground next to him.

"I am Mavis Vermilion, founder of the Fairy Tail guild. And I suggest that we all adjourn into the back of the Hog's Head to continue this conversation. There's a lot that we have to discuss."

* * *

"Ugh, does this forest never end? What the hell am I supposed to do in a place like this? Where's a nice road when you need one? How am I supposed to trudge through all this foliage like this while wearing heels? And for that matter, where the heck is 'here' anyway?"

Such was the almost continuous tirade that spilled from the lips of the bespectacled brunette woman making her way through the trees of the Forest of Dean. Evergreen was not sure how long it had been since she'd woken up in the middle of an unfamiliar woodland all alone, but she was sure it had been hours now. It certainly felt like hours, particularly on her feet. While she was wearing wide two-inch heels on her feet rather than full six-inches, they still were not exactly the most comfortable or practical of footwear to have on when forcing your way through bushes and patches of mud. And that was what she'd been doing for a while now.

Not for the first time, Evergreen considered just trying to fly out of this place. But while she was certainly capable of flying thanks to her Fairy Magic, her magic was not really built for long distance flight. It was more designed to help her make fast dodges and swoop in to attack at speed. Maintaining it for prolonged periods took up quite a bit of magic. And she was already feeling tired from all this walking so it seemed that preserving her magic might be the better idea.

But that didn't stop all this walking from being irritating as hell. Especially considering she didn't seem to be getting anywhere with it.

Despite the sound of a gentle breeze wafting through the trees and all the local birdsong, it still felt horribly quiet to Evergreen. Hence the tirade. Not only was it genuine griping but she was attempting to calm her nerves with the sound of her own voice. Because what she wanted to be hearing was the sound of her friends, the rest of Fairy Tail, who were supposed to all be here with her. But they weren't. She was alone. And considering the last thing she remembered was a huge black dragon about to blast them with an incredible breath attack… she was actually rather frightened.

Not that she'd admit that to anyone of course. But she could admit it to herself. Why wasn't everyone here? How in the world could she have gone from Tenrou Island from one moment to… this place… in the next? She was cold, dirty and very, very lost.

Eventually she came to a stop and placed her fingers to her temples, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to calm her frayed nerves.

"So ironic," she muttered to herself, looking out through the trees at the seemingly empty forest around her. "Whenever all those boys got loud and angry and started fighting each other all I wanted them to do was shut up. And now that I've got peace and quiet… all I want is for all the noise to come back. Because the noise would mean… I wouldn't be alone."

Sighing and deciding she needed a rest, Evergreen stepped over to a large oak tree and slowly slid her back down its trunk until she was sitting at its base, hugging her legs and resting her chin on her knees. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so… miserable. She'd not felt like this even when Laxus had been expelled from the guild for trying to take it over. Because back then, even though she was losing her greatest idol, she still had the rest of the Raijin Tribe with her. And she still had the rest of Fairy Tail, who she began to open up to a lot more after that. No matter what she did, she always had someone there in Fairy Tail to support her. She'd never been alone.

She hated being alone. She'd never really told anyone this, not even the other Raijin Tribe members, but she usually couldn't stand solitude. It was part of the reason she'd joined the Raijin Tribe since they were almost always together. And even when she went into her room at Fairy Hills she disliked too much isolation. It was part of the reason she'd filled her room with statues, other than the fact she loved art. It didn't feel quite so lonely with all the stone people there with her.

And she hadn't felt so alone as she did right now since before she'd joined the guild.

"I will not cry," she murmured to herself. "I will not be so weak as to cry. You watch. I will not…" she swallowed, realising she was talking to nobody and that just upset her more. "What if I never see… any of them again?"

One face in particular flashed into her mind - Elfman's. Which surprised her slightly considering she assumed she'd be more likely to think of Freed or Bickslow or Laxus. But… Elfman was the one there with her throughout all the events of Tenrou Island. And she could just imagine him saying now, 'Pick yourself up and keep going, Ever! A Man doesn't break down and cry because he's all alone!'

"I'm not a Man, you dolt," Evergreen muttered as if she was actually replying to him. It was at this point that she'd probably hit him in the head with her fan. But what she wouldn't give to have him here right now, encouraging her, pushing forward with his bullheaded determination. That was sure what she needed right now.

But as she sat there brooding quietly, she heard something. Perhaps if she hadn't been so focused on how quiet it was she would not have heard it all, but… yes there it was again - quite a distinct rustling noise coming from somewhere close by. Like a bunch of leaves shifting in the wind… or by something else.

Evergreen froze. Her expression didn't change and she fought to keep herself from looking suspicious but she focused all of her concentration into her hearing, listening so hard she felt as though she could hear a pin drop. But she didn't hear a pin drop. She heard another rustle, ever so faintly. And another. They were coming from the treetops… and seemed to be getting closer.

Slowly closing her eyes, Evergreen allowed herself to give in even further to her hearing. The rustling slowly stopped to be replaced by teensy little scratching noises. Like something sharp on wood. It was directly above her now. And still getting nearer. There was only one thing Evergreen could conclude… something was crawling its way down the tree trunk. Towards her.

And that something was definitely not a squirrel.

When the scratching was about ten feet above her head, Evergreen acted. She threw herself forwards, diving into the air and extending her four fairy-like wings just a high-pitched wailing shriek erupted from above her. She rolled sideways to dodge whatever it was as it leapt at her, and as she looked around she caught a brief glimpse of something with large pupilless yellow eyes and an obscenely long, pointed nose hiss at her before it vanished sprinted off into the foliage.

But almost instantly she could hear scuttling as whatever it was whooshed its way through the tree branches back towards her. She dodged backwards as it came flying at her again from an entirely different angle, where it hit a tree trunk and rebounded off it to come at her again, moving so fast that it appeared only as a brown and green blur. This time Evergreen responded offensively and whipped around in the air to deliver a cracking roundhouse kick to the creature's gut and sent it flying backwards into the bushes again with a grating squeal. But the silence was only momentary before she heard the scuttling again and saw branches shaking as whatever it was moved in a rapid zig-zag to come back towards her.

"Alright, whatever you are," Evergreen's eyes narrowed, bringing her hands together in front of her and a yellowish glow appearing between her palms. "I've had enough."

"Gggrrryyaaaahhh!" the thing screeched as it erupted out of the leaves again, flying right at her face. But Evergreen ducked and rolled, swinging herself underneath it as it sailed over her head. She spun around and flung her arms out wide, dragging the yellowish glow out with her as she murmured:-

"Yōsei Kijū… LEPRECHAUN!"

Even as the creature vanished back into the branches and tried to scuttle away, hundreds of small, needle-like energy blasts were materialised in front of Evergreen and fired into the foliage like bullets from a machine gun. A machine gun with a very wide range. Most of them missed the target but there were so many of them that the creature was still pelted with dozens of little needles and it squealed, dropping out of the trees and landing on the ground on its back, singed and cursing.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!" it hissed, looking up at Evergreen. "What is it? What in the woods is it? Is not human!"

"So, you can speak, can you?" Evergreen grimaced as she alighted on the ground in front of the creature and created a particularly large energy bullet in her hand that she aimed at it. "What are you? Why did you attack me? And don't even think about running off or you might find this one a little more difficult to take."

The creature looked up at her and for the first time Evergreen got a good look at it. It was like some kind of gremlin creature, about three feet tall. Its yellow eyes flashed at her from over the top of its foot-long nose that ended in a sharp point. Its mouth was filled with sharp teeth and its body seemed to be rather spindly, with its arms covered in what looked like thorns. It almost looked like it was made of wood, but it wasn't. In fact, she could see its ribs quite clearly through its bark-like skin, but it did look have what looked like a crest of leaves sticking out the back of its head. It was rather charred by Evergreen's attack, and Evergreen hadn't been using full power. If she had, she wondered if she might have killed the thing.

But whatever it was the creature proceeded to ignore her questions and asked, "What is you? You is not normal witch! Wings! No wand! Throwing light balls. You is more like fairy, but you is human sized. What is you!"

Evergreen's eyes widened. "Did you just call me a fairy?"

"Is that what you is?" the creature hissed. "I has never seen fairy like you before."

"But you have seen fairies?" Evergreen gasped.

"Of course I is seeing fairies. Fairies live in this wood. Comes outs at night, glowy, glowy. But they is nothing like you. Is you special Fairy?"

"Oh yes," Evergreen smirked, lowering her her hand and striking a slight pose, one hand moving up to tousle her hair and the other wrapping around her waist while she stuck one leg out. "Yes, I am a very special Fairy indeed. You see… I'm a Fairy Queen."

"Really?" the creature seemed interested, pushing itself up onto its backside and leering at her. "You is Queen? You is royalty?"

"Indeed I is… I mean, am!" Evergreen shook her head and smirked. "There's one that goes by the name of Titania that claims to be the Queen of the Fairies, but I've always said I should be Titania. I am the one with the Fairy Magic. I am the rightful Fairy Queen."

"You is special fairy. Yes, easy to see. Humans no have wings, so Fairy you is. Making sense now," the creature grinned toothily.

"And what, might I ask, are you?" Evergreen pointed a finger at him. "What possessed you to try sneaking up and attacking me, hm? Tell me that and I may have mercy on you."

"Thousands pardons, Majesty," the creature bowed its head and raised its arms in quite the ridiculous pose because it ended up sticking its nose into the ground. "Thought you was trespassing human. Humans tasty so me hunting."

Needless to say, while being referred to as a special fairy had gone right to Evergreen's head, that brought her right back down to earth. She had been about to explain that actually she was a human, unfortunately, until that last sentence pulled her up short.

"You eat humans!" Evergreen's eyes widened. "What are you?"

"What me? Erkling. Me is Erkling," the creature looked up and suddenly those teeth looked a whole lot more menacing. Evergreen swallowed. She'd already proven she could handle this Erkling creature so she had nothing to fear from it. Nevertheless, she'd rather she was out of its company as soon as possible…

…on the other hand… she could use a guide to get her out of the forest. And he seemed to have respect for the Fairy Queen.

"Yes… well… I was just visiting this forest on my… annual rounds to visit all the Fairies of this land," she quickly improvised, drawing herself up regally and putting on an air of superiority… which wasn't that hard for her, honestly. "But this time I got separated from my… royal escort. If you would be so kind as to escort me to the edge of this forest, I will ensure that the Fairies rain gifts down upon you."

"Oh, Fairy Queen very giving," the Erkling pushed itself to its feet, slightly unsteadily due to its injuries but with its head still bowed. "Think me does what Fairy Queen says, yes. Is Fairy Queen all fairies ruler?"

"Oh yes, without doubt. All fairies are my loyal subjects," Evergreen tossed her hair. "They obey me without question and would do absolutely anything just to take a look at me. Ah, it's a hard life to be so loved."

The Erkling gave a rather savage grin and said, "All fairies devoted. All fairies love. So lucky to meet."

"Indeed you are," Evergreen smiled. "Now, be a good Erkling and escort me to the nearest edge of the forest as I asked."

"Oh, escort we shall!" the Erkling snickered. "Escort we shall!"

"Wait… we?" Evergreen's eyes widened. And a split second later all hell broke loose as about a dozen brownish blurs launched themselves out of the foliage all around her, descending on her en masse. Evergreen had no warning and even as she tried to extend her wings and fly away, the other Erklings were upon her, several of them grabbing at her body, one landing on her head and a couple more on her legs. She thrashed and kicked, lifting into air as they swarmed all over and and spinning around to send a couple flying away, but the others clung on.

Evergreen raised her arm to prepare another attack but two Erklings suddenly seized the arm and pulled it behind her back, while more did the same with the other. Evergreen gasped as she felt something loop around her wrists to pin them together and whipped around to see that the Erkling were tying her hands with some kind of vine. And the Erklings scrambling over her had more! One of them had snagged her ankle with one and the two more were trying to haul her flailing other leg in while others were scrambling there way round and round her torso, working together to wrap more vines around her chest, trapping her arms to her sides beneath her wings and breasts.

"No! You horrible little… vermin! Get off me!" Evergreen thrashed her legs out as wide as she could to kick another two off but suddenly several of them jumped off, back down to the ground, holding trailing vines in their hands that were attached to the bindings Evergreen had already received. Evergreen was jerked down with them and yelled in undignified rage, thrashing as the Erklings massed together to haul on the vines and pull her down by her wrists and body. And she was so busy trying to fly back up that she forgot about her legs, and the Erklings still clinging to them suddenly snapped them together and bound her ankles in the blink of an eye.

"You… no! HOW DARE YOU NNNRRMMMM!" Evergreen's eyes widened as suddenly a very thick vine was looped around her head from behind and pulled between her teeth, gagging her. She coughed and tried to spit it out but it had already been tied tightly in place by surprisingly dextrous hands. She struggled madly but the Erklings hauled her back to the ground where they jumped on her with yet more vines and pinned her to the ground, rolling her onto her front.

What followed next was a mass of flailing limbs and screaming from both sides where it was almost impossible to make anything out, but in the end the result was clear as the mass of Erklings stepped back, many of them holding taut vines attached to some part of Evergreen to hold her still. Evergreen herself had been thoroughly immobilised. She was lying on her front and had more vines wrapped around her knees and thighs, as well as just beneath her shoulders and waist, pinning her wings to her back. In addition her ankles had been pulled upwards and attached to her wrists by a short vine that meant she couldn't stand up if she tried, and all ten of her fingers had been trapped together by strands of ivy, leaving her hands totally useless. Her glasses had fallen off, but they were now clutched in the hand of the first Erkling, who limped over to leer into Evergreen's terrified face.

"Fairy Queen great prize," the Erkling sneered at her. "Fairy Queen give Erklings what Erklings want. Because Fairy Queen now ours."

"MMMMRHHH!" Evergreen squirmed, but the taut ropes the Erklings were holding left her barely able to do that. With her hands secured like this she couldn't use her Fairy Magic, and her Stone Eyes wouldn't work on these creatures because they were not human.

She was at their mercy! Trapped! Helpless!

Alone!


	18. Exceeds Expectations

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 18:- Exceeds Expectations**

* * *

When Gajeel's head appeared in the fireplace, Levy jumped about three feet into the air and almost tipped her chair over.

Up until that point she had been sitting at the table in Grimmauld Place, with her hand supporting her head and kicking her legs absent-mindedly, staring into the flames and trying to muddle things out in her brain. It had been two weeks since the incident at the Ministry of Magic and yet she still couldn't seem to get the terrible images that she'd seen that day out of her head.

She was acting irrationally and she knew it. Every logical thought in her head told her that Gajeel was not the same monster he once was. And yet whenever she thought about him, the images of him attacking her flashed up in her brain once more. She tried not to think about them, but she knew just as well as anyone that trying not to think of something only makes the thought itself more important in your mind. The harder she tried to put this stupid fear behind her, the more prominent it got within her.

She sighed. It just wasn't fair. Sure Gajeel wasn't exactly a gentleman… alright, he was possibly the furthest thing that you could get from being a gentleman… and yet before the incident with Acnologia… before coming to this crazy world… she'd been fairly certain there were some… stirrings of some sort inside her.

She wasn't sure how she would classify it. It was like… she was starting to see Gajeel as more than a friend, but hadn't quite got to the stage where she could say she was in love with him. But she'd been getting there. The feelings had been there, and there had been times where she'd imagined herself trying to spend the rest of her life with him and had found it quite the pleasant thought.

But now this had happened. This thing… this ridiculous fear… had sprung up out of nowhere. She flinched whenever he looked at her, felt very uncomfortable when he was in the same room while at the same time yearning to be closer to him.

"It's not fair…" she murmured to herself, biting her lip. "I remember everything I thought about him before… so why can't I just put this behind me?"

"Oi, Levy…!"

"KYAAA!" Levy yelled at the sight of the flaming head. Gajeel's face was sticking out of the fireplace and he had something of an amused grin on his face.

"Geehee! Did I scare yeh?"

"You jerk! Why did you have to make me jump like that!? Haven't you ever heard of saying 'psst?'" Levy pouted and glared at him.

"Yeah, I have, but this way's more fun."

"Jeez, why are you so mean to me?"

"Cos its easy?"

Levy placed her hands on her hips… and then remembered who she was talking to. She coughed and suddenly looked away, shifting on the spot. "Erm… well… what… what do you want?"

Gajeel noticed the change in attitude and grimaced slightly, but just said, "Just telling you to get the others. The Potter kid's found out about us and the First Master wants us all to meet him properly. Floo over here when you're ready." And he withdrew instantly which allowed Levy to sigh in relief and run a hand over her face. Just for about half a minute there it had been like old times. Where he'd pick on her and she'd react reproachfully, both in the knowledge that it was all in good faith, but then it had been ruined again quickly by that fear.

Why couldn't it just go back to being normal permanently?

"Ugh… guess I better round up the others then…" she muttered as she traipsed her way out the room.

* * *

Harry wasn't sure whether he was supposed to feel on edge or not. He was sitting on a chair in the back of the Hog's Head, trying to stop a goat from nibbling at his robes. Ron and Hermione sat on either side of him, but the rest of the room was occupied by these strangers. Wendy had taken off her blazer to reveal the blue mark on her own shoulder, and all three of the talking cats had displayed their backs to the Hogwarts students, re-affirming that they were all Fairy Tail members.

He didn't feel as though these guys were threats, although the big man was one of the scariest people he'd ever seen. But he was still readying himself for anything, and he was glad to see that Ron was looking even more uncomfortable than him, although considering he had actually been attacked by Gajeel before, this was understandable.

Hermione and Luna though seemed to be in the thick of things. Luna was in the middle of an in-depth discussion with Wendy and Charla about Crumple Horned Snorkacks as if taking to girls and talking cats from other universes was just something that happened every other day. And Wendy seemed to be very interested in the subject. Hermione, by contrast, was firing question after question at Mavis.

"How can you be a ghost? You're not transparent, you can eat, you can drink, you can use the bathroom… surely you cannot really be a ghost. You're practically alive."

"It seems that the laws of magic between our two universes are very different indeed. Ghosts in your world are a mere afterimage of a life, whereas in my world they have a much more physical presence. If a person had a particularly strong will to carry out a certain task that they have not completed before they pass on, their soul can re-manifest as a ghost until the task is complete."

"Does that mean that there is a certain task that you yourself wish to carry out?"

"You could say that," Mavis gave an enigmatic smile. "I am here for a reason - to watch over my guild until the time comes for me to move on. Still, you seem to be the intellectual sort, Hermione. Do you read much?"

"Oh, all the time. It was my birthday recently and I got a whole lot of new books, but I haven't had a chance to read them all yet."

"Really? How interesting," Mavis gave a knowing smirk. "Well… perhaps I can rustle up a late birthday present for you."

"What? Oh no, you don't have to do that."

"Perhaps… but I have something in mind which I'm very sure you'll like."

"So you're saying that in your world, Fairies have never been seen by anybody living?" Luna asked. "That really is just like the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Its so sad that people refuse to believe something exists just because they've never seen it."

"I know, right? A lot of people say that dragons don't exist too. But I know they're very real. Grandine's about as real as you can get," Wendy smiled.

Ron leaned over to Harry and whispered, "What's the betting that Luna's actually from another universe too?"

"Wow… that's a weird thought…" Harry murmured back. "Although… she does seem to be getting on with this lot very well."

And it was at this point when the other Fairy Tail members started to arrive through the fireplace. Harry watched warily as they filtered in, three more girls and two more boys. The sight of the big man that came in last almost took his breath away, largely because Gildarts lost his balance and tipped forward, slamming his hands down on the table to catch himself and splintering it into pieces across its entire length.

"What the bloody hell!?" Ron yelled.

"Hey! hey! hey!" Aberforth bustled in to see the back room filled with fifteen people. "Look, I already told you guys that this place isn't some bed and breakfast but I'm still letting you use it. But I draw the line at trashing my furniture!"

"My bad," Gildarts rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and Aberforth muttered as he repaired the table before rushing out again, grumbling to himself.

"Looks like we're all here," Mavis said. "Or at least all of us that we know about. We can begin. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood - I would like to introduce you to my guild. Fairy Tail."

"Hello," Luna said brightly.

"Hey," Harry said weakly, though Hermione and Ron were still staring at the table as it if was still in pieces, too shocked to respond.

"So…" Gray folded his arms. "You're the kid that we've been hearing so much about, huh?"

"Kid? You can't be much older than we are," Ron protested. "You look about the same age as my twin brothers, Fred and George. You can't call us kids."

"I can," Gildarts chuckled. "With the exception of the First Master, everyone in here is a kid to me. So… you're the kid that we've heart so much about, huh?"

"You just repeated what I said!" Gray muttered.

Harry paused for a couple of seconds before he responded. "Yeah… yeah, I'm Harry Potter, unfortunately. What kind of things have you been hearing about me? Nothing good if you've been reading the newspapers. Wait… do they even have newspapers in your world?"

"Really, Harry? That's your first question about their world?" Hermione raised a brow. Harry blushed.

"We have magazines but we don't really have newspapers," Levy piped up. "Still, I've definitely bee reading them. They certainly don't seem to say very nice things about you, that's for sure. They call you an attention-seeker and a liar and other things that are a lot more horrible."

"A boy at odds with the magical government of his world," Gildarts smirked. "Harry… you have no idea how much we approve."

"…What?" Harry blinked.

"Um… our Magic Council hates us too. But… that's more because we're always destroying things and making things hard for them when we go out to do our jobs," Wendy blushed.

"Still its already something that we have in common," Lisanna smiled. "I also heard that you have a scar that's shaped like a lightning bolt?"

"…Er… yeah… I do…" Harry nodded, feeling a rather strange mix of bemusement and irritation at the mention of his bloody scar.

"Let's have a look," Gray prompted.

Harry sighed and pulled back his fringe, revealing the mark he received as an infant and waiting for the inevitable gasps and sounds of amazement that always happened whenever he showed it to people.

He was not expecting Gajeel to snort derisively and say, "What, you call that titchy little thing a lightning bolt scar? Laxus' one is way better."

"…Pardon?" Harry blinked.

"Laxus Dreyar, one of our former guild members," Happy raised a paw to explain. "He's got a massive scar shaped like a lightning bolt that goes over his right eye and across his cheek. Yours is quite small compared to his to be honest."

"That's no reason to be rude about it," Charla chided him.

"Yeah, Harry's scar is cool!" Ron scowled. "You know how he got it don't you? He's the only person to ever survive the…"

"Ron!" Harry interrupted, before he could go any further. "It's… it's okay. Really, it is. I don't mind. In fact… right now all I can say is that I'm grateful that my scar doesn't run over my eye. I'd never be able to hide one like that properly." Suddenly Harry felt a lot more comfortable in the room than he had before. All throughout his life, even before he had learned how he'd really gotten the scar, it had been a source of little but grief to him. The kids at his primary school often picked on him for it even when Dudley wasn't there to goad them into doing it. And since he'd come to the Wizarding World it had only gotten him attention that he didn't want and pain whenever Voldemort was doing something. Everyone had always been in awe of the scar or used it against him somehow.

So to hear these Fairy Tail members treat it as if it was no big deal… it was nothing but heartening to say the least.

"Still, you should bear a little more pride in it," Gray noted, jerking a thumb at the scar on his own forehead and then showing the X-shaped mark he had on his side, which he of course did by whipping his shirt off entirely, which made Hermione start and cover her eyes. "Scars aren't something to be ashamed of. They're badges of courage."

"But I didn't earn this one through being courageous," Harry protested. "I was just a baby when it was given to me."

"Its a mark of your parents' courage," Lisanna said sombrely. Harry's eyes switched over to her and she gave him a sad smile. "We know the story. Sirius and Remus told us all about what happened when you were younger. And I can certainly understand why you might wish to never have the thing. Sirius said you think of it as a constant reminder that people consider you a hero for something you had no control over and of the things that were taken away from you. And that we can all understand. But if you think about it, you would never have gotten that scar if your parents had been cowards. Its a testament to them. If I were you, that's how I would see it."

Harry stared at the white-haired girl in profound amazement, tracing a finger over the scar lightly. In all the years he'd had it… he'd never quite thought of it that way. Of course he'd known that his parents were courageous and that they had died for him… but somehow he'd never considered the scar proof of that before. And all of a sudden he found himself not hating it quite as much, and the thought of covering it up almost ashamed him.

"Thanks," he croaked.

"No problem," Lisanna smiled.

"If it helps further you can be grateful that you still have all four of your limbs," Gildarts smirked. "Unlike me."

"Whoa, those are fake limbs?" Ron's eyes widened. "How did you lose them?"

"Ron!" Hermione gasped. "Be more sensitive will you?"

"Nah, it's alright. They were bitten off by a dragon."

"…Whoa…" Ron's face was a mask of awe. "So… all those things about you guys that they're saying? All this stuff about other universes… it's really true?"

"Completely," Pantherlily nodded. "And it seems that we were very fortunate indeed to fall into contact with Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix before the Ministry gained word of our arrival."

Harry's resentment rose up again suddenly. "So… Dumbledore knows about you then. And the Order too. So that thing Dumbledore said about you being extra security for the school was actually a lie?"

"Not exactly," Juvia replied. "Juvia would call it more of a half-truth. We have volunteered to help protect the school. We just didn't get specifically hired for it, Harry-san."

"But he still knew about you. And he refused to tell me. And the Order didn't tell me - not even my own godfather told me about you lot." Harry scowled, starting to get angry again very rapidly.

"Of course they didn't," Mavis interrupted. "Because it was not their secret to tell. We're the ones that are lost in a strange universe here, Harry. We're the ones who are deciding what to do with ourselves. Those of us you see before you right now are only half of the overall number of us that came here. We don't even know where the others are. Dumbledore and the Order have been very generous by agreeing to keep our existence secret from everyone and I mean everyone. We are the ones that decide who we get introduced to and who we don't."

"Oh…" Harry paused. "Well… I guess that makes sense…"

"We were planning to tell you eventually," Pantherlily agreed. "But we were waiting for the right time to tell you. We were rather hoping that exactly the sort of sudden introduction that occurred today wouldn't happen. But what's done is done and at least we finally get to talk to you properly. And we can introduce ourselves."

The Fairy Tail members gradually went round the circle, introducing themselves by name and what exactly they could do, each giving a short and small demonstration of their abilities, but unable to show the full extent of their magic in most cases, as they would destroy the place if they did.

When it was Pantherlily's turn to introduce himself, he said, "I'm Pantherlily… but most people just call me Lily." And that was a sentence that definitely caught their attention.

"Um… no offence, but isn't Lily a girl's name?" Ron asked.

"So I've come to understand is the case in this country you call the United Kingdom," Lily replied simply. "But it is a proud name to bear in Edolas where I come from, so I will not think any less of it here."

"It's more than that though," Harry murmured. "That's… that's my mother's name."

The black Exceed's eyes softened slightly and he stepped up to the edge of the table. "If it might make you feel more comfortable, you could always just call me Panther. It's just as good a name if you ask me."

"Well, I'll probably see if I can get used to it," Harry said quickly. "But… erm… thank you all the same."

"But this is all so fascinating," Hermione cried. "Oh my goodness, I don't even know where to begin. I just can't pick where to start. I want to know everything. Absolutely everything that there is to know about your universe. Every bit of it."

"Hermione are you mental?" Ron laughed. "We're already neck deep in studying for our O. and you want to add an entirely new universe on the top of that?"

"Oh come on, Ron. You can't tell me that you aren't curious too."

"…No you're right. I can't. This is just… this is just off the scale when it comes to mental. Be straight with me, Harry. If I pinch myself will it hurt?"

"I think so," Harry smiled - perhaps the first genuine smile that he'd given all day. "This is all very real indeed. There's so many things to talk about."

"Even if there are, you should probably be think about clearing out now," Aberforth suddenly stumbled back in. "It's getting pretty late. If you guys don't get back to Hogwarts soon they're going to start sending out staff members to search the town for you."

"Oh my gosh he's right," Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth. "We're going to miss curfew if we don't get back within half an hour."

"Oh seriously?" Ron griped. "We meet these people from another universe and then just like that we have to head back to the castle and then not tell anyone about them, while my parents and my oldest brothers get to talk to them whenever they like? How is that fair exactly?"

"There will be other chances to talk to us," Levy said kindly. "And I hope that one day when all this stuff with the Ministry of Magic blows over we can come and visit you at the school. I've been dying to visit the Hogwarts library. I've heard its huge!"

"Oh boy," Harry and Ron both murmured at the same time while Hermione's face glowed as if she'd been personally praised.

"It is. I've read so many of the books there and I'm not even close to reading all of them even after spending four years there. There's just so much to choose from. It's got absolutely everything that you could ever want. You like books too?"

"Like them? They're my favourite thing in the whole world! I particularly like the ones written in ancient languages because translating them is half the fun!"

"I actually grew up in a library for seven years," Mavis giggled. "Back then there was almost nothing to do but read and I enjoyed every minute of it."

"Sounds like heaven," Hermione smiled.

"My god, there's three of them," Ron gasped in faux horror.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Gajeel grunted.

"Hmmph… say what you will but I think we're going to be great friends, Hermione!" Levy gave her a wink and a thumbs up.

"I really wish that we had more time to stay but I really do think we have to go now," Hermione nodded. "But next time we meet - maybe our next Hogsmeade weekend or at the holidays, I want to hear everything, okay?"

"Gotcha!"

"I still say its unfair though," Harry muttered as they got up.

"In what way?" Juvia asked curiously.

"Well in that… no offence… but you guys aren't from here. You're not members of this world. And yet… you guys are more involved with the hunt for Voldemort than me. I'm just… stuck at school, not knowing anything. And now I won't even be able to be get to know all of you better. It just… stinks. There's no better way of putting it."

"Sure must be frustrating," Gray agreed. "But what can we do? It's not like any of us can go waltzing up to the school for a piece of toast."

"Technically I can go there without any human eyes being able to see me if I wish," Mavis replied. "But I don't think that would be wise. Even if I go around the school so that only you can see and hear me, how long would it take before someone noticed you lot doing things like looking over to a spot where there's nothing there. And besides… you humans may not be able to see me but the ghosts they have over there can definitely sense my presence."

"It's a shame you cats don't look like normal ones," Ron said. "Then maybe you could come hang out at the castle, tell us some things when nobody else is around. There's lots of cats at the castle as pets for the students."

"Oi, you trying to steal my cat, punk?" Gajeel started forward. Ron almost fell over. Harry laughed.

"Yes, well, nice as it sounds to spend the day in a very big castle, there's no way something like that would work," Charla shook her head. "We'd stick out like sore thumbs if we tried to go up there."

"Not necessarily," Mavis suddenly raised her voice, drawing all eyes in the room. "If there are indeed many cats up at that castle… then there might just be a way that the three Exceed can go the place without being noticed."

"Really? How would that work?" Happy asked, looking down at himself. "Would we have to be like… ninjas!" He struck a fighting pose and overbalanced, falling flat on his face in the process.

"No, not ninjas," Mavis chuckled. "But, as it happens, a good portion of my magic revolves around creating illusions. Pretty convincing ones too if I do say so myself. My access to magic while like this is very limited but I still possess some. Enough perhaps that I could cast a spell that would make three small Exceed look like regular cats."

"Would that work?" Juvia asked, eyes wide. "You think the Exceed could move around Hogwarts school whenever and wherever they pleased?"

"It's highly likely," Mavis nodded.

"Hold on just one moment!" Charla cried, getting to her feet. "Are you suggesting that we actually do this, First?"

"Why not?" Mavis shrugged. "Harry is right. It is unfair that he is left so out of the loop and that he is confined to his school where all of you cannot go to meet him. But the Exceeds could. I'm not suggesting that you all move in permanently, but you could act as go-betweens to carry messages from Harry to us and the Order and vice versa. It would be safer than doing it by fire or by owl."

"Absolutely not!" Charla shook her head. "There's no way that I am leaving Wendy's side for even an instant more than I have to. I won't do it. If Wendy stays at the Hog's Head then this is where I will stay too. I swore to protect her and that was a promise that was meant for life."

"But… Charla…" Wendy turned to face the white cat. "I don't need protecting from anything here. And even if I did, Gajeel-san's here with me. I'd be alright."

"But… but… I can't just…" Charla spluttered.

"It'd be okay, Charla," Wendy reassured her. "The castle's not that far away and its not like you'll be staying there forever. I'll miss you while you're gone but I think it could be a good idea."

"Aye!" Happy volunteered. "It's important for us to form bonds with everyone that's on our side, right? And this could be another job for the Exceed Squad. Like when we took out the power source for Grimoire Heart's airship."

"I approve of the idea," Lily nodded. "Having eyes and ears inside the school could be rather useful."

"Oh yeah, my cat will be the toughest one on the block in no time - just you wait and see!" Gajeel grinned, pounding his fist into his palm with a broad smirk.

"It actually could be quite useful to the Order too," Hermione suddenly got on board with the idea. "Professor Umbridge is the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic and the Hogwart's High Inquisitor - a really high ranking member of the Ministry that Fudge probably tells everything to. If they find out any more things about your other friends then she might be among the first to know about it."

"You want the cats to spy on Umbridge?" Ron asked, awed at Hermione's suggestion. "On top of this secret Defence Against the Dark Arts group. Hermione… you're becoming a rebel."

"Against someone like Umbridge… that's the best thing to be," Hermione smirked proudly.

"What about it, Charla?" Happy asked. "Are you in?"

"Well…" Charla bit her lip and squirmed on the spot a little.

"Don't worry, Charla," Lisanna reached over to place her hand between the white Exceed's ears. "We'll watch over Wendy for you while you're gone."

Charla sighed. "Alright then," she clenched her paws and nodded her head. "I'll do it."

* * *

"And just where do you four think you've been?" Argus Filch griped as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Luna hurried back in through the Hogwarts gates. "Just one more minute and you would have been late for the curfew. We would have had to send out search parties. And something tells me that Madam Umbridge wouldn't like that," he gave a lopsided sneer. "Perhaps I should give you detention with her anyway, Potter, just for cutting it so fine."

"But we were on time, Mister Filch," Harry protested. "We just got held up. Erm… I think I ate something funny while I was there and I was feeling very ill. I had to stop throwing up into a bush… in fact… I think I might be…" he coughed.

"Gahh! Get yourself to a toilet if you're going to throw up again! If you leave me anything to clean up I'll put you in detention for sure!" Filch snapped, prompting the foursome to run past him towards the school. But his cat, Mrs. Norris was otherwise occupied, staring at the three other cats that had just slunk their way in through the gates and were bounding off after the disappearing students.

"This is great," Happy grinned, running on all fours and looking to everyone except the other Exceed and the four students like an ordinary tortoise-shell cat. "Did you see that cat back there? She totally thought we were real. We can go anywhere we want like this and nobody will suspect a thing!"

"As long as you don't talk, of course," Charla pointed out, her white fur rippling slightly as she ran. "No randomly crying 'Aye' when you hear someone say something you agree with."

"Aye sir!"

"And don't forget what Mavis said," the black cat beside them said. "The illusion hold until we wish for it to be removed, but it will not disguise our wings or my battle form if we use them. So keep on foot everywhere we go."

"I really wish we didn't have to run on all fours like this," Charla muttered. "It's humiliating."

"I think its fun," Happy giggled. "But I hope they have fish here! Lots and lots of fish! I've been dying from lack of fish recently."

"Only because you ate Aberforth's entire supply."

"They were horrible anyway - they were all covered with bread. Why would you cover a fish with breadcrumbs. It's just wrong."

Up ahead, the four students pulled to a stop and waited for the cats to catch up. "Well, it looks like you're in," Ron noted. "I can't believe we're actually smuggling people into the school like this."

"We're not people. We're cats," Happy said.

"We're Exceed. And Exceed are people too," Lily countered. "Still, now that we're in here we should probably decide where exactly we're going to be staying."

"I can take one of you," Luna smiled serenely. "It will be nice to have someone to talk to in the Common Room. And don't worry, every there calls me Loony anyway so they won't think too hard about me talking to a cat."

The trio of others looked at each other uncomfortably. How Luna was able to talk about how much she was bullied in such a nonchalant manner was utterly beyond them and it made them feel rather uncomfortable and guilty, as if they had somehow contributed to the bullying even though nothing could be further from the truth.

"Well… that's one of us covered then," Charla said. "And what about the other two."

"You could… always come with me," Ron scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly. "I mean… people in our Common Room will notice if I suddenly bring in a pair of cats but I could probably tell them that my mum sent you to be mine and Ginny's new pets. In fact, if one of you comes with me, the other one can stay with Ginny."

"You think we should tell Ginny about what they really are?" Harry asked.

"I think we better," Ron said seriously. "We can't just give her one of the Exceed without doing it. She'd treat them like real cats if she did that and if when she finds out, which she will eventually, she will Bat-Bogey Hex me into next week for keeping her in the dark. You too probably."

"What about Fred and George?" Hermione said. "Should we tell them too?"

"Those two my be pranksters but they know how to keep a secret," Harry nodded. "And they're just as much a part of the Order as we are at this stage. I think we all deserve to know. But what do you guys think? It's your decision."

"I agree. Keeping secrets from your allies without having a good reason for doing so is a bad idea," Lily stated. "If we're settled, I propose the following. I'll go with Luna and Happy and Charla will go with the rest of you. If for any reason we find ourselves in trouble I can handle myself. But you two can watch each other's backs. Okay?"

"Aye sir!"

"Understood."

"That's great," Luna beamed before she stepped over and picked Lily up in her arms. "Come on then, Lily. It's a long walk up to the Ravenclaw tower." And she skipped away, humming slightly to herself and holding Lily close as he went.

"You reckon he'll be alright?" Ron asked.

"Oh, honestly, Ron. Luna might be a little odd but she's nice. My worry is that she'll start telling people about Exceed now," Hermione frowned. "Luna's never been one to keep what she believes to herself."

"Yeah, but she's in Ravenclaw. I'm sure she's smart enough to know when talking about someone like that would be a bad idea," Harry said. "I'm sure Pantherlily will be okay."

He suddenly paused for a moment and frowned. "Lily and Luna…" he murmured. "For some reason… those names seem to go really well together."

* * *

The Ravenclaw Common Room was empty when Luna arrived, because all of the others were down in the Great Hall having dinner. As soon as Luna got through the doorway she placed Lily down on the floor, and the black cat pushed himself onto his hind legs since there was nobody there to question it. He looked up at the giant, imposing statue of the woman in the middle of the room, impressed with the detail that could be seen in the carving despite its obvious age.

"Who is that?" he asked.

"That's Rowena Ravenclaw," Luna said as she took her wand from behind her ear and opened her bag to pull out some homework. "One of the founders of the school. I think I would have liked to have met her. Almost as much as I'd like to see a Snorkack."

"I see," Lily said. "…I must admit I do feel a little exposed without my sword. I just hope that Gajeel doesn't eat it."

"You said that you were from another universe, right?" Luna said. "And I mean another-nother universe, different to both mine and the one that your human friends came from."

"Edolas, that's right," Lily nodded. "I suppose you could say that I didn't exactly have the best of lives there. Or many close friends. I had two or three but… mostly I was something of a loner until I came to Earthland and joined the guild. In fact, since I was the only Exceed surrounded by humans for most of my life, I felt very much like the outsider most of the time. It could get rather lonely. But its not like that any more."

"…You seem to be very lucky," Luna said, slightly wistfully. "To have fallen in with a crowd of people that are obviously so close. To have so many friends around you. You must like it."

Lily easily noticed her tone and looked up at her. "You're lonely too, aren't you?"

"Sometimes," Luna replied sincerely. "I do spend much of my time alone and I'm okay with that. But sometimes I think it would be nice to have a really close friend. I think Ginny Weasley can count as a close friend but we don't hang around very much."

Lily smiled and hopped up onto the table, placing a paw over her hand. "Well, I'll tell you what, Luna. You've just got yourself twenty-two friends for life today. Because I'd like to be your friend. And when one member of Fairy Tail makes a new friend, they're friends with everyone in the guild."

Luna's protuberant eyes stared at Lily in momentary wonderment before a vague, dreamy smile played across her face.

"I think I'd like that," she said. "I think I'd like that very much."

* * *

Ginny was sitting at the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall next to Michael Corner, tucking into a plate of potatoes and pork right up until the point where Ron walked over to her and said, rather stiffly, "Ginny… can I… talk to you for a minute?"

Ginny glanced up at her brother before she sighed. "I was afraid this might happen," she said. "Yes, Ron, it's true. I am dating Michael, and while I appreciate the fact you're looking out for me, honestly its really none of your business. And you can't tell me to stop seeing him."

"Believe me, I would very much like to," Ron glowered at Michael, who flinched slightly. "But actually this isn't about him. There's something else I want to talk to you about. In private."

Ginny frowned slightly. "Since when do you like to talk to people in private instead of blaring your opinion to anyone that will listen?"

"Haha," Ron rolled his eyes. "Please, Ginny. Can we just… talk?"

"…Alright. Back in a minute," she said to Michael, before she got up and followed Ron towards the Entrance Hall, where Harry and Hermione were waiting for them.

"So, if this isn't about Michael then what is it about?" Ginny asked.

"Oh believe me, we will be having a talk about that guy later," Ron muttered. "But not right now. No, this time we'd actually like to introduce you to someone else."

"Who?"

"Down here," said a voice, and Ginny blinked, her head tilting downwards until she beheld the two very ordinary looking cats that were standing next to Harry and Hermione's legs.

"…Did that cat just talk?" Ginny asked, in a totally deadpan voice.

"Aye," Happy grinned. "And boy have we got stories for you!"

* * *

Evergreen could not remember having felt so low. It was almost a consolation that she was separated from everyone else at Fairy Tail now - if anyone else saw her like this, trussed up and helpless under the control of all these diminutive woody creatures, she was sure that she would die of embarrassment. But then again, she couldn't help but wonder how long she'd have now before she died from another cause.

Like being eaten.

Which she was pretty sure these Erklings would do to her in heartbeat if they found out that she really was a human. They didn't seem to be too intelligent though, which was both a good and a bad thing. Good that they were stupid enough to think she actually was a literal Fairy Queen and bad… because the fact they were stupid made her capture all the more humiliating.

For the moment she was alright though. They'd actually been treating her like royalty all day, despite the fact they refuse to loosen the vines tying her up in the slightest. They'd been gentle and careful not to hurt her as they bore her through the forest on a wooden litter that they'd constructed, allowing her bound form to rest atop it as they hoisted her over the bushes.

And they'd fed her and given her water too. Though that had been a somewhat awkward affair at first since the first thing they'd attempted to feed her what she was pretty sure was a dead squirrel.

"I can't eat that!" she'd cried as soon as they'd removed her gag to shove the raw meat in front of her face. "Don't you know anything about what fairies eat? And for that matter, release me at once! This is… this is no way to treat someone with a rank as high as my own!"

"There's no way we let you go," the same Erkling that had initially attacked her replied, grinning at her madly. "Fairy Queen prize catch. Fairy Queen bring Erklings much bounty."

"I'm not going to be giving you anything, you fools!" Evergreen wrenched in her bonds, her arms aching slightly from behind pulled behind her back for several hours. "I don't know what you expect me to do for you, but whatever it is you are wasting your time! My… my subjects will get you for this - on my honour they will."

"Fairy Queen big mouth. But Fairy Queen need eats. Squirrel good."

"You moron! I already told you that I can't eat that!"

"Then what Fairy Queen eat? Or Fairy Queen want go hungry."

Evergreen's stomach rumbled in protest right at that very second, causing the Fairy Mage to bite her lip in frustration before she said, "I can eat berries. Bring me all the ripe, non-poisonous berries that you can find and I will eat those. But I will not eat that disgusting… thing… get it away from me."

The Erklings looked rather disgusted at the prospect of eating berries but they rushed to do as bid. But not before suddenly looping the vine gag back over Evergreen's head and pulling it between her teeth again. Evergreen screamed in protest and rocked from side to side but the vines pinning her limbs together with strong and would not break so easily.

Eventually though they'd fed her, which was another humiliating spectacle because they'd worked together to roll her onto her back and had taken turns dropping berries into her open mouth. She felt like a baby bird begging its parents for food, and she honestly could not remember ever having eaten a more humiliating meal. If they would just untie her hands she could use her Fairy Magic to overwhelm them, but with even her fingers all tied together that was simply impossible.

And then they'd carried one, Evergreen gagged once more, and be borne away through the trees. Where the Erklings were taking her she had no idea and they'd obstinately refused to tell her when she'd had the chance to ask. But eventually night was beginning to settle in, and the Erklings pulled to a stop… and started to scamper up the tree-trunks, leaving Evergreen lying on the ground.

"MMMMRGGG! HHHRR! GGRRHG BBRK HHRR!" Evergreen yelled angrily through her gag, tossing and turning madly as a slight sensation of panic crept into her. They weren't just going to leave her alone like this were they!? God knows, she wanted out of their company as quickly as possible but not if they were just going to leave her bound and helpless on the forest floor. What would she do if a wolf or something came along - there could be anything hiding in this forest for all she knew.

But it seemed her fears were misplaced in that regard at least, for a couple of the Erklings descended back down from above with very sturdy looking vines that trailed from up above clenched in their woody fingers. Evergreen sighed in relief as her ankles were unattached from her feet, allowing her to straighten her legs and stretch the cramped muscles in her knees properly for the first time since her capture. But she glanced back behind her, squirming faintly, but her eyes widened in shock when she saw they were tightly tying the ends of their vines to her ankle bonds.

No way… they couldn't be!

"Hoist!" one of the Erklings cried up into the treetops when they were done and the vines snapped taut. Evergreen shrieked as someone up above started pulling on the vines, slowly dragging her feet up into the air. She kicked and struggled for all she was worth, desperately trying to break the vines before it was too late, but it was no good. Her body was slowly dragged up and off the ground until she was dangling upside down from her ankles, being pulled higher and higher up towards the canopy.

At this point Evergreen froze - breaking the vine now would be a very bad idea - she'd do nothing but fall onto her head at this stage. If she'd thought she'd been helpless before then hanging upside down like this was a whole new level entirely. She screwed up her eyes, her gut clenching as she fought very hard to stop a tear leaking out of her eye. What the heck had she done to deserve this? What the heck would anyone have to do to deserve this. And now all the blood was rushing to her brain, making her feel dizzy and a bit ill. Oh she really hoped she wouldn't hurl while there was still a vine in her mouth.

Fortunately the Erklings were quick to haul her up onto a wide branch big enough to support her weight and lie her down on her back. Evergreen was momentarily shocked when she realised that they were cutting the bonds on her wrists and immediately struggled to break loose but the Erklings were worked together to drag her hands underneath the branch and re-tie them almost instantly, attaching her to the wooden limb to make sure that she wouldn't fall off during the night.

"Fairy Queen rest now," the first Erkling snickered as it sat on her stomach, leering down at her. "Fairy Queen big day tomorrow. Erklings become big winners tomorrow, yes!"

"Lookie, lookie!" a voice suddenly cried as another Erkling dropped down to land on another branch nearby and scuttle over, holding a jar of some kind in its arms… a jar that appeared to be glowing slightly. "Found some of Fairy Queen's subjects. Fairy Queen have company tonight."

The Erklings cackled, but suddenly all thoughts of imprisonment were banished from Evergreen's mind as she stared into the jar that the Erkling was holding. Her heart rate picked up, her breathing was raised, her eyes widened beneath her glasses until they were as round as plate. She couldn't believe it… surely… it was too good to be true.

Inside the jar were about five tiny figures, no bigger than six inches tall and all wearing leaf-like dresses with blond hair tied up into long ponytails behind them. And every one of them had gorgeous delicate looking multicoloured wings sprouting from their backs and were beating on the glass with tiny fists, zinging about the cramped space in terrified efforts to break free. But there was no mistaking what they were.

Fairies.

Real… genuine Fairies.

Evergreen felt a surge of happiness flare up inside her for a moment. All her life the one thing she'd hoped to see above anything else was a fairy. She 'd been deeply fascinated by them as a child and had never lost that fascination even now. If anything it had grown even stronger since she had obtained her Fairy Magic. The only real reason she'd picked Fairy Tail as the guild she wanted to be a part of way back when was because of its name. Since then she'd branched out her interests and had come to fully understand what made Fairy Tail such an amazing guild, but back then the name had been all that mattered.

And yet she'd never once seen a living fairy. Until now. And for about ten seconds or so, she was beyond ecstatic, grinning as widely as anyone could with a vine tied around their lower face.

But it didn't take long for that brief euphoria to fade when suddenly the Erkling scuttled forward and placed the jar of Fairies on her chest. "RHRHH!" Evergreen protested but the Erkling carefully balanced the jar in place on top of her before letting go and standing back, snickering nastily.

"Fairy Queen better stay still tonight," it cackled. "If Fairy Queen struggle too much, jar fall off. Jar go to ground. Jar smash. Fairies go splat."

"RRHHHN! YRHHHR BBRSHHST!" Evergreen screamed in abject rage, stiffening in her bonds and jerking her head at him, but that action alone jostled the jar a little. Evergreen stiffened instantly, her body freezing and watching as the jar settled and came still. But because of where it was placed, Evergreen was terrified to make even the slightest of twitches. The poor Fairies within shrank away from the glass walls and crowded together in the middle, hugging one another for comfort, afraid to upset the jar. They might be able to fly, but an impact on the ground from this height would almost certainly kill them.

"Goodnight Fairy Queen," the Erklings snickered as they retreated upwards to their nests higher up in the branches, leaving Evergreen tied to the branch balancing the jar alone.

Evergreen's heart was hammering so hard that she was scared that that alone would knock the jar from its perch. How could they? How could these Erklings do something so cruel to creatures so fantastic. All her joy at finding Fairies at last had totally evaporated now. This wasn't the way she'd wanted it to go. She'd wanted to see them flying free, buzzing everywhere and laughing the way Fairies, perhaps join them in their flight. Not join them in their imprisonment!

But as she stared into the glass, one of the Fairies detached itself from the group and crawled to the edge of the jar, leaning up to place her hands on the side and staring into Evergreen's eyes. Her face was tiny, but Evergreen could read all of the expressions held there just fine.

'Please,' the Fairy was begging without words. 'Please save us. Please don't let us fall.'

And Evergreen's expression hardened as she did her best to mentally send every ounce of courage and assurance she could to the little creature. She would get no sleep tonight. There was no way she'd let these Fairies fall. And for the first time since she'd been captured several hours ago, she had an unselfish reason to escape. Now it was not just for her sake, but for their's as well.

'You wait little ones,' she thought soothingly. 'I may not really be your Queen. But I'm going to get you out of there if its the last thing I do.'


	19. Devil on the Shoulder

Sooooooooo sorry for the tremendous wait for this chapter, but honestly it couldn't be helped. The last few weeks of term got utterly ridiculous in terms of how busy it was! I had no less than three essays in a very short space of time, and on top of that I had two filming projects to get on with. It was mad! I really wish they'd spaced it all out over the course of the term rather than lumping it in all at once at the end like that. But uni had to come first. So, here I am again and I'm hoping I'll be able to rattle off quite a few chapters now before I get stupidly busy again.

To the guest who told me that 'defence' and 'offence' were spelt with an S, not a C - indeed they are… in America. I am British, just like J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter (:P) and we spell it differently. Just as we spell words like 'realise' with an S rather than a Z. So thanks for trying to help, but I'm gonna keep spelling them our way. XD

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 19:- Devil On the Shoulder**

* * *

The Erkling that had initially met Evergreen did not sleep that night like most of his comrades. Instead, he went on ahead, scampering through the branches like an overgrown woodlouse. A family of Bowtruckles jumped into a hidey-hole as he passed, but ignored them. Much fun as it was messing with Bowtruckles they were not important right now. He was on a different mission.

He eventually came to a stop when he reached the edge of a huge lake. The banks were overgrown, surrounded by trees on all sides, so much so that in most cases anybody wandering through the woods would not know that it was there until they fell into it. But the Erkling found one small patch of bank and sprang from the tree, landing on all fours like an incredibly ugly cat before rising up onto his legs and calling out across the rippling, clear water.

"Seek audience with Elder!" he cried. "Come out, come out, come out and face new ruler!"

For a long moment there was nothing but silence - it was so quiet that it almost seemed that the very air was mocking the Erkling's words. But then a slight wind picked up, causing the branches of the trees to sway and rustle, as a cloud that was covering the moon shifted out of the way. The reflection of the moon in the water seemed to bathe the entire lake in an eerie, otherworldly glow… and then blue lights seemed to emerge from the water. Not from beneath the surface - it was as if they'd just appeared at the surface and went zinging about in random directions. The Erkling's head twitched from side to side as he watched them… eagerly awaiting what was about to happen.

And then… time slowed down. Literally. The wind dropped and the branches continue to sway, but they made no rustling and they were moving so slowly it was as if the trees and lazily shifting them from side to side under their own power. The blue lights slowed down too, and the Erkling could get a good view of them at last.

Fairies.

But not ordinary Fairies. Oh no. Unlike most Fairies these one had deep blue skin that almost seemed to shine in the darkness, their dragonfly-like wings beating rapidly as they flitted over the shining pool like actual dragonflies. One Fairy in particular approached the Erkling. This one was male, with wrinkled skin that indicated his age and several waving tendrils dangling from his forehead and cheeks. He wore a dark brown robe that covered his entire body but for his head and hands, unlike most of the others who were garbed in less heavy clothing.

The Erkling felt a shiver pass through his body. The Fairy was only about the size of his large eyeball but he seemed to exude authority. The Erkling had to resist the urge to bend his knee and bow his head. He had to remain confident… in control… so he mustered up a toothy smirk as the Fairy pointed a gnarled finger at him.

"What is the meaning of this?" he growled in a harsh slightly low-pitched voice. "Are you truly foolish enough to declare yourself as our new ruler? That has to be the most absurd thing I have ever heard."

"Me new ruler now," the Erkling crowed. "Me ruler over all Fairies. You do what me say now or Queenie gets it!"

"Make sense, you moronic imp!" the Fairy glowered. "You know who I am do you not?"

"You are Elder Fairy. And you me subject now just like all others!"

"We are no common Fairies, halfwit!" the Elder spat. "We are the Sidhe, guardians to the realm of Avalon. I don't know what delusion has caused you to think that you can command us… but I assure you that you will regret it!"

A staff almost as big as he was, with a blue gemstone carved into the tip, suddenly appeared in the Elder's hand and was levelled at the Erkling, the gemstone crackling with power even despite its tiny size. The Erkling jumped backwards, eyes wide and snarled, "You kill me and your Fairy Queen die!"

"Fairy Queen?" the Elder Sidhe wrinkled his nose. "What the blazes are you talking about?"

"Erklings capture Fairy Queen yesterday! Erklings have Fairy Queen! All Fairies will obey Erklings or Fairy Queen die!"

"Is that so?" the Elder lowered his staff, an intrigued look crossing his face. "You have captured the Fairy Queen?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" the Erkling cackled. "Now bow before Erkling, titchy!"

"But…" another one of the Sidhe - a female with a leafy tube top and skirt hovered up next to the Elder. "There's no such thing as… GAH!" she cried out as the Elder slammed his staff into her stomach, hard, doubling her over as she gasped for breath and backed away, minuscule tears in her eyes.

"Silence!" the Elder growled over his shoulder at her, before he turned to the Erkling and said. "I do not believe you. Describe our… precious Queen… to us and perhaps I will reconsider."

"Fairy Queen big Fairy. Size of human. Wearing green cloth with brown mammal hair growing from head. Wears blue things on feet and these on face!" With a flourish, the Erkling produced Evergreen's glasses from behind his back and tossed them to the floor like some kind of trophy, triumph in its bulbous eyes.

The Sidhe Elder scrutinised the glasses for several moments. "I see…" he said slowly. "Well… those are the Fairy Queen's glasses… but that does not mean that you really have her captive. Bring her here. Show her to me in person… and if you really do have her… then we will do anything to ensure her safety."

The Erkling grinned and scooped up Evergreen's glasses again. "I bring," he snickered. "You wait and see. I bring. I bring tomorrow." And then he was off, scuttling back through the treetops and back towards their home. The Sidhe Elder watched him go with an open expression of disgust, as the time around them returned to normal.

"I don't understand, Elder," another of the Sidhe folded his arms. "We don't have a Queen."

"I know we don't, you dolt," the Elder heaved a sigh. "But its perfectly obvious what's going on to me. Obviously this is some human woman with delusions of grandeur that claimed to be a Fairy Queen to those Erklings. And those imbecilic creatures believed her and took her prisoner."

"Then why are you asking them to bring her here?" the female nursing her stomach asked. "If you'd told them the truth they would have just eaten her and had done with it."

"Because," the Elder turned around to fly through the others, who quickly parted to make way for him. "If this woman claims to be our Queen then I think she should meet the real ruler of Fairy-kind. I will let her know the true depths of her blasphemy. Besides, I haven't decided whether I'd like to see her dead or use her as a human slave. If she likes Fairies so much then let's hope she'd consider that an honour!"

* * *

Dawn sunlight peeking its way through the dormitory window woke Charla and the little white Exceed grunted slightly as she opened her eyes. At the sight of the unfamiliar room around her she gasped and leapt to her feet, spinning around and almost calling out Wendy's name before remembering everything that had happened the night before.

That's right. She was at Hogwarts right now, helping to keep tabs on what was going on at the school. Wendy was safe with Gajeel at the Hog's Head… she had no need to worry.

But she couldn't help it. She wasn't used to waking up next to the Sky Dragon Slayer. There had only ever been a few occasions in the past where they had been separated like this and it made her heart ache a little.

"Charla… you okay?" Ginny Weasley moaned as she lifted her head up from her own pillow, whispering so as not to wake up her fellow Fourth Year girls. She might have been let in on the secret of Fairy Tail last night but she'd agreed to keep everyone else out of the loop for Charla's sake, and thanks to Mavis' disguise she'd had to pretend to the rest of her dorm that Charla was little more than an ordinary kitty. It had led to Charla being petted for almost an hour, something she really had not appreciated.

"Yes… I'm fine," Charla murmured back. "Thank you, Ginny, for letting me stay here."

"S'no problem," Ginny rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Though I gotta admit, I did wonder whether I dreamed you up last night for a moment there. Still barely believe you're real, or any of that stuff that Ron and the others told me last night is true… I gotta meet with the rest of your friends as soon as possible."

"And you will, I'm sure," Charla nodded, quickly dropping down to all fours just in case one of the others woke up. "But not today. I think it would be best for me to spend today trying to get to know my way around this castle. It would be hideously embarrassing if I managed to get myself lost - I can't use my wings to help find my way around."

"Trust me, I know the feeling," Ginny chuckled. "It's always a nightmare for the first years - all my brothers said so and I remember it well myself. But I can come with you if you like. Got most of my homework done and its Sunday so there's no lessons today."

"I would appreciate it," Charla nodded as Ginny swung her legs out of bed. "We should probably meet up with Happy and Lily when we can. Though Happy will probably be sleeping for a few hours yet."

"Sounds like he and Ron will get along with one another splendidly," Ginny snorted dryly. "I dunno why he sleeps so late - none of my other brothers ever did that."

"By contrast I think Happy's habit started when he emulated his partner," Charla chuckled. "That and his appetite."

"Wow, that's another thing Ron has out of all my family - he eats the most. I'm surprised he doesn't weight three times as much as he does now."

"That's what I often think about Natsu." But then Charla's stomach growled slightly and she blushed, resisting the urge to place a paw over her stomach. "Erm… but speaking of appetite."

Ginny laughed. "Come on, I'll take you down to breakfast then. Most of the cats here don't really get fed - they survive by hunting all the rats and mice in the castle. But nobody will look twice at me feeding you a bit of bacon."

"Ugh… I'm not going to have to take it out of your hand with my mouth, am I?"

"Er… yeah. Sorry…"

Charla sighed. "Sometimes I wonder how I can even be compared to a cat. The way they do things is just… gross. I don't suppose you can get me a pot of tea to drink later when nobody's around to watch me do it, could you?"

"I'll do my best," Ginny promised. "Come on then."

* * *

Charla allowed Ginny to carry her in her arms on the way down to the Great Hall, so that they could move quicker and so that Ginny could point out all the trick steps that Charla would have to learn to avoid. She did her best to commit them all to memory but this place was so vast that she failed dismally. But she was going to have to get used to walking around this place on all fours and navigating it on her own… 'why did I agree to do this again?' she thought.

When they arrived at breakfast Charla was quick to spot Lily across the room, and Lily seemed to sense her arrival because he looked up at her. They exchanged a quick, surreptitious nod before Lily turned away and went back to allowing Luna to hand feed him by dangling bits of bacon in front of his face. Charla couldn't help but stare for a moment - how on earth could he do that with a straight face? He was a former military commander, letting a fourteen year old human girl feed him tidbits as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Ah, but maybe it was the fact that Lily was a military commander that was actually helping him. She was willing to bet he'd never done an undercover assignment before - Pantherlily's huge body had always stuck out among human and Exceed both back in Edolas. But he had done missions before and he knew that you had to do whatever you had to do for the sake of that mission.

And Charla had her own part to play. It wasn't going to be easy but she had to play it, which was why she was able to hold back her distaste just enough to allow Ginny to feed her in a similar way.

It took another half an hour before Happy showed up in the room, accompanying Ron and Harry. Nobody paid the blue cat a second glance - most of them didn't even pay him one.

'At least Mavis' disguises are working at any rate,' Charla thought to herself.

But they couldn't take to each other with all of these people around. That was something that would definitely get noticed. Still, Ron sat down next to Ginny and Harry took a seat on his other side before saying, "Well, has anyone else got used to it yet?"

"No," Ron and Ginny said at the same time.

"Me neither," Harry shrugged.

"We shouldn't really talk about it now. It's noisy but anyone could overhear us," Ron noted as he loaded about four eggs onto his plate while Happy searched around for any fish that might be on the table.

"Yeah… and we've got a lot of homework to do," Harry agreed. "Particularly for Umbridge. That essay she set us last week is even more pointless than anything that Professor Binns has ever set. Look at her up there… does she own any other colour than pink?"

Happy and Charla swung their heads around to look at the staff table and locked eyes on the woman in question, who was sitting with a rather self-satisfied smile plastered over her face and talking to Professor Sprout, who looked like she would rather be anywhere but where she was right now. 'So… she's the one we're here to keep an eye on, are we?' Charla thought.

"Yeah, I know," Ron said. "It's mad. You wait and see, Harry - she'll have painted all of Classroom 3C pink by the end of the month. Bad enough she makes us head down to the third floor and read that Slinkhard book all day but that would really take the cake."

Charla quickly understood what they were doing, especially when Happy winked at her surreptitiously. They were trying to give the Exceed all the information they would need for their little spy mission without looking like they were talking to their cats. She now knew who they were after and where they would find her. Third floor, 3C. Very clever.

It was that point that Hermione walked in, toting a large book under one arm, which she thunked down onto the table. "Sorry, I'm late," she huffed as she sat down and tried to turn the page of her book while buttering her toast at the same time.

"Where were you?" Ginny asked. "It's not like you to come down after the boys."

"Oh, I came down a couple of hours ago. I wanted to look through the library, see if I could find out anything about alternate universes written in there somewhere."

"Ah, of course," Ginny nodded. "Anything?"

"Nothing of note really. A few things mentioned them but they were never more than a sentence and always described them as a possibility. Honestly I don't think I'm going to end up finding much to be honest but you know… every little bit helps."

"Sometimes I think that's just your excuse to go and read something new," Ron snorted as he reached for a bottle of ketchup. Hermione glowered at him, but it was that moment when she was quickly interrupted by something furry and ginger jumping up onto the table next to her. It was Crookshanks, and the large feline immediately turned his rather squashed face around to gaze at the two Exceed.

"Oh hello Crookshanks," Hermione scratched him behind the ears. "Yes, those are some of our new friends. It would be nice if you got on because you'll probably be seeing a lot of each other in the future."

Crookshanks seemed to ignore her words, his tail curling slightly and his gaze lingered on Charla for a moment. Charla blinked a little at the intensity of his stare and coughed slightly, before murmured, "Nyaa…" She wasn't sure why, but she was getting rather uncomfortable under the gaze of this slightly larger cat.

But then Crookshanks moved forward and shouldered past Happy slightly to come and stand before her until they were practically eyeball to eyeball. Charla stared right back at him, her tail twitching but refusing to back down, wondering if maybe he was trying to pull some kind of dominance test on her. But then she grew really confused as he stepped past and around her, rubbing his flank against hers slightly as he did so.

"Aaww, look he's being friendly," Ginny smiled.

"Erm… I'm not quite sure you could classify that as… friendly…" Hermione coughed, her face reddening a little as she watched Crookshanks turn around Charla's other side and step a little closer to rub against her again.

"Then what would you call it?" Harry asked.

"I'd… erm…" Hermione coughed, but paused briefly when she spotted what Happy was doing. The Blue Exceed had gone rigid and his fur was bristling, standing on end over practically he entire body as he glared at Crookshanks, watching as the larger tom stepped a little closer and Charla stepped aside as a result.

"L…love… ri…val…" he hissed so low that most people wouldn't have heard him even if they were listening for it. He looked for all the world like he was about to throw himself at Crookshanks but Hermione quickly diffused the situation by stepping up and hauling Crookshanks into her arms, despite a mewl of protest from the large cat.

"I am so… so sorry, Charla," Hermione gasped. "He's never been around other cat's besides Mrs. Norris and he can't stand her - I had no idea he'd react like that."

"I have a feeling I know the answer," Ginny said slowly. "But what exactly was he doing?"

"Well… with a normal cat its usually the female that makes the first move," Hermione muttered. "But Crookshanks is part kneazle. And with kneazles its the males that make the… erm… advances… on the female for… for… breeding."

"WHRROAH!" Charla was about to scream the word 'what' at the top of her lungs but managed to turn it into a cat-like squeal at the last possible second. Happy jumped over towards her and glared at Crookshanks, who seemed to glare right back. You could practically see electricity sparking through the eyes of the male cats, before Hermione quickly said, "I think maybe from now on it would be best if I kept a closer eye on Crookshanks here."

"Yeah… yeah, good idea," Harry nodded, not sure whether he could laugh or not since Charla was hardly an ordinary cat. But Ron then elbowed him in the ribs slightly and nodded up to the staff table where Umbridge was getting to her feet. "Whoa, looks like she's going. If you guys want to start your mission soon, you'd better get ready."

* * *

"I can't believe what just happened in there!" Happy cried as soon as they were out of earshot of any human. "Who does that cat think he is, pulling the moves on Charla like that! If he wasn't Hermione's cat… I'd let him have it!"

"That would have blown your cover very quickly," Lily noted - he had met up with the others quickly and were now heading over to the third floor.

"Not to mention he was bigger than you," Charla noted. "He would have won easily."

"That's mean, Charla!" Happy pouted. "I could have taken him. I could be strong too when I get all fired up!"

"Well, despite that, I don't need you to defend me," Charla sniffed. "I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

"But he was attracted to you, Charla! Attracted to you!"

"And that is your business how, exactly?" Charla raised a brow at him. "In any case that was not attraction. I don't know much about kneazles but what he saw was a female cat who might end up being receptive to him and he took a shot. He pick the wrong girl. I don't need you to fight my battles, for me, Happy."

"But Charla… I can't just sit back and do nothing when a guy tries to…"

"Happy," Lily interrupted him before he could finish. "It might be best if you didn't finish that sentence."

"…Aye…" Happy muttered slowly, looking down at the floor as they continued walking. Charla, meanwhile, was very deliberately trying to look anywhere but at Happy. She was aware that the blue male was… smitten with her. It had been painfully obvious to her from practically the moment she had set eyes on him and he'd made many attempts to get into her… good graces, so to speak. But of course she'd always turned him down because well… they had more important things to worry about than stupid things like romance. Especially now, when they were stranded in another universe like this.

"I have no interest in that Crookshanks cat," Charla assured him. "You've got no need to worry."

Almost immediately she chided herself - why had she said that? She'd meant that to mean that he had no reason to worry about her safety but all of a sudden it sounded as though she'd said he didn't need to worry about another male winning her heart. Which was of course utterly ridiculous because she was pretty sure her heart would be something no male cat would ever win…

…wouldn't it?

She was momentarily so distracted that she almost walked into a wall. She backed away quickly and said, "So… Lily… how was your first night with Luna."

"Quite alright," Lily nodded. "It got a little awkward when the girls in her dormitory started to get changed last night and this morning but I hid under the bed to make sure I saw nothing inappropriate. And a boy that tried picking on her at breakfast before you arrived ended up with his shoelaces being tied together from under the table. She's quite the unique child. But there seems to be very few people around her that are willing to say nice things to her. I don't think anyone referred to her by her actual name except Harry's group. 'Loony' is the word I keep hearing in its place."

"That's horrible," Charla protested.

"I know, but she does not seem to mind. Still… she deserves better all the same."

"Well she won't get that kind of thing from us," Happy nodded as he walked up the next couple of steps in two quick bounds. "But I think we're on the third floor."

"So how are we meant to find Classroom C3?" Lily wondered as they stared down at the corridor before them. "My guess is that its not exactly going to be marked."

"Let's just search them one by one," Charla said. "And quickly. There aren't that many doors here but its going to be one of them."

The three cats quickly bolted to the nearest door, where Happy activated his wings and lifted up to turn the doorknob, while Charla and Lily kept an eye out for passersby. But there was nothing in the room beyond except a broom closet so they tried another, and another, and then they hit their mark - a large classroom with what looked like a skeleton of a dragon hanging from the ceiling and a set of stairs at the front which lead up to another door.

"This must be it," Happy guessed. "Wow, that dragon looks small compared to Acnologia."

"I can hear voices coming from beyond that door up there," Lily agreed.

"Well, we've found it. What's our next move?" Charla asked, as they slipped through the door and shut it quietly behind them. "Do we just… hang around, stay hidden and wait to see what happens?"

"I don't know what she thinks of cats," Lily shook his head. "But I've seen one or two around the place and they walk through the halls as if they own them. I think our approach needs to be more… direct."

"Like what?" Happy asked, but before they could say anything more the door to the office opened. All three cats instantly dove behind a desk and peered out from beneath it to see a man exiting, and Umbridge stopping at the door to see him out.

"So you'll definitely sort it out with the Ministry?" the man turned back to ask her quickly. "I won't be punished for that whole regurgitating toilet thing?"

"No need to worry about a thing, Willy. I will ensure that you are expunged of all charges. After all, the Ministry favours those who are loyal to it as you have been today," Umbridge smiled with such a sickly-sweet tone you could have practically honeyed apples in it. The man looked relieved and began to head for the door, while Umbridge watched him go.

"Who's that guy?" Happy whispered.

"I don't know, but it looks like we just missed something that could potentially be important," Lily threw in.

"Well then… it's vital that we don't miss anything more…" Charla muttered, as she took a deep breath and leapt from her hiding place onto the table.

"Charla, what are you doing?" Happy hissed, but Charla lifted her front paw and licked it for a couple of seconds ('ugh, this is revolting,' she thought) before swishing her tail and calling, "Nyaaa…" just as the man left the room. The sound caught Umbridge's attention and she frowned when she spotted the white cat perched on the desk below her.

"Where did you come from?" she asked. "I don't recall letting you into my classroom."

Charla made no response, not even to acknowledge that Umbridge had spoken. She just kept licking her paw for a moment before she looked up at Umbridge and padded to the edge of the desk, springing off it and walking towards the stairs in the obscurely bold yet cautious way that cats do when investigating something new.

Umbridge stood there, observing Charla quietly as the Exceed boldly bounded her way up the stairs to Umbridge's legs. Fighting the urge to hurl at her own behaviour, Charla let out a low noise in the back of her throat that could only be described as a purr, while stepping around Umbridge's body to rub herself against her. Dear gosh, she wouldn't even do this kind of thing with Wendy, but if they were going to be here at this castle then they might as well do their job properly.

"Well, aren't you adorable?" Umbridge knelt down to rub her stubby-fingered hand down Charla's back briefly. "And rather clean too. Immaculate almost. Which student do you belong to, I wonder."

Charla didn't answer of course. She just looked up and meowed again and even went as far as to rub her own head against Umbridge's hand.

"Whoa… she's committed…" Happy muttered. Lily could only nod.

Umbridge giggled in a high, girlish voice as Charla allowed her to give her a scratch beneath the chin for a moment before the short witch stood up and said, "I have nothing to feed you but feel free to stay. Most cats I find to be quite dirty animals but I might just have to find out which student is your owner so I can confiscate you."

She chuckled to herself before retreating into her office, Charla following close behind. The sight of the office beyond made her stop for a moment - the lurid pink walls and numerous cat decorations all over the place gave her chills. Happy and Lily, who crept up the stairs to stop by the door and peer in, had to agree. Happy was reminded of the room of that girl from the Tower of Heaven - Erza's old friend Millianna. But while her obsession with cats and the bizarre decor of her room had made the whole thing quite cute, albeit also bonkers, this place was just plain creepy.

The white Exceed ushered for her companions to stay out of sight before quickly tried to think of a cat-like thing to do next and so she hopped up onto Umbridge's desk and idly stretched out across it as if she was claiming it as her own. Umbridge ignored her and turned to the fire, throwing in a substance that Charla recognised to be Floo Powder.

"Minister of Magic's Office," she called into the fire and after approximately ten seconds the face of Cornelius Fudge appeared in the flames.

"Dolores?" he asked. "What is it you have to tell me this time? Is all well at the school?"

"I fear that I have learned something that might not bode well for us. I just received a visit from Willy Widdershins, who claimed to have information to trade in exchange for all charges being dropped against him. It seems that yesterday during their first trip to Hogsmeade village, several pupils gathered together in the Hog's Head to talk about forming something like a club. A club to learn and practice Defence Against the Dark Arts as they are unsatisfied with the Ministry approved curriculum. They want to learn to fight."

"They want to learn to what?" Fudge gasped. "Are you absolutely certain of this?"

"I am certain that that is what Willy Widdershins told me. Whether he was truthful or not I do not know but he seemed to be sincere. And of course, Minister, you know as well as I do that this cannot go… unregulated."

"Yes… yes. Quite right, Dolores, quite right," Fudge nodded. "This is an… extracurricular activity then, is it? None of the staff are involved?"

"Not that I know of, Minister."

"In that case I shall send you another Educational Decree forthwith. It should have arrived to you by the end of the day. That ought to nip this group in the bud. We absolutely cannot allow anything that Dumbledore might be able to use against us in the future."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Dolores simpered. "Quite the wise course of action indeed, Minister."

Charla felt an urge to wretch - dear lord, this woman was a shameless suck-up if ever she'd seen one. But this definitely highlighted something to her - there was no question that this Willy Widdershins had been in the Hog's Head when Harry and the other students had been discussing their plans. And if there were people entering the Hog's Head who were willing to report to this witch then the Fairy Tail members residing there would have to maintain extra caution not to be discovered from this point on.

"I will be sure to administer the Decree to its full effect," a rather twisted smirk appeared on Umbridge's face for a moment before she shook it off and added, "What of you, Minister? How goes the hunt for Fairy Tail?"

Charla's ears twitched and now all three Exceed were listening with increased intent. Happy almost laughed and possibly would have done if Lily hadn't quickly bopped him on the head to keep him quiet - they were searching for Fairy Tail and had no idea that a few of its members were in the room with them right now.

"The members who attacked our Headquarters remain elusive," Fudge shook his head. "We have no idea where they might be hiding, but I've issued a statement claiming that anyone found hiding them will face all the consequences of harbouring a fugitive. And these Fairy Tail people… they are akin to the most illegal immigrants ever. But I believe we may soon be making some progress - there is the possibility that we will soon locate another golden Sphere."

"Really? How exciting. What makes you say that, Minister?"

"We received a report that two Muggle hikers were up in the Cairngorms, not too far from where you are now, when they came across one of the Spheres. They took photographs on one of those… I forget the name… deegee-tall cameras, is it? Anyway they took a photograph of it and showed it to their neighbour, who is a wizard, when they returned home, and he sent a report to us immediately. I have seen the picture myself - it is definitely one of the Spheres."

"Where in the Cairngorms is it?" Umbridge asked quickly.

"The Muggle hikers marked its position on a map, but rather frustratingly they lost that map while on the way home. But we have been given an approximate area and we are currently combing the mountains for any sign of it. Hopefully it won't be too long before we have another Sphere in our custody and if there are any Fairy Tail members inside I will ensure they do not get away to rejoin their allies."

Charla's head swung around to lock eyes with Happy and Lily, who gazed right back in shock. Charla quickly flicked her head, urging them to get moving, and Happy quickly bounded down the stairs and lifted into the air, unlatching one of the windows of the classroom and soaring out over the school, making a beeline straight for Hogsmeade to warn the others. If there was another Fairy Sphere in danger of being found out there, then they needed to move quickly to ensure they got to it first.

"What do you intend to do with these people once their Sphere lowers?" Umbridge asked, dragging Charla's attention back to the conversation at hand.

"I am not yet sure," Fudge shook his head. "But we must make sure that they are not a threat to our citizens."

"Have you considered the Death Room?" Umbridge asked.

That instantly caused Charla's fur to bristle. She didn't know what the Death Room was but she definitely didn't like the sound of it. Lily's hand went for his sword before he remembered he wasn't wearing it anymore. And Fudge's face in the fire also looked a little perturbed.

"Dolores… that is a rather extreme suggestion… You think it would be wise to push these Fairy Tail members beyond the Veil?"

"When I think about them, and mull over all the information about them you have relayed to me, Minister," Dolores murmured, "All I see is a bunch of outsiders. They are not from our universe, ergo they have no place in it. And if there is no place for them here, then why should we keep them here? Is incarcerating them even good enough? How can we be certain a place like Azkaban would even hold them? I seem to recall you mentioning one of them actually killed Dementors. Killed Dementors! Nothing like that should be allowed to stay in our world, Minister, surely."

"That is true but it has been centuries since anyone was executed in such a manner," Fudge replied. "The plan at the forefront of my mind was to keep anyone we captured dosed with a Draft of Living Death until we found a way to return them to the dimension they came from."

"But Minister, what if they were to return home and tell others about this world? If they came through once then they could come through again and perhaps next time they could bring an army. What would be to stop them from trying to take over?"

"You think they would?" Fudge asked slowly. "You really think they would?"

"Well, the fact they come from another world means there's a high likelihood there are hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions more like them out there, maybe each of them just as destructive and powerful as the others. Who knows what the consequences of letting them run free would be, in either world. I think, for the good of wizardkind, drastic steps sometimes need to be taken, don't you agree, Minister?"

"…That is true," Fudge muttered. "I am still unsure that a death penalty is a wise option… but I will consider your words. Thank you, Dolores."

"Of course, Minister," Umbridge smiled sweetly. "I do my best."

"And it is much appreciated. Your work at the school is already having a profound effect. And if it hadn't been for your idea to use Vertiaserum on that Levy girl, perhaps we would have realised the threat that Fairy Tail posed too late."

Charla almost leapt off the desk. What!? This woman… this woman had been the one who came up with the idea of drugging Levy with a truth potion?! Of course, it made sense - Levy had told them that there had been quite a wait before she'd been summoned into the courtroom. They'd assumed that had just been time to convene the court but Fudge would have had time to come and talk to this terrible woman too.

"I do what anyone would in a situation like this," Umbridge waved it away, though the smugness in her voice made all attempts to appear nonchalant pointless really. "But I should not keep you Minister. You have a Sphere to find."

"Quite right," Fudge nodded. "Have a good day, Dolores."

His head vanished from the fire and Umbridge turned around to head back to her desk, sitting down in her chair and reaching forwards to run her fingers through Charla's fur. Charla had to use every calming technique she knew to avoid slashing her claws up this woman's hand - she had to be one of the most revolting humans she'd ever encountered and the fact she was now touching her made her sick.

"Those Fairy Tail people need to be dealt with permanently," Umbridge murmured almost gleefully. "And if not even the Dementors that I suggested be kept on hand at the interrogation will be enough then we must take any option possible, don't you think?"

Charla made no response but another spike of anger gripped her. So she'd been responsible for that too, indirectly at least. It was quite clear that Fudge was a rather incompetent Minister all on his own, but it was this woman sitting on his shoulder and whispering into his ear that was feeding that incompetence to the max, raising his paranoia, pushing him to extremes. It was almost as if she was pulling his strings, even if only just enough to get Fudge to make the rest of the mistake himself.

Lily was also bristling and had to force himself to remain composed despite his sudden wish to change form and punch the living daylights out of this woman. It was because of her that Gajeel and Levy were having problems right now. He had no doubt that if Gajeel were here, he _would_ be knocking her teeth out, restraint be damned.

"If he consents to the death penalty, I wonder if I can expand on it," Umbridge muttered. "Spur things on until all werewolves are given the same fate. That would certainly make the world a safer place."

Charla was fairly certain that she had never hated anyone more than at that moment.

'You put one hair on Wendy's head,' she breathed. 'And I'll claw your eyes out myself… just you wait and see.'

* * *

Evergreen didn't struggle much as she was lowered down from the branch and tied to the litter once again. She knew already that she couldn't hope to break the vine ropes through strength and she would only waste energy by trying. Energy that she could be using to try and think of something better. After all, it was not just her that she had to think about right now, but also these poor captive Fairies that had now joined her on the journey to wherever the Erklings were taking them. The jar of fairies had been placed on the litter next to her head, and Evergreen kept glancing sideways at them to make sure they were alright while they buzzed around inside, looking for any possible way out, and finding nothing.

But try as she might, Evergreen couldn't think of a way out. She couldn't reach any convenient knots to help untie herself with and she didn't have anything sharp to cut them with. These Erklings might be dim, but when it came to holding a prisoner, they knew what they were doing.

But perhaps the most humiliating part of all was when they reached foliage too thick for them to carry the litter through so they ended up untying her legs and attached several ropes to her waist like leashes, pulling on them like multiple humans trying to control a giant as they tugged her forwards through the leaves, the jar of fairies now hanging around her neck. Evergreen grunted and resisted, twisting around in an attempt to run but the Erklings irrevocably drew her forward all the same.

'They could at least take the gag out,' she thought to herself irritatedly as she was yanked forwards, the branches snagging at her dress the whole way.

But eventually she was yanked into the clearing where the initial Erkling had been last night. Almost instantly, the area went deathly still and Evergreen blinked slightly when she saw how unnaturally slowly everything was going, even the branches in the wind, swaying as if the trees had somehow managed to get drunk. And the blue flashing lights that rose from the lake homed in on her quickly, one zipping in towards her face so fast that she almost fell backwards. She could only stare, wide-eyed, at the blue fairy-like creature hovering in front of her nose.

"So…" he said, baring his teeth to reveal a cluster of mismatched fangs in his mouth. "You are the one that calls yourself the Fairy Queen, are you?"

"Rhhn?" Evergreen blinked. "Hhmm… wwhr mrrnhh… thrssh rhh aawwh aah bbr msshnnsnntd…"

The Sidhe Elder sighed and lifted his staff, the tip glowing brightly for a moment before he blasted a thin stream of light from it that impacted with the vine wedged between Evergreen's teeth. The vine almost seemed to burst as it sprang free and Evergreen gasped and narrowly avoided falling backwards, trying to reach up to touch her teeth to make sure they weren't damaged but the bonds holding her tight.

"Be careful with that!?" she protested. "You know my teeth won't grow back if you blast them out!"

"Silence!" the Sidhe Elder flitted in further to aim his staff between Evergreen's eyes. The weapon was the size of a toothpick but Evergreen had already seen firsthand that it was not to be trifled with. "You will not speak unless you are spoken to. Now, I repeat, are you the one that calls yourself the Fairy Queen?"

Evergreen bit her lip, glancing around herself slightly and wondering what the Erklings would do now if she revealed everything. But to her surprise, the Erklings were not moving. They were just standing there, many of them looking at the place she'd been standing in fifteen seconds earlier, utterly immobile as if in suspended animation. And the surroundings were all the same, nothing was moving except for Evergreen, the Sidhe elder and the rest of the Fairies, both the ones in the jar and the ones hovering a slight distance behind the Elder.

"Do not concern yourself with them," the Elder hissed. "They have been momentarily immobilised so that we can talk. I will not repeat the question a third time."

"I am… I am Evergreen," the Fairy Mage replied. "And yes, I… I did say that but when I told these idiots that I was the Fairy Queen I didn't mean… actually a Queen of Fairies."

"Then what were you referring to?" the Elder asked fiercely.

"My guild. We call ourselves Fairy Tail and as I use Fairy Magic, I was saying that I think that entitles me to owning the title of the Fairy Queen…"

"Fairy Magic? You use Fairy Magic? What blasphemy are you spouting now - there is not human that can learn or use the magic of Fairy kind. Not any more at any rate. And even if you could, you think that would give you the right to be our ruler?"

"It's not the actual magic of fairies," Evergreen protested. "It's just magic akin to that of the Fairies. And like I said, the Fairy Queen is just a title. A nickname even. Definitely not my true name - I am not really the Titania."

"But these Erklings seem convinced that you were indeed telling them you were a Queen of Fairies."

"Well that seemed like a good tactic to try and get them to lead me out of the woods at the time - make them think I was someone important, you know. I didn't really mean it. Look, can you just untie me and let me go. I don't know where I am and all I really want is to get the heck out of this place."

The Elder paused to stare at her balefully for a couple of moments, but then just smirked and said, "I could… or I could simply… take you with me."

"…Excuse me?"

"I am the Sidhe Elder! I am the true leader of the most powerful race of Fairy kind and you have come here deceiving others into thinking you were royalty. That cannot go unpunished. I think one-thousand years of servitude to me should suffice."

"What!?"

"It's either that or I kill you right here," he hissed. "I will not have someone claiming themselves to be above me. Not even… in jest… as you seem to have done. You must suffer the consequences of dishonouring the Sidhe."

"You… you can't be serious?" Evergreen cried.

"Sir, maybe that is a little much," one of the female Sidhe hovered forwards. "It really seems to me that she was just trying to look out for herself. I'm sure she didn't mean to disrespect either you or us."

"Yes, that's it," nodded Evergreen. "That's it exa-HEY!" she gasped in shock before finishing her sentence as the Elder backhanded the other Fairy with the bulbous end of his staff, smacking her upside the cheek hard enough to send her reeling back into the water with a fake plop.

"I believe I just said I am the Sidhe Elder here," he growled. "I am the one that makes all the decisions - you do not speak to or for me without my permission first."

"What did you do that for?" Evergreen demanded angrily.

"SILENCE!" the Sidhe sent off a bolt of miniature blue lightning at Evergreen's leg, that she just managed to avoid by hopping backwards, but it still created a crater about the size of a football in the ground. "The same goes for you, blasphemer. The word of the Elder is law. And my law states that you have earned enough punishment to last one-thousand years as a slave of the Sidhe."

"One-thousand… are you freaking kidding me?" Evergreen yelled.

"No, I am not. And if you refuse then the penalty is death."

"What kind of fairy are you supposed to be?" Evergreen spat angrily. "Fairies are supposed to be beautiful and flighty, maybe a little vain but still goodhearted. You're not any of those things. You're just a tyrant."

"What would a human know of our ways anyway?" the Elder hissed. "I don't care what you think my kind should be like - I'm showing you what we are now." He fired another bolt that sailed over Evergreen's shoulder and caused a tree branch to explode into splinters. "So… what will it be, human? Death or enslavement?"

Evergreen gritted her teeth, and the fairies in the jar around her neck were huddled together in fear, each one trying to be the one on the bottom. The Sidhe Elder was absolutely minuscule in comparison to her, but Evergreen knew that he was a dangerous person indeed.

But that didn't stop her from growling, "Option Three - kick your ass!" And suddenly leaping upwards. Her upper body was still bound but with her legs free and the Erklings holding her leashes frozen she was quite capable of delivering a spectacular roundhouse kick right at the Elder's direction. He dodged nimbly out of the way and growled at her.

"So be it," he hissed and raised his staff once again. Evergreen glared defiantly at him while mentally scrambling through her options. What should she do? What could she do? She would never surrender as long as she could still fight - that was what Fairy Tail did after all. But how could she fight him while half tied up like this?

And right at that exact moment… the vines around Evergreen's wrists and elbows snapped. Evergreen gasped as her arms suddenly jerked apart and the ropes were almost flung off her body right at the moment the Elder fired at her. Instinct kicked in and Evergreen seized the jar of Fairies in her hands and rolled to the side in time to avoid the blast, flipping back onto her feet and extending her wings.

"What!?" the Elder cried. "What happened!?"

That was a question Evergreen herself very much wanted to know. She glanced back at the fallen vines on the ground and she could see the places where they'd snapped. It wasn't like they'd been torn apart - it was incredibly smooth, as if they'd been cut with a pair of scissors or a knife. But who could have cut them? There had not been anybody around but all the Fairies so how was she suddenly free.

But that was a question that could wait for another time. Right now, the Elder had zipped around to face her again and she narrowed her eyes at him challengingly. "This time…" she said. "I won't be caught off guard."

* * *

Yes, I know the Sidhe have never been mentioned or alluded to in the history of the Potterverse ever. But hey, nobody ever said they didn't exist, did they? XD


	20. Tyranny

Hello everybody. Christmas was a busy time of year to be sure but I'm still here and I'm still writing. And so here's my next instalment of the story. Oh this is going to take me a looooong time to write. But in the end, it will be worth it. XD

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 20:- Tyranny**

* * *

"Whether you are free or a prisoner is entirely irrelevant," the Sidhe Elder scowled at Evergreen, pointing his bejewelled staff at her menacingly, the tip glowing an iridescent blue as he prepared his next spell. "If you truly think that you are a match for me then you are even haughtier than I thought. There has not been a human that could match the power of the mighty Sidhe since the days Camelot!"

"I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about," Evergreen wrinkled her nose as her fingers toyed with the lid of the jar of fairies clutched in her hand. "You might be strong but you can never know you're the strongest until you've taken on everyone in existence, and quite clearly you have never done that. Which means you've had a stick up your butt for far too long and I guess its high time someone took you down a peg."

"Very well. I have decided. Dying is too good for you. I will let you live as our slave for the rest of your limited human lifespan after all. You will truly know our power then, and you will be sorry you ever crossed us."

"You sure go on a lot," Evergreen muttered as she twisted the lid of the jar and popped it free. The six fairies inside it immediately zinged out in momentary joyousness before immediately zipping behind Evergreen and peering out over the top of her shoulders at the uglier, bluer and very much angrier fairy across from them.

"Don't worry," Evergreen murmured to them. "I promised that I would protect you and I will. Even from this whackjob."

"Know your place, human!" the Sidhe fired off an energy bolt about twice the size of his own body from his staff right at Evergreen's chest. Evergreen was prepared for this though and immediately spread her wings, scattering the startled fairies behind her as she shot straight up into the air. The energy bolt passed underneath her and impacted on the water, sending up a burst of it like an extremely small nuclear bomb.

"What!?" the Elder cried. "You have wings!?"

"I guess I'm not your average human, huh?" Evergreen smirked down at him before upending herself and dive-bombing the tiny being. The Sidhe Elder instantly dodged to the side so fast all he left was a bluish blur and fired another energy bolt at her side. She rolled onto her back in mid-air quickly, the bolt narrowly missing her stomach before she swung around and clapped her hands together.

"Yōsei Kijū… Leprechaun!" she cried and swung her arm to the side, generating hundreds of yellow energy needles before her that thundered outwards like a hail of bullets, streaking across the surface of the water to home in on the Sidhe Elder. He was momentarily startled, but quick to react and he immediately began to flit in a jagged zig-zag, swooping under one energy needle, dodging another, rounding another and so on, blazing straight through the attack and homing in towards Evergreen.

"Well at least he doesn't have swords in his feet," Evergreen muttered, remembering the last time someone had ploughed through this attack, though by blocking instead of simply dodging. She piled on the pressure, increasing the number of bullets until they were almost double but she only succeeded in actually losing sight of her tiny foe, unable to follow his pathway through the myriad of flashing lights.

But she found out where he was when something hot impacted with her back and flung her forwards with a scream. Turning back over her shoulder she saw the smirking Elder from where he had hit her with some kind of fire spell, the remains of which were dissipating in wisps of smoke. The Elder then shot up towards her like an arrow from a bow until he was right in front of her face and touched his staff to the centre of her forehead. Evergreen was instantly blown backwards as if she'd been fired from a cannon, a powerful shockwave driving into her body as she lost her flight and ploughed straight into the water.

"Perhaps you are something special," the Elder smirked down at the bubbling surface of the water. "But at the end of the day you are still just a human. And a human cannot beat…"

A large ball of yellow energy erupted up from the water and blasted up at him. He dodged only narrowly but was sent momentarily tumbling at the slipstream from the attack. Evergreen burst up from underneath the water, her hair and dress sodden but her her spirit burning, and slashed her hands through the air, trailing dust from her fingertips that solidified into fine energy blades and sliced through the air en masse towards the Elder. But he was quick to recover himself and like and like a pinball he zipped about in seemingly random directions to dodge the attack once again. The energy blades sliced into the tree trunks on the bank and cut off a few branches, one of which landed on a frozen Erkling down below.

Evergreen gritted her teeth - the guy was just too damn nimble and small for any of her attacks to connect. But the Elder was not exactly pleased himself, and looked over at Evergreen incredulously. "How in the blazes are you still able to fight? That shockwave should have broken half the bones in your body."

"Mages are made of stern stuff," Evergreen snorted. "You'll just have to do better than that."

"Very well," he leered. "If better I must do then better I will do." He raised his staff above his head, the blue tip glowing ominously for a second before a sudden blast of lightning thundered across the lake towards Evergreen. She gasped and corkscrewed rapidly to the side, the blast sizzling past her, only for her to find another lightning bolt coming surging towards her.

Again she twisted violently to the side to dodge the attack but the first lightning bolt had curved around and lanced in towards her from behind to strike her in the back. Evergreen screamed as the electrical attack coursed through her body and flung her forwards to crash into the shrubs on the bank.

"How's that for better?" the Elder cackled and sent a third lightning blast out towards Evergreen's slumped and slightly smoking form. But right at the last second Evergreen rolled to one side and dodged back into the air as the lightning exploded the soil where she'd just been, twirling her body through the air and swinging her arms out to release a huge cloud of yellow dust that billowed out across the water an almost pyrotechnic display of twinkly lights.

"Well, that was better," Evergreen winced, rubbing her back but also smirking. "But I'm a member of the Raijinshuu. I'm used to being hit with lightning during my training. And quite frankly, that was pitiful next to anything Laxus can do."

"Well that was only a tiny fraction of my power," the Elder growled as the dust settled around him, its reflections glinting off the surface of the lake.

"Oh, I'm sure. But in the mean time… Yōsei Bakudan… GREMLIN!" Evergreen flung her arms out to the side and instantly all the dust particles ignited in a tumult of powerful explosions, like each one was a hand grenade the size of a speck of dust. The Elder had not been expecting this at all and bellowed in pain as he was bombarded from all sides and sent flying backwards, considerably blackened.

"Dodge that," Evergreen watched him fall with satisfaction but was pulled up short when he managed to catch himself in mid-air moments before landing in the lake. Some of his injuries were already beginning to heal over slightly and he shook his head woozily.

Evergreen instantly pressed on with her attack, firing another volley of energy needles in the hope she could get him before he recuperated. But before she could a wall of water burst up from the lake to intercept them right as geyser erupted beneath her. Evergreen yelped as it blasted into the back and flung her up into the air, spinning head over heel. She blurred her wings rapidly the moment she could escape the water torrent to try and correct her flight only for a suddenly blast of wind to impact her from the side and send her spinning another way.

"Your tricks are paltry in comparison to the magic of the Sidhe," the Elder rose into the air, charred and holding his side but still very much in action, flinging several fireballs out of the end of his staff at her tumbling body. "We are the oldest of the fairy races. We have control over all the elements when we so choose. Next to us, you humans are pitiful!"

"Ugh, will you just shut up?" Evergreen growled as she drew her wings tightly around her and dropped straight down to avoid the fireballs, snapping her wings open and swooping to the side just above the surface of the lake to avoid another watery explosion from beneath her. She twisted around to summon another cloud of fairy dust but a gust of wind blew it right back at her instead of towards the target - if she wasn't immune to her own attacks she would have been in real trouble. But even as she tried to plan her next move a ball of fire appeared in front of her and she had to throw herself backwards as it exploded, just missing having her skin singed.

It seemed this guy actually was very powerful. Small wonder if he'd been the leader of such a powerful race for thousands of years.

Evergreen was, though she was loath to admit it, not one of the stronger members of her guild. She didn't even rank among the top ten. Probably not even the top fifteen… but still… she was still Fairy Tail. And she was the resident Fairy Mage… no way was she going to let herself lose to a fairy! Especially an egotistical prat like this one.

…Though even as she thought that her wrists and ankles were seized from behind her. She gasped and turned around to see that several thin branches of the trees on the bank had suddenly reached towards her and were grappling with her, trying to pull her limbs out wide into an upright spread eagle to immobilise her.

"Oh no, you don't! Not this time!" Evergreen growled as she yanked on the branches hard, pulling her wrists in close and then flinging her arms out before they could do it for her. A cloud of Fairy Dust poured from between her hands and exploded, shredding the wood of the tree. She swung around to face the Elder and saw him flash forwards at high speed, so on instinct she lashed out with her foot in a round, sweeping kick. The Elder almost collided with it head-on but he dodged upwards, right as Evergreen lashed out with more energy blade. And yet even despite the point-blank range of the attack he still managed to avoid it.

"You can never hit me!" he cackled as he twirled his staff and a volley of fireballs twice as big as he was materialised around him and fired at her, growing in size even as they did. Evergreen hurriedly clapped her hands together to form a shield of concentrated dust that took the brunt of the attacks, but they still pushed her down until she landed in the shallows. Almost immediately she felt something else latch onto her ankles. Water weed looped around each of them and began to wind their way up her legs. Evergreen yanked on them, trying to get back into the air, but they held her fast.

"Seems that I win," the Sidhe snickered.

"If you were my size, I would have kicked your ass a long time ago," Evergreen growled from behind her shield. "Only reason I haven't is that you're so good at avoiding my attacks."

"The difference in our sizes is irrelevant. I would be able to dodge you just as well. You are slow. I can see your attacks coming as if they they were snails crawling towards me."

"Is that so?" a slow smirk spread over Evergreen's face. "Well then… let's see if I can do something about that."

She crossed her arms across her face and abruptly the shield she was holding before her collapsed in on itself and exploded outwards with a flash of intense yellow light. Light that seared against the Elder's eyes and drew forth a harsh scream of pain as they were almost left smoking from the brightness, but Evergreen had been covering her eyes with her arms and so remained unaffected as she lowered them and smirked at the reeling Fairy.

"Gaaahhhh! Nooo! Trickery! The human has blinded me!"

Evergreen lifted into the air - the water weeds around her legs slackening as the one controlling them lost his focus and allowed herself to rip herself free as she shot forwards, pulling back a hand and slammed it to connect a fist with the Elder's entire body, generating a solid crack. As he shot backwards like a bullet from a gun, Evergreen twirled around and called out another, "Yōsei Kijū… Leprechaun!"

The command was now familiar to the Sidhe Elder so he lowered his hands, blinking through the time spectrum if vision he still had as he dodged aside randomly, but this time he couldn't see the attacks coming so one of them impacted with his chest. He was fling backwards straight into another energy needle, then another, then another, until he was pinging back and forwards rebounding off the explosions of the other's attack.

"Got to thank Bickslow for pointing out that bright lights are an enemy to those who rely on keeping their eyes open," Evergreen chuckled as she watched the Sidhe get flung around, before clearing her throat and yelling over the sound of constant small explosions. "Do you surrender?"

"To a human!? I would rather drown in my own blood!" The Elder spat. "Sidhe! To me! Come to my aid!"

But the few Sidhe that were still hovering over by the side of the lake next to the frozen Erklings made no move. Evergreen could not tell if they too were semi-blinded at first but it seemed they were just hovering and taking in the fight.

Evergreen decided to wonder about later and focused all her attention on the Elder. "Someone like you doesn't deserve the loyalty of other Fairies.

"DAMN YOU!" The Elder whirled around in the direction of her voice and slashed out with his staff to develop a fiery whip that lashed out towards Evergreen's neck. But it was a wild stab in the dark, almost literally, that missed Evergreen by several metres even without her having to put much effort into the dodge.

The Fairy Mage swooped round towards him on a curve, readying herself for the final move. Even as the Elder swung out another fiery whiplash in the wrong direction, Evergreen closed in and snatched him up in her hand, closing her fist around his tiny body and swinging him around, concentrating dust in her other palm to create a large energy sphere. Even as the Elder kicked and screamed for release she slammed him into the sphere and fired them both together at the bank next to all the frozen Erklings. His staff snapped in two and the impact caused a small crater in the earth in which he lay, smoking and burned and very much unconscious, but still alive.

Evergreen alighted on the ground next to him to stare down at his tiny form distastefully. "Well… that's not really how I wanted my first proper contact with fairies to go," she muttered to herself.

"Finish him!" cried a voice behind her. She turned back to see one of the female Sidhe fluttering her wings a few feet away and clenching her fists, her expression set in stone.

"Excuse me?" Evergreen blinked.

"Finish him off now, before he wakes up," the fairy repeated.

"Isn't he your leader?"

"Yes he is. He inherited the position after his father died thousands of years ago. His family have been our leaders for millennia, and he comes from a respected line. But even though the leadership has always been his by right, he has always felt the need to stamp his authority on us by any means necessary. He bullies us, abuses us, punishes us often for doing the slightest thing wrong. He has no right to be our leader, not anymore!"

"If he's been such a jerk for so long why have you put up with him all that time?"

"He is stronger than us for one thing," said another Sidhe, a male this time. "But its mainly because it is just his birthright. He was born into the noble line and the rest of us have always followed that line."

"We long hoped," the female continued. "That any son or daughter that he had would become a kinder, more generous leader to our people. But he has no son or daughter. None of us women want to go near him and he seems to have very little interest in getting himself an heir. I think he's always felt that when the time comes he can just have his pick of any Sidhe woman - probably even ones that already have partners."

"…Alright… that's despicable…" Evergreen nodded. "But why do you suddenly want me to kill him now? Because he's lying unconscious and you think you see a light at the end of the tunnel or something?"

"Yes! We don't want him anymore!"

"Then what will you do after he's dead?" Evergreen pointed out. "Won't you need a new leader? If he dies and his bloodline is broken, who will lead you after that?"

The female hesitated, biting her tiny lip as she struggled to find an answer, but a third fairy suddenly spoke up from behind her and cried, "You will, of course!"

"…What?" Evergreen's voice caught in her throat.

"You defeated the Sidhe Elder in combat. Logically that should mean that you would be the next one to take on the role of Elder if the Elder has no heir," the third fairy nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Elder?" Evergreen sniffed. "I hardly think that would be an appropriate title to give someone who's most likely younger than most of your people, especially if you all live for thousands of years like you said you did."

"Then we can re-name it Queen! You can be our Fairy Queen!"

Those words rooted Evergreen to the spot. She was, for several moments, unable to do anything but stand there and blink, her mouth open in shock as the sheer enormity of the words crashed down over the top of her.

Certainly she had long been desired to be known as the Fairy Queen… but not in a literal sense. She'd just wanted the nickname given to Erza Scarlet to be given to her instead. And yet, not only had she finally achieved her dream to meet with fairies… but they actually willing to make her their monarch? This… oh she'd dreamed about it in some of her wilder fantasies… but never had she thought that it might actually happen! Not once!

She felt slightly giddy - especially when some of the other Sidhe started cheering and pumping their little fists into the air, zinging around like electrons around a nucleus. Could this be some kind of destiny? Or fate? Or was this another dream just leading her on - playing a trick on her?

If she could become a real Fairy Queen then… well… as far as she was concerned Erza could keep the the Titania nickname. Oh, she couldn't wait until the next time she saw Erza and see the expression on her face when she told her of her new position.

…But… when would that be?

Evergreen's euphoria took a sudden plunge at that thought. Where was Erza anyway? And where were all the others? The Master, Laxus, her teammates Freed and Bickslow… Elfman… and all the rest? Her heart clenched suddenly - all the chaos with her kidnapping and the fighting had drawn her mind away from her own isolation and the potential plight of her friends. Now it all came flooding back to her. Were they even alive after Acnologia's attack? And if they were, had they landed themselves in danger like she quite clearly had?

She glanced down at her chest, able to make out the green Fairy Tail mark down there out of the corner of her eye.

As long as she held that mark… she knew where her first loyalties lay.

"I am sorry," she said, interrupting the Fairies celebration. "But… I… cannot accept your offer. I cannot be your Fairy Queen."

"You… you're turning us down?" the female asked. "But weren't you the one who was calling yourself the Fairy Queen before?"

"Yes, yes I was but I was not being serious about that."

"But you could be now. Don't you realise what an honour this is for us to select you? You're a human after all. No human has ever commanded a Sidhe. It wasn't just the Elder's power complex that made him call you pathetic - the Sidhe have been long-standing enemies of humans. In past times, when most humans still knew that we existed, we used to try and gain power over them quite often. The sheer fact that we're still talking to you instead of attacking should be considered an incredible honour indeed."

"…That does make me feel all the more honoured but I still cannot accept. I may not be a Fairy Queen but I am a mage of the Fairy Tail guild. They are the only family I have truly ever known and it would be nothing but pure selfishness for me to stay here and not try to find them. Oh, I freely admit I'm quite vain. After all, when you've got a body like mine why should I not be?" Evergreen tossed her hair back and slapped her own thigh. "But I'm not so vain as to abandon them for this."

The Sidhe looked at each other for several moments, conferring amongst themselves before one of the males looked back up and said, "But… if you do not lead us then who will?"

"Let's be honest, me becoming your Queen would be a bad idea anyway. I won't live nearly as long as any of you."

"We could grant you incredible longevity with our magic."

"And if I outlived all of my friends I think I would find it incredibly hard to live with myself knowing that I had abandoned them. I'm sorry… but my decision is final. You should try and find yourself a new leader amongst yourselves. Maybe have a competition to decide who's the best choice for a new Elder. Or hold some kind of election or something… I don't know. The point is that you haven't needed me for thousands of years so you don't need me now."

"Hmm… this has never happened before to us," the female tapped her lip.

"Oh, it must have. After all, the royal bloodline must have become royal somehow. Somewhere down the line this guy's ancestors must have stamped their authority down on all of your ancestors. Now becomes the opportunity for someone else to step up and make a new bloodline. Which is something I could never provide anyway - I can't have a child with a fairy so I wouldn't leave an heir behind now can I?"

"You speak sense," said another Sidhe. "In that case, we had best come up with a plan. But… what are we going to do with the Elder?"

"…Well… we can't kill him," pointed out the female. "It's against our laws to kill another Sidhe. Sometimes I think it was that law that was the only thing that stopped him from ever killing one of us when he got very annoyed."

"You'll just have the take him prisoner then," Evergreen said. "Decide what to do with him on your own time."

"It seems that is our only option. He has not violated enough laws to be banished from the kingdom and given mortality."

"…Harsh punishment…" Evergreen murmured dryly.

"Still… it will take some time for us to figure out who will be our new leader," the female said. "So… how about this… what is your name?"

"Evergreen."

"Well… Evergreen… the Sidhe must have a leader… so until we find one of our own to fill the role how about we name you as our substitute Queen? You don't have to stay here with us to do it. All we would require from you is to officially pass on the status to our chosen one when the time comes. And as long as you are our monarch, you can call on us at any time. Just shout for aid into the wind and if you need us, we will come."

Evergreen was entirely taken aback but once the shock wore off… again… she smiled and said, "It would be my honour to be your substitute Queen. Do I have to… say anything?"

"No, the transition has already been made," the female nodded. "All hail Evergreen, the Fairy Queen!"

The other Sidhe raised their staffs in salute. Evergreen made to pull her fan in front of her face before she remembered that she didn't actually have it. "You are too kind," she flicked her hair back over her shoulder. "I shall endeavour to be a fair Queen, and I do so appreciate your adoration. But now I must away. I need to find my friends."

"Perhaps we can help you with that," one of the Sidhe suggested. "Maybe if we looked around we might be able to…"

He stopped. Something had materialised in mid-air between Evergreen and the Sidhe, a spot of air glowing for a moment before expanding into some kind of… shining ball of bluish light. Evergreen stepped back slightly and the fairies drew in close around her as the light sphere wafted its way towards her, arcing lazily behind and around her several times, doing little loops around her body.

"Erm… okay… is this part of the ritual?" Evergreen asked.

"No… we're not sure what that is…" the female Sidhe said. "But… it feels like… Old Magic…"

"That doesn't really tell me much. Is it good or bad?"

But before any of the blue fairies could answer the sphere came to a hovering stop in front of Evergreen's face… before rapidly expanding outwards to swallow her up. Evergreen gasped and tried to dive out of the light but before she could she felt as if the ground had opened up beneath her and spat out a furious tornado with her at its epicentre. She span in circles, helplessly out of control and yelling at the tops of her lungs…

…before she vanished with a smoky poof.

The Sidhe hovered there for a moment, staring in bewilderment.

"That was Transportation Magic," said one of them.

"But none of us cast it," agreed another.

"But… if it was not us… then who?" the female asked. "And where did it send the Queen?"

But it was at that precise moment that the Erklings suddenly unfroze from where they could and instantly jumped, swinging their heads wildly from side to side and crying things like, "Where Fairy Queen!?" and "What happen!?" All except the one that had initially met Evergreen, who had had a branch land on him during the fight. All he said was, "Gnnngh…"

And from the foliage on the northern bank of the lake, not far from where Evergreen had been standing, a pair of deep blue eyes watched the spot where Evergreen had been. The eyes were set in the wrinkled face of an extremely decrepit looking old man, who was propping himself up with a staff and smacking his lips, his long white hair and equally white beard draping down over his red robes like wispy curtains.

It seemed he had been right to use his magic to cut that woman free before. He'd have done that anyway of course, but her magic… it had been unlike any that he'd ever seen before. And the mark on her front… yes… he had been right to pay attention to his senses. The people bearing that mark were going to be extremely influential in the events to come. Hence why he'd just transported her away.

"Hmmm… yes… I'll be sure to keep an eye on them…" he said in a cracked, slightly nasal voice before turning and walking off into the trees with a surprisingly strong gait for a man using a staff to walk on.

* * *

Gajeel was not currently at the Hog's Head.

This was because Gildarts had, probably rightly, pointed out that he would need to get used to the idea of his Exceed staying at the castle and therefore he should head back the Grimmauld Place with them until he did. Because there was a strong likelihood that he would storm into the castle to get Lily back even though the black cat was more than capable of looking after himself if he didn't.

"It's what I could see Natsu doing," Gildarts had said as a side-note to some of the others. "And though he might be loath to admit it, it seems to me that Gajeel is quite similar."

"Juvia thinks so too," Juvia had agreed, which had pretty much decided it since she knew Gajeel best of all the people there.

Wendy was still there though, and she was now accompanied by Lisanna and Levy. Lisanna had stayed for the sole reason of keeping Wendy company. Levy was there for the same reason but also because this was where Gajeel wasn't and she needed that right now.

Or at least she told herself she did. Lisanna and Wendy were more sceptical.

"You realise that you're going to have to face the problem sooner or later, right Levy?" Lisanna said. "Isn't it better to just bite the bullet and get it over with."

"It's not that simple," Levy sighed. "I know you're right Lisanna. It's just my stupid mind won't stop playing around with me."

"I wish we could help more… but I don't know any healing magic that can heal fear," Wendy twiddled her fingers slightly, as if somehow blaming herself for Levy's own problems. Levy noticed and patted Wendy's shoulder.

"It's not your fault. I'm hoping that just some time away from him will sort me out, that's all… but… I really don't understand why this is clinging to me so much."

"That'll be the effect of the Dementors," growled Aberforth from where he was standing at the door, drawing the attention of the three girls to him. "Those were the things that brought on this sudden phobia of your own friend right?"

"Yeah," Levy nodded. "They brought up images that I've been doing my best to forget."

"That's what they do. It's like… their breath gets into you or something. When they get so close to you as to give you a clear vision of your memories, the things they show you can haunt your dreams for weeks, sometimes months at a time. I knew a guy once, who spent a few months in Azkaban prison that left him remembering the time where his mother died at St Mungo's hospital. Poor guy refused to go see a Healer for any reason for two years because every time he thought about it the memory rushed back to his head."

"That's horrible…" Lisanna swallowed. "But… what can we do to help Levy through this."

"Not sure there's much you can do," Aberforth grunted. "She's got to find some way of putting it behind her herself."

Levy sagged slightly and wrinkled her nose… and then screamed and fell backwards off her chair when a burst of light erupted out of nowhere right next to her. Lisanna and Wendy sprang up too, and Aberforth immediately went for his wand, but quick at it had come the light vanished, leaving a brunette woman behind who yelped and fell backwards onto the floor, swearing slightly.

"The hell was that!?" Aberforth cried.

"Evergreen!?" Lisanna gasped a split second later.

Evergreen looked up and blinked when she saw Lisanna standing over her. "What… Lisanna? How did you…? What…? Where am I? I was standing next to a lake a moment ago."

Lisanna completely ignored the questions and beamed, helping Evergreen to her feet and hugging her. "Evergreen, I'm so glad you're here! If you are that must mean that one of the other Fairy Spheres has lowered!"

"Were you the only one there when you woke up?" Levy asked, but before Evergreen could answer she gasped and winced. Lisanna's hands had touched her back where the leader of the Sidhe had blasted her with lightning and she jerked violently as a result.

"Evergreen-san, you're hurt!" Wendy noted. "Here, let me heal it!"

"Th… thank you, Wendy," Evergreen grunted as she placed a hand on Lisanna's shoulder for support while the little Dragon Slayer hurried around behind her to start healing her back. "But… does anyone fancy telling me what's going on here? What happened to the whole thing with Acnologia? One minute we're holding hands and the next I find myself lying in the middle of a forest somewhere with nobody else there."

"Nobody else?" Levy tried not to look disappointed. "Guess that means it was just a solo Sphere this time."

"That doesn't answer my question in the slightest. Where is everybody?"

"It's a long story," Lisanna said. "You see, it's…"

"WE GOT TROUBLE!" yelled Happy as he whooshed through the window so fast that he ploughed straight into Evergreen and knocked her over again, accidentally dragging Lisanna down onto her backside with her. But the blue cat barely noticed and stood up on Evergreen's stomach, waving his arms with his eyes wide.

"Happy! What's going on!? Is Charla alright?" Wendy asked urgently.

"Yes, Charla's fine, but there's a chance some of the others might not be!" Happy yelled. "We were just spying on that Umbridge woman and she was talking to that Minister guy in the silly hat. He said that they'd found another Fairy Sphere!"

"Where? In a forest?" Levy asked.

"Erm… no… up in the mountains… not far from here he said. What made you think it would be a forest?"

"You are standing… on the reason…" Evergreen growled through slightly gritted teeth. Happy looked down at her, blinked twice, then sprang off her with a yell and jumped behind Lisanna. "EEK! DON'T TURN ME TO STONE!"

Evergreen sighed as she sat up. "I can't. You're not human. But I have henceforth decided that I'm going to find a way to develop my Stone Eyes so that they're not just limited to humans. There have been so many times over the last couple of days where that would have been useful."

"Wait… what is Evergreen doing here?" Happy asked. "And why is she a bit wet? Did you go fishing, Evergreen?"

"Happy, focus," Lisanna said quickly. "What were you saying about another Fairy Sphere."

"Oh right! They said that it had been found up in mountains called the Caregarms… no, it was the Carngames… no… no wait, I can remember this one…"

"The Cairngorms?" suggested Aberforth.

"Aaaw, I was going to say that!" Happy pouted. "But yes, those! And they're sending some Ministry people up into the mountains now so that they can go find it!"

"Well then we need to get there first!" Levy said immediately. "We can't let them get hold of this Sphere like they got hold of mine! There's no way I'm going to let the others go through what I did if I can help it!"

"Is anyone going to fill me in on this?" Evergreen asked, but Wendy overlapped a potential answer by asking Aberforth, "Where are the Cairngorms?"

"West of here, quite a way but we're certainly a heck of a lot closer to them here than the others at Grimmauld Place are," Aberforth replied.

"Well that's good because we need to get out there right now!"

"Oh, you're not going anywhere."

"…What?" Wendy blinked. "But Aberforth-san… our friends… you know we have to help them."

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm aware of what the stakes are. But… I seem to recall the last time you Fairy Tail mages rushed in without being guided by someone from my little old universe. You ended up wrecking half the Ministry and turning the populace against you. And now the government that is enforcing the fact you are dangerous is heading up into the mountains and you want to charge up there yourselves? That can only lead to another clash against people you want to end up on your side."

"Then… what do you suggest we do?" Lisanna asked.

"You lot are going to wait here until I get back, that's what you're going to do. While you wait, you're not going to tell the others that another Sphere has been found or they'll all want to go running off too. Meanwhile I am going to go and find Remus. I know he's in Hogsmeade today taking care of some important personal business and as soon as I find him I am bringing him back here."

"…Okay then…" Levy nodded.

"Yeah. Okay," Lisanna agreed. "Just… please hurry."

"Course I'm going to hurry. I'm not leaving you or my bar or my goats unattended for long. I'd be sending a Patronus to write the message for me or an owl if I had one to hand, which I don't. Stay put!" And he hurried out of the room, leaving the four girls and the male cat where they were until they heard his front door slam shut.

A beat of silence.

"So… is anyone going to tell me what's going on here?" Evergreen gasped. "Is this any way to treat a Fairy Queen? Oh, and when I say that this time, I mean literally."

* * *

"That woman is twisted…" Charla muttered as tried to fume as quietly as possible - despite the fact they were in an empty classroom they could still be overheard if they weren't careful. "I know that you said that she was but… to see if for myself made it over a thousand times worse."

"I didn't realise the amount of influence that she has over Fudge," Hermione ran a hand through her bushy hair worriedly. "I always assumed that he was the one calling most of the shots around the changes to the school, and in a way he still is, but if she's influencing his decisions that much then… I seriously worry about what she might be able to pull."

"Right now I'm a bit more worried about the fact that she knows about our extra Defence Against the Dark Arts stuff," Ron said as he kicked his legs. "Looks like the Hog's Head might not have been the best place to hold the meeting after all."

"Well excuse me for not knowing there was someone in there who would go running to Umbridge," Hermione muttered.

"It was quite a shady place anyway - its not exactly surprising."

"Then how about next time you make the plan, Ron? Where would you have suggested?"

Harry sighed and was about to interrupt before this could turn into another case of vicious bickering between the other two, but Luna beat him to the punch as she rubbed the top of Pantherlily's head. "I wouldn't have suggested anywhere else if I could go back and change it. After all, is not the Hog's Head the place where we found out the truth about Fairy Tail? We never would have done if we'd gone elsewhere."

"…That is true," Ron conceded. "Still, what do we do now? That Widdershins guy definitely knew you were there, Harry. She's going to be on to you."

"Actually I don't think she will be," Lily cleared his throat. "From what I gather this Umbridge is certainly out to get you, Harry. But she made no mention to the Minister that you were involved, which leads me to believe she didn't know. Perhaps this Widdershins man kept that particular aspect of the meeting to himself for whatever reason."

"Well I guess that's something," Harry nodded. "We should… I dunno… get the word out to the other members that she knows about us. There's no way we're going to let her stop us though. We just need to be more careful about it now, I guess."

"We always needed to be careful," Ginny pointed out. "This makes things more difficult sure… but I think its also more of a challenge, and there's not much better than a good challenge, right?"

"I prefer it when things are easy," Ron muttered.

"Well of course you do, you're as lazy as a sack of potatoes," Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother, who threw a wad of crumpled parchment at her.

"It's not going to be enough, you know," Charla stated bluntly.

"What's not?" Hermione frowned.

"Defying that woman's orders," the white Exceed shook her head adamantly. "You can sneak around her all you want, call her names behind her back, hate on her to anyone who won't tell her what you said… none of that's enough. Not even us spying on her is going to be enough. You need to be more proactive. If you've got someone trying to force her tyrannical will over you and almost everyone you know… you have to get rid of her."

"What, you mean overthrow her?" Ron asked.

"Exactly that, yes!" Charla nodded, raising her paw into the air. "She's going to be a constant thorn in your side for as long as she's here. So dig the thorn out!"

"We can't oppose her outright. We'd be expelled," Hermione gasped.

"Well I'm not talking about waltzing into her office and kicking her until she gives up," Charla rolled her eyes. "I'm talking about more subtly. Use anything that you can - blackmail, pranks, sabotage… anything that you can to get her off her high horse."

"You certainly do seem to feel particularly strongly about this, Charla," Pantherlily noted.

"That woman went on a ten minute rant about how much she was looking forward to watching the people in this school suffer while scratching my belly the entire time," Charla retched. "You count your lucky stars that you weren't in my place, Lily."

"Believe me, I do. But I think you've just hit the nail on the head there, Charla."

"…In what way?"

"She said things to you she probably never would have said to anyone that she thought could understand what she was saying," Luna instantly guessed what Lily was about to say. "It's not just the plans of the Ministry you can be listening for when you spy on her. You can learn more about her herself."

"That's right," Hermione clapped her hands. "A woman that awful's bound to have done some horrible things even before she came to Hogwarts, yet she holds such an esteemed position in the Ministry. I bet you anything that she got to that position through underhanded strategies and I bet that she's got a lot of skeletons in her closet. Maybe… if we can find some of those skeletons and maybe get some proof of them to the right people…"

"Then we might be able to unseat her not just from the school… but from the Ministry too," Harry grinned, catching on to the plan.

"Exactly," Lily nodded. "From what I can tell this Fudge you call a Minister is a complete moron… but he's essentially a good person at heart. I find it hard to believe there's nothing that would make him seriously reconsider his decision to keep this woman in office."

"I am loathe to go anywhere near her again," Charla grimaced. "But… if it will help get her the heck out of everyone's lives then I'll dig into the dirt enough to unearth an entire cemetery of skeletons."

"There's an unpleasant image," Ron gagged. "But you know… if we're planning to do this… I think I have an idea on who might be able to help. We still haven't told Fred and George about you guys, but if they're not willing to help us with something like this then I'll eat my chess set."

"That's a great idea, Ron!" Hermione cried.

"It is?" Ron blinked. "I… actually thought you'd be against the idea of Fred and George getting involved considering they'd probably be breaking dozens of rules if they did."

"I think you and I both agree, Ron, that rules go out the window when it comes to that gargoyle."

"Then its settled," Ginny got to her feet. "Come on. Let's see if Fred and George have any Extendable Ears left. Oh, and Charla, Lily, word of advice - if my brothers offer you something to eat… don't eat it."

* * *

"You're kidding?" Levy stared at Evergreen in disbelief as Wendy ran her hands slowly down Evergreen's arm to heal a couple of bruises, including the marks on her skin that had been left behind from the vine ropes that the Erklings had used on her. "An actual Queen of the Fairies."

"It beggars belief doesn't it?" Evergreen smirked. "But they said that until their new leader was elected I could call on them at any time. Not exactly sure how I should do it or how helpful they will be to use when I do… but its certainly an intriguing option. Especially if we're really trapped in another universe like this as you say. That part's still kinda sinking in."

"Well with you here, we're one step closer to being a whole group again," Lisanna said. "But… No offence, Ever - I'm thrilled you're okay - but I really wish you'd brought Elf-niichan with you. You were holding his hand in the circle, weren't you?"

Evergreen coughed for a couple of minutes and tried to hide the slight reddish tint that threatened to appear on her cheeks before she said, "Well… I had to hold hands with someone didn't I?"

"Yeah, I know," a small smile appeared on Lisanna's face. "But it was his hand you were holding and he was holding Mira-nee's so I was kinda hoping… when I saw you…" she trailed off and sighed.

Evergreen's expression softened and she placed her hand over Lisanna's. "Hey. Your brother may be a complete muscle-brain but he can look after himself when the chips are down. And your sister… well… I think her power speaks for itself. They'll be okay."

"So everyone keeps telling me," Lisanna smiled gratefully. "But it won't ever stop me from worrying."

"And it shouldn't do," Ever nodded. "But perhaps saying it will help you worry at least a little less."

"Thanks Ever."

The door swung open in the front, causing everyone in the room to look up as they heard the sound of incoming footsteps. Sure enough Aberforth appeared at the door and was quickly followed by a worn-looking Remus Lupin, who stopped when he spotted Evergreen and nodded his head to her. "Ah hello. You must be the new member of the guild I've heard about. Thank goodness you made a less dramatic entrance into our universe than… all of your friends have so far."

"Less conspicuous entrance, yes," Levy stated. "Less dramatic… eh, that's debatable."

"Ah… well, you may have to tell me about it another time. It seems time is of the essence now if there truly is another Sphere in the Cairngorms. And I do agree with Aberforth. A smaller part would be better this time - the mountains can be fairly open and you could potentially be spotted very easily up there."

"I'm small. I can go!" Happy waved cheerfully.

"I'll go too," Lisanna nodded. "I can turn into animals if I need to hide. I'll be less conspicuous."

"Um… am I small enough to count?" Levy raised a hand.

Lupin chuckled. "I can take you three but I think that should be it this time. I don't think we should have a party of more than five."

"Five?" Wendy asked. "But there's only four of you?"

"…Not quite," Lupin gave a rather dry smirk. And it was at that moment that another figure appeared in the doorway next to him. A man wearing a standard long black cloak, and with quite a distinctive hooked nose and head of greasy hair.

"It appears you managed to catch me on a day off, what with it being Sunday and all," said Snape. "And Lupin rather insisted I accompany you. Aren't I lucky?"


	21. The Search Begins

Hello again everybody! Here I am with another instalment and I have high hopes that you'll all like what I have in mind for the next few chapters. So please enjoy the first part in this stage of the story.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 21:- The Search Begins**

* * *

Having impacted the mountainside at such high speed that it had formed it own small crater, the Fairy Sphere nestled in the rock and snow of the Cairngorms shimmered the cool mountain air, glinting in the what sunlight was currently filtering its way through the clouds. It had been sitting here for several weeks now, remote and unseen until the two Muggle hikers had come across it before. They'd spent many hours sitting next to it, tapping on it, wondering if they'd discovered something extraordinary like perhaps an alien spaceship of some kind, before their need to re-stock their supplies had driven them down out of the mountains again.

But long after they'd gone, the Sphere continued to sit there unresponsively, a barrier against the elements and protecting those inside.

Until now…

With a couple of flashes, the Fairy Sphere slowly dissipated, leaving behind nothing but the rounded base of its own crater, and the two bodies lying in the bottom of it.

One male. One female.

And the female was the first to stir.

Lucy Heartfilia's eyelids slowly retracted, blinking a couple of times as the cloudy sky above her flickered into focus. The blond Celestial Spirit Mage stared into space for what felt like an eternity, her body seemingly drained of all energy. She couldn't focus her mind. She struggled to form even one coherent thought through the haze in her brain.

"Wuzgonnon?" she murmured to herself. "This… isn't my house… no wait… I wasn't at my house… I was… we were just…"

Her memories suddenly surged to the surface, and right at the front was the image of the Black Dragon opening his mouth to unleash his attack. Lucy screamed and sat up, then immediately clutched her head at the pounding headache that instantly made itself known, Acnologia's roar ringing in her ears as if he was right there with her. But he wasn't. There was not a dragon in sight. In fact there was not anyone in sight. Except for the body lying next to her.

A body who's pinkish hair and scale-like scarf made him unmistakeable.

"Natsu!" Lucy gasped and immediately crawled over to his prone form. The Fire Dragon Slayer was lying on his front, his mouth open and practically eating the dirt that he was lying in. Ignoring the pain in her head, Lucy rolled him over onto his back to check for signs of life. She grabbed his wrist, hoping to find a pulse in it before before she figured out exactly where to put her finger she noticed his chest was rising and falling slightly. Oh thank goodness, he was alive.

"Natsu… Natsu come on, wake up!" Lucy shook him by the arm, looking around her for any sign of the others - Erza, Gray, Wendy, Happy, anyone… but nothing. "Natsu! Natsu!"

Natsu's eyes suddenly snapped open, his pupils practically the size of full stops. Instantly his fists were alight with fire and with a roar that shook the rocks around them he surged onto his feet. "RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" he bellowed and he spun around, his flaming fist pulverising a nearby boulder and narrowly missing hitting Lucy in the face.

"KYYYAAAAAAA!" Lucy yelled as she scrambled away. "NATSU! WHAT THE HELL!?"

"Lucy?" Natsu blinked, staring at her as if she was some strange apparition. "What the… where are we?"

"CAN'T YOU JUST WAKE UP LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" Lucy cried. "YOU ALMOST TOOK MY HEAD OFF!"

"But… we were fighting! Acnologia was attacking Gramps and we fought back and… where did he go! GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME, DAMN IT!" He bellowed up at the very dragon-free sky.

"Ugh…" Lucy ran a hand over her face. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to worry about you. We didn't even lay a dent on that dragon and you're already looking for a re-match?"

Natsu hesitated, his eyes widening as all his other memories filled in the gap. "That's… that's right… nothing we did was working… even with three Dragon Slayers… four if you count Laxus… and we couldn't touch him… we were standing in a circle and… where did everyone go?"

"Well that's what I was about to tell you," Lucy said as she got to her feet as well. "I don't know where they are. Last thing I remember was the dragon firing at us and then nothing… until I woke up here on top of this mountain with you lying next to me but nobody else anywhere nearby. And not for miles and miles from the look of it."

Natsu immediately jumped onto another rock raised his nose, sniffing the cold wind and narrowing his eyes. "I don't smell them… I can't smell any of them… just you and me. Where the heck are we? We're not on the island anymore… how the heck did we get all the way up here!"

"I can't answer that question any more than you can," Lucy sighed. "Oh gosh… what are we going to do? What if the others are hurt? What if they're…?"

"Don't say it," Natsu interrupted. Lucy blinked and looked up at him - his face could have been set in stone as he stared out across the landscape. "They're not dead. I refuse to accept that they might be. And we're going to find them, Lucy. No matter what it takes we will find them."

Lucy smiled. "Natsu…" she murmured. It was typical of the Fire Dragon Slayer, refusing to give up no matter the odds stacked against and no matter what he was facing, whether it be a deadly foe, a puzzle that he had no hope of solving whatsoever or searching for someone who had vanished into thin air. After all, that last one was exactly what he'd been doing ever since Igneel, his dragon foster parent, vanished seven years ago. He still hadn't found Igneel but it seemed like the possibility he might never find him again hadn't even occurred to him.

Though… Lucy hoped it wouldn't take seven years for them to find the others.

"Come on, let's go!" Natsu said, as he sprang off the boulder and seized Lucy's wrist, all but dragging her forwards.

"EH!? Right now?"

"No time like the present right?"

"Jeez, at least wait for me to get my strength back!"

"We can't wait. The others might need us now."

"Natsu, I want to find them just as much as you do, but we can't just go charging off without thinking it through. You said you couldn't smell them which probably means they aren't around for miles, at least in the direction that the wind is blowing from right? Maybe we should try going the other way instead."

"Or you could just ask me," said a voice that made both Natsu and Lucy jump. They both looked around to see a man in a black suit and a red tie, with wild orange hair and sunglasses, smiling down at them a short way up the slope.

"Loke!" Lucy beamed. "When did you get here?"

"About five seconds ago," Loke said as he jumped down the slope towards them. "We all sensed that you came out of hibernation at last so I came as quick as I could."

"Hi-burn-ation?" Natsu rubbed the back of his head. "Is that like a word for when you're head's on fire or something?"

"How the heck did you arrive at that conclusion?" Lucy face faulted. "But Loke, what do you EEK!"

Before she knew what was happening Loke had suddenly gathered Lucy up in his arms and pulled her close, squashing her against him in a tight bear hug. Lucy suddenly found her chin resting on his shoulder, and she blinked several times, while Natsu looked on with a rather nonplussed expression on his face.

"Erm… Loke… are you okay?" Lucy asked. "…Only… I seem to recall the last time you hugged me like this you also told me that you were going to die soon."

"Oh, forgive me," Loke pulled back, giving her a smile that only slightly sheepish. "I guess you could say that that was a hug from all of us. We were all watching that day when the dragon attacked, powerless to act, unable to do a thing to help you or any of the others against his wrath. It's impossible for a Celestial Spirit to have heart attacks but when he fired that breath attack at you it certainly felt like we'd all had one."

"So he did hit us then? Then how are we not dead? And what do you mean hibernation?"

"You've been dormant, Lucy. For over six years."

"…Say again?"

"It's quite a long story, but we've been watching ever since that day, waiting for the time where you would be unfrozen from your suspended animation," Loke replied. "I'll try to sum it all up as best I can though…"

* * *

"I don't get it," Natsu frowned about ten minutes later. "A dragon that controls space? How can a dragon control space? How can anything control space? Oooh, could he make my house bigger! It does get a little cramped in there sometimes!"

"Maybe because you can't move for all the mess," Lucy muttered. "The point is that we've found ourselves trapped in another world thanks to that dragon, right?"

"That's about the size of it," Loke nodded. "Along with everyone else."

"And they're all safe?" Lucy asked.

"What about Happy? And Lisanna?" Natsu interrupted before Loke could answer. "Are they okay?"

"Ho?" Loke raised a brow. "Why the particular interest in Lisanna, Natsu?"

"…Because she's my friend and Lisanna's the one that got stuck in a different universe before and she was separated from her family for two whole years because of it," Natsu replied, looking slightly confused at the question. "What other reason would I have for asking?"

"…Er… never mind…" Loke shook his head. "Anyway, we've been keeping tabs on what's been going on with the others as best we can but our surveillance from the Spirit World is hardly perfect. We only have a vague idea of what's been going on since you got here. But, near as we can tell, Lisanna is fine. As are most of the others. Not everyone has emerged from their Fairy Sphere yet but those that have are okay."

"Do you know where they are?" Lucy asked.

"The closest ones to you are staying about fifty miles due west," Loke replied.

"Why didn't you tell them where we were?" Natsu wrinkled his nose.

"Oh, Natsu, you really don't have much of an idea of how Celestial Spirit Magic works, do you?" Loke chuckled. "For the entire time that Lucy was frozen in time, all of her Spirits were essentially locked in the Spirit World. For the Fairy Sphere didn't just stop time - it stopped everything, including magic. And our keys were locked inside that Sphere with Lucy."

"But you don't always need Lucy to summon you to come out of the Spirit World."

"No, but we do need the key. The key is our link to the mortal plane and we still need to access its power in order for us to jump into your world. And before you ask, no I cannot go to tell them where you are now. We can only open the portal from the Spirit World in the vicinity of the key. Hence why I could jump in to say hello to you here now that you've been unfrozen but I can't take a message to them now."

"Well, it was a good thought, Natsu," Lucy sighed. "Now what are we going to do?"

"We start walking," Natsu replied. "We know what direction so let's go?"

"You want to walk all the way there?" Lucy whined. "But fifty miles is a long way on foot, especially through mountains like this. Can't we just take a train?"

"NO WAY!" Natsu yelped. "No transportation!"

"It's not like there's a specific train that would take you to where they are around here anyway," Loke pointed out. "I have to say that he's right, Lucy. None of the Spirits you have can fly and you've got no feasible means of transportation. What other options do you really have?"

Lucy pouted. "I am really not wearing shoes designed for hiking through mountains," she muttered.

"Did you want new boots, Princess?"

"VIRGO! DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!"

"Apologies, Princess," said the pink-haired Maid Spirit that had burst out of the ground next to Lucy, offering her a solid pair of hiking boots. "Would you like to punish me perhaps?"

"HELL NO! But… thank you for the boots. It's good to see you again."

"I could very much same the same, Princess," Virgo inclined her head. "But if I may say so, your attire is all wrong for trekking through snowy mountains. It's not just boots you'll need but a complete change. Here, let me help you out of that shirt!"

"KYYAA! VIRGO, NOT HERE! NATSU, LOKE, LOOK AWAY!"

Natsu quickly did as instructed though Loke's gaze remained a little too long and he had to dodge a hiking boot thrown at his head before he too turned his back. When they were allowed to turn around again, Lucy was no longer wearing the orange shirt and red skirt from before but was now wrapped up in a warm-looking long-sleeved jumper and warm trousers… bright and colourful ones like most of the outfits that Virgo gave her, but a little less glamorous and a little more practical than normal.

"Well, this will help I guess," Lucy sighed. "But its too bad that you couldn't give me wings to make the fifty mile trip."

"Wings are something I cannot provide, Princess. Can I be punished for it?"

"You're never going to stop asking me that are you? But seriously, Virgo, thank you for this."

"My pleasure, Princess. We are all grateful to have you back. As before, you can call on us any time."

"Even if you just want to talk," Loke agreed. "We'll be happy to help in any way we can. But for now we'll return and let you get underway."

"Thanks guys," Lucy smiled, as the two Spirits faded away in a shimmer of golden light. She turned back to Natsu and then said, "Oh wait… Virgo didn't give you anything! Hold on, let me call her back."

"No need," Natsu grinned, as everything from the shoulders up was suddenly immersed in flames. "I'm not going to have trouble keeping warm. Look, I'm hibernating. See… I'm burning high up!"

"That's not what it means, Natsu. Still… if we really have no other option… let's get walking."

Natsu grinned at her. "Come on Lucy. It's just like Edolas all over again, when Happy and Charla couldn't fly us anywhere. Except this time we still have our magic and we don't have an angry kingdom out to get us."

"Well thank goodness for that at least."

* * *

Of course, Natsu was not entirely right. They certainly didn't have a kingdom out to get them but they were not entirely without their pursuers.

"Can someone explain to me why we couldn't just find out the location of that Sphere from those Muggles directly?" Dawlish the Auror asked as he stumbled over a rock for what felt like the thirteenth time. "Like from their memories?"

"You know as well as I do that that's against regulations," Savage shook his head as he waited for Dawlish to catch up. "Even if we had someone skilled at Legilimency at our disposal we're not supposed to use it unless absolutely necessary. It's the ultimate invasion of privacy after all."

"Yeah, I know that. But we're chasing down some of those Fairy Tail guys aren't we? I'd have thought that a case like this would have demanded a little bit more urgency."

"We're not looking for Fairy Tail people though are we? We're looking for that Sphere thing."

"And we have no idea when that Sphere thing will stop being a Sphere thing and will release whoever or whatever happens to be inside."

"Scrimgeour feels its a risk worth taking."

"Then can't we at least use brooms or something? I know why we can't Apparate because we're supposed to be combing the whole pathway these Muggles took but surely we can use brooms. Why do we have to hike the whole way?"

"For exactly the same reason you're not wearing your Auror robes now. Because there could be other hikers up here. Ones that might see us in the air and there's a chance we won't see them."

"Sounds like a small price to pay to me. What's the harm in one or two Muggles spotting a flying wizard? It's not like we're in the middle of London, is it?"

"Honestly, Dawlish, I agree with you on that point. But did you know that we're actually not that far away from quite a large skiing resort?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, and Scrimgeour doesn't want us to risk anything yet. We've already had two mega incidents that almost broke the Statute of Secrecy when these Fairy Tail guys got involved. He really doesn't want another. Point me." He held up his wand which swivelled on the palm of his hand a couple of times until it focused its point northwards like a laser beam. "Yep, I think we're still on the right track."

"So all the top Aurors are left traipsing through various trails on the mountain in search of that Sphere like we're Muggles ourselves," Dawlish muttered as he clambered up the slope behind Savage. "I'd almost prefer a Death Eater attack right in the middle of London to this."

"Yeah, if there really was a Death Eater attack in the middle of London you wouldn't be…"

Savage stopped talking suddenly and backed away so quickly he almost ran straight into Dawlish, as a sudden, loud snarling noise cut across his sentence. Dawlish drew his wand rapidly and Savage promptly did the same, the both of them wheeling around in search of the origin of the noise.

It didn't take them long to spot it. In fact, it slunk out into plain sight a short distance up the slope, appearing on top of a snowy boulder jutting out ahead. Its grey pelt wafted in the breeze, its white fangs glinted in the sunlight and its haunches quivered as if ready to spring at a moments notice.

There was absolutely no mistaking what it was.

"A wolf?" Savage gasped. "That's… that's a wolf!"

"Yes, Savage I can see that," Dawlish nodded as they both trained their wands on the wolf, tensing up in preparation for a pounce. The wolf eyed them beadily, yellowish eyes trained on them like gun sights on a target, its fangs bared in an unquestionably unfriendly growl.

And it wasn't the only one. More wolves appeared from behind it on the higher rise. About six of them, no eight, no over a dozen of them. All of them had their muscles coiled for the attack, hunkered down to the ground as if stalking, and fanning out almost as if they were planning a pincer-like movement on the two Aurors. But they all looked to the first wolf, who was clearly the Alpha.

"Hey! Go on! Get out of here!" Dawlish called out and fired off a Stunning Spell at the rock that the Alpha was standing on. The wolf skittered back with a growl and Dawlish fired off another one, deliberately missing but getting it close again. Savage fired another Stunning Spell in the general direction of one of the others, which dodged to the side and growled too.

The Aurors gradually let off spell after spell at the wolves, until the Alpha decided it wasn't worth it. Lifting his head and letting loose a low howl to the winds, the Alpha backed away and the rest of the wolves followed him. Breathing sighs of relief, Dawlish and Savage watch as the pack bounded away up the slopes, running at high speed in and out and around one another until they'd vanished from sight over the hilltop.

"Wolves? Freaking wolves, here?" Savage cried a few seconds later.

"Look very much like it to me," nodded Dawlish.

"But that can't be right. There have been no wild wolves in Britain for years. Not since the eighteenth century in fact, if I remember correctly. And there's no way those things could have been werewolves. Full moon's not due for another couple of weeks and even if it was tonight they wouldn't have appeared in the daytime."

"Well, unless we've found an entire clan of unregistered Animagi living up here in the mountains I'd say that we just stumbled onto a pack of genuine wolves."

"Should we report this to Scrimgeour?"

"What for? Is a wolf pack Auror related business?"

"It might be. What if they have something to do with those Fairy Tail mages?"

"How could this have anything to do with them?"

"How should I know? We don't know anything about those guys. Who's to say that one of them doesn't have the ability to conjure wolves out of thin air or something. You can't conjure a living creature in our world perhaps, but what about in theirs?"

"Hmm… you might have a point. Alright then, we'll make the report. Send a Patronus and then let's get back to looking for that Sphere."

* * *

To say that Fred and George took the news that the cats that their younger siblings had suddenly acquired were actually from another universe well… was an understatement.

In fact, they were positively thrilled.

"So you actually have wings!" Fred beamed down at Charla and Pantherlily. They'd arranged to meet with the twin Weasley brothers in the Owlery, as it was a good place to go when you didn't want to be overheard as long as you posted a lookout, which was the role Luna and Hermione were currently filling, and you didn't mind the smell of owl droppings.

"Go on, show us!" agreed George.

Charla gave a wry smile and with a flash of light her wings sprouted from her back. Once Fred and George had been clued in to what they were, Mavis' illusion had been dropped to their eyes, so they could see Charla exactly as she was instead of a normal cat. And they stared at Charla's Aera wings with such similar expressions of delight that it was like Charla was seeing double.

"That's awesome!" Fred said. "Wow, I don't suppose you could let us borrow some of your feathers, could you? Who knows what kinds of cool things we could make if we added in flying cat feathers!"

"Nobody's ever created anything with that before," George agreed. "We could be on the forefront of something big with this."

"Erm, boys, I'd rather like to keep all my feathers in my wings if it is all the same to you," Charla coughed. "And I'm pretty sure that Lily would say the same thing, wouldn't you Lily?"

"Undoubtedly," Lily nodded.

"Aww, go on, just one or two," George tried before Ginny interrupted him by aiming a slight kick at his shin. George dodged rather nimbly, but Ginny had gotten her point across.

"This isn't a chance for you guys to improve upon your Skiving Snackboxes. Besides, what sweets you could make with cat feathers that you haven't been making without them is beyond me," the youngest Weasley rolled her eyes.

"Right, yeah," Fred nodded. "But seriously how long have you guys known about all this?"

"Only since yesterday," Ron said. "Just after the meeting was when we… sit down, Pig! I haven't got a letter for you today!" He tried to grab the small fluffy owl zooming excitedly around his head out of the air, but Pigwidgeon was having none of it and swooped around his hand before continuing to zip around like a large rubber ball.

"Yeah, we met with some of the others of this Fairy Tail bunch too," Harry said. He would have been stroking his own owl, Hedwig, right now if it were not for the fact that Hedwig was out - he'd sent her off to Grimmauld Place a couple of days ago. "Apparently they're using the Hog's Head as one of their staging posts. The other being Grimmauld Place."

"Say what?" Fred blinked. "You mean that the Order knows about these guys?"

"Indeed it does," Pantherlily nodded. "I have met with your parents and your older brothers, Charlie and Bill. Delightful people. Especially Charlie I think. He was most curious about Exceed culture and biology."

"So, wait, we're the last of the Weasleys to actually find out about this?" George deflated slightly. "Nobody thought to tell us about this until now?"

"You're only finding out less than a day after I did," Ginny pointed out.

"Yeah, but we're of age! And the Order still didn't feel like including us in on things?" Fred griped.

"The Order had no business telling anyone about us," Charla folded her arms. "We were given exclusive rights as to who finds out about us and when."

"And besides, you're not the last," Ron pointed out.

"Well, we don't count his Royal Gittiness, do we?" George snorted.

"By that I assume you mean your brother Percy?" Pantherlily supplied.

"Bang on the money," Fred nodded. "But like I said we don't count him. Which means I guess that makes us the last affiliated with the Order to know."

"Not quite," Harry looked out of the window to the tiny, slightly forlorn looking hut down by the Forbidden Forest. "Hagrid doesn't know yet after all."

"Oh yeah… oh wow, can you imagine how excited he'll be when he gets back and meets you guys?" grinned Fred. "You think Charlie was ecstatic to meet you - you haven't seen nothing yet."

"Yeah, pity you're not big and monstrous though. If you were then he'd real have a field day," George laughed.

"Is that so?" Lily smirked, and then suddenly glowed and bulged upwards, morphing into his fully grown Exceed battle form right before their eyes. It was a form that towered over every human present, including the lanky Ron, and everyone's jaws fell open at the sight. Even Harry and Ron hadn't seen Lily do this before and the sight took their breath away. It caused an immediate clatter among all the owls though, who shrieked and hooted and took off from the Owlery in a drove or huddled on their perches and looked like they were trying not to breath.

"Am I monstrous enough for you now?" Lily asked, folding his arms and baring his teeth in a slight smirk.

"More than enough," Fred laughed. "Can you still fly in that form?"

Lily's wings extended from his back by way of answer.

"Oh wow! I don't suppose you could come swooping in during our next Quidditch match could you?" George laughed. "I'd love to see the Slytherin team wet themselves at the sight of you…"

Both the twins suddenly went silent before they turned to each other at the same time and smirked knowingly.

"I just love it when this happens, don't you, George?"

"You mean where we simultaneously think of an idea at the same time?"

"Yes, that."

"So you do have an idea then?" Charla asked. "And when I say that I mean, do you have an idea about what we're going to do about this Umbridge woman, not an idea for a silly plan that you're concocting."

"Well… we think that the only real way to get Umbridge kicked out of the school is to drag up some serious dirt on her, like you said," George nodded.

"But with the idea we just had now… we can certainly make her begin to lose whatever edge she tries to gain over the school," Fred continued.

"Anything like that sounds good to me," said Harry.

"Any chance that whatever your plan is could work on Snape too?" Ron chuckled.

"Ron, you know that Snape needs to keep his position in the school to maximise his importance as a spy on You-Know-Who," Ginny chided him.

"Doesn't stop him from being a miserable old git that I'd like to see shafted," Ron pointed out, and Harry couldn't help but wholeheartedly agree.

"That's probably not the way you should be speaking about a man who's just gone out on a mission for us," said a voice from up in the rafters and everyone looked up sharply to see Mavis swinging her legs from where she was sitting on one of the wooden beams.

"Where did you come from?" Fred asked.

"My guess is she was there the whole time," Charla chuckled. "That's Master Mavis. The ghostly First Master of the guild that we were talking about. What are you doing here?"

"I thought I would give you a hand," replied Mavis. "Why did nobody tell me that you wizards are fond of your owls?"

"…It just… never occurred to us that it might be important," shrugged Harry.

"Oh, but it is," Mavis giggled as she hopped off the beam and floated down, closing her eyes and holding her hands together before thrusting them out in the direction of Charla and Lily, who both glowed faintly for a moment. "There. I've altered the illusions around you so that whenever you use your wings, you will now look like an owl. That should give you more freedom to move about the castle unnoticed. All you have to do is make sure that nobody can see you when you make the shift between each one and you'll blend in perfectly. I'll do the same thing for Happy when he gets back."

"What was that you said about Snape and a mission?" Ron asked.

"Oh, the mission to go find the Fairy Sphere hidden in the Cairngorms," smiled Mavis. "It's to be a small party of five this time, in the hope we'll escape drawing too much attention. Happy, Lisanna and Levy volunteered to go from our world, while Misters Lupin and Snape went from this one."

"Snape… on a mission… with a blue cat?" Harry snickered. "Oh, I really wish I was there to see that."

Mavis shook her head slightly. "Never mind that now. It's nice to meet you Fred and George. Now… tell us about this plan of yours."

* * *

Snape grimaced as he wrapped his cloak a little tighter around himself, but tried to do it so that the other two wouldn't notice. He was certainly feeling the cold up here in these mountains, but if there was one thing he hated it was people to see weakness in him of any kind… although there was also a bunch of other things he really hated, but that was definitely one of the bigger ones.

As to these Fairy Tail mages… he was still on the fence when it came to them. He quite honestly didn't know what to make of them. But then again, he hadn't exactly made much contact with any of them.

Until now that is. He looked out of the corner of his eye to where Levy and Remus were holding their hands over a blazing word - Levy had written FIRE in mid-air - and talking in quiet voices as they waited for Lisanna and Happy to get back from their scouting. From what he'd been able to gather about this Levy girl she was extremely similar to one Hermione Granger in many ways. And he wasn't sure whether she liked that or not.

Right now, she was questioning Lupin on quite a sensitive subject - his lycanthropy. Naturally they had been made aware of the fact the Lupin was a werewolf on the day they met him, but Lupin had been pleasantly surprised by the fact that none of the Fairy Tail mages had shown him any hostility or fear whatsoever. But that was most likely because they'd had to be brought up to speed somewhat on what a werewolf actually was.

"You are quite fortunate to have no such thing as werewolves in your world," Lupin was saying. "There are many times I wish that there were no such thing as werewolves in this one."

"It does sound like a terrible curse to bear," Levy grimaced. "But while we don't have werewolves, we do have a few… 'were-creatures.' Do you have weretigers in this world?"

"Were…tigers?" Lupin chuckled. "That's a new one to me."

"Well they're not like you, in that they're not humans that turn into animals at certain times… or any time really. They're just big, humanoid cat-like beasts with yellow fur and spots that move at lightning speed."

"Wait a minute… yellow fur and spots?"

"Yes."

"Shouldn't that be a were…jaguar then? Or a wereleopard?"

"…I take it tigers look different in this world."

"Clearly they must do. But you really have nothing from your world that even vaguely resembles the concept of a werewolf?"

"Well… there are Vulcans. That's a bit similar in some ways I guess. A Vulcan's a big ape-like creature that can take over the bodies of humans to transform them into apes but that's more like a possession than a curse."

"Oh… I see," Remus sighed, looking up at the sky wistfully. "I… have to admit… I had hoped that when I heard of a whole new world with a whole new set of magic… that there might be a chance your world had developed a cure for lycanthropy. But… I suppose you can't have a cure for something that doesn't even exist in your world."

"Oh… I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. I have gotten used to the idea that I will spend the rest of my days as a werewolf. To be honest I had not put much hope into the idea."

"Well…" Levy twirled a finger through her hair. "Never say never, Remus. I don't want to supply you with any false hope but… there are some pretty fantastical things in my world. I'll put my mind to it, see if I can think of something. You shouldn't get your hopes up but… yeah… I'll take a stab at it."

Remus gave Levy a vague smile. "Thank you, Miss McGarden. I appreciate it."

"It's no trouble. I'm just happy to help out a friend," Levy smiled. After that, the group lapsed into silence for a moment, which drew Levy's attention over towards the other member of the group. "Are you okay, Mister Snape? You haven't said much since we got here."

"I am perfectly well, thank you," Snape said curtly without turning to look at her. "Rather… disgruntled that the afternoon I had intended to use to restock my potions cupboard has turned into a breezy hike halfway up a mountain, but I shall… cope."

"Um… okay," Levy nodded. "Well… if there's anything you want to talk about…"

Snape remained obstinately silent. Levy bit her lip and turned to whisper to Remus, "Did I do something to upset him?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Remus replied softly. "Severus is not exactly the… chatty kind of person. I don't think I've ever seen him open up to anyone in all the years I've known him."

"How long have you known him?"

"Oh we were in the same year at school together. And we were, shall we say, very much not friends back then. To be honest, we're not really friends now either but I try not to let old schoolboy grudges get in the way of being courteous and I do owe Severus a lot. It's because of him that I happened to be in Hogsmeade today at all - I was retrieving the next batch of Wolfsbane Potion that he makes for me every month."

"Well then… who is he friends with?"

"I am not sure that Severus has anyone that you could call a friend."

"What? But that's… that's horrible. Nobody should be without friends. Doesn't he get lonely?"

"Possibly. But its often very hard to tell what Severus is thinking. He's a bit… cagey with personal questions. Or indeed any kind of questions. And this is, I think, the longest I've seen him in the company of another person without being part of a large crowd. With the Order meetings, whenever he attends, he arrives right before the meeting starts and leaves as soon as it ends. Not one for pleasantries. But then again, most of the others are quite happy with that arrangement. Any time he does talk about something unrelated to Order business, it often ends with either him antagonising Sirius or the other way around."

Levy turned to look at Snape out of the corner of her eye. The standoffish, less than popular guy who once worked for the enemy until he turned to their side and kept to himself except to start an argument. That sounded… very familiar.

"He's like Gajeel," she murmured under her breath, eyes widening at the realisation. At least he was like Gajeel had been before. Gajeel had been getting better ever since Pantherlily came into his life, finding it much easier to open up and talk to others.

But clearly Snape… had never found his own Lily.

Though of course Snape was a double-agent pretending to work for the enemy and that's where the similarity ended. Gajeel certainly wasn't a double-agent himself. That would be absurd, wouldn't it?

Almost without thinking about what she was doing, Levy slowly walked over to Snape. Snape noticed her coming and turned to face her slightly, looking down his hooked nose at her, as she stopped in front of him. "Did you want something, Miss McGarden?" he asked.

"Not anything in particular. I guess… I just want you to know that… you don't have to be alone all the time if you don't want to be. There are many people around you who I'm sure would be willing to give you a shot at friendship if you'd just let them. I know I'd be one of them. And I know everyone else in Fairy Tail would be as well."

"I see…" Snape raised a brow. "And why the sudden interest in my preference for solitude, may I ask?"

"I just think that… having friends just makes your life better. And everyone deserves the chance to be happy. I guess… well…"

"Perhaps you feel… sorry… for me. Is that it?" Snape's brow went even higher.

"Um… well… I wouldn't say that exactly. I mean if you prefer being alone that's your decision but…"

"It is indeed my decision, Miss McGarden. And from all the experiences I have had… friendship… only ends up hurting you in the long run."

"That's a very negative attitude to have, Snape-san. Can I ask what's brought you to that conclusion."

"…I was right. You are indeed a lot like Miss Granger. You have just as big a fascination with sticking your nose into affairs that are not your concern."

"Oh… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to offend you…"

"Then perhaps it would be best if we cut this conversation short here."

"…Okay…" Levy nodded and stepped backwards, hurrying back over to where Lupin was watching a half-amused, half-concerned look on his face.

"That didn't go according to your plan, did it?" he asked.

"Well, I didn't really have much of a plan," Levy murmured. "But… yeah… that could have gone better."

"Don't feel so bad. You're not the only one that's offered him the hand of friendship only for him to push it away."

"Yeah but still… something about him… I don't really know what it is… but he seems like he just lost himself a little somewhere. I don't know. But I'd still quite like to help him if I can."

"Some people don't want to be helped," Lupin shrugged.

"But everyone deserves to be."

Lupin laughed. "I'd encourage you not to take that attitude if you ever come across Voldemort."

"Yeah… I don't think there's a chance of that."

"Hey guys!" called a voice from above and they lifted up their heads to see Happy winging his way down from above.

A few moments later, and a large black dog bounded over the hilltop before them and hurried down towards them. Lupin shook his head at the sight of the dog. Honestly if he hadn't known better he would have instantly assumed it was Sirius. And he heard Snape behind him mutter, "Ugh, it was bad enough when there was just one of that dog around."

The dog reached them and then became Lisanna in a blur of yellowish light as Happy swung down to hover beside her.

"Well?" Lupin asked. "Did you find anything?"

"No sign of the Sphere yet," Lisanna shook her head. "But we definitely saw that we're not alone up here. There are quite a few people hiking all around this area."

"And some of them are definitely wizards," Happy nodded. "There were these two hikers that came up against a pack of wolves, and I saw them firing spells from their wands at them and…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Lupin frowned. "Just backtrack a little there, Happy. Did you say wolves?"

"Um… yes wolves. Grey fur, big dogs like Lisanna's new form but bigger and snarlier. Definitely wolves."

"But that doesn't make sense. There haven't been any wolves in this country for about two-hundred years possibly even more," Lupin frowned. "Except for the werewolf variety of course. But these were just ordinary wolves?"

"Definitely. I could smell them," Lisanna nodded.

"It could be possible that they were released here recently," Snape pointed out. "Perhaps by a wizard, or even a Muggle, that were keeping them illegally."

"Um… I have an alternative explanation," Levy raised a hand. "They might have come out of another Fairy Sphere. Just like the Clippers from before. There were wolves on Tenrou Island. The island's name is Tenroujima… which literally translates to Heavenly Wolf Island and there were many of them there."

"Is that so?" Snape wrinkled his nose. "This trip certainly got better, didn't it?"

Levy ignored Snape's sarcasm and pressed on. "Master Mavis said that she gathered the Fairy Spheres around every life form on the island. Including the wolves. So… it looks like we might have just made a species re-introduction."

"Assuming these wolves are of the same type as the ones that used to live here," Lupin mused. "But do you think that its possible these wolves came from the Fairy Sphere that both we and the Ministry are here looking for?"

"It's possible," Lisanna said. "But you said these mountains are quite large, didn't you? And wolves are known, at least in our world, for being long-distance travellers. It's possible there could have been two Spheres in these mountains without anyone knowing about either of them until now, right?"

"A very distinct possibility, yes."

"Or it could also mean that we and the Ministry are searching for a Sphere that no longer exists because it lowered itself and expelled a pack of wolves in the middle of an unprepared countryside. Meaning we're on a wild goose chase," Snape summarised.

"That is also a distinct possibility."

"Well either way, we know one thing we have to do," Lisanna pointed out. "The Sphere is our top priority, but we can't leave those wolves running around in these mountains any more than we could leave the Clippers behind. We'll need to round them up and get them back to Tenroujima where they belong. So we definitely still have a mission. It's just… changed somewhat."

"There were quite a lot of wolves though," Happy stated. "Should we get some of the others to come and help us?"

"I have been exercising my Take-Over over the last couple of weeks," Lisanna said. "I don't think I'd have what it takes to control more than fifteen animals at a time yet but… I could give it a try. We don't want to hurt the wolves. But they will be dangerous. After all, they have just woken up in a strange land with a much colder climate than they're used to where everything looks and smells different. They're probably very confused right now. And that could make them unusually hostile."

"I'd really not call out some of the other Fairy Tail members unless absolutely necessary," Lupin replied. "Let's just… press on for now and if we run into an unsavoury situation we'll Apparate you all out of here and return with back up. Come on, let's find that Sphere."

"Aye sir! You got it!" Happy cried as he swung his way back up into the air, Lisanna turning back into a dog and bolting off after him, sniffing the air.

"Well, we may not have werewolves, Remus," Levy gave him a wry smile. "But it looks like you may be meeting the wolves we do have pretty soon."

"Let's just hope we find anything else from your world up here before the Ministry does," Lupin said as he led the way after Lisanna.

* * *

A fog was beginning to roll in when a lone man entered the remote small town of Chagford, down in Dartmoor.

At about the same time, another man was trying to leave it. A broad man in his late thirties with a scruffy beard and smelling a little strongly of beer had clambered into his car and floored it, driving too fast down the narrow streets and aiming for the nearest road that would take him out out onto the moors, where he could drink the rest of the alcohol he had stashed in the boot without the disapproval of everyone around him.

But as he swerved out onto said road he found himself face to face with a single man, obscured slightly by the fog but walking right down the middle of the road towards him. He immediately slammed on the brake and the car jerked into such a violent emergency stop that he almost hit his face on the wheel even with the seatbelt done up. The car came to a halt inches from hitting the man in the road, who merely stopped too without flinching.

"Oh my God, you little…" growled the bearded man, spilling out of it and advancing around the hood towards the man he'd almost hit. "What the hell do you think you're playing at, huh? Walking out in the middle of the road like that. Haven't you got any sense."

He got no response. The man standing before the car just turned his head to stare balefully at him.

"What the heck are you just standing there for?" roared the bearded man. "Get out of the road, you asshole!… I tell you if you don't get out of my way, I'm gonna run you over, you hear me?"

Still no response. More staring.

"Right, that's it!" the bearded man started forwards. "You asked for this!" And he aimed his fist and took a flying swing right at the man's face. But the man finally responded and calmly raised his hand to catch the blow in his palm. The bearded man howled and staggered backwards, clutching his hand, which was wracked with agony as if it had been broken. But he didn't have the time to dwell on it because the front of his shirt was suddenly seized and he was yanked off his feet, brought eye to eye with the other man.

"Worthless," the man suddenly spoke in a low yet grating voice almost like an emotionless growl. "Useless, every last one of your kind. A blot on the world, a stain on mere existence. I won't be able to achieve anything here. None of you will provide me with a challenge."

"The… the hell are you talking about," the bearded man asked, before his attacker suddenly let go of his shirt. But before he could obey the call of gravity and fall to the ground, the man placed the palm of his hand against the bearded man's chest. The bearded man was suddenly blasted backwards as if he'd become the world's largest bullet, smashing into the wall of the nearest building and smashing right through it in a tumble of brick and mortar.

"Where must I go from here?" the man growled, slipping his fingers underneath the car and suddenly hefting it into the air, tossing it high with seemingly no effort and sending it crashing onto the roof of another building where it exploded. He continued forwards into the village, the ground rumbling around him as the screams started. "What must I do to achieve my goal?"

And as he strode into the town the fog rolled in still further, which made the screams and explosions that followed all the more terrifying to those who could hear them. Until the screams and explosions found them.


	22. Haunting

Hey folks. The chapters seem to be coming a little quicker now don't they? And I hope to keep it that way for a while before uni work swallows me up again. For now, enjoy this latest chapter.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 22:- Haunting**

* * *

"You know… I think maybe Gray should have come instead of me," Levy shivered. "Or at least I really should have dressed warmer than this. What was I thinking? I knew that I was going up into the mountains, I should have thought about the temperature. And the snow."

"Not the most pleasant hike I've ever had," Remus agreed, as he helped Levy up over another rise. They were climbing through snow that came up to their ankles, and Remus had already had to tear a couple of strips of his cloak off so that Levy could wrap them around her feet and trap them in her sandals and even then he had to keep applying warming charms to her. "It's quite funny, isn't it? Snow's an absolute delight when it first begins to fall and then after most people have had some fun with it briefly, it becomes little but an inconvenience to most people. And yet, every winter, we still hope for more to come."

"We just never learn," Levy gave a wry chuckle, before she looked back over her shoulder at Snape who was a short distance behind. The Potions Master caught her eye for a moment and Levy turned away quickly. She didn't want the man to think that she was at all worried about him. She wasn't, at least not in an immediate sense, but he probably wouldn't take it well if he thought she did.

"At least Lisanna doesn't seem to be having too bad a time of it," Levy nodded up a head to where the shaggy black dog was bounding back towards them, bouncing through the snow until she came up in front of them to sit down like an overgrown puppy, wagging her tail for a moment before she morphed back into her regular shape.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked.

Levy looked up at the snowfield they'd entered and shivered. They'd been walking to give both Remus and Snape a break from all the Apparating they'd been doing. While Lisanna and Happy had been more than content to run or fly over snow-covered hills and rises in their natural forms, the rest of them had no chance of making any headway, meaning they had been waiting until Lisanna was just within sight before Apparating to her. They needed Lisanna to do all the running anyway - they'd been relying on her nose to try and sniff out anyone they knew.

Still… she'd found nothing yet.

"We could be doing better," she sighed.

"We're not covering enough ground," Remus agreed. "And we can't afford the split up. The Cairngorms are huge and they could be anywhere in it. The Ministry have got a rough estimation of where this Fairy Sphere actually is even if they don't know its exact location. Still, they have probably found it by now, if its out there. And we don't even know if we're going further away from it or not."

"It's possible that Kingsley or Tonks was put on the patrol sent to find the Sphere, isn't it?" Happy asked as he floated down from above, his tail twitching in the cold air.

"Not likely," Remus shook his head. "There was a sighting of Sirius in Norfolk earlier today - a fake one of course but with Kingsley in charge of that investigation he had to head over there to check it out even though its a waste of time. And Tonks is actually using her day off to visit her parents. Not something she can normally do anymore with both the Ministry and the Order keeping her busy."

"And even if they were there… what could they do with all the Ministry watching?" Levy sighed. "No, I fear we're on our own this time."

"Then surely the best answer is an obvious one," Snape curled his lip slightly. "If searching on the ground is getting us nowhere then we must take to the air. After all, one of the most basic things anyone knows is that if you want to get a better view, get higher up."

"Aye, that's true that one," Happy grinned, cartwheeling through the air. "I should know that after all."

"That's certainly an idea, Severus, but you know the Ministry rules," Remus pointed out. "It's against the law for anyone to ride a broomstick lower than five-hundred metres above the ground except in designated areas, even with Disillusionment Charms in play. And we'll need to be able to see the ground well enough to make things. This won't be like it was when we took Harry away from Privet Drive and Mad-Eye tried to take us through all the clouds."

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, Remus," Snape raised a brow. "But is not the entire Order of the Phoenix that we are both associated with technically acting illegally just associating with these Fairy Tail members? We break the law every minute that we don't hand them over to the authorities. All we have to do is keep an eye out for Muggles spotting us and erase their memory if they do. A simple enough task, it sounds to me."

"He's got a point," Levy shivered. "And I could really do with taking my feet off the ground for a bit."

"It will be even colder a little higher up," Lisanna pointed out.

"Nuuuuh…" Levy groaned.

"Don't worry, I'll get you a sweater and some decent trousers if I can find any that might fit you," Remus said. "Severus, you're quite right of course. We are… I guess the word vigilantes springs to mind right now… so I guess bending a few more laws won't hurt. Everybody wait here while I Apparate back to see if I can't find a few broomsticks for us to try out."

"Oh, Aberforth has a lot of them in his closet," Happy raised a paw.

"Yes, but are they the kind you can fly on?" Snape raised a brow. "Or are you just talking about regular brooms?"

"There's a difference?" Happy blinked. "Can't you just… put a spell on them or something?"

"Creating a broomstick that responds efficiently to your commands is a much more complex process that casting a simple spell," Remus replied. "No, we need to find broom specifically made for flying. I'll be back as quick as I can. Wait here." And he vanished with a sudden crack, leaving behind a shivering Levy and a rather peeved looking Snape. Peeved that he had to be the one keeping an eye on these adolescents. He got enough of that at the school. Even if they were of age at seventeen, they were still young enough to be in his NEWT classes after all.

He stood apart from them and watched as Lisanna turned into one of those strange big birds - a Clipper if he remember correctly - and stood close to Levy to wrap her wings around her for warmth. Levy smiled and thanked Lisanna, who just nodded as Happy landed on her shoulder. Yes… clearly they were a very close bunch.

But… just then… Snape spotted something in the distance, out of the corner of his eye. He frowned and looked up. He could have sworn that he'd just seen someone dressed in black slip out from behind a large rock further up the slope and then scramble to get back behind it again. Instantly he was on the alert, his hand reaching for his wand and his eyes narrowing as he focused on the spot behind the boulder.

"If you would wait here for a moment," he said to the others. "There is something that I must attend to." And before they could ask a stupid question like 'What?' he spun around and Disapparated, appearing again just behind the rock with his wand outstretched. The spell "Expalliarmus!" rolled off his tongue and the two robed figures crouched by the rock yelped as their wands were suddenly jerked from their hands and into Snape's.

But it was only then that Snape realised who they were.

"Well, well…" he mused, almost more to himself than them. "Crabbe and Goyle… what might you two be doing wandering about the fells of the Cairngorms like this?"

"We could ask you the same thing, Severus," said Crabbe sourly. But not Vincent Crabbe who was currently sitting in the Slytherin Common Room, but his father - Mr. Crabbe. And Gregory Goyle's father too. Both of them known Death Eaters.

"What are you doing down there with them lot?" Goyle agreed. "Them kids - they're some from that Fairy Tail bunch that we've been hearing about."

"Yeah. One of them's turning into weird birds and everything," Crabbe agreed. "What are you doing with them?"

Snape lowered his wand and wrinkled his hooked nose and ignored their questions, instead choosing to say, "I see the Dark Lord has gotten wind of Fairy Sphere that is supposed to be somewhere in these mountains. Information from Lucius, no doubt. And he sent you two to investigate, did he?"

"To watch from the sidelines," Crabbe relayed. "So that we could see for ourselves what these Fairy Tail guys was like and tell him about it."

"But you've not answered our questions. What're you doing here," Goyle pointed at him accusatorially. "You're supposed to be at Hogwarts spying on Dumbledore for us, ain't ya?"

Snape raised a brow. Crabbe and Goyle Senior were both more intelligent than their hulking children… but they still were not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer. He was somewhat relieved that these were the two Death Eaters he'd encountered if there had to be any. Lying to them would be a simpler task than lying to someone like Lucius.

But then again, he didn't exactly have to lie very much.

"What does it look like I am doing?" Snape rolled his eyes. "I am maintaining my cover. If I am to be a spy on the Order of the Phoenix then I have to act the part, don't I? The Order has gotten wind of the Sphere too through its own sources in the Ministry and volunteered to help Fairy Tail in finding their comrades."

"What? You mean Fairy Tail and the Order are working together?" Goyle gasped.

"It is a fairly recent development," Snape said. "One which I planned on telling the Dark Lord at my next opportunity, though telling him through you now seems like a good option to me." And he was being truthful - he was going to tell Voldemort about the arrangement soon. He'd kept it quiet for now but it was not something he could hide from the Dark Lord for long. If he found out another way then it might but him under suspicion and that was something that couldn't happen.

"Obviously I am on this mission with them in an attempt to learn more about them. About their abilities, their relationships - anything that could be useful to the Dark Lord later."

"Why not just kill them? If they think you're with them, what's stopping you from giving a nice Avada Kedavra to their backs?" Crabbe asked.

"Are you a fool?" Snape scoffed. "Not all the Fairy Tail members have been found yet. And we know literally nothing about them unless they tell us or we see if for ourselves. We need to learn as much as we can before we simply go killing them off. Besides, were you not there the night that Harry Potter and the Dark Lord clashed in that graveyard? Do you not remember what happens when Priori Incantatem occurs on a wand. Not everybody in the Order trusts me yet. If I were to return and claim that all the Fairy Tail members on the trip had been killed, some of them would demand they checked my wand to see if I was the culprit. And there would be nothing I could do to cover it up. My usefulness as a spy for Voldemort hinges on the information I can give him, not stabbing his enemies in the back."

Crabbe and Goyle blinked a couple of times but then nodded in understanding.

"Besides," Snape gave them both a smirk. "We do not yet know if they will make good allies for the Dark Lord one day, instead of enemies."

"Oh yeah," Goyle chuckled. "That's what the Dark Lord's planning to do with them Spheres that he's already found."

Snape had, of course, found out about this already, but considering he had not been in touch with any Death Eater since then he feigned surprise. "Oh? Is that so? Where is he keeping them?"

"We don't know," Goyle shrugged. "He won't tell us. Says that its none of our concern."

"I see. Well that's to be expected of course," Snape nodded. Voldemort regularly kept information from his followers after all. In the old days during his first reign of terror, most of the Death Eaters had even only been allowed to know who but a few of the other Death Eaters were just in case one of them tried to turn traitor. That wasn't the case anymore obviously - now everyone knew the names of the most prominent of Death Eaters since they'd been captured or killed by the Ministry Aurors, and many of those Death Eaters were still locked up in Azkaban.

"So what are you going to do now, Snape?" Crabbe asked.

"Obviously I shall re-assume my mission to gather intelligence. You two may continue to follow along if you wish, but you are not really needed here."

"We're not going anywhere," Crabbe stated firmly. "The Dark Lord will be angry if we return from mission without finishing."

"Then make sure you stay out of my way. You must not risk blowing my cover, not for any reason. Besides… if I see the opportunity… perhaps I can arrange for a little… accident… to befall one or two members of my company. Mountains can be such a dangerous place if you don't know what you're doing after all."

Crabbe and Goyle guffawed as Snape gave them back their wands. "Stay out of sight," Snape reminded them sharply before he Apparated back to the others further down the slope. By this point Lupin was back and had cast a Disillusionment Charm over Levy, the others watching in amazement as all the colour seemed to leech out of Levy's skin and clothes and turn the same white as the snow behind her. She lifted a hand in front of Happy's face and her hand instantly turned blue and except for a single eye pattern in the middle.

"Oooooh, now that's cool," Happy said. "Do me next!"

"Ah, Severus," Lupin noted even as he tapped Happy on the head and the charm began to take effect on the cat. "Where did you disappear to."

"To investigate something. And I do believe it was the right call," Snape frowned. "Nobody look around. We are being watched."

"We are?" Lisanna, who was back as a human, tensed up. "Where? Who by?"

"Further up the slope. Two Death Eaters."

"The servants of Voldemort?" Levy whispered. "They're here? Why?"

"Searching for the Fairy Sphere just like us, but they saw me with you so I had to convince them that I am here purely in the interests of the Dark Lord. It was not too hard. It's Crabbe and Goyle after all."

"Ah, the fathers of two delightful boys I had the pleasure of teaching a couple of years ago," Remus chuckled wryly, though everyone could hear the slight sarcasm in his voice.

Lisanna slowly turned back into a dog and raised her head to sniff the air. "Oh yeah," she said. "I can smell them now. I couldn't before so that means they've probably only just got here. What do we do? Should we take them prisoner? Maybe they can tell us where those other Spheres are!"

"They don't know - I already asked them that. We should not be too concerned with them - they're only here for reconnaissance. And if we attack and one of them should escape, suspicion will fall on me that I tipped you off that they were there."

"Severus is right, and it is crucial that he remains in Voldemort's favour," Remus nodded as Lisanna turned back into a human. "All we can do for now is carry on searching for the Sphere and pretend we do not know they are there. If an opportunity presents itself, perhaps we can do something about them. But if they're only here to watch from the background then we leave them be. Let's take to the air. Severus, here's your broom."

"Joy," Snape muttered as Remus passed the Cleansweep he'd managed to find to him and he cast a Disillusionment Charm over himself. Remus did the same over him and Lisanna once the latter had turned into Clipper again and the two wizards mounted their brooms and kicked off as Happy gripped the back of Levy's dress and hoisted her off the ground.

"Let's see what we can see," Lisanna said as she took point.

"And remember, if you see any Muggles, tell us so that we can modify their memories," Lupin agreed, and together the group of five shot out over the hills, leaving a pair of Death Eaters in the proverbial dust.

For now.

* * *

Gildarts sighed and ran a hand over his face at the sight before him. The town was an absolute wreck. Not a single building had been left intact, and the ground had been split and unheated almost everywhere, tearing open huge pits and caverns that had not previously existed. And he dreaded to think how few could have survived such a catastrophic event. He was willing to bet that not many had.

He was standing on a rise overlooking the town of Chagford and standing next to him was Mad-Eye Moody, who's magical eye was sweeping backwards and forwards like he was watching a tennis match being played at warp speed. A few other Fairy Tail and Order members were also present, but they couldn't go any closer to the town right now. Not only was it crawling with Muggle police and news teams, but there was a team of Ministry Wizards in there too, assessing the damage.

One of them being Tonks, who had been called in on her day off. She'd been the one to tip the Order off that something terrible had happened, and the available members had acted immediately to see for themselves.

"It's been ruined," Juvia murmured, her hand over her mouth at the sight of all the destruction. "Everything just… levelled."

"Who the heck could have done this?" Gray breathed, his fist clenching so hard that the veins were clearly visible - an image of his own hometown nothing but a smoking pile of rubble replaying on the back of his eyes. "You don't have demons in this world, do you?"

"Not to my knowledge we don't," snorted Moody. "Those kind of things, they only appear in myths. But as to who did this… we were rather hoping that you might be able to answer that question."

"What are you saying?" Gildarts glanced down at the grizzled man with a raised brow. "You think its possible that a Fairy Tail member could have done this?"

That's what the Ministry thinks for certain," said Emmeline Vance, unable to tear her eyes away from the wrecked town.

"And what do you think?" Gray turned to glare at her. "You think that any one of us from our guild is capable of something like this?"

"We don't know everything about you guys yet," Moody's eye swivelled around into the side of his head so he could stare at Gray without having to turn his neck. "But considering the things we've seen your do so far, your comrades would definitely be prime suspects, don't you think?"

"No, it does not!" Gray snapped! "We would never in a million…!" he was cut off when Gildarts raised a hand and he lapsed into silence. He felt Juvia put a hand on his shoulder slightly and closed his eyes, allowing himself to take a deep breath through his nose and calm down.

"…Sorry," he muttered.

"That's quite alright," Gildarts said. "But we really ought to let calmer heads prevail here. Yes, Alastor - there are members of our guild you haven't met yet that could have potentially done this in terms of power. But in terms of character? Not one of them would have ever done a thing like this deliberately. There have been a few times where some of us have levelled multiple buildings as collateral damage for something else we've been doing, but this? Clearly this was a deliberate act of destruction. Not perpetrated by one of us."

"What about that fellow… what was his name? Laxus?" Dedalus Diggle clicked his fingers. "I remember you telling us about him, Gray. How he once tried to kill you and everyone in your hometown with some super powerful magic?"

"Laxus wouldn't have done this either," Gray shook his head vehemently. "Back then he was an arrogant sod, that's for sure. But he was not a bad person at heart, not really. He was simply pushed by delusions of grandeur and fooling himself into thinking that everyone around him was an enemy even though he didn't truly believe it. Master Makarov says that those thoughts had most likely been planted in his head by his father, who definitely is an enemy of Fairy Tail, and they festered and grew within him for years. But he knows better now. He's reformed himself. And even if he hadn't, there's no way he'd just attack a random town like this for no reason."

"It wasn't Laxus," suddenly Gajeel added his voice to the debate. "The wind's blowing towards us from the town now. If Laxus had been anywhere near here in the last day then I'd be able to smell him. I'd be able to smell any of the other Fairy Tail members. But I don't. It was not any of them. This was done by someone else."

"Well, that answers my next question," Moody grunted. "Which was if you think that one of your own could have done this while being controlled. Forced to do it. But apparently not."

"But who could that have been?" Emmeline asked. "If it was not anyone from your world then it must have been someone from ours surely."

"Well you do have your own Dark Lord, don't you?" Juvia pointed out.

"Yeah, but what would You-Know-Who have against a place like this?" Emmeline shook her head. "Nah, this wasn't his work either. In the old days he and his Death Eaters might have found it fun to ransack a place like this but… it doesn't make sense for him to do it now. He's keeping a low profile. He doesn't want the Ministry to know he's back yet."

"No, but the Ministry aren't blaming him, are they?" Moody turned to lock both his eyes on Emmeline. "They're blaming Fairy Tail."

"…You think You-Know-Who could have done this to deliberately antagonise the Ministry against Fairy Tail?" Dedalus squeaked and dropped his hat.

"I'm not saying he did, but its possible."

"That bastard's gonna receive absolute hell when we find him," Gray muttered.

"Juvia agrees. If he is trying to frame us for something we didn't do, Juvia would like to have a private word with him about that."

"I dunno," Gajeel stepped forwards a little, sniffing the air again. "I can't smell anyone else from Fairy Tail but there is a familiar scent here. It's annoying me. This smell in the breeze that know I've smelt before somewhere. Just can't place it."

"That's a mystery we'll have to worry about another time. We should get back now," Moody turned to stump away. "Before we're discovered here by anyone from the Ministry."

"I know I recognise this scent! It's right at the back of my mind," Gajeel growled as he and the others moved over to prepare for Side-Along Apparition back to Grimmauld Place. "I think it was on Tenroujima but I can't remember what it was."

"I guess we'll just chalk it up to one of the many other questions we need to answer," Gray sighed. "And there are too many of those for my liking already."

The three Order members took Gajeel, Gray and Juvia back to Grimmauld Place with loud cracks, momentarily leaving Gildarts alone in the field. The S-class Mage turned to look back at the town again, his eyes narrowing. Gajeel wasn't the only one sensing something familiar. There was just something about all this that tugged at his memory. Perhaps it was the magical power he was sensing.

Whatever it was, he didn't need to see the smoking ruin to know that it spelt trouble.

And then Moody came back to whisk him away as well.

* * *

Professor Umbridge strutted through the corridor on her way back up to her Office, the same wide, smug smile pasted over her face as usual as she looked down at the students with an air of superiority so thick that it seemed to surround her like a fog. The way the students would immediately quieten down and stop whatever they were doing as she passed, the power that she held over them within such a short time of being here… oh, it was an exhilarating feeling.

And it was only just beginning. Her influence at the school was still almost negligible compared to what the future held. And she was planning on extracting every last ounce of authority from every last person here, pulling it out with her stubby bejewelled fingers until she alone stood at the top. And anyone who dared to challenge her… would be gone. Simple as that.

She'd been waiting a lifetime for a chance like this. She'd hated her time here when she'd been a child, loathing fellow students even when they'd done nothing specific to rouse her ire and resenting teachers for simply not treating her any better than the rest of them. And ever since she'd left she'd been clawing her way up the Ministry hierarchy by any means necessary until she'd found herself at the coveted position of Senior Undersecretary to the Minister.

But here… when she was done… here she would be completely in charge. For now she still answered to Cornelius of course, but he'd let Dumbledore run things as he saw fit for a long time until now, and when she was Headmistress as she planned to be, then she'd be given the same benefit. Perhaps even more freedom since Fudge trusted her so much. And perhaps after Fudge retired from office… perhaps she herself would become Minister one day.

The thought set her aquiver. The things she could do with that power… push Mudbloods out of Wizarding Society once and for all, for instance. She was no Death Eater but still, as far as she was concerned the Dark Lord had had the right idea in many ways. Not all, but many. And unlike him, Umbridge would make it to the top and rule the roost of all wizard-kind.

So lost was she in her twisted fantasies that the fact she had entered an abandoned corridor - not a student to be seen or heard anywhere, which was just the way Umbridge liked it to be honest. But when she rounded the next bend, she saw something which definitely gave her pause.

There a man standing before a window up ahead, his back turned to her as he stared out through the thick glass. Due to the afternoon light filtering through the window, Umbridge couldn't make anything out besides his silhouette… but he was quite clearly a big man, taller than most of the staff and certainly much more muscle-bound. But he certainly wasn't anyone that Umbridge recognised.

Frowning, she strode forwards, clearing her throat as she did so, "Hem hem… excuse me, sir? As the Hogwarts High Inquisitor, I demand to know who you are and what you are doing here on my campus!"

The man made no response, as Umbridge stopped about halfway down the corridor. She flared her nostrils in irritation; who would dare to ignore someone of her standing? She raised her voice and barked, "Did you not here me? Who are you? If you do not tell me what I want to know then I will have you escorted from my premises! In fact, I may even have you arrested!"

Again the man made no answer. Umbridge growled to herself and reached for her wand, but suddenly the man turned around and gave such a terrifying snarl that Umbridge almost fell over. And the blood drained out of her face when she realised that he wasn't a man at all. Long, fangs dripping saliva protruded from his lengthened snout, his body covered in brown fur, a tufted tail sticking out behind him and his muscled arms ending in huge claws. His beady black eyes stared at the short, horrified woman like she was a piece of meat. It was… a wolf-man! A werewolf, standing right before her!

"Oh… oh my… you…" Umbridge gasped and spluttered at the canine monstrosity stalked towards her. "Stay… stay away! STAY AWAY!"

The werewolf ignored her, a low growl emanating from the back of its throat. Umbridge stumbled backwards, fumbling for her wand but suddenly the werewolf burst forwards with a terrible roar and Umbridge screamed, forgetting her wand and turning around to run for her life. She stampeded down the corridor as fast as her scurrying stumpy legs could take her but she heard the creature's pounding footsteps, slamming the ground like pistons and gaining rapidly on her!

"NO! NO! HELP ME! HEEELP MEEEE!" Umbridge screamed as she heard the creature bellow in triumph and make the leap… cringing and screaming as she stopped and hunkered down, waiting for the end…

…but there was nothing. The teeth and claws that she expected to tear into her never came.

She spent about half a minute trembling, during which time she could hear footsteps hurrying towards her from up ahead, but when she slowly dared to lift her head and turn around the corridor behind her was notably empty. No sign of man, beast or anything of the kind anywhere.

"Whatever is the matter, Dolores?" barked Professor Sinistra as she hurried around the corner up ahead. "What in the world were you screaming about?"

Umbridge hastily tried to recover her composure, but remained slightly hysterical as she stood up and said, "Aurora, there was a werewolf!? This… this enormous beast! It was here! It was standing by that window and… and it charged at me… I… I fought back naturally but then it disappeared! It vanished into thin air… all of a sudden… but it was here! I… I want a full sweep of the school conducted immediately!"

"Slow down, Professor," Sinistra frowned. "A werewolf? What are you talking about? It's not even the full moon yet! And it's broad daylight!"

And as Umbridge babbled on in her rushed explanation, just behind a tapestry a few feet away from her, Fred and George were struggling to stifle their laughter as they crept away down the corridor, a small Pantherlily striding along between them with his hands behind his head. He'd never acted so feral before, but he was quite proud of the performance he'd given out there.

And in front of the three of them skipped the ghost of Mavis. It had been her illusionary magic that had made Pantherlily's battle form look like a werewolf. In times past she would have been able to create the illusion entirely from scratch, but with her limited magic she could only create illusions to disguise another by drawing on some of their own magic to keep the illusion looking real. Which meant Lily had had to act the part and sell the performance. And it seemed like he had.

"I have to admit," Lily chuckled once they were out of earshot. "That was quite fun."

"It was awesome!" George exulted. "Oh, did you hear the way she screamed?"

"Normally we'd never pull anything that might result in screams like those, but this time it was definitely worth it," Fred agreed. "I wouldn't be surprised if she wet herself."

"I'm praying that she did," George crossed his fingers hopefully. "It would so make my day."

"You boys are terrible," Mavis giggled. "But that woman deserved it, so I'll let you off."

"I take it that went well," said Charla when they reached the other end of the hidden passageway.

"More than well. It went just as smoothly as hoped," Fred nodded.

"I never knew that there was a secret passageway here," Hermione said. "But its certainly come in handy this time."

"There's dozens of these, Hermione. Possibly hundreds, all criss-crossing through the castle in ways that would make no logical sense," George said. "There's this one that leads from the ground floor all the way to the seventh with nothing but a gentle slope that I'm pretty sure if there wasn't magic involved would end right over the middle of the greenhouses. Heck of a lot easier than taking the stairs, I can tell you."

"We heard her screams from here," Harry was grinning widely. "It sounded amazing. I wish I could have seen it."

"Me too, but that would have defeated the entire purpose of it, wouldn't it?" Ginny noted.

"I know. It's a shame though. Still… what's our next move?"

* * *

A couple of hours had passed and by that point the entire school was abuzz with the news that something unknown had just attacked Professor Umbridge. Harry and the others had struggled to keep straight faces as they'd walked through the corridors, but they'd managed it because they couldn't allow people to think they'd had a hand in it.

So most of them had gone back to their common rooms to do their homework, leaving Fred, George, Mavis and the two Exceed to continue the job.

Umbridge was insistent that she had not imagined the werewolf that had attacked her despite all the evidence that told her that it was impossible, and all the efforts of the other teachers to persuade her that it could not have happened.

"I know what I saw! And I want that filthy half-breed's hide on the wall before the day is out!" she raged.

But eventually people stopped listening to her and went back to their own work. Umbridge ranted and raved that there was a serious threat to security but when nobody listened to her she stormed off on her own, wand drawn and trying to root out the creature herself.

But after another hour, when she'd still found nothing, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe it had been some kind of strange hallucination. Flitwick had suggested that perhaps a student had hit her with a powerful charm to make her see something that wasn't there… if that was true she would find the student that did it and make sure they were expelled for sure.

Eventually though when she'd combed every room in the castle from the bottom up she conceded defeat and, huffing, she started to descend the stairs back towards her office again… unaware that Fred and George were watching her progress on the Marauder's Map that they'd borrowed from Harry. Crouched behind a mirror, they watched the little dot that marked Umbridge's location make its way down towards them, further towards them, level with them… past them.

"Go," George hissed and pushed at the back of the mirror, opening it just enough for Lily's small form to slip out and onto the stairs behind Umbridge. Lily instantly grew back into his bigger form and Mavis hastily re-applied the werewolf illusion. The moment the mirror swung back into place to hide the secret tunnel, Lily roared! Umbridge spun around so fast that she almost fell backwards down the stairs, screaming and fumbling for her wand but Lily jumped forward and slapped the wand right out of her hand to send it flying over the bannister and out of sight.

That very quickly told Umbridge that this was now hallucination, and she with a scream high enough to crack glass she all but fell down the stairs, somehow managing to stay on her feet as she did so. Lily stood at the top of the steps, watching until she reached the bottom before clearing the entire flight in a single bound. Umbridge screeched as he fell down towards her and darted out the way, but as soon as her back was turned Lily popped back into his small form and extended his wings before swooping out of a window that the twins had deliberately leapt open for him and out of sight.

When Umbridge turned to look over her shoulder and found the stairs very noticeably devoid of werewolf, not even the sound of it landing behind her, she pulled to a halt so fast that she actually did trip up and went sprawling onto the landing in front of her. She pushed herself up and rolled onto her back, head swinging about wildly in search of the phantom beast that was hunting her.

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" she yelled. "STOP TAUNTING ME, YOU FILTHY… HORRIBLE HALF-BREED! SOMEONE GET OUT HERE! GET OUT HERE AND PROTECT ME!"

Lily chuckled from where he was hovering above the window and floated up to the next floor where Fred, George, Mavis and Charla were already waiting for him at another window, the latter two perched on the windowsill itself.

"This is going great," Charla smiled. "At this rate we'll be driving her up the wall in no time."

"How long should we wait until the next one?" Fred asked.

"Give it a few hours now at least," Mavis smiled. "Perhaps we can hit her at least once more before she turns in. But, if all goes to plan, she should soon think that she's being haunted by something more primal than anything she's ever experienced before."

"Some kind of ghostly undead werewolf that disappears and reappears in the blink of an eye," George laughed. "There's never been anything like that in recorded magical history as far as I know. But given how much she hates half-breeds, I wonder how long she'll be willing to stay here."

* * *

Natsu marched down the sloping path, ignoring the snow that was building up around him, largely because he had coated his feet with a thin layer of fire so that every time he took a step he melted it and ended up stepping on solid rock. He was moving quite fast and Lucy, who was deliberately putting her feet in Natsu's own footprints to try and avoid slipping herself, was having a hard time keeping up.

"Natsu… wait…" she moaned. "Can't we take a break? We've been walking for hours?"

Natsu stopped and turned to watch as she trudged her way towards him. "You're very slow, Lucy," he grinned teasingly. "I'm surprised you haven't called out that clock guy yet so you can sit inside him while he walks."

Lucy rolled her eyes, but the thought had crossed her mind… several times… though she wasn't about to admit that. "I just don't have your endurance, Natsu," she said as she sat down on a rock and lifted her feet off the ground, wiggling her toes within her boots. "You just keep going and going and going and never seem to get tired. I don't know how you do it. But my feet hurt a little. Just give me some time to rest them."

"I could carry you, if you like," Natsu suggested.

"I'm not that helpless! Besides, you heard what Loke said. All of our friends that have come out of their own Spheres are fine so it's not like we're in a hurry. Not like we did in Edolas."

"He also said he can't see everything from the Spirit World that well. I ain't gonna be satisfied until we've got there and seen it for ourselves."

Lucy smiled slightly. "I know what you mean, I guess. I mean I trust Loke but… I suppose sometimes you just need proof. Still… I'm sure we've got at least another forty-five miles to go still. I don't know if my feet will make it that far."

"I said that I…"

"You're not carrying me!"

"Okay, okay, whatever. Just thought I'd mention it. I…" he paused suddenly. Lucy looked up instantly - when Natsu stopped in the middle of a sentence it rarely meant something good. And sure enough he was sniffing the air, his eyes narrowed as he looked down the path they'd been walking down.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Someone's coming."

And sure enough a couple of minutes later, two men wearing thick woollen clothing emerged from around the bend in the road ahead. As soon as they spotted the two Fairy Tail mages they froze, and a brief staring match ensued, neither side willing to look away from each other. A full thirty seconds of silence passed before Natsu suddenly grinned and said, "Yo! How's it going?"

"Er… hello," one of the man cleared his throat gruffly. "It's… It's going pretty well. Are you okay? You don't exactly appear to be dressed for hiking in the mountains, young man."

"Takes a lot to make me feel cold," Natsu put his hands behind his head. "What are you doing up here?"

"Oh, we're just… two regular hikers, out for… for a hike, obviously," said the other man, a little lamely, which made Lucy's eyes narrow slightly. That sounded very much like a lie to her, but Natsu didn't seem to notice.

"Usually I don't come into the mountains unless there's monsters for me to beat up," the Dragon Slayer said.

"Sorry, what?" one of the men blinked.

"Natsu…" Lucy said slowly and a little warily. But before she could say any more, Natsu certainly said:-

"Oh, I don't suppose you've seen anyone with a mark like this somewhere on them, have you?" and he bared his shoulder to the men, showing off the red Fairy Tail mark in all its glory.

The sight of it made the two men jump back, pulling out small bits of wood warily. "You!" one of them cried. "You guys are Fairy Tail!"

"Hey, you guys know about us! Cool!" Natsu grinned, somehow totally missing their wary reaction and how tense they'd gotten. Lucy though was on her feet and had opened the pouch to her keys. "Does that mean you'll take us to our pals. I heard that they were about…"

"NATSU!" Lucy yelled before he could finish the sentence and grabbed his scarf, yanking him backwards with a yelp just as the two men opened fire with two streaks of red light from their little sticks. They streaked over Natsu's head as he fell flat on his back, and Lucy hissed at him. "I don't know what's going on, Natsu, but those guys aren't friendly."

"Yeah, I got that now…" Natsu's eyes narrowed as the two men came running forwards up the slope, flashes of red darting forth from their wands like bullets from a gun. Natsu flipped back onto his feet and dodged to the side, dragging Lucy behind a boulder to take cover from the barrage before suddenly leaping over the top of it, his hands bursting into flame. "You bastards! What the heck did we do to you!?" and charged in towards them.

"Natsu, wait! You don't know what those things do!" Lucy cried as she sprang up behind him, but it was too late. Natsu swung his fist at the jets of light, his flames searing the air as he blasted several of the spells to bits, an action which caught the two attackers by surprise, but two more of them immediately followed after and struck Natsu dead on. He staggered backwards, his head suddenly spinning along with the world around him.

"Whoa… why's the sky upside down?" he murmured, even as Lucy vaulted over the rock behind him and rushed towards him with a golden key in hand.

"Open, gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!" she cried, as a flash of light burst from the key at the same time as more red lights jetted from the wands. Lucy dove on top of Natsu and pushed him to the ground before the lights could hit him and even as Scorpio appeared in a flash of light he swung his huge metallic tail around to deflect the reddish beams into the mountainside.

"We are!" the tan-skinned man roared, grinning excitedly and placing a hand on the snow covered ground to aim the tail cannon at the attacking men. "Good to see you, Lucy!"

"What the hell is that?" one of the men cried, taking a shocked step back.

"Did that girl just… conjure him!?" the other breathed.

"Why do you have to always run in headfirst without thinking?" Lucy muttered as she tried to pull the woozy Natsu back upright. "Scorpio, get them!"

"Gotcha! Take this, punks! SAND BUSTER!" Scorpio yelled, and a veritable tornado of sand exploded out of the end of his tail, raking up the snow as it shot down the path towards the two men. They yelled as the maelstrom swept in towards them, but right before it engulfed them they both suddenly disappeared with loud cracks.

"Huh? What happened?" Lucy blinked, with one of Natsu's arms over her shoulders - the Fire Dragon Slayer giggling as if slightly drunk.

"They disappeared," Scorpio's eyes narrowed, before instinct compelling him to whirl around. "Lucy, look out!"

Lucy glanced over her shoulder to see the two men standing there and they'd already fired off at least four more of those red lights. Before she could react, Scorpio had seized both her and Natsu to tuck them under his arms and jump right off the path, dodging the red lights and spinning around in the air to cry, "SAND SPEAR!" This time a long thin streak of sand thundered out of the tip of his tail to lance in and impact the ground right between the two men, exploding outwards to send them both flying. Lucy screamed as they fell towards the snow below, but then Scorpio did something she'd had no idea he could do.

His tail rotated one-eight degrees so it curved underneath him rather than over his head. He then planted his feet on the metallic tail and turned it into a makeshift snowboard, hitting the slop and whooshing down it at high speed, zig-zagging skilfully to dodge a couple of snow covered conifer trees.

"Whoa!" Lucy cried. "Thanks, Scorpio!"

"We are! No problem! Been a while since I've done this!" he grinned, zipping over a small ledge and landing smoothly to continue on down the slope.

It was at this point that Natsu chose to snap out of his daze, but as soon as he realised that he was shooting down a slope his cheeks suddenly bulged and he slumped in Scorpio's grip, his face turning blue. "Mm gonna hurl…" he gagged.

"NATSU! THIS ISN'T TRANSPORTATION! SCORPIO'S HOLDING YOU!" Lucy yelled.

"He is?" Natsu looked up. "Oh, so he is. Well why didn't you say so? Yeehaaa!" he thrust his arms out and whooped, all traces of his motion sickness vanishing as quickly as it had started. Lucy sweatdropped. Why Natsu was okay with being carried by something alive but not by anything else was beyond her.

"Where'd those guys go?" Natsu asked.

"We left them behind at the top," Lucy said. "Those red beams made you really dizzy. If they had just been energy attacks you probably would have just shrugged them off knowing you, but they had some kind of special magical property. That's why you shouldn't just charge in until you know what you're up against."

"Right, got it. Red beams bad," Natsu nodded.

"That's not quite what I meant, but I guess its good enough," Lucy rolled her eyes.

By this point they were reaching the bottom of the slope and Scorpio twisted side one to kick up a flurry of snow as he braked. They came to a stop right up against a huge, grey boulder, and Scorpio jumped up, his tail flipping back into its regular position as he put Natsu and Lucy down.

"You're a lifesaver, Scorpio," Lucy smiled.

"Yeah, thanks!" Natsu gave him a thumbs up.

"We are! No problem! Feel free to call on my anytime!" Scorpio held up his hand with his index and little finger held up in his signature pincer-like manner, before he vanished into a yellow glow and returned to the Spirit World.

Natsu turned to look up at the direction they'd come. "Now I just need to climb back up the slope so I can punch those guys in the face!"

"Oi. That's really not a priority right now

"But I've gotta get my revenge for…"

CRACK!

They both whirled around, to see the two men were suddenly standing there next to them, their clothes a little torn, bruises showing and one of them clutching his arm, but the other lifted his wand into the air and fired off a greenish beam of light that exploded in the air like a firework.

"Should have asked Scorpio to wait," Lucy muttered as Natsu stepped forwards to slam his fist into his palm, flaming bursting out of both as he did so.

"Well I'm more prepared this time," he growled. "You guys aren't going to get me again!"

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

And then suddenly there were about thirty men standing there, all with pieces of wood drawn and all of them pointed at Natsu and Lucy.

"You were saying?" Lucy asked.

"Big deal! Whether there's two guys or a hundred, the result's always the same," Natsu spread his legs into a fighting stance. "You guys mess with Fairy Tail, then I'll bust you all up!"


	23. Wolf Day

Hey guys. Sorry this chapter was delayed but considering I spent the last couple of weeks in the Bahamas free-diving with sharks and dolphins I was pretty much drained whenever I was back on the shore and it was very difficult to write. But I have literally got back home just now with the next installation ready for posting so… here it is! Hooray!

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 23:- Wolf Day**

* * *

From the moment that Natsu's fists burst into flames, the Ministry wizards were already in action. "Surround him!" Savage yelled out. "Don't take him head on! Take him from all angles!"

"Quit talking strategy and fight me!" Natsu yelled as he pounded forwards, right at the moment many of the wizards Disapparated and re-appeared in a wide semi-circle around the Fire Dragon Slayer, while several of the ones in front of Natsu ran in to fire Stunning spells at him one after the other. But Natsu was more prepared for the red flashes of light this time and flames exploded from his feet, catapulting him into the air above them and bringing his hands together to form an enormous ball of fire between them, which he raised above his head.

"KARYUU NO… KOEN!" he yelled as he flung it downwards, sending several wizards diving aside to avoid the blast only to be blindsided as it impacted with the ground and exploded outwards, sending them flying in multiple directions at once. Natsu grinned but when numerous other flashes of light were thrown up at him from all angles his grin disappeared quickly and he flipped onto his back, fire bursting from his mouth straight up into the air to send him plunging back towards the ground so the spells flew over the top of him instead, several colliding with each other to explode like fireworks.

Natsu landed on all fours like a cat and spun around, fire still gushing out of his mouth and curving in a wide arc as he swung his head to pulse in the direction of multiple Ministry wizards at once.

"Shields!" Dawlish yelled, and the Aurors lifted their wands and yelled, "Protego!" as one, to form invisible walls in front of them that caught the fire and repelled it, but the flames impacting on the shields with such force that it still pushed several of them backwards.

"Shields? That's not fair!" Natsu growled, right as he was hit in the back with a couple of Repulsion charms that sent him flying towards the shields head-first. But Natsu was quick to twist himself over and use his the momentum to his own advantage. "KARYUU NO TEKKEN!" he roared and slammed his flaming fist right into one of the shields, which shattered under the powerful blow. The shocked Auror was met with a punch to the gut from his other hand which bowled him over, while Natsu landed and spun around to send gouts of fire flashing out from his hands in both directions.

"KARYUU NO YOKUGEKI!"

Many of the Aurors were taken off guard by the speed and ferocity at which Natsu moved and the fire slammed into them and sent them flying every which way, their robes singed and slightly flaming. The ones that managed to re-direct their Shield Charms to block this new attack too quickly fanned out, dodging around him and firing hex after hex at him. But Natsu charged straight through the attacks, dodging and flipping himself over to avoid them by a hairs breadth, sometimes only moving about on his hands and spinning around to chuck a fireball at someone every time he found a gap.

"The snow! Use the snow!" one of the Aurors cried. "Let's put out his fire!"

Several others were quick to take up the idea and with swishes of their wands suddenly the snow around them whisked its way off the ground and blasted in towards Natsu in several miniature snowstorms homing in on one target. Natsu skidded to a halt just as the first blast washed over him and then another, then another until about eight snowy attacks were coming at him from every direction at once, engulfing him, the fire in his hands fizzling out as he shielded his face from the blasts.

"Natsu!" Lucy, who had up until this point stood and watched, cried. But it seemed that she needn't have worried because Natsu suddenly roared and plunged his hands down into the ground, punching two holes in the rocks beneath the snow and bellowing at the top of his lungs. The ground around him split and flamed, a fiery shockwave passing through the ground all around him as flames burst up from beneath the Aurors, who were forced to drop their attacks and Disapparate to avoid being hit.

"Hehe," Natsu grinned and he rubbed his chin, fire practically leaking out of his mouth. "You guys aren't bad. But you're gonna have to try harder than that if you want me to feel the cold."

"Then maybe you'd like this better," yelled one of the Aurors. "Let's see how you like it. Inciendo!" And a spurt of fire flashed out of his wand, and those of several others. Natsu grinned as the flames shot in all around him and blasted into him. But as he was engulfed in the inferno, some of the other Aurors turned towards Lucy - they had forgotten the girl was there until she'd shouted as they'd been a little more focused on the one attacking them.

"Stupefy!" one of them yelled and a jet of red light flashed right in towards the blond. Lucy gasped and dove aside, the red light impacting the giant rock behind her instead. As she flipped back onto her feet, she gritted her teeth and pulled a golden key off her belt.

"If you guys are just going to attack us like that, then I guess we have no choice but to fight back," she lifted the key into the air. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!"

"MMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" yelled the large bovine Spirit as he appeared in a flash of light, swinging his gigantic axe just in time to block another set of Stunning spells that had been aimed at Lucy. Several of the Aurors gaped, but then Taurus completely ruined his own dramatic entrance by turning back to Lucy with hearts in his eyes and crying, "Lucy! I'm so grateful to see that nice body of yours has survived the seven years you were gone! Your udders are as fine as always even through that winter coat!"

"STOP LOOKING AT MY UDDERS! I MEAN MY… GAH! TAURUS! JUST GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!" Lucy yelled, covering her chest automatically and growling. "We're being attacked right now, okay?"

"Mooo, anyone who attacks your nice body deserves to be thrashed!" Taurus turned around to glare at the stunned Aurors.

"And these guys are gonna be," Natsu's voice came out of the flames right before they congealed and were sucked straight into his mouth. "Cos now that I've eaten, I'm all revved up!"

"Impossible…" one of the Aurors gasped. "They're… they're monsters!"

"I sure seem to get called that a lot," Natsu turned to the Auror in question as his feet were enveloped in flame, melting the snow under his feet instantly. "Wanna see how monster-like I can be!? KARYUU NO KAGITSUME!" And he sprang into the air and slammed his foot down hard on where the Auror had been moments before, the Auror having Disapparated just in time. "GAH! Fight me straight on, will ya!" Natsu yelled as his foot created a crater in the floor and he blitzed sideways to avoid a blasting hex that wrecked the ground even more.

Meanwhile, a pair of Aurors had fired a Stunning Spell each at Taurus, hoping to drop the Celestial Spirit, but the charging bull seemed to shrug off the effects of the spells as if they were nothing more than a pair of pebbles that had been thrown at him. "Moooooo! Rampage!" he yelled as he brought his axe hammering down into the ground between the two Aurors, fracturing the rock and blowing them both backwards.

Another Auror, Savage, levitated up a giant rock with a swish and a flick of his wand, before firing it straight at Taurus with a Repulsion Jinx. Taurus simply brought his fist back and hammered the rock into powder before leaping in and swinging the axe in at Savage, who quickly cried, "Expelliarmus!" The axe went flying out of Taurus' hands to land nearby but the bull was not deterred and charged in, seizing Savage by his robes and hefting him off his feet to swing him away, right into another Auror right as he Apparated in with a Bludgeoning Charm ready.

Dawlish gasped as he watched Savage lying groaning on the ground. Conventional defence and offensive spells were not slowing these guys down too much. They had to up their game, think outside the box a little. But wait, if the bull had been summoned by the girl then perhaps taking out the girl would defeat the bull!

So he swung around and Apparated in behind Lucy, hoping to stun her from behind. But she heard the crack of his transportation and flung herself sideways, landing on her shoulder and rolling awkwardly in the snow, grabbing the Fleuve d'étoiles from her belt and activating it with a crackling burst of light.

"Call off your creature!" Dawlish cried.

"Stop attacking us first then I might! Come to think of it, why are you attacking us!?" Lucy responded.

"You are a member of Fairy Tail. Your lot have already proven how dangerous you are!" Dawlish replied before he transfigured the snow around him into sharp rocks and banished them right at Lucy. But Lucy had lashed her whip out the side and it had lengthened on its own to wrap around a tree, whereupon she contracted it to yank her sideways and off her feet to avoid the blast. Manipulating the whip's length she swung herself around the tree and up onto the giant rock, whereupon she lashed the whip down right at Dawlish. The Auror rose a Shield Charm to block the attack, but Lucy grinned - she'd anticipated that.

"Chance!" she cried as the whip curled around and lengthened to whip right around the Shield Charm and latch itself around Dawlish's ankle. Before Dawlish could react, it had lengthened still further to grab the feet of three other Aurors, and Lucy hauled backwards on the whip to bring them all crashing onto their backs.

"Nice one, Lucy!" Natsu grinned as he jumped right over Dawlish and lobbed a fireball at another Auror.

"Moooo! Lucy's nice body looks even nicer when its swinging through the air!" Taurus cheered.

"Way to make me feel awkward about my own victory," Lucy muttered. "But the fight's not over!"

"Not yet," Natsu agreed, turning back to look at the ten or so Aurors who could still stand. "Looks like still about a third of them to go." He vaulted over to Taurus' fallen axe and grabbed it by the handle, hefting it into the air and crying, "Hey, cowman! Catch!"

"Got it!" Taurus deftly grabbed it after Natsu flung it and used it to sheer to slice the ground and send a burst of rocks and snow flying towards the Aurors, who were quick to shield themselves again, before several of them grouped in close together and pointed their wands at Natsu and Taurus together.

"Bombarda!" they cried, and fired multiple Bludgeoning Hexes at once. Natsu and Taurus both quickly dodged sideways in opposite directions, and the hexes sailed between them to smash into the giant rock that Lucy was standing on.

Lucy expected the rock to shatter and was ready to jump off at a moment's notice.

What she had not expected was for the rock to bellow in pain and suddenly heave itself upwards. "YAAAGGGH!" she screamed as she was suddenly taken higher into the air, the rock tilting over and forcing her to drop onto her belly and hug with all four limbs, her fingers and toes digging into little grooves as her body rapidly went from horizontal to almost vertical, as the rock got to its feet.

Yes, feet.

Because it was not a rock at all. Not even slightly. It was a gigantic creature about fifteen times taller than a human with thick tree-trunk like legs and a rotund body that led up to its short four fingered arms that ended with short claws. Its body was a light grey colour except for its back and the top of its head, which were dark grey and covered with thick armour plated scales that Lucy now found herself holding onto, and its head was quite difficult to distinguish from its body because it seemed to have very little neck - it just kept going from feet to the strange, black and bulbous lump on the top and front of its head. Its jaws were wide and filled with teeth and it had to twist its body around to turn its small eyes on the men that had just attacked it.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" cried one of the Aurors.

"GET ME DOWN!" Lucy cried. "SOMEONE PLEASE GET ME DOWN!"

"Hey, that's one of the things from Tenroujima!" Natsu pointed up at the creature. "What the heck is that doing here?"

"Mooo! It's a Doscadon!" Taurus hefted his axe and narrowed his eyes. "And its got my nice body up on its back!"

"I'M NOT YOUR NICE BODY! JUST GET ME DOWN!"

"Yes, yes," Natsu turned to face the Doscadon, which bellowed and stepped in forwards, trying to get a good look at the creatures that had attacked it. Doscadon were heavy sleepers, especially in a totally cold environment like this one, so different from the tropical island that it was used to living on, hence why it had not woken up until it had been directly attacked en masse.

But the Aurors, evidently more than a little freaked out at the appearance of such an enormous creature, panicked. "ATTACK! ATTACK! BRING IT DOWN!" One of them yelled and they instantly launched a barrage of spell after spell at it, throwing everything they could think of from Stunners and Impediment jinxes to more Bludgeoning hexes. The Doscadon reared backwards and bellowed at the onslaught of spells, shaking itself as if trying to shrug off their effects. Lucy yelled as she held on tighter, scrabbling with her feet to keep her grip as she was almost sent flying.

"BASTARDS!" Natsu rounded on the Aurors with eyes ablaze, almost literally. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, PUTTING LUCY IN DANGER!" He and Taurus dove forwards at the same time to attack, but they were too late to stop Savage from pushing himself up from the ground and firing a single spell - a Conjunctivitis Curse - that sailed over the heads of all and sundry to slam the Doscadon right in the eye.

"HHHRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRR!" The Doscadon's roar shook snow loose from the slopes as it stumbled backwards, shaking its head and tipping over as if about to overbalance. Lucy squealed as she realised that if it fell in this direction she would be crushed beneath it, but luckily the Doscadon was able to catch itself on its tail and push itself back upright again.

But the creature was clearly in pain, shaking and writhing about as if trying to expel a giant fly from its eye, trying to raise its arms up to scratch at it. And as Natsu and Taurus turned back to see if Lucy was okay, Savage let fly with a second curse that slammed right into the Doscadon's other eye!

"GGGRRRAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHRRRRRRR!" The following bellow practically rattled the mountain itself and the Doscadon quickly decided it had had enough and charge forwards. Despite its enormous bulk and comparatively stumpy legs it was able to move extremely fast, angling its body so it was charging forwards head-first right towards the Aurors. Natsu dove aside just in time to avoid being flattened underneath one of its feet. Taurus was not so lucky and actually was stepped on, pushed straight down onto the snow with a yell of "Moooooo!"

"Taurus!" Lucy cried from her position on the Doscadon's back, but she still had to cling on for dear life as it took off through the Aurors, who apparated out of the way to avoid the same fate as the Golden Bull. As they re-appeared around Natsu, the battle was momentarily lulled as they all watched the Doscadon thunder away.

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled after it.

"NATSU! GET ME DOOOOOOWWWNNNNNN!" Lucy squealed.

"Lucy… That looks so fun!" Natsu cried. "Why do you get to do the cool stuff!?"

"IT'S NOT FUN FOR ME!" Lucy snapped over her shoulder before the Doscadon almost overbalanced and she was forced to grip harder as it shot away.

Natsu sighed. "Guess I'll just have to rescue then. Man, I wish Happy was here."

"Mooo!" Taurus pushed himself to his feet, battered and bruised but still looking raring to go. "How dare that Doscadon make off with Lucy like that!"

"You go back to the Spirit World," Natsu turned to look at him. "You'll wear out Lucy's magic if you stay here."

"Hmm… true… we wouldn't want her to fall off!" Taurus murmured. "Alright then, Natsu-san! It's up to you to make sure Lucy's nice body remains unbruised!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Natsu waved his hand as Taurus vanished in a puff of yellow. He then turned to the the Aurors and yelled, "Oi, bastards! Gotta put this fight on hold! Try to follow me and I'll kick your asses!" And without another word he barrelled off after the Doscadon, which was already some way in the distance, running at full pelt and a speed that surprised the watching Aurors. They made no attempt to pursue, just watching as the Dragon Slayer ran off after the fleeing dinosaur-like creature.

"Who the heck were those guys?" Dawlish murmured as he helped another winded Auror to his feet. "These Fairy Tail mages are more powerful than I thought."

"I thought we were prepared this time," Savage agreed. "But every one of them just pulls off different tricks. I almost wish that You-Know-Who was back. At least then I'd know what the heck I was dealing with with his Death Eaters."

"Is everyone okay?" Dawlish asked. "No casualties."

"I think we're alright, sir," said another one. "A few broken bones and some bad burns but nothing that can't be fixed with a quick trip to St. Mungos."

"Well, that's something at least. But I think we're going to need back-up for this one."

"Agreed," nodded Savage. "Someone send a Patronus to Scrimgeour! Tell him we've engaged Fairy Tail but require reinforcements. "

"And what should we do until he gets it?" asked another Auror.

"Follow them of course," Dawlish nodded firmly. "After that… dinosaur… thing!"

* * *

"So you would just call off the search for this… this… menace!" Umbridge fumed, shrieking so loudly that her already high-pitched voice was in danger of rising to a spectrum where human ears would no longer be able to hear it. Something which all the staff members present in Dumbledore's office were very much hoping would actually happen so they wouldn't have to listen to her.

"My dear Dolores, that is not what I said, per se," Dumbledore shook his head calmly, seemingly totally unaffected by how purple Umbridge's face was getting. "All I am saying is that we have combed this castle from top to bottom multiple times and have found no trace of this werewolf you have reported."

"And yet I saw it! Twice!" Umbridge yelled. "And until I see it found and can hang its pelt upon my wall I will not be satisfied! Or are you going to tell me again that I imagined the whole thing!?"

"Please, Professor, be reasonable," Dumbledore interlaced his fingers. "Can you not see that it makes no logical sense for there to be a transformed werewolf on the premises right now? Not only is the moon far from being full, but both times you reported it it was during the middle of the day. Both times where it is impossible for a werewolf to transform. Therefore the only logical explanation is that it could not be a werewolf that you saw."

"I know what a werewolf looks like!" Umbridge screeched. "Those filthy half-breeds have haunted my dreams since I first knew what they were. It was unquestionably a werewolf! And don't try to tell me that it wasn't real! The thing knocked my wand right out of my hand! I felt its… its… disgusting paw against my hand! I know it was there and until you find it…!"

"We will put every available resource into finding your assailant, whoever or whatever it may actually be," Dumbledore cut across her. "But I assure you Professor this castle is secure."

"I want to have a squad of Dementors search the place!" Umbridge demanded.

"That is something I will not allow," Dumbledore replied curtly. "I will not bring such dangerous creatures in amongst my students under any circumstances. I assure you the staff members will be more than enough to carry out the task."

"But I demand…!"

"You do not have the authority to order a search that would jeopardise the safety of my students more than the threat which you claim currently exists," Dumbledore stated firmly. "That is my final word on this, Professor."

Umbridge fumed before whirled around and storming out of the office. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout watched her go, wincing at the sound of her heels vanishing down the steps.

"Such a delightful woman," Flitwick murmured.

"Quite," Sprout nodded sourly. "I remember her from when she was a student here. She was always quite the bully even then. You should have seen the things she did to the school Mandrakes in her fourth year."

"And her distaste for anything that she considers a half-breed is well known," McGonagall's voice was clipped with disdain. "But I never thought that she would go so far as to totally invent a story of a werewolf attacking her twice in broad daylight. And she accuses Potter of making up stories."

"I am not certain she is… entirely… making things up…" Dumbledore ran a hand through his beard. "There may be something behind these tales of hers, even if its not what she thinks."

"You're saying there really might be a transformed werewolf on campus?" Sprout raised a brow.

"Oh, I don't believe that for a slightest," Dumbledore absently twiddled his thumbs. "But perhaps this might be a time where we just… turn a blind eye and… see how it unfolds. I believe that it could be… quite interesting."

* * *

Umbridge waddled down the corridor, hands held stiff at her sides as she felt bile rising inside her. How dare the Headmaster doubt her word! How dare they stand there and accuse her of… of… well they hadn't really accused her of anything but Umbridge was sure they were thinking it.

She reached a corner, whereupon she instantly froze, unconsciously shuffling against the wall and pressing herself up against it. Tentatively, her heard in her mouth, the squat and toad-faced woman tilted forwards, slipping her fingers around the corner and poking her head forwards just enough so that she could see around it with one eye, expecting to see a lupine shape surging towards her, teeth flashing in the light emanating through the windows to tear in at her throat.

But there was nothing. Just an empty corridor, the light from the sun splashing a window-shaped light up against the wall. A shadow flitted across it suddenly as an owl flew past outside and Umbridge yelped, pushing away from the wall and wheeling around, cursing herself. What the hell was wrong with her! She was on a path to taking over this school and after one day she was jumping at shadows!

How was she ever supposed to become the Headmistress if she couldn't face up to something like this. Was she going to let this werewolf reduce her to skulking about in the corridors of her own establishment!?

"Professor?"

"GAAH!" Umbridge screeched, flailing around and fumbling for her wand, but she was met only by a single student standing in the corridor behind her. A student she recognised as being one of the Slytherin fifth year students - a rather pretty girl with short, shoulder-length blonde hair, high cheekbones and a straight, proud posture.

"Oh… do not startle me like that, Miss… remind me what your name is."

"Daphne Greengrass."

"Yes, of course. Regardless, it is improper to startle your teacher like that."

"I'm sorry, Professor. I was just wondering if you were alright. You seem a little edgy. Is it because of that werewolf that's supposedly been spotted?"

"There's no supposedly about it, young lady! I saw it with my own eyes! How did you hear of it?"

"Word's been going around. Some of the students are quite scared. Others don't believe its true. There's a bit of a divide between the two."

"Well, you tell anyone who doesn't believe it that I do not tell lies! I would never sink as low as to… to…" Umbridge trailed off as she looked over Daphne's shoulder, her face going slack and blood slowly draining out of it, the Slytherin student noticing how it rapidly began trembling. Daphne blinked and whirled around quickly… to see… an entirely empty corridor.

"Um… Professor? Are you alright?" Daphne asked, turning to look back at the whimpering Umbridge as she backed away, raising a stubby finger and pointing over Daphne's head in an almost deranged manner.

"Can't you… can't you see it?" Umbridge hissed under her breath, staring in horror at the burly werewolf striding slowly down the corridor behind Daphne. Saliva dripped from its fangs, its grizzled fur sticking out in such a manner that it was almost bear-like in appearance, every muscle beneath that fur rippling as it splayed its claws and snarled. "It's there… the beast! Stop it! Get back!" She grasped her wand and fired a Stunning Charm. Daphne yelled and threw herself sideways as the red light streaked over her shoulder, zeroing in right at the werewolf's chest.

But the werewolf suddenly dropped to all fours so the curse went straight over its head. Umbridge fired more, causing Daphne to press herself right up against the wall fearfully, but the werewolf nimbly avoided every shot, bounding off one wall and even rebounding off the ceiling until it had bypassed Daphne and was standing between student and Professor.

"IT'S THERE! THEEEERREE!" Umbridge scrambled backwards even as the werewolf stalked in closer.

"P… Professor… there's nothing! There's nobody here but you and me!" Daphne cried, and there werewolf seemed to smirk in response. Umbridge almost dropped her wand in horror as it suddenly thundered forwards right at her. She dropped her wand, screaming bloody murder and rushing off once again with the canine in hot pursuit. But as she rushed around a corner she almost collided slap-bang with another student.

Neville Longbottom.

"Out of my way!" Umbridge screeched, eyes bulging like those of a mad woman as she shoved Neville roughly to one side and kept running. The werewolf skidded to a halt next to Neville, who had collapsed onto his backside and didn't register its presence in the slightest, before taking off after Umbridge again, stalking its prey, enjoying the thrill of the chase.

Neville and Daphne stood there in the corridor for a moment before turning to look at each other with equal expressions of bewilderment. It was rare for any Gryffindor and Slytherin students to see eye to eye… but in this case they were both thinking the same thing. Namely:- what the hell?

"What was wrong with her?" Neville asked as he pushed himself back up to his feet.

"Search me," Daphne sniffed, dusting off her robes and picking up a few rolls of parchment she'd dropped when Umbridge had started firing willy-nilly spells. "She was babbling on about a werewolf and seemed to think it was behind me when it wasn't. I think she thinks she's being chased right now."

"But there was nothing there!"

"I know there was nothing there, Gryffindor. That's what I just said, isn't it?"

"…She's mad…" Neville breathed. "I already didn't like her but… she's totally bonkers!"

"You don't need to tell me that. I can see for myself," Daphne shook her head. "And she's inspecting our teachers? If you ask me, she's the one that needs inspecting. Her head that is."

And without another word she turned and strode off towards the dungeons, leaving Neville staring in the direction that Umbridge had taken with an expression that couldn't seem to decide whether he should be awed or fearful at the fact that his newest teacher was completely nuts.

And from within a nearby broom closet, Fred and George were snickering into their hands while Mavis was sitting on a shelf at the back, kicking her legs and smiling mischievously.

"Oh, that was priceless… just priceless… there really is no word that sums up that situation in the same way," Fred beamed.

"I hear that," George nodded. "How did you do it, Mavis?"

"It's quite simple really," Mavis tilted her head and gave a smile that seemed to bathe the cupboard in light. "All illusions are about showing people a false image. If you know what you're doing you can make different people see different things at once. In the same way that the Exceed look like Exceed to you and some others but like normal cats to everyone else, I can make Pantherlily look like a werewolf to one person and totally invisible to someone else."

"It's like the ultimate version of a Disillusionment Charm," George summarised. "And its… freaking awesome!"

"The plan's going off without a hitch!" Fred grinned. "We got two people who saw Umbridge running away from nothing at all as if the devil itself was chasing her."

"They'll start spreading the word that she's mental and running away from nothing," George continued. "In no time at all the word will have gotten round to the entire school. And one of them was a Slytherin so even they will end up thinking she's barmy!"

"That's actually even better than we hoped," Fred laughed.

"Indeed, but I think we best wrap that up for a few days," Mavis replied. "Give her a bit of a lull before we sic the werewolf on her again."

The twins nodded, before George pushed a brick at the back of the cupboard, which opened up a hidden door. Mavis swept through it backwards and the twins rapidly followed, the wall sliding back into place behind them with a soft click as if they were never there.

* * *

Umbridge fled past multiple other students, her curdling screams filling the castle as she ran, screeching for yelp as the werewolf bounded after her, toying with her but steadily drawing the gap between them. The squat woman glanced back over her shoulder as she ran past a couple of third year Ravenclaw girls. The werewolf bounded straight over their heads and they kept staring at Umbridge as if looking right through it.

"WHY CAN'T YOU SEE IT!?" she bellowed, but the werewolf lunged at her and she yelped and practically jumped out of her skin, the clawed paw whistling past her side as she took off so fast she was practically flying.

She rounded another corner, and heard the werewolf crash in behind her, coming in closer. But when she looked over her shoulder again… it was gone.

Vanished.

The terrified Defence Professor seemed to lose control of her feet in her shock, tripping over her own foot to go sprawling in a heap, rolling quickly on her back to stare, petrified, at the empty space behind her.

Why?

WHY!?

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" she screamed, almost foaming at the mouth in her fear and confusion. But the corridor only answered with silence. What the hell was going on? This werewolf… it was dogging her steps, appearing before her and pursuing her before disappearing in the blink of an eye, like it was haunting her. Could it be a ghost? No, that made no sense - if it was a ghost then it would be transparent and have no physical substance but this thing definitely did.

And why had only the students been able to see it? She didn't understand.

And if there was one thing that Umbridge feared, it was something that she didn't understand.

"I… I will not… let you get the best of me… you hear me?" she pushed herself to her feet, trembling from head to toe and her voice sounding more like the squeak of a frightened mouse than a government official. And again, the corridor made no reply, but that only served to unnerve Umbridge even more. She turned and scuttled away, making for the comparative safety of her office with all speed.

When she had gone, Pantherlily emerged from behind a suit of armour in his smaller cat form, where he had ducked away and hidden from Umbridge's view.

"I hear you," he said, before his wings appeared with a flash and he whooshed off in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room. "But we shall have to see if its true."

* * *

But it was not just imaginary wolves that were making themselves known today. But unlike the werewolf stalking Umbridge, these canines were very real.

Clippers had extremely good eyesight. Not quite in the same league as that of eagles and other raptors but definitely high up there. They could spot fish through the reflective surface of the ocean from up to half a mile in the air.

Which meant that it was no surprise that Lisanna, who had taken on the shape of a Clipper in their search of the mountains, was the first of the group to spot the wolves.

Unfortunately though, the wolves had already been spotted by a great many people down below, and all of the group began to hear the screaming at about the same time.

"Oh no! Look!" Lisanna gasped, wheeling her way around in the direction of a particularly high mountain blanketed almost entirely with a thick layer of snow. Enough snow, if fact, to build a ski resort - which was exactly what had been done.

The mountain was none other than Cairn Gorm itself, the mountain which had given the entire range its name. And with winter rapidly approaching it was already beginning to build up a large number of tourists coming in to enjoy the adrenaline rush of whooshing down a mountainside at high speed.

But none of them had been prepared for the adrenaline triggered when a large pack no less than thirty wolves bounded out onto the slopes.

Lisanna had spotted them only a few minutes after their initial appearance, but it was already looking like complete chaos down there. Terrified skiers were slaloming down the slopes and in their fear they were acting rashly, leading to more than a few collisions that sent them tumbling down the slope, scrambling to get back to their feet as the wolves closed in.

Others on the ski lift were dropping onto the slope because several wolves were prowling around the upper end of the lift, and the pack of wild animals were chasing after anything that moved, their jaws slavering and their eyes wild. Additionally, several wolves had blocked off the doors to the visitor centre, leaping up against the doors and snarling at the people on the other side of the glass.

"Oh gods, this is bad!" Levy murmured. "What are they doing?

"It's like I said, they're scared," Lisanna replied. "Wolves are intelligent creatures, but these ones are in a place they don't know and they're lashing out at anything around them. It's a defensive move - lashing out at something because in their confusion they're not sure what's a threat and what's not."

"Well at least they're not hunting," Happy noted. "But we have to do something."

"Such as what?" Snape drawled. "Most of those people down there are Muggles. We can hardly fly in there wands blazing to save their necks. It would risk undoing the Statute of Secrecy."

"There are lives at stake here! Both those of the humans and the wolves!" Lisanna cried. "We can't just hold back and do nothing! And I won't either! Remus… can you lift the Disillusionment Charm off me?"

"Why? What do you intend to do?" Lupin asked.

"My Take-Over should be enough to calm the wolves down if I can just get in close. But it will be easier if the wolves can see me. They will be more likely to trust in something they can see with their own eyes than something they can smell but can't see."

"Do you think you can take control of all of them?"

"Not at once… but maybe in small groups… but I have to try."

Lupin bit his lip. The howls of the wolves seemed to rip through his ears. It was a sound that he had come to hate ever since he had first been bitten. Every time he heard it he was uncomfortably reminded of how he himself produced such a similar noise every time the full moon rose. A reminder that he was not entirely human. A reminder that he almost belonged to two worlds - that of man and that of beast.

Now, down below him, man and wolf were clashing. It was like watching a metaphor for exactly the kind of thing that he went through every month. It made him want to turn around and flee then and there. Flee from the wolf. Flee from the conflict.

But he knew that he could not, in good conscience, do anything like that.

"Alright… we go in…" he nodded.

"Remus!" Snape coughed curtly. "Need I remind you the whole point of us accompanying these Fairy Tail mages was to ensure they did nothing rash?"

"The situation has changed, Severus. There's nothing else to be done. Have your wand at the ready. We'll try to Obliviate anyone that sees us." His wand appeared in his own hand and he twisted his broom around, zooming over Lisanna's head to rap her on the beak with the short stick. Instantly that strange liquidising feeling rushed through Lisanna's bird body and she faded back into sight, in full view of anyone who happened to look up.

"Thanks Remus," she nodded her avian head and tucked her wings in close to her sides, upending and spurting downwards towards the flurrying snow. Her eyes locked onto a particularly large wolf, probably the alpha male, who was bearing down on a twelve year old boy that he evidently fallen over. His parents were further down the slope, trying and failing to get back up towards him, screaming for him to get back up as the wolf closed in on him, lips pulled back to reveal his magnificent set of fangs.

Though loathe to attack an animal, Lisanna angled her body in the direction of the wolf and as it made the final spring she collided with it side-on in a blur of feathers, blindsiding it and sending them both rolling over and over a couple of times in a tangle of green and grey. The wolf barked and snapped at her neck, but Lisanna was quick to pull out of range and power her wings to flap backwards into the air, arcing her way back over the boy and seizing his by the shoulders in her feet. The boy screamed and kicked madly as Lisanna hoisted him into the air, but she merely placed him back on his feet.

"Go," she said to him. And before the boy could turn to stare in shock at the talking bird he was sliding down the slope in the direction of the wolf. Lisanna landed in the snow and turned awkwardly about to stare down the wolf, who had also gotten to its feet and was growling dangerously, now flanked by three others.

Not far away and the other members of her party were making themselves useful too. One wolf sprang at a young married couple only to slam straight into an invisible wall courtesy of a shield charm from Lupin. Similarly two more were suddenly pertially buried in a barrage of snow from Levy's solid script, forcing them to struggle to break loose and give the two teenage girls they'd been targeting time to escape. The girls took off down the slope, eyes wide with confusion as they could both have sworn they'd actually seen the word 'SNOW' appear in the air behind those wolves. But suddenly a flash of silver light washed over them and they forgot about it completely.

"I really cannot believe that this is how I am spending my Sunday," muttered Snape as re-angled his wand, searching out anyone else that needed their memory modifying.

Lisanna flared her wings and screeched at the top of her lungs, her cry reverberating around the snow mountainside. Which was exactly the point as it drew the attention of most of the wolves, who stopped chasing humans to focus on the menacing looking bird instead. The alpha growled and stepped forwards, looking very much like he wanted to spring, but he paused when Lisanna flashed yellow and returned to her human form.

She shivered slightly in the cold, the wind biting at her bare arms and legs, but she couldn't afford to think about that now.

"This one's the alpha," she murmured. "Maybe I don't need to take control of them all. If I can take control of him then maybe all the others will follow him when I lead him away. Okay… focus… focus…"

The wolf's hackles raised, its tongue lolling slightly as it hunkered down on its front legs in preparation to pounce and take this human that dared to challenge it down. But before he could uncoil the muscles in his back legs to make the spring, Lisanna stretched out her hands and closed her eyes, focusing her magic and stretching out her power over not just the alpha, but all the other wolves standing before her for good measure.

There was an effect almost immediately. The Alpha paused, sniffing the air, cautious but less aggressive straight away. Slowly his posture began to relax, his muscles going slack and his lips slipping back down over his teeth as the snarl in the back of his throat stopped. The other wolves were relaxing as well, but Lisanna was pushing most of her effort over the Alpha.

"Come on," she murmured, opening her eyes and stepping forward, her feet crunching into the thick snow as she fought her way up the slope and closer to the wolves. "You've nothing to be afraid of. These humans are not your enemy, nor are they your prey."

The wolves continued to relax, until the Alpha slowly whimpered, wagging his tail like an overgrown puppy as he sat down on the floor before Lisanna. The Take-Over mage beamed at the result, stepping closer with her hand outstretched for the wolf's head, now so close to its muzzle that if it wanted it could bite her fingers without having to move its legs.

"She's doing it," Remus murmured from where he hovered nearby. The wolves were calming. She was reaching deep into their souls and soothing them just like that. He was awestruck and for the first time he wondered whether he had met someone who could tame not just a wolf… but maybe even a fully fledged werewolf.

"That's Lisanna for you," Happy giggled. "She's just that good with animals. I bet she could have gotten these wolves calm even without using her Take-Over. This way's just faster."

"Maybe. But thank goodness it seems to be working," Levy nodded.

And then… everything went wrong.

As soon as the administrators of the ski resort had been alerted to the presence of the wolves (and when they believed that they it was not a prank), they had immediately called in everyone they could think of to help them take care of the threat.

One of which was the Cairngorms Mountain Rescue, who had responded instantly - a task force at their closest base, which was not far, leaping into a helicopter and taking off in the direction of the resort. And they had brought with them several guns! Some regular. Some tranquillisers.

The helicopter was currently swooping overhead and they had seen everything. They'd seen the strange bird appear out of thin air and fly down, and two of them had immediately trained the sights of their guns on it and, through the scopes, seen the bird turn into a girl. In astonishment they continued watching as the girl stepped forwards, holding out her arm and somehow managing to put the wolves under their control.

"What… what is that girl?" one of them breathed.

"She's… she's a freak!" the other cried. "Some… some witch or something… I dunno… what the hell are we seeing?"

"What do we do?" the other asked. "We've never had to deal with something like this before!"

"Look at her! She's controlling those wolves somehow! She's probably the one that sicced them on the ski resort in the first place! I'm taking the shot!"

"Wait! Stop!" the other yelled, grabbing the gun barrel a split second too late as the tranquilliser dart was fired from the tip. It zipped down through the air like a kamikaze mosquito until the needle buried itself in Lisanna's leg just above her guild mark.

"Gah!" Lisanna cried and stumbled backwards, hand flying to her leg and seizing the dart, but her loss of concentration broke the Take-Over effect she had over the wolves. The alpha snarled and instantly lunged, fangs aiming for Lisanna's throat until a red Stunning spell from Lupin's wand caught it in the face and with a yelp he landed next to Lisanna instead, out cold. But the other wolves closed in quickly, and the drug flooding Lisanna's system was rapidly taking effect, the Take-Over mage's eyes rolling back up into her head and falling to her knees, her head spinning.

"Lisanna!" Happy cried, and shot forwards, dropping Levy unceremoniously onto Snape's broom behind the potions master and forcing Levy to grab Snape from behind to keep from falling off as Happy raced in to grab Lisanna and hoist her out of the way, one of the wolves snapping at her feet as she passed. With the alpha downed the wolves were more panicked than ever and raced off in different directions, letting loose bloodcurdling yowls and blitzing after everything that moved.

"Are you okay, Lisanna?" Happy asked urgently.

"Mmm okry… Thnks Happy…" Lisanna slurred, shaking her head to try and keep herself from blacking out.

"What happened?" Levy asked.

"The situation just got more complicated," Snape glared up at the helicopter. "And if you could let go of me that would be very much appreciated, Miss McGarden."

Levy unwrapped her arms from behind Snape as if he was made of molten lead to grip the broom instead, but Lupin just said, "That was a Muggle tranquilliser. I don't know any spells to counteract such drugs. Severus, do you have anything."

"I'm afraid I left all my Muggle medical equipment back in my other robe," Snape said dryly.

"What do we do?" Happy wailed. "Lisanna's in no fit state to control all those wolves now!"

"I… I gotta try…" Lisanna gritted her teeth, fighting to stay awake. "I'm a… a member of Fairy Tail too. We don't give up! We never give up! There has to be some way that we can…"

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRR!"

The blood of everyone on the mountain froze at the terrible roar that flooded over the slopes, and every eye, including those of the wolves, immediately began looking for the source. And they promptly found it when a gigantic rock formation was suddenly shattered into rubble, an enormous grey dinosaur-like creature barrelling through it headfirst as if it was made of paper.

And when the Muggles saw it, if they had not been screaming before then they were now! Pure pandemonium rocked the mountain as the Muggles crowded round the bottom of the slope, pushing and shoving each other to get inside to find shelter, as the dinosaur creature thundered in towards them.

"What the heck…!?" Lupin gaped.

"A Doscadon!" Levy cried. "Another Tenroujima resident! It must have come out of the same Sphere as these wolves!"

"How are we meant to stop that!?" Happy yelled, but even as he looked the blue Exceed spotted something… unusual…

…There appeared to be a blonde girl riding on the Doscadon's back. And yelling fit to burst as well.

"Get me down! Get me down quick!" she wailed.

"Wait a minute… that's…" Happy's jaw dropped. "No way…"

"Lu-chan!" Levy almost tried to stand up on the broom! "Lu-chan's riding the Doscadon!"

"Another Fairy Tail mage?" Lupin asked.

But before he could get an answer another loud roar managed to reach their ears, and their eyes rolled in their sockets to see fiery explosions racing in pursuit of the Doscadon. Fiery explosions coming from a single figure who was firing jets of fire from his feet to propel him forwards just so he could keep up with the surprisingly fast Doscadon.

"Get back here!" Natsu yelled. "Come back and fight me!"

"NATSU!" Happy cheered, his face lighting up with an intensity that hadn't appeared on his face since he'd come to this world. "NATSU! LOOK, LISANNA! LOOK! IT'S NATSU!"

"I see him…" Lisanna smiled blearily, her eyes welling up slightly in sheer joy. "Natsu's finally here!"


	24. Battle on the Mountainside

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 24:- Battle on the Mountainside**

* * *

It didn't take long before Umbridge couldn't take the staring anymore. Despite the fact that the werewolf had no attacked her no less than three times in the course of a single day she had forced herself to continue through the day as normally as possible. But now every shadow made her jump, every unexpected movement made her squeak like a mouse in a trap.

And more than once when she found out that it was just another student she'd rail angrily at the poor individual for about five minutes straight about how it was unbecoming to stalk through the halls like a vampire, deducted points from their house and then sent them scampering away. Not even the Slytherins were spared from this fate. And it was not long before everyone in the building stopped talking when they saw her coming and pressed themselves against the walls to give her plenty of room to walk past them.

Though Umbridge did not know it, she was experiencing the same kind of thing that Harry Potter had experienced in his second year at the school, when everyone had learned that he was able to speak Parseltongue. Everywhere she turned there were whispers, people trying to avoid getting within ten feet of her - several of them even turning around and hurrying away when they saw her coming. And the staring… it never stopped… eyes riveted on her, watching her from every angle as if she had some kind of contagious disease and that she might deliberately try and grab them to pass it on to them.

It was ridiculous! She'd been stressing since she'd got here the importance of not telling lies, and yet nobody believed this undeniable truth that she was telling everyone! They should be treating Potter like this for spreading lies about the return of the Dark Lord, not her for telling the truth about her attacker!

And when she snapped, it was to an unfortunate pair of first years from Hufflepuff, who received the brunt of her frustration when she rounded on them for no reason at all and screamed down at them. "Oh, I bet you think I'm a liar too, don't you? I've never told a lie in my life! I bet you two have told countless lies in the course of yours! People should be branding you the fibbers, not I!"

The Hufflepuffs cringed and looked like they wanted to melt into the floor, and the squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick suddenly interrupted the dead silence that followed as the tiny wizard hurried over to comfort the two pupils even though they were not from his house.

"Professor Umbridge, I really must protest. These students have done nothing wrong. Why do you shout at them?"

Umbridge seethed and looked around at the hallway. Every eye in it was locked on her and it made her want to scream and stamp her foot in a full temper tantrum the like of which she had not had in years. Huffing and puffing like a bellow, she turned and stormed away, making for her office on the third floor with all haste. A place where she could be free of all the bloody staring.

"They think I'm mad, do they?" she hissed to herself as slammed the door shut behind her. "Think I'm rambling? Well, we'll see how much they laugh when there's a full team of Aurors here sweeping the castle for that werewolf…"

She paused suddenly even as she was reaching for the Floo Powder, intent on calling Minister Fudge and demanding the Ministry step in to secure the castle personally. What if… what if the Minister himself didn't believe her? Umbridge knew what she'd seen was true - she was sure of it. It had been too real to be anything but the real deal. But even she had to admit it sounded strange when she thought about it. Werewolves were indeed not supposed to be transformed until the night of the full moon. By all accounts everything they knew about those half-breeds stated this. And yet Umbridge had seen otherwise.

But she still had no evidence to back it up.

She sat down and mulled in her chair. She couldn't tell Fudge about the werewolf - if he didn't believe her then she risked losing all of the political power that she'd ruthlessly attained for herself over the years. He might think she was not fit to be his Undersecretary. What to do? What to do? Perhaps she could fabricate another excuse for a search of the school to get Fudge to overrule Dumbledore's authority…

"Nyaa…"

"EEEEEK!" Umbridge leapt up from her chair so fast that she almost fell backwards straight into the fireplace, pawing at her wand in a desperate attempt to aim it, but when she saw the same white cat that had been in her office yesterday, sitting in the corner and washing its paw delicately, she slumped down in relief.

"Good lord, you certainly frightened me, small one," she muttered as she hurried over to it, leaning down to scoop the cat up in her arms and carry it over to the desk. "But at least you will not judge me like all those… fools out there."

'Oh I am judging you very much,' Charla thought to herself as she lay on the desk, feeling that same chill of disgust reverberating up her spine as she allowed this woman to pet her. 'You just can't know it yet.'

"Ugh, this is a nightmare," Umbridge muttered as she picked up the blood-red quill that she kept in her drawer and twirled it between her fingers slightly, as if itching to inflict someone with the torturous device. "Everything I am working to build here, turning this school into a better place, threatened to be totally undone by this lunacy. That werewolf is destroying my reputation!"

'Not that you had a very good reputation to begin with,' Charla fought the urge to roll her eyes as she continued licking her paw, as if she didn't give a damn what Umbridge was actually saying. But the main reason she was here was to see if the woman tried to report the events of the day to the Ministry as she had this morning. Seeing as it didn't look like that would be the case she wanted to get out of there as quickly as she could.

"Perhaps… I should take matters into my own hands," Umbridge murmured to herself, drumming the fingers of one hand onto the desk, even as the other raked their way through Charla's fur, which was very much standing on end. "After all… it wouldn't be the first time I've acted without Cornelius' approval."

Charla stopped licking her paw, her eyes widening slightly. Oh? Was that so? What juicy bit of blackmail might this woman be about to give her? It was amazing what people said when they were talking to an animal. After all, they didn't think an animal would be able to tell anyone their secrets.

"After all… I did arrange for those two Dementors to attack the Potter boy during the summer. I came so close to having him removed from the school… and if I can do that then perhaps I can have them brought here to search for this werewolf."

Charla had to fight hard to stop herself from jumping up and scratching this woman's hand then and there. Her paw trembled slightly and she forced herself to remain calm by continuing to lick it. She'd heard the story of what had almost happened a few months ago when Harry had been forced to defend himself from the Dementor attack and almost got kicked out the school by the biased Ministry for doing nothing wrong. Nobody had been able to figure out why the Dementors had gone after Harry but most of them heavily suspected that Voldemort himself had ordered them to do it.

But no… it was this woman! She was behind it!

"Hmm, but it's not quite the same, is it?" Umbridge sighed. "After all, nobody could have linked me to the events of Little Whinging and there were almost no witnesses. It wouldn't be the same here. Hmm… I need to think this through carefully. What is there that I could do to get to the bottom of this without giving myself away? Maybe hire in a couple of loyal Aurors to search the place with Invisibility Cloaks? But which Aurors would I use?"

Charla had heard enough. As Umbridge continued to rattle into a long list of ways she could try and resolve the werewolf matter alone, each one as unlikely to work as the last, Charla slipped off the desk and padded over to the open window. She looked back briefly at the woman she now considered to be pure evil, making sure that she was too absorbed in her thoughts to notice as she extended her wings and her illusion switched to that of an owl. She soared soundlessly through the open window and up towards the Gryffindor Tower once more.

She wondered what in the world Harry was going to make of this when he found out.

* * *

"HEEEELLPPP MEEE!" Lucy screamed, tears streaming down her face from the wind blasting into her eyes as she clung to the top of the rampaging Doscadon. The Doscadon itself had very little idea where it was going, struggling to see through the curse that had impacted it straight in its eyes, but it was running up the slope and towards the ski-lift. And there were still one or two people sitting on the lift halted lift, too high up to jump down safely even without all the mayhem going on down below.

"COME BACK AND FIGHT ME LIKE!" Natsu roared, too focused on barrelling up the mountain after the fleeing creature to notice the familiar smells crowding into his nostrils.

"It's heading straight for one of the poles holding the lift up!" Remus shouted from where he was sitting on his broom, holding his wand out and pointing it at the creature and wracking his brain for a spell that might be able to slow it down.

"What do we do?" Levy cried.

Suddenly a loud shot rang through the air and Lucy yelped as sparks flew off from the Doscadon's skin right next to her leg.

"A gunshot?" Levy gasped. "Where…?"

Snape and Remus looked up at the helicopter whirring its way overhead. Both of the rangers, at the sight of the terrifying monster thundering its way towards the innocents screaming on the ski-lift, had grabbed rifles and were shooting madly at the beast, trying to bring it down. Their bullets pinged harmlessly off the beast's armour, but several of struck it dangerously close to were Lucy was clinging on for dear life.

"Remus," Snape glanced across at his fellow wizard. "We must bring that helicopter to the ground before those foolish Muggles cause any more damage than they already have."

"They shot Lisanna," Remus nodded. "We can't let them shoot another Fairy Tail Mage."

"I'll stop them from doing that," Levy gritted her teeth and swung around on Snape's broom, flicking her fingers up into the air and crying, "Solid Script… LIGHT!" and throwing her arms wide. A blazing word appeared in the sky level with the helicopter, but the glare was so intense that the letters were indistinguishable from one another, making it look more like a miniature sun. The two rangers reared backwards and yelled as their eyes were bombarded with an overload of light and the pilot veered off sideways as well, the helicopter spinning slightly as he struggled to keep it under control.

But Remus and Snape zinged forwards invisibly on their brooms, wands outstretched and both crying at the same time, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Suddenly the helicopter stopped in mid-air, shocking the pilot as he jerked madly at the controls trying to get it to move, fearing it would drop out of the sky. But it didn't. Instead, it was slowly lowered towards the ground despite the fact the rotors were still going.

But all the while the Doscadon drew nearer and nearer to impacting hard with the ski lift!

"Happy… get Natsu…" Lisanna groaned slightly from where she has hanging in the Exceed's grip, groggy from the effects of the tranquilliser in her system.

"Huh? But I can't carry two people. I'd have to put you down with all the wolves around," Happy protested.

"I'll be okay," Lisanna insisted. "Get Natsu. Help Lucy. Go…"

Happy gritted his teeth, but nodded. "Aye!" he cried, swooping down and depositing Lisanna in the snow before streaking forwards towards the running Dragon Slayer. The blue cat briefly looked back over his shoulder to see that Lisanna had managed to force herself back into the form of a Clipper and despite the fact she was still noticeably sluggish in her movements she was spreading her wings and clacking her beak, daring any wolves to come in too close to her. Hoping she'd be okay, Happy turned around and swept in towards his partner.

"NAAATSSSUUUUUUUU!" he yelled as he whooshed down to seize the Dragon Slayers by the shoulders and hoist him into the air!

"GOHHH!" Natsu gasped as his feet left the ground. "Happy? HAPPY!" he turned to look over his shoulder with a wide grin, only to see a vague outline of where Happy was thanks to the fact the cat was still cloaked in a Disillusionment Charm. "…Happy…? Why are you invisible?"

"I'll explain later! Right now we've got to stop that Doscadon!" Happy replied, flaring his wings and powering his Aera to swoop along low to the ground. "Before it harms any of those people!"

Natsu bared his teeth in a great smirk, raising a fist and letting it burst into flame. "Got it! Let's go, partner!"

"Aye sir!" Happy grinned too. "Max Speed!" he exploded forwards as fast as he could go rapidly overtaking the Doscadon and shoot beneath the ski lift, swooping round in a wide arc before jetting in towards the oncoming creature like cannonball, Natsu's lips shaking in the wind from the sheer speed he was moving at.

"RELEASE!" Natsu yelled.

"AYE!" Happy agreed and flung Natsu forwards, veering off to the side as Natsu ignited his entire body in flames, fire bursting out beneath his sandals and thrusting himself in a blazing rush, pulsing out behind him like the tail of a comet as he aimed right for the Doscadon's chin.

"KARYUU NO… KENKAKU!" a bellow ripped from his mouth as he arced right behind a couple sitting on the ski lift and hugging themselves as they prepared with the end, and collided with the onrushing animal headfirst just beneath its wide open jaws moments before it ploughed into the pole holding the ski lift up.

"HHHHRRAAAAWWWWRRRRRRRRRRR!" The Doscadon flailed its arms as the impact knocked it sideways, sending it spinning as it struggled for balance and sending a screaming Lucy flying right off its back at last, the Celestial Spirit Mage losing her grip and getting flung straight into the air. But help was at hand as Happy swung in to grab her by the back of her coat.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" he asked.

"H… Happy?" she gasped even as the Doscadon slammed down onto its side and skidded down the slope, Natsu landing smoothly next to the pole that had narrowly avoided being snapped in two. "Is that you? Why… why are you invisible?"

"Just a minute," Happy said as he swept Lucy back down towards his partner. "Natsu! Follow me! I'll take you to the others."

"Others?" Natsu frowned. "Who else…" he stopped and sniffed the air for a moment and sure enough he could smell them. "Levy… and Lisanna! They're both here!?"

"Aye!" Happy cheered. "This way!" and he carried Lucy off up the slope, Natsu running along behind them as the Doscadon came to a stop some distance down the slope, stunned and groaning but still very much alive. They left behind them an ski-lift full of passengers with jaws hanging loose, unable to to believe what they had just seen.

* * *

Once the helicopter had been brought down, Snape and Remus dove in low on their brooms to make sure it wouldn't take off again. Remus lashed out an Incendio charm that blasted the controls in front of the pilot and rendered the chopper useless, while Snape used a Disarming Charm to send the guns of the two Rangers flying out of their hands.

He then pointed his wand square at both of them and said, "Imperio!"

"Severus!" Remus gasped as the eyes of the two rangers glazed over. "What are you doing?"

Snape didn't answer. Instead, he just said in a calm, persuasive tone, "Give me the antidote to the tranquilliser you fired into the girl."

The rangers simply turned around and did as bid, one of them lifting up a box and opening it while the other produced a jar of fluid and a hypodermic needle from inside. Snape took them from his hands and passed them to Levy, before releasing the curse and leaving the two men blinking in confusion. Snape then rapidly Stunned and Obliviated all three of the men in the chopper so they wouldn't remember a thing.

"There. We have what we need," he noted.

"Quick thinking," Remus grimaced. "Though did you have to use an Unforgivable Curse to do it? You'd get in serious trouble if the Ministry learned you pulled that one even for a moment."

"Then perhaps this should be something kept between us," Snape said dryly.

"…Right… we'd better seal the doors of this thing shut to make sure the wolves don't get them while they're unconscious," Remus noted, flicking his wand so the doors slid shut and casting a locking charm on them, before he turned to veer off back towards Lisanna, Snape close behind him.

"Thank you, Snape," Levy smiled earnestly.

"I don't need gratitude. I am simply doing what I must for the Order," Snape said shortly, words which made Levy wrinkle her nose slightly, but made her smile a little knowingly. Maybe this guy wasn't as unfeeling as he seemed to want people to think. Another trait he shared with Gajeel.

And they arrived back just in time too. A couple of wolves were closing in on Lisanna as she beat her wings and clacked her beak, unable to muster the energy even to fly. Her Take-Over was shimmering, meaning she was about to lose control any second and return to normal. Remus and Snape both fired Stunning Spells to repel the wolves and landed next to Lisanna at pretty much the same moment as Lisanna reverted back to human form and collapsed into the snow.

"Lisanna! Hang in there!" Levy vaulted off the broom and hurried over to her, Lupin and Snape right behind her, the two Wizards lowering their Disillusionment Charms as they did. Lisanna lay gasping for breath, her eyelids drooping, as Snape knelt down beside her to examine the antidote in his hands and Remus lifted Levy's own Disillusionment Charm two seconds before Happy arrived and deposited Lucy on the ground.

"Oh gosh, Lisanna! What happened?" Lucy cried as she hurried over to kneel in the snow and seize the youngest Strauss sibling's hand in her own, squeezing it gently. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's got drugged," Levy replied, forgetting the joy of their reunion in the moment as she watched Snape draw some of the antidote into the needle. "It's okay, its nothing dangerous… right?"

"I doubt it, but I'm not sure," Lupin shrugged, rapping Happy's head with his wand to lift the final Disillusionment Charm. "Severus?"

"I know some things about Muggle medicines, and all tranquillisers can be dangerous. It depends on the dosage and I don't know how much was administered to her. But I'm surprised she took so long to collapse."

"Well, we mages are sturdier than normal people," Levy pointed out.

"Well then hopefully that means she'll be back on her feet quickly," Snape noted as he finished drawing out the antidote.

And that was the point where Natsu arrived, skidding to a halt so fast he kicked up a bunch of snow. "Lisanna!" he called, dropping to his knees next to her. "Oi, Lisanna! Wake up! Are you okay?"

"…Nnn… Natsu…" Lisanna's eyes opened blearily and despite her drowsiness she managed to smile at him. "Thank… goodness…"

"It's going to be alright," Natsu gritted his teeth, but then blanched when he saw Snape lowering the needle towards Lisanna's arm. "OI! BASTARD!" he yelled, seizing Snape by the front of his robes and yanking him forewords until they were eye to eye. "What the hell do you think you're doing, huh?" he growled, rearing his fist back and setting it ablaze.

"Natsu! Don't!" Lucy yelped, seizing Natsu by his arm and preventing him from punching Snape's lights out. "He's helping! That stuff's the antidote to the thing… poisoning Lisanna." She wasn't entirely sure if that was the right word but it worked. Natsu blinked and his aggressive stance slackened.

"It is?" he blinked. "How is sticking a needle in someone's arm helpful?"

"Never mind that now, it just is! So let him do it!" Lucy protested. Natsu hurriedly let go of Snape's robes and the potions master, grunted as he dusted himself off and grimaced at the confused Dragon Slayer.

"Yes, thank you for that," he said dryly. "I'll be sure to remember to keep needles away from you in future. But for now," he stuck the needle into Lisanna's arm and pumped the antidote into her body. But, as he did, there was a terrific roar from down the slope that drew everyone's eye. The Doscadon was getting back to its feet - an unsightly bruise on its chin from where Natsu had slammed into it, but other than that looking little worse for wear.

"Ah, damn it!" Natsu growled as he got to his feet and flung his scarf over his shoulder. "Right, this time I'll make sure it stays down."

But before he could move, Lisanna's hand slipped out of Lucy's suddenly and grabbed Natsu by his own. The Dragon Slayer started and looked down to see the Take-Over mage with a little more clarity in her eyes staring up at him earnestly.

"Don't…" she murmured. "It's not an enemy. It's just a lost animal."

"True, but we can't just leave it to do its own thing," Lupin said as he watched the Doscadon shaking itself and swinging its gargantuan head around in confusion. And the wolves were still prowling the area too, several of them stalking in closer to the group themselves as if weighing the risk about whether they should attack or not.

But Remus did notice a distinct lack of one other thing - people. The halted ski-lift was now totally empty even though it had been filled with stranded passengers only a few minutes ago, and there were almost no skiers or snowboarders still left out on the slopes. Remus' eyes focused on one of the few that remained, but his eyes widened when a figure appeared next to him with a crack, seized his shoulder and then they both disappeared with another crack.

"Oh no," he murmured. "They're here. The Ministry is here."

"What?" Levy looked up sharply. "How can you tell?"

"Standard Muggle containment procedure," Remus wrinkled his nose. "Tonks told me about it. When Aurors are about to start a battle in an area with Muggles they try and collect all the Muggles they can together into one place and lock them in to keep them out of harm's way and also make it easier to modify their memories later."

"They're grouping them all in the visitor centre," Snape agreed as he stood up.

"Those gits from before that attacked me and Lucy, huh?" Natsu growled. "Alright then, fine. They want a fight? They've found one!"

"Natsu, wait. It's not that simple," Happy replied quickly. "The Ministry people aren't bad guys!"

"They're not?" Natsu blinked. "Then why were they attacking us back there?"

"Because they think… we're the bad guys…" Lisanna grunted as she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, lowering her hand to clutch at her throbbing head.

"What!?" Natsu blinked. "Where the hell did they arrive at that idea!?"

"They did say something about Fairy Tail mages having caused a lot of damage…" Lucy rubbed her forehead. "Sounds very much like the reasons why our Magic Council aren't our biggest fans. Guess that holds true in this world too."

"Wait, who told you we were in a different world?" Lupin frowned.

"That doesn't matter now," Levy flung her arm out to the side. "The point is, we got off on the wrong foot with these guys and now they want to imprison us."

"We've found the people we were looking for," Snape noted, nodding to Natsu and Lucy. "We should leave now while we have the chance."

"We can't," Lisanna said through gritted teeth as she slowly tried to push herself to her feet. "We can't go until we've gotten the wolves and the Doscadon back to where they belong!"

"This is no time to get sentimental about a bunch of animals," Snape frowned at her.

"It's not sentiment!" Lisanna shook her head, almost falling over again.

"Lisanna, you need to rest," Lucy grabbed Lisanna's arm to steady her. Lisanna leant against her gratefully, she she turned to look at Lucy with a smile.

"I can't rest," she murmured. "Not until those animals are safe. Because they're not just animals. They are lives! Every one of them a living thing with its own path to follow. A path that they strayed from since they got lost in this world just like us. We're all in this together. They're from Earthland just like us, so we can't leave them behind. And I won't… I'll do something about the Doscadon."

"But Lisanna…" Lucy protested, before she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned around to look at Natsu, who had put it there.

"Let her do it," he said, his mouth curling into a smirk. "Lisanna's a Fairy Tail mage just like us, Lucy. We never give up no matter the odds thrown at us, no matter how much we get beaten down. And Lisanna won't either… right?" he offered a hand to Lisanna, who smiled and took it, allowing both Natsu and Lucy to help her back upright.

"Yeah… thank you. Both of you," she said.

"I may vomit," Snape muttered under his breath. And he was totally unprepared for when Levy smacked him upside the head.

"Don't ruin the moment!" she chided him.

"Did you… just…" Snape's eyes bulged, while Lupin laughed.

"They're not your students, Severus. Let it go. You and I will have to find a way to take care of the wolves. I'm sorry but we can't allow ourselves to be identified by the Ministry. Especially Severus here. If they see us working with you…"

"You don't have to explain. Just go quickly!" Levy nodded. "We'll stall the Ministry. And we'll do our best not to harm them… won't we Natsu?"

Natsu grimaced as Snape and Remus Disapparated. "I really hate holding back…"

"Not hurt them, huh?" Lucy grinned. "Alright then! I know just what to do."

"Happy… take me to the Doscadon!" Lisanna pushed herself away from Natsu and Lucy, swaying a little woozily but determined to see this through.

"Aye sir!" Happy cried, gripping Lisanna from behind and taking off straight upwards into the air.

"Alright then… Ministry bastards! Come and get us!" Natsu yelled as he, Lucy and Levy stood up next to one another as he blasted a spurt of fire out of his mouth that contorted in the air to take on the shape of a giant, flaming and rather rude hand gesture above them. And sure enough, a few moments later there were cracks from all around them as wizards and witches Apparated in all about them.

And right before them appeared a figure that Levy most certainly recognised. And evidently she was recognised too.

"Ah, Miss McGarden, isn't it?" Scrimgeour asked as he stepped forwards towards them. "And what might you be doing here? Come for the skiing, did you?"

Levy evaded the question and said, "You don't have to do this, Scrimgeour! Fairy Tail isn't the enemy of the Ministry. We're the good guys here, just like you are! Just because we got off on the wrong foot doesn't mean we can't sort this out without violence."

"For that to happen I'm afraid we'd have to take you into custody," Scrimgeour replied. "You haven't exactly given the best impressions of yourselves since you got here. Perhaps you are enemies, perhaps not. But you are still very dangerous, and I have just come from a town that was completely obliterated this morning. Work that one of you lot would very likely be capable of. Not a single person in that town survived."

"What!?" Levy and Lucy gasped at the same time.

Natsu growled. "If you bastards think anyone from Fairy Tail would do anything like that then you should all have your heads examined! There's no way we'd do that."

"And you can tell that to Minister Fudge when you're brought before him," Scrimgeour raised his wand, as did the others around him. "For now… we're taking you in."

The curses streamed forth from wands all at once, zipping in like a volley of arrows. Levy jumped forwards quickly and flung her arms out - the word GUARD appearing in mid-air in front of her and taking the brunt of the curses, but also pushing Levy backwards at the same time.

"Nnngh… remember… don't hurt them!" Levy shouted.

"Don't worry. I've got the perfect Spirit for this!" Lucy grinned as she hooked one gold key out of her pouch and raised it high into the air. "Open, Gate of the Ram! Aries!"

"I'm sorry!" wailed the pink-haired girl that appeared in a puff of fluff in front of her. "But I'll do my best! WOOL WALL!" Aries squealed as she spun about in a circle with arms outstretched. Pink wool sprouted out of thin air and expanded outwards rapidly, creating a huge wall of fluffy material that engulfed the first line of Ministry Aurors except for those that got out of the way in time, which included Scrimgeour. The Head of the Auror Office re-appeared several metres off to the right and whirled around to look at what had happened to his men.

"Aahh… it's so soft…"

"Really fluffy…"

"So relaxing…"

"What the heck!?" Scrimgeour cried, staring with wide-eyes at the Aurors floating in the woolly barrier, who all looked like they were enjoying a massage on a beach in Tahiti or something, eyes closed, faces glowing. "What the hell are you doing to me men?"

"I'm really sorry!" Aries cried, holding her hands before her face and cringing slightly at Scrimgeour's harsh yell. "But they were trying to hurt Lucy… I couldn't let them do that."

"Men! Snap out of it!" Scrimgeour yelled, waving his wand as a chunk of the wool disappeared into thin air and the Aurors that had been in it fell to the ground with loud yelps. But Aries quickly yelled, "WOOL BOMB!" and flung a ball of fluffy stuff that expanded outwards in an explosion of softness the engulfed the Aurors again, and threw another right at Scrimgeour himself. He dodged to the side and flung a Stunning Spell at Aries, only for Lucy's whip to arc in and block the attack.

"Great work, Aries! Keep it up!" Lucy grinned at her timid Spirit.

"Thanks, Lucy… I'm sorry," Aries smiled as she swept her arm out to generate another blob of wool at some more Aurors, who were forced to Disapparate aside. In the blink of an eye over half of Scrimgeour's fighting force had been subdued by the Spirit's attack - completely losing the will to fight amongst the bizarre projectile.

Scrimgeour grimaced and tried to rally the other half. "Press in, men! Bring them down!"

"Bring it on, chumps! I dare you!" Natsu roared as he whirled himself around and flung himself at thin air, taking out the two Aurors that Apparated into the space a split second before he collided with them, slamming them down into the ground.

"Natsu, don't hurt them too much!" Lucy insisted as her whip lashed out wide, catching several more Stunning Spells and those she missed being blocked by another of Levy's GUARD shields.

"Tch… kinda limits my options here!" Natsu growled as fire burst into life in his palms and he began to throw them like snowballs, his arms windmilling as he fired shot after shot to slam into the oncoming spells and negate them. He spat a few more blasts out of his mouth to the same effect.

The four of them whirled around each other, madly defending whatever they could, keeping their backs to Aries' wool wall to limit the directions the Aurors could come from. But the Aurors were getting into gear now and remembering their training, and a veritable storm of curses were coming in at the Fairy Tail mages even with half their members incapacitated. They had no idea what most of them even did but they were not prepared to find out.

"GAAHH! I hate this!" Natsu snarled as he ducked underneath a blasting hex that found its way through their defences, grabbed Levy and pulling her down to the ground so she wouldn't get hit too.

"Nngh… we've got to hold out," Levy encouraged him. "But there's so many… wait… I have an idea!" She shot back up to her feet and yelled, "SOLID SCRIPT… RUMBLE!"

As the word appeared in the air over their heads, Levy yelled, "COVER YOUR EARS!" Lucy and Aries were quick to obey the yell, but Natsu blinked and cried, "Huh? What f…"

BBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

"GAAHHHH!" Natsu yelled and he was not the only one. All the remaining Aurors had received the full impact of the noise blasting its way out of the letters, like a stereo that had been turned up beyond maximum that was playing the sound of constant nuclear explosions. Levy gave Natsu an apologetic look as he fell to his knees with his hands over his ears, but she couldn't help but grin as all the Aurors staggered about too, trying to recover their hearing.

She'd have to thank that dog guy from Grimoire Heart for giving her this idea. It had granted them a temporary reprieve.

* * *

The Doscadon was spinning about, less panicked than before but still struggling to see and still extremely angry. It was clearly searching for something to smash with its head and quickly found something - barrelling forwards and lowering its head to crash right another of the pillars holding the ski-lift up. Thankfully the Aurors had removed all of the Muggles from the lift by this point, so when the pillar was both snapped in half and uprooted from the ground like a weed at the same time, and the chairs of the lift went tumbling down to the ground, nobody was injured.

But the Doscadon was not satisfied and continued to stomp around, demanding more, roaring for another opponent to come out and face it.

"Happy… we need to get in close…" Lisanna gritted her teeth as the blue Exceed carried her overhead. "If my Take-Over… is going to work then we need… nngh…" she groaned and rubbed her eyes.

"Are you okay, Lisanna?" Happy asked quickly.

"I'm fine…" Lisanna muttered. Snape had only been able to guess at the amount of tranquilliser that had been entered into her system and therefore could only guess at the amount of antidote that would be needed to revitalise her. Using too much antidote could have been just as dangerous as too much tranquilliser, but it looked as though his guess at the amount needed was a little low - Lisanna was still quite groggy and tired.

But of course she couldn't let that stop her. No way in hell.

"We need to stop it before it does too much more damage! Take me in closer. Let me look it in the eye!"

"Aye sir!" Happy cried, zipping forwards until Lisanna was in front of the beast, which managed to spot her through its clouded vision and turned to look at her.

"Okay… concentrate… concentrate…" Lisanna muttered as she held her arms out and gazed into the Doscadon's vein-filled eye. "Just… calm down… we don't want to hurt you… we want you to go home…"

She exerted her power, focusing her Take-Over on the massive animal, trying to placate its ire and soothe its rage. She gritted her teeth, struggling to overcome the pounding in her head and keep her will extended over the Doscadon instead.

Slowly, the Doscadon's arms lowered and Lisanna wondered if she might be getting somewhere. But her head panged at her particularly sharply and she flinched, losing her focus. The Doscadon roared instantly and swung its head like a giant hammer, forcing Happy to fling himself backwards to carry Lisanna out of the way, the slipstream of the great blow sending them spinning before Happy was able to right himself again.

"Guh… Lisanna…" he started.

"I'm okay," Lisanna grunted, clutching her head as the Doscadon wheeled around to slam its shoulder into another of the pillars, fracturing it into three pieces and sending them all flying. "Thanks, Happy."

"Now what do we do?"

"I try again. There's no way that I'll do anything else! I…" Lisanna suddenly faltered when the Doscadon spun around and motored off down the mountainside, swinging its head from side to side and bellowing wildly. And… it was heading right towards the visitor centre!

"Oh no!" Lisanna's eyes widened, staring down at all the non-magical people pressed up against the windows, crowded together and locked inside thanks to the Ministry in an effort to protect them. But it was now stopping them from escaping and if that Doscadon reached the centre it would flatten it in a mere three steps of its giant feet! "Happy! Move quickly!"

"Do I get in front of it again?" Happy cried as he took off after the Doscadon, catching up with it quickly. But Lisanna gritted her teeth. Even if she was feeling completely healthy, there wouldn't be enough time to break through the creature's anger and take control of its soul.

…There was only one option.

It was an option that Lisanna had sworn never to do to an innocent animal, but the situation now demanded it. 'It's okay…' she thought to herself. 'I'll be able to free it later… but for now… I have to save those people!"

"Drop me on its back!"

"HUH!? But Lisanna…"

"Happy, do it! Hurry!"

Happy hesitated but only for a moment. The conviction in Lisanna's voice was enough to spur him on and with a cry of, "AYE SIR!" he flapped his way downwards and dropped Lisanna just above the Doscadon. Lisanna grabbed hold of its scales and clung on, placing her palms as flat against its skin as she could and gritting her teeth as she forced back her headache and summoned her magic.

"Sorry Doscadon! But this is for you too!" And magic circles appeared beneath her palms, flashing brightly as Lisanna's body glowed with power, and she bellowed with strain as she poured all the strength she could muster into her Take-Over. The pounding in her head tried to force her attention away, but she refused to let it, pouring her entire will into her magic reserves and bringing them welling up to the surface. The glow spread from the human to the Doscadon, encasing its whole body in light and pulling it to a halt, bellowing and shaking in confusion while Lisanna glowed so brightly that for a moment Happy had to shield his eyes.

And then the light died down and the screaming and roaring stopped. Happy looked again and gasped when he saw no sign of Lisanna. He rapidly flew around the Doscadon, searching for her but she was nowhere to be seen.

Or… was she?

Happy turned to look round at the Doscadon incredulously. "Lisanna… is that you?"

"…Yes…" the Doscadon's mouth suddenly spoke with Lisanna's voice. "Sorry… it took me a moment to push down the Doscadon's panic there… though I feel a lot better now. I guess the tranquilliser that was in me is nothing to a body like this."

"You used your Take-Over to possess its body!?" Happy gasped. "That's not like you at all, Lisanna…"

"I know its not, but I had little alternative. It's okay though. This magic is reversible - I'll be able to separate myself from him when the time comes. Still, I've never liked the idea of doing it this way. It feels way to invasive."

"I think you made the right call though," Happy assured her. "You did it, Lisanna! You saved all those people!"

"Yeah… I guess I did," Lisanna somehow managed to smile with the Doscadon's great toothy maw.

"Though I do hope you go back to normal soon. That form really doesn't suit you at all…" Happy covered his mouth with his paws. "It's far less pretty."

"You didn't have to say that, you know!"

* * *

After they'd left the Fairy Tail mages behind, Remus and Snape had remounted their brooms and soared over the slopes, keeping so low to the ground that their toes were almost brushing the snow, and veering around rocks and slopes as they zinged to and fro, occasionally crossing paths but never colliding.

And why were they doing this?

So that the wolves could chase them.

Remus swung himself low over the heads of a couple of the wolves. One of them leapt up at him, snapping at him as he passed and narrowly missing the twigs at the end of his broom, but as Remus swung away the wolves snarled and raced off after him, meeting up with three more that were already doing the same. Remus smiled slightly as he crossed paths with Snape, who had four wolves of his own on his tail.

"Keep it up!" Remus yelled as he past. "We've got to round them all up into one big group."

"Yes, I know the plan," Snape called back to him as the two wolf groups converged with each other and made a snap decision to chase after Lupin - who was deliberately flying slower than he could so they could keep up. They were fast, but a wolf's real strength lay in its endurance - they could just run and run for hours at a time, and Lupin was careful to let them think they had a chance at catching him, snapping at the back of his broom, gaining on him before pulling away again, while Snape swung over another group of wolves to draw them in and join the pack.

It took a little time but eventually all thirty of the wolves were gathered together, including the few that had previously been Stunned.

Or… almost all of them.

Remus slewed to a halt in front of the pack, which spread out slightly and stalked in closer to him. His eyes flicked back and forth across their number, searching for one wolf in particular… where was the alpha?

He wasn't there…

Snape went swooping low over the top of a slope meant for skiing over. And with a sudden eruption of snow, the Alpha Wolf appeared, bounding up that slope and leaping into the air, powerful muscles in his hind legs sending it arcing through the air right at Snape. The black-haired man yelled and veered wildly to one side, but the wolf still caught him with one shoulder and paw, batting him hard and driving him down into the snow, rolling several feet before he was able to dig his feet in and stop himself.

The wolf descended on him and Snape had no time to reach for his wand. Instead he brought up the broom, holding it in two hands like a crossbar as the wolf sprang on top of him, sinking its teeth deep into the wood and biting down so powerfully that it almost snapped the broom in half. "Gyyahh!" Snape cried out, shoving his arms up to try and push the wolf away, its claws tearing at his robes as he chomped down again, splintering the broom until it was a mere hairs breadth from cracking completely.

But Remus was already swooping over on his own broom. Another wolf jumped at him and he quickly felled it with a Stunning Jinx before levelling his wand at the alpha and crying, "DEPULSO!" at the top of his lungs. The wolf yelped as it was flung sideways as if smashed by a giant, invisible fist tumbling through the snow but quickly swinging itself back onto its feet, its yellow eyes locking on Lupin as he reached Snape and pulled him to his feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"None the worse for wear," Snape replied curtly. "But I rather think I've had enough of wolves for one day."

"Me too," Remus said. "But your broom's too damaged to fly. Quick, we'll have to share mine."

Before Snape could make some sarcastic comment though about sharing a broom with Lupin, the alpha stepped forwards, teeth still bared but no longer snarling. Remus hesitated, allowing his gaze to lock onto that of the wolf, the two of them staring at each other right in the eye. The other wolves were converging, circling around to try and cut off an escape route, but the alpha… didn't seem quite as aggressive than before. It was sniffing the air, swinging his head back and forth slowly as if trying to detect where a certain smell was coming from.

But what could it be smelling?

Remus eyes widened. Was it smelling him?

This was the first time that Remus had come so close to a wolf of any kind outside of his own skin. Other werewolves he'd met while untransformed did not count in that regard - this was a fully fledged wild animal. And this wolf… he could only really guess what was going through its mind right now but it seemed… puzzled? Curious?

"Remus… what are you doing?" Severus asked, but Remus motioned him to be quiet as he stepped forwards, away from his broom and continued to make eye contact with the wolf. He unconsciously raised himself taller, and suddenly bared his teeth. The alpha bared his in response and the hair on his back stood on end, tensing to spring. But he did not spring. He just stood there, glaring.

Remus didn't dare blink. Ever since the day he'd been bitten he had wanted rid of the curse of the werewolf. There were many times where he'd wished he couldn't remember what he'd done while transformed, but now he was trying to dredge it up. Trying to pull out all the emotions he felt while transformed, trying to remember the way he moved, the way he sounded as he snarled, all the while refusing to look away from the wolf's eyes. Remus snarled at it, the sound rupturing up from the deepest portion of his throat, his fingers curled like claws and raising himself onto his toes so he could stalk forwards.

And the alpha wolf slowly lowered its head, shrinking close to the ground until suddenly, it broke eye contact. It rolled onto its back, baring its neck to Remus submissively, and at the same time all the other wolves backed away slightly, their ears falling flat against their heads.

"Well…" Snape murmured. "Admittedly… this is unexpected…"

"Very much so," Remus replied, without looking away from the wolf at his feet. "But… if I'm not mistaken… I just became the new alpha…"

"Well I hope it was worth it, because you looked absolutely ridiculous just now," Snape said dryly.

* * *

The chaos across the mountain at least seemed to be receding somewhat…

…but the wolves, the Doscadon and the Ministry were not the only players involved.

Up close to the very top of the mountain and watching the madness below from afar were the two Death Eaters that Snape had encountered earlier that day - Crabbe and Goyle Senior. From where they were standing they couldn't really make out the details of what was going on, but they did know one thing.

Down that slope were a bunch of Aurors, several Fairy Tail members and a bunch of filthy Muggles.

And that was more than enough for them to decide to take action.

"You think the Dark Lord will reward us for this when he finds out what we did?" Mr. Goyle asked, grinning across at Mr. Crabbe.

"Oh, absolutely," Mr. Crabbe laughed, rubbing his fingers together in anticipation. "I can already see it now. Dunno what he'll give to us, but I reckon he'll name us his most valuable supporters when he hears how we took out so many of his enemies in one go."

"This will be something to tell the boys, won't it?" Goyle cackled as he squared up next to Crabbe on a large rocky outcropping by the mountaintop. "Shall we do it?"

"I think we shall," Crabbe grinned, and they raised their wands at the same time, pointing them at the mountainside and saying as one:-

"Bombarda Maximo!"

The sound of the twin explosions echoed down the mountain bringing a momentary halt to the fighting, as even those partially deafened by Levy's Solid Script heard the blasts since the Aurors had destroyed her Rumble word a couple of minutes ago. Eyes swung around to face the top of the mountain as more explosions rang out, and huge blasts of snow erupted up from the impacts, cascading like waterfalls down around the impact zone.

But the force of the explosions shook a great deal more snow loose, and as more fell down from above it displaced the snow even more. The snow began to slide, piling against itself as the loose snow began to roll down the mountain, picking up more snow as it went along and further weakening the snow's grip on the rocks.

And in no time flat it all seemed to come pouring down at once in a solid deluge.

"Oh gods…" Levy breathed, her eyes as round as plates. "It's an avalanche!"


	25. The Salamander

**Okay folks. Please listen up!** As I expected, I did get a couple of people who complained about my choice of a NaLi pairing to this story. And I will reiterate that you please not do that. You were warned right at the start that it would be have a NaLi element to it and if you're going to complain about that then you shouldn't really have started reading the story. Additionally, my choice in pairing has been set. The Natsu and Lisanna interactions are not just something that I've decided to put in because I like the pairing, but they are actually quite integral to the overall plot. My mind is set.

Therefore, complaining about my decision will serve no purpose whatsoever but to upset me. So please, just don't do it. And while Lucy may not be paired with Natsu in this story, I have not left her unpaired and as I hope you can tell from this story, her own interactions with Natsu are still pretty much the same as usual too. Additionally, I'm not just gonna turn Natsu into some romantic guy when he's just… not. He's gonna be the same character as always, but the events of this story will steer things in a slightly different direction than the manga is taking it.

So please be respectful, and even if you are a NaLu fan I hope you can sit back and enjoy this story for what it is even if you'd prefer a different pairing. After all, that is what all NaLi, NaZa, GrayLu etc etc fans have to do when reading the official material.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 25:- The Salamander**

* * *

For several moments, nothing on the mountain moved. Or at least nothing living - the gigantic wall of snow thundering down the mountain at speed, growing in height and width as more and more snow was scooped up to join the cascade. Normally on a mountain like this, avalanches were extremely unlikely, but the explosions had rocked the snow at the top enough to get one going, and it poured down the mountain like a solid tidal wave, seeking to engulf everything in its path.

Everything stared, like a multitude of deer caught in the headlights of an approaching car, unable to process what they were seeing. And then, quite suddenly, everything became a clamour all at once. The Muggles trapped in the visitor centre started screaming and fighting, battling each other to hammer on the windows and try to break out and escape the avalanche's path. The Aurors similarly panicked, scrambling over themselves to get towards their comrades who were still trapped in the fluffy pink wool engulfing their bodies.

Scrimgeour was among them, as he yelled, "Break them out! Break them out at all costs! Hurry!" levelling his wand in preparation of Vanish the wool in the air, but before any one of them could cast a single spell all the fluff vanished as if sucked straight down an invisible plug, dropping the Aurors to their ground, yelling as the impact snapped them out of their numbed, over-relaxed state. Scrimgeour blinked and turned to glance at Aries, who had a hand outstretched and an unusually serious look on her face.

'She let them go…' Scrimgeour thought to himself. 'Even though we were fighting moment's earlier!'

"Everyone get out of here!" Lucy yelled at the Aurors.

"Escape while you can!" agreed Levy. "That thing will engulf anyone and everyone still on the slope when it gets here."

"No… it won't," Natsu stepped forwards, tossing his scarf over one shoulder and slamming a fist into his palm, his eyes glowing fiercely as he glared at the incoming snowstorm. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Are you crazy?" Scrimgeour gaped at him. "What can you hope to do against something like that?"

"Whatever I have to do!" Natsu grinned dangerously. "I'm fired up!"

And without another word he suddenly charged off up the slope, bolting through the snow and roaring into the wind, his voice somehow carrying even over the rumbling sound from above. "HAPPY! LET'S FLY!"

"AYE!" Happy responded as he whooshed over the slope at Max Speed, jetting over the heads of the stunned Aurors and scooping up Natsu from behind and blazing up the slope, quite literally as Natsu's legs burst into flames and trailed twin streaks of fire behind him like rocket boosters to throw them up even faster. For a moment everything froze again, the Aurors watching in disbelief as the Dragon Slayer and the Exceed rushed in towards the onrushing avalanche.

"Is he mad!?" one of the Aurors, Proudfoot, gasped.

"Possibly," Lucy murmured, with a slight smirk. "But he's not just mad. He's the Salamander."

"Go on, Natsu!" Levy cheered at the same time.

"Happy, drop me now!" Natsu roared as the avalanche closed in on them, the roar of the snow ringing in his ears as it burst down with intent, bellowing like a beast intent on swallowing them all whole.

"Do it, Natsu! Show 'em what you got!" Happy cried as he swung around and released Natsu, sending him arcing down towards a rocky outcropping just in the path of the snow.

"Aye sir!" Natsu grinned, spreading his arms wide as he plummeted earthwards, fire igniting over his fists. "With a flaming right hand and a flaming left hands… when you combine the flames together…" he slammed his fists against each other, merging the flames and raising his arms over his head, a colossal fireball growing between his palms. "KARYUU NO… KKOOOOOEEENNNN!"

He slammed into the rock like a freight train feet-first, and brought his fists slamming down before him a split second later, smashing the fireball into it where it erupted into a gigantic column of flame that engulfed his body and blasted high into the air, the flames licking and twisting like some kind of flaming tornado. But moments later and the tornado shrank downwards a little and blasted out to either side. The mountain seemed to shake as flame fountained out of the ground from Natsu's body outwards, flowing out both left and right to create… a giant wall of fire.

Natsu was creating a barrier with his flames, spreading them out from one side of the mountain to the other as he poured everything he had into the magic to raise the barrier as high, as thick and as wide as he could. And a mere moment later the avalanche crashed against it, and Natsu let loose a terrific roar in defiance, a roar that carried over the rush of the snow to allow every ear on the mountain to hear him!

"NNNNNNYYYYYYYYRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The snow impacting the flaming wall was instantly turned to water, melted under the heat of the broiling flames, but at the same time the water also instantly doused at the flames, becoming an almost literal wave on impact and trying to put out the barrier. Natsu snarled and gritted his teeth, reinforcing the barrier, the flames growing hotter… hotter… HOTTER! Until eventually the snow stopped turning to water and was converted into steam. The avalanche pounded down seeking to bury Natsu in its own body with wave upon wave of snow, but was vaporised just before it reached him.

Aurors gaped. Muggles gaped. Remus and Snape gaped. The wolves would have gaped if they had the capacity too. The flaming wall blazed like something from the depths of hell and Scrimgeour felt himself losing his voice slightly as he stared in utter disbelief.

"Im… possible…" he breathed.

"Not impossible," Lucy shook her head. "That's just what you'd expect from Natsu the Salamander!" But then she gasped when she noticed the steam rising from the clashing of fire and snow was billowing out around Natsu, obscuring him from view. She quickly stepped forwards, cupping her hands around her mouth and yelling, "Natsu! Are you alright!?"

"YOU SEE THIS, GRAY!" Natsu's voice bellowed out of the steam. "FIRE IS TOTALLY MORE BADASS THAN ICE! OR SNOW! WHATEVER, IT'S JUST BETTER DAMN IT!"

Lucy and Levy both covered their faces with their hands. "Yeah… he's fine…" Lucy said, utterly deadpan.

"Seems that way…" Levy agreed.

"Just how strong… are these Fairy Tail mages…" Scrimgeour wondered to himself.

* * *

It was a question that Snape was wondering himself, staring up at the wall of flame vaporising an entire avalanche up above them. It took a lot to shock the Potions Professor, but this time he was so amazed by what he was seeing that he momentarily forgot that he was surrounded by a pack of wolves. Not that it mattered much, as the wolves seemed to have forgotten he was there too as they watched what was going on themselves.

"Severus!" Lupin's voice snapped him out of his daze. "We should take this opportunity to get these wolves out of here and back to Tenroujima!"

"And how are we going to do that?" Snape asked, fighting not to look back up at the action up the slope. "You expect to transport every one of them by Side-Along Apparition?"

"No, but we will not need to. On the beach on Tenroujima there's a large cage - a Portkey cage from the Ministry that we used to transport the Clippers back to the island. If we alter the Portkey destination to here, we can use it transport these wolves."

"Then that it something that you have to take care of," Snape replied, glancing back further up the mountain, past the burning Dragon Slayer's barrier and up towards the peak. "I want to investigate something else… namely, whatever it was that caused those explosions that started that avalanche. Though I have a feeling I already know the answer. Besides, I have not been to that island so I cannot Apparate there to get it anyway."

He Apparated away in a whirl of his cloak, leaving Remus standing in the snow surrounded by the pack. Remus grimaced and bit his lip, looking around at the wolves, as they looked to him in turn. They were waiting for instructions that he did not know how to give. He'd somehow managed to replace the Alpha, but he had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to direct his new charges. Would they scatter and go back to panicking if he left for a minute or two to prime the Portkey.

Suddenly though the former Alpha's eyes glazed over slightly and Remus registered heavy footfalls shaking the ground behind him. He turned to face the mighty Doscadon, plodding its way over towards them in its extremely ungainly walk.

"I'll take care of your new pack, Remus," Lisanna said through the Doscadon's mouth. "You go do whatever you have to do to make that Portkey work."

"Thank you, Lisanna," Remus nodded with a smile before with a crack he vanished as well.

* * *

Crabbe and Goyle Senior could only gape in sheer horror as the snow of their gigantic avalanche began to peter out, the last vestiges of their self-acclaimed brilliant plan turning to vapours before their very eyes.

"That… that boy… who the hell is he?" Goyle croaked. "It's… it's like Fiendfyre or something but… but not…"

"He's stopped our avalanche like it was nothing," Crabbe breathed. "This isn't how it was supposed to go! We were supposed to bury them all, damn it! Not none of them at all!"

"What do we do? Do we report this to the Dark Lord?"

Crabbe grimaced. "The Dark Lord doesn't like failure," he grunted… before a whirring sound registered in his ears. He looked up to see a second helicopter whirring its way overhead, arcing as low as it dared over the avalanche remains and the wall of fire like a giant bird of prey hovering curiously to get a closer look. It had the letter 'BBC' scrawled across the side, though that meant nothing to either of the Death Eaters.

A savage smirk suddenly spread across Crabbe's face! "So let's tell him we were at least able to kill one or two Muggles before we make our report," he snickered.

* * *

"Please tell me you're getting this," the newswoman gasped, her short brown hair whipping about her in the whir of the rotor blades, her voice reaching the ears of the cameraman over the sound through the headphones he was wearing as he leaned out the side of the chopper, his camera mounted on his shoulder to film the action going on below.

"I'm getting it, I'm getting it! This is incredible stuff!" the cameraman gasped, the flames licking across his field of vision as he kept his face pressed to the eyepiece of the camera.

"And we're live? We're broadcasting?"

"Yeah… we're live! I can't believe it! A real life superhero! Can you imagine how much the word will go nuts when this footage…" he was interrupted as a jet of red light flashed upwards and crashed into the back of the plane, a terrific sound of rending metal filling the air as the tail was torn loose. The cameraman almost fell out of the chopper as the aerial machine span about wildly, its tail end flaming and sending up a plume of smoke. The news crew screamed as they clung on for dear life, the pilot yelling as he fought for control that wouldn't come. Another two jets of light struck the helicopter in the side and sent it tumbling over in the air, its rotor blades still blurring as it flipped upside down and spiralled towards the ground.

"What the…!" Natsu whirled around at the sound of the explosion, losing a little of his concentration and momentarily allowing his flame wall to peter out and allow the last of the snow to push through it to try and overwhelm him, shoving him back down the snow several feet before he reinforced the wall, the helicopter plummeting to the ground behind him.

"Oh no!" Lucy cried, before pelting forwards herself yelling, "Aries! Hurry! We have to save them!"

"Right! I'm coming… and I'm sorry!" Aries yelped as she sprang off after her owner, her fluffy boots crunching against the snow as she brought her arms swinging up from her sides and cried, "WOOL CUSHION!"

An enormous spiral of pink wool erupted up out of the ground as if shooting out of a geyser, spreading out in all directions in a single massive sphere, until it resembled a record-breaking ball of cotton candy. The helicopter arced its way down towards the giant cloud of material, ploughing straight into it like a runaway lawnmower. Its rotor blades kept whirling, slicing through the wool and striking the ground beneath it to throw up sparks against the rock, but its fall was broken and the wool acted like a giant airbag, raising it up off the ground even as the blades continued to whirl.

But not for long, as Lucy flung forth her energy whip at those blades, which immediately snagged the whip and yanked round and round, the crackling River of Stars coiling extending to let them as it coiled its way around them, tangling them up. Lucy wrenched back hard on the whip's handle gritting her teet as she dug her feet into the snow.

Eventually the blades became so entangled that they couldn't spin anymore, coils of whip blocking its progress as they ground to a sudden halt. Lucy grinned and struggled to maintain her grip, as she looked over her shoulder and yelled at the stunned Aurors.

"Don't just stand there! Get them out quick!"

Her yell was enough to jolt several of the Ministry wizards into action and they ran forwards, momentarily forgetting their orders to arrest all Fairy Tail wizards as they Apparated up into the helicopter to grab the Muggles and pull them out while Lucy and Aries maintained their hold over the chopper.

Scrimgeour though was not one of the Aurors that acted. He was too busy staring.

"You saved them," he murmured. "You saved the lives of those innocent Muggles. And that fire boy… he saved the lives of everyone on the mountain."

"Of course," Levy glanced over her shoulder at him, flashing him a quick smile. "That's just the kind of thing that a Fairy Tail mage does."

* * *

"God damnit!" Goyle cried. "They rescued those Muggles too!"

Crabbe gritted his fist, searching around for something else to try and destroy, but it was at that moment that down below the wall of fire slowly fizzled out, the avalanche having vanished as if it had never existed. Natsu stood alone on the outcropping, panting from breath and falling to one knee. Stopping that thing had exerted a lot of the Dragon Slayer's magic, taking quite a toll on his body. The snow all around him had completely melted, carving a wide line right across the mountainside where his attack had ruined the ski-slope.

But despite the fact the Salamander was tired out, he was by no means down. Even as Crabbe aimed his wand at the Fairy Tail mage, planning to take him out while he had the chance, he pushed himself back up onto his feet already, his eyes scouring the mountainside and his nose twitching, searching for the ones that had caused the explosions. His eyes locked on the spot where Crabbe and Goyle were standing and without warning he charged up the mountain, right at them!

"Gah!" Crabbe cried. "Avada Kedavra!"

The green curse exploded out of the tip of his wand and down, but Natsu saw it coming and kicked off the ground hard enough to flip the side, the light impacting on a rock behind him as Natsu kept running upwards.

"Ah, let's just get out of here!" Goyle suggested.

"Yeah… okay!" Crabbe agreed, and they both whirled on the spot with intent to Disapparate but in the split second before they disappeared, Snape Apparated into existence a short way away and saw them spinning about in preparation to disappear.

Thinking in a flash, Snape whipped out his wand and pointed it at Goyle, muttering a spell under his breath. There was no jet of light, no visible energy but Snape felt the spell take effect right before Goyle disappeared into thin air. He wrinkled his nose. He'd been hoping to find some way of capturing the two of them without them realising it was him. After all their capture could have been a great leap into finally getting the Ministry to believe that Voldemort really was back, but Snape's connection to Voldemort as a spy was too valuable a role to give up and if they'd known it was him that apprehended them it would not have been long before the Dark Lord found out about it, probably from Lucius Malfoy.

In the end though, he hadn't had the chance, and moments later Natsu bounded onto the plateau that they had been standing on, looking around for the culprits and seeing only Snape.

"What!? It was you?" the Salamander blanched, staring at him in confusion. "What the hell's wrong with you? First you revive Lisanna and then you try and kill us all?"

"Wrong, idiot," Snape rolled his eyes. "You're a Dragon Slayer are you not? You have a good sense of smell if you are like the other two. Smell the air. There were another two people here until a few moments ago. They are the culprits."

Natsu immediately dropped onto all fours, scuttling forward slightly with his nose to the ground, sniffing the rock like a dog. Snape just stared, nonplussed at his strange behaviour, but Natsu quickly sat up and said, "Ooh, I smell them yeah. Where are they now?! I'll pound their faces in!"

"They Disapparated. They are long gone. We missed the chance to bring them to justice."

"Nnghhh…" Natsu grunted in disappointment. "Bastards! I'll be sure to remember what you smell like so next time I smell you I'll be sure to pound you into the ground!"

"How poetic," Snape drawled. "In any case, I was able to do something useful in regards to them before they left."

"Huh? What's that?"

"I was able to hit one of them with a Confundus Charm before they disappeared. It was about the only thing I had time to do. I could have tried to Stun him, but the jet of light generated by a Stunning Spell and most out enchantments would never have reached him before he disappeared. Whereas a Confundus Charm has no jet of light. It just takes effect instantly."

"…I don't get it."

"Of course you don't. You're new to this world and know nothing about it. The point is… a Confundus Charm is a spell that confuses the target, often into thinking he did something that he didn't actually do. Such as… this… MORSMORDRE!"

Aiming his wand up into the sky, a greenish jet of light flew from the tip of his wand several hundred feet into the air before exploding outwards into a greenish, eerie globe, that almost looked as though it was made out of poison gas. Natsu watched with wide eyes as the globe rapidly reformed itself, taking on a far more distinct shape… a human skull floating in the air, its eye sockets glaring blankly down across the entire mountain range, and protruding from its open jaws was an enormous green serpent, writhing like a living thing as it coiled around the skull, its fangs bearing. The gaseous forms loomed overhead like a hovering bird of prey, waiting to drop down on anyone that moved.

"OOOHHH! SO COOL!" Natsu exulted. "Hey watch! I can do that too with my fire!"

"Don't do that!" Snape snapped even as Natsu reared his head back. "We're trying to make the Ministry below think it was the enemy that did that, not us!"

"We are…? Why?"

"You will find out in due course I'm sure. For now we need to get out of here so for now, keep your mouth shut. If you think you are capable of that."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY! YOU WANNA GO!?"

"…Evidently you can't. Look, when you go down the mountain, here's what you need to say!"

* * *

The Muggles had all been safely retrieved from the helicopter, and as the Aurors checked them over for any damage, Scrimgeour found himself standing next to Levy as if the two of them had not been fighting ten minutes ago. Well… almost.

"Those were some pretty selfless acts," the Head of the Auror Office noted as he looked down at the bluenette he'd once imprisoned in the Ministry headquarters. "Your friend throwing himself into the path of that avalanche like that. What if he hadn't had the power to stop it? And you others saving these Muggles…"

"Like I said, if we can help someone then we help them," Levy replied. "We always put everything we have on the line to keep those around us safe. We really are not the bad guys here, Scrimgeour-san. We may not be of this world, but we want to be friends to its people. Hunting us like you have been so far really serves no purpose."

Scrimgeour wrinkled his nose, his feelings on the matter conflicted. "…Perhaps you may be right. But how do you explain the city down south? All those people… massacred where they stood, their homes levelled, their lives taken. How can I believe that it was not a Fairy Tail mage responsible for that carnage?"

"I guess you really can't believe until you find the real culprit," Levy shrugged. "But again, as I told you, no Fairy Tail mage would do a thing like that. At least not while in his or her right mind, and last time I checked we were all pretty sane. Well… sane-ish… for some of us."

"What do you…?"

"Sir…!" cried another one of the Aurors. "Look! Up there!"

Scrimgeour's attention rapidly switched up the mountain and he gasped at the sight of the misty shape writhing about in mid-air. Levy took a couple of steps back too, her stomach dropping at the sickening visage. "What… what is that?"

"The Dark Mark…" Scrimgeour breathed. "The sign of the Death Eaters…"

"Huh?" Levy's eyes widened.

"Hey! Guys!" Natsu's voice rang out as he dashed down the mountain back towards them. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, I think we're fine… but… WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?" Lucy pointed up at the mark.

"Uhhh… I dunno…" Natsu rubbed the back of his head. "There were two weirdoes up there in black cloaks when I went up. One of them… fired that thing from his… stick… before they both vanished. Bastards, refusing to fight me head-on!"

"Two men in black cloaks…" Scrimgeour frowned. Black cloaks were something that could be applied to most wizards, so that didn't narrow down the potential suspects very much but… based on the Dark Mark's appearance… could they really be…?

"Anyway, we've gotta go," Natsu pointed down the hill, grinning broadly. "Our friends will be waiting for us!"

Lucy nodded before turning to her Spirit, who was still standing next to her and slowly dissipating the woolly cushion so that the helicopter, which had since been shut down, lowered gently to the ground. "Thanks, Aries. You were amazing."

"I'm sorry if it was too fluffy. I'll try and do better next time," Aries murmured as she disappeared in a puff of light.

"That girl just can't take a compliment," Lucy sighed fondly.

"Wait!" Scrimgeour turned around to face them suddenly. "You're not going anywhere. You need to come back to the Ministry! Several of your friends still destroyed much of our headquarters and you need to answer for that. And until we know what happened here…"

Suddenly the front of his robe was grabbed and he found himself looking right into Natsu's fierce eyes, his ears registering both Levy and Lucy squeaking in shock at Natsu's abrupt action.

"Oi… now listen you…" the Dragon Slayer growled into Scrimgeour's face. "I dunno what's been going on since we got into this universe but I'll tell you one thing right here and now. If you wanna make Fairy Tail your enemy… if you wanna hunt us down… then you better be ready to face the firestorm cos we will not hold back forever. If you push us, we will retaliate. With everything we have! Or… you can leave us be. You can join Fairy Tail's long list of friends, and if you're on that list we'll do anything to help you. We'll give up our lives for you. You're either with us, or your against us! Think about which one you wanna be!"

With that, Natsu released Scrimgeour's cloak and turned to march away down the slope, walking between Levy and Lucy as he did so. Lucy turned to offer the stunned Aurors an embarrassed smile. "S…sorry about him. He just… gets a bit passionate about the guild sometimes… um… bye…" and she hurried off after him, leaving only Levy behind.

"He's right though, Scrimgeour-san," the bluenette said earnestly. "We don't want to be your enemies… but if you force our hand we will need to look after our own. Please… don't make us do that."

And she turned to hurry off as well, leaving the Aurors standing around and watching the hurry down the slope in the direction of the giant Doscadon at the bottom, a winged blue cat swooping down from overhead to join them as they did so.

"Should we pursue them, sir?" Proudfoot asked.

"…No."

"Really? But sir, the Minister…"

"All the Minister needs to know for now is that they got away," Scrimgeour replied sharply. "We have other things to worry about. Namely wiping the memories of all these Muggles. And… getting rid of that…" he glanced up at the Dark Mark gravely. "Not to mention whatever consequences its appearance here will bring."

"Um… sir… we may have one more problem." One of the Aurors standing by the helicopter swallowed, his face a little white.

"What's that?" Scrimgeour frowned. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Sir…?" the Auror held up a large, battered camera. "Have you ever heard of… live TV? My parents are Muggles sir and… well… they have these things called televisions that… you know… functions like a radio but with pictures? And… with the right equipment you can send images into the homes of hundreds and hundreds of Muggles at once. And I think this… would do the job."

"What are you saying?" Scrimgeour asked slowly. Though he had a dreadful feeling he already knew the answer.

"I'm saying… that I think that possibly thousands of Muggles just saw the Salamander guy stop that avalanche. Just saw him… use magic."

* * *

It was not too much trouble to return the animals to Tenroujima. Once Remus brought the cage in he was somehow able to direct the wolves into it, though he had to enter it himself and ride with them as they were transported. The Doscadon however was far too large to fit into the cage even without the wolves in it, so Lisanna had to force its body to bend over awkwardly and grip the bars of the cage with its stubby hands from the outside, while all the others did the same.

One jerking, rocking ride later and it was all over - they were on the beach, with several Clippers soaring overhead. And while Natsu instantly ran off to be violently sick behind a rock, Remus gratefully opened the cage door and allowed the wolves to pour out, back safely in their home.

"Go on… shoo…" he pushed the head of the former Alpha and gestured off into the distance. "Go run wild, like you should do."

It took a minute or two to finally get the message but eventually they dispersed, separating off into their smaller packs and running away across the sand and up into the trees.

"It's a shame you can't keep them around," Levy murmured as they watched them go.

"I'm afraid they'd be rather inconvenient houseguests," Remus chuckled. "While I'm sure Sirius wouldn't object to a pack of thirty wolves running around Grimmauld Place and destroying everything, I don't think the rest of the Order would. And keeping them in line would probably be a constant job. No, they're best left here."

"Probably," Levy nodded. "But I have a feeling that they may remember their alpha if you ever meet again."

"…You know… I rather hope so," Remus smiled. "Never before have I been grateful for being a werewolf. And while we certainly made jokes about it in school, I've felt little but revulsion towards wolves in general for most of my life. But you know… they're rather amazing creatures, aren't they?"

"No matter what world they're in," Levy agreed. A plodding noise then drew their attention behind them as they saw Lisanna walking off down the beach, putting some distance between herself and the others before the Doscadon's body started glowing. The light converged into a spot in its back and suddenly Lisanna's popped back into existence as if jumping straight out of the Doscadon's shoulders. Her arms morphed into wings and she winged her way back down to the others as the great dinosaur creature lumbered away, looking no worse for wear.

"Looking no worse for wear then, Lisanna," Lucy smiled as she landed beside them. "Thank goodness."

"Yeah, I do feel a lot better," Lisanna nodded, dispersing her wings. "And I guess owe you for that, Professor Snape. Thank you."

Snape grunted slightly but didn't respond with words, giving off the distinct air that he didn't really care. Lisanna giggled slightly before adding, "Well… all's well that ends well I guess."

"You were great, Lisanna!" Happy exulted. "You stopped that Doscadon in its tracks! Does this mean that you'll be able to turn into one whenever you want now?"

Lisanna nodded. "Yes, it does. Though to be honest, I'm not happy about that. I used my Take-Over to forcibly merge my soul and his together as one, and therefore conjoin my body with his as well. Human and animal souls mixing… that is the very essence of my magic. And now that I have done it, I can alter my soul to change like that again at any time. But it kinda feels… wrong to me. I mean I invaded his body. And while I know that if I turn into a Doscadon now, my soul would only be copying his… it feels like I took a piece of him with me. Even though I really didn't… wow, am I being silly?"

"Not at all," Lucy took her hands and smiled lightly at her. "I guess if you think about it, it's kinda like the bond I have with my Celestial Spirits. If you think about it in a totally literal sense, I'm the Spirit's Master. If I wanted to I could force them to do anything I wanted, even if they didn't want to. But I don't want to be their Master. I want to be their friend. I call on them and they help me when I need them but not because of some contract. Because we're friends. And I think its the same principle with you and your Animal Soul forms. The animals you've copied are your friends, and that friendship allows them to help you out too, whenever you need them. And that includes that Doscadon. After all, by stopping its rampage you may have saved its life."

Lisanna blinked several times, before a wave of relief seemed to wash through her all at once and she smiled. "Thank you Lucy. You're right of course, but I really needed to hear that. I'm grateful."

"What are friends for?" Lucy beamed.

"If we could get away from all this sentimentality for a moment," Snape cleared his throat. "I need to get back to Hogwarts. I have a feeling that Dumbledore is going to want to hear this."

"Quite right. And the rest of us should return to Grimmauld Place," Remus nodded. "We can explain everything to you two newcomers there. Fill in the blanks so to speak."

"As long as we don't have to take the cage again…" Natsu croaked, wobbling back over towards them with a hand still over his mouth. "That had to be the worst kind of transportation ever."

* * *

It was quite fortunate Natsu had managed to throw up the contents of his stomach on the beach at Tenroujima because if he hadn't then he almost certainly would have after he was Apparated onto the front step of Grimmauld Place. As it was he twisted so violently that he hammered the door down and fell onto his back, eyes unfocused and heaving for breath as he tried to get his strength back.

"Well, well… look who it is."

"Huh?" Natsu opened his eyes blearily to see Gray standing over him, smirking down at him. "…Gray?"

"Wondered when you were going to get here, Flame-brain," Gray snorted. "Slow on the uptake as usual, aren't you?"

"NGH! WHAT WAS THAT!? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S SLOW! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WAS STOPPING AN AVALANCHE EARLIER!?" Natsu immediately surged onto his feet and slammed his forehead into Gray's yelling straight into his face.

"IDIOT! I WAS AT THE OTHER END OF THE COUNTRY COS WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE LAYING LOW!" Gray immediately yelled back, shoving forwards.

"NOT LIKE I NEEDED YOU ANYWAY! I PROVED ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT FIRE IS BETTER THAN ICE!"

"IN YOUR DREAMS! I COULD PUT OUT YOUR FIRE LIKE BLOWING OUT A MATCHSTICK!"

"YOU WANNA GO!? I'LL MELT YOUR ASS LIKE I MELTED THAT AVALANCHE!"

"JUST TRY IT!"

Both of them automatically reared back, Natsu's fist bursting into flame as Gray slammed his hands together to drop the temperature around him. But before they could do anything Gray was immediately slammed in the head from behind with enough force to batter him into the floor and splinter the floorboards slightly.

"That's enough," Gildarts glowered down at the dazed Ice Make Mage. "In case you'd forgotten, Gray, we're guests in this house. This isn't our own guildhall to wreck whenever we want."

"KA KA KA KA!" Natsu pointed down at Gray mockingly. "You got flattened! Looks like Gildarts is on my sGUH!" he was promptly cut off when Gildarts stepped over Gray and clonked Natsu on the head as well, sending him crashing down too. By the door behind the Dragon Slayer, Lucy and Lisanna were both running a hand over their faces while Happy just shrugged.

"It figures," Lucy sighed. "Even after we're all stranded in a different world those two are fighting the moment they see each other."

"Such are Natsu and Gray," Happy chuckled as Juvia hurried over to help Gray off the floor.

"This… happens a lot then?" Remus asked Levy.

"Oh yeah… all the time…" Levy giggled self-consciously.

Eventually Natsu and Gray were able to stand upright again without their heads spinning and everyone was quick to file into the dining room. Mrs. Weasley was standing at the hob and running to and fro trying to prepare a massive meal, assisted by both Charlie and Bill while several other Fairy Tail and Order members were sat around the table. That number included Wendy and Evergreen, who had come over from the Hog's Head as soon as Wendy had finished healing the Fairy Mage of the injuries she'd sustained that morning to await news of what had been going on in the Cairngorms.

It had been a fairly maddening experience just sitting and waiting, especially when they were all mulling over the terrible destruction of the town many of them had seen that morning. But when Evergreen had appeared, those that hadn't known she was back yet had perked up slightly. And as Natsu and Lucy walked in the door, the mood rose even higher.

"Natsu-san! Lucy-san!" Wendy was immediately out of her chair and ran over to throw her arms around Natsu's waist, hugging him tightly. "I knew it! I knew you'd be okay!"

Natsu grinned. "Glad to see you, Wendy," he said, rubbing the top of her head, before he looked up across the room. "Where's Charla?"

"She and Lily are both on a spy job," Wendy replied. "Happy was on it too. That's where they found out about the Fairy Sphere they found in those mountains."

"Aye. I was like a ninja, Natsu!" Happy grinned.

"A ninja!?" Natsu gaped. "Say what?"

"Yeah. And when we're done here I'll get back to the school to do more ninja sneaking. Jealous, Natsu?"

"Mmmgh! Can I come with?"

"Yeah right," Gajeel snorted. "You sneaking around the school? You couldn't sneak your way through anywhere even if you could turn invisible."

"LIKE YOU'RE ANY BETTER!"

"I'M BETTER AT EVERYTHING THAN YOU, PUNK!"

"WANNA FIGHT!?"

"What did I just say?" Gildarts gripped the back of Natsu's scarf slightly. The Dragon Slayer swallowed and quickly decided he'd like to avoid getting hammered in the head again.

"Erm… right… well… hello," Lucy waved cheerfully at everyone else in the room. "I'm Lucy. And this is Natsu."

"Yes, we worked that one out for ourselves," Moody growled as he stumped around the table towards them. "Having heard quite a lot about you Fairy Tail members it was pretty easy to guess. And might I ask what the chances are of having this entire house collapse on us now that you're staying here?"

"Eh…" Lucy shivered slightly as Moody's magical eye rotated between Natsu and Lucy rapidly while his regular one remained fixed on the Dragon Slayer. "Well… um…" Gods that was creepy.

"Oh, stop it Mad-Eye. You'll make them feel like they're not welcome," Sirius snorted as he clambered to his feet. "Hi, my name's Sirius Black and this is… unfortunately… my house. I would appreciate it if you could not blow it up until after the Order of the Phoenix no longer has need of it. After that, you can send it to the freaking moon for all I care."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that," Natsu grinned. "Last time I threw something at the moon it didn't reach it."

"Is it something you do often?" Sirius raised a brow.

"So, hold on," Charlie Weasley turned around from where he was helping roast some potatoes. "If you're Natsu, then that must mean your the Salamander, right? The one that was raised by a fire dragon?"

"Yep, that's me," Natsu replied, his head promptly bursting into flames right then, which was more than enough to make several Order members take a step back. Dedalus Diggle fell off his chair. "And the dragon's name was Igneel."

"So I've heard," Charlie breathed in fascination. "Then that means that we have all three of you Fairy Tail Dragon Slayers here now? That's great! Natsu, you have to tell me everything about Igneel! I'd love to hear anything you can remember about him. What did he feed you when you were a kid. What kind of things did he do to teach you Dragon Slayer magic? Did he ever let you ride on his back? How did…"

"Alright, alright, Charlie, let them breathe," Tonks said as she walked forwards - she'd got in as quickly as she could after being called in on her day off to help deal with the destruction of the town down south. "And if you're Lucy… wait don't tell me… you're the one that can summon Spirits from another world based on the twelve signs of the Zodiac, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I only have ten of the keys so I can't summon two of them, but yeah," Lucy nodded brightly.

"That's really cool. You know, my birthday is on June 24th and that means I was born under the Cancer constellation. I don't really believe in astrology and stuff, but since I heard that I was curious if I could meet Cancer."

"Oh, sure, of course," Lucy smiled as she took the key of her belt and rapidly summoned the Spirit. With a flash of light the shades-wearing hair stylist Spirit appeared in the room before them, snipping the scissors held clamped between his hands and flexing the six legs sprouting out of his back as he turned to face Lucy.

"Lucy…" he said, in his rather husky voice. "It's been seven years for you since you had a haircut - ebi. How would you like your hair to be fashioned today - ebi?"

"Ah, I'm okay with my current look," Lucy replied quickly. "I just called you out to meet someone who was interested. This is… um… sorry I didn't get your name."

"Just call me Tonks," Tonks blinked as she stared at Cancer. "You are… not what I expected."

"Most Spirits rarely are," Lucy murmured.

"Humbled to make your acquaintance - ebi," Cancer dipped his head respectfully as he raised his scissors up. "Would you like me to fashion your own hair today - ebi? I can shorten, lengthen, change its colour, anything you desire - ebi."

"Oh no that's alright. I actually don't need a hair stylist - I can change my hair any way I want all on my own, see?" Suddenly her pink hair turned green and lengthened until it fell down to the small of her back. She was expecting Cancer to be impressed… but what actually happened was he reeled backwards in horror and stared at Tonks, slack-jawed.

"No… this cannot be - ebi! A woman who does not need my assistance in any way - ebi?" He fell to his hands and knees and hung his head. "To you, Miss Tonks… I must be nothing… ebi…"

"Um… is he alright?" Tonks asked nervously.

"I think you broke him," Lucy muttered.

"Dear me," Evergreen snorted as she lounged back against her chair. "Even when we're not all here, we're still as bonkers as ever."

"Well, fascinating as these magical demonstrations are, I bet you must be hungry," Mrs. Weasley said as she flicked her wand to start levitating the dishes piled around the work surfaces over to the table. "Dinner is served."

"DINNER!" Natsu cried, excitedly, leaping into a chair and seizing several chicken legs at once. "Thanks, lady! I've been hungry all day!" And he immediately started tearing into the food around him, his table manners utterly appalling. Everyone else took seats around them, and both Fairy Tail and Order members were quick to fill Evergreen, Lucy and Natsu in on just about everything that they had not been able to learn from Loke. As they did, they couldn't help but watch in amazement as Natsu destroyed his plate-load and rapidly filled up again.

"Oh my goodness…" Mrs. Weasley murmured. "Have we finally found someone who can out eat my son, Ron?"

"Not possible surely!" Bill mock-gasped, clutching his hand to his chest as if he was having a heart attack from sheer disbelief.

"Well, dragons have big appetites," Charlie snorted.

"This food is so good!" Natsu exulted. "You could give Mirajane a challenge for her cooking skills! Where is she anyway?"

His comment was an innocent one, but it made Lisanna's face fall slightly and slowly set down her knife and fork with a small sigh. Lucy, who was sitting next to Natsu, noticed and elbowed him sharply in the ribs, making him choke slightly on the potato he was trying to swallow whole. He glanced across at the blonde accusatorially and griped, "What was that for?"

"Obviously Mirajane is one of the ones that hasn't been found yet," Lucy said through gritted teeth, jerked her thumb in Lisanna's direction. Natsu glanced across at the younger Strauss sister and blanched slightly when he saw her expression.

"Oh… oh right… sorry, Lisanna… I didn't mean…"

"Jeez, you really should think before you open your mouth," Gray rolled his eyes.

"And you should put your clothes back on!" Natsu snapped back at him.

"No, no… it's okay," Lisanna raised a hand to placate everyone before another fight could start. "It's okay really. I know you didn't mean to upset me Natsu but… yeah… Mira-nee and Elf-niichan are one of the few remaining members that we haven't found yet. And naturally I'm… very worried about them."

"As are we all," Juvia nodded.

"So if most of you are here," Sirius dusted off his hand and counted the number in the room, remembering to add in a couple of fingers to his count to signify the two missing Exceed. "If I recall correctly there are… eight of you left unaccounted for?"

"Yep," Gildarts nodded sombrely, his arms folding and wrinkling his nose. "The Master of course is one of them. And all the other S-Class mages in our group also remain unaccounted for. Not only Mirajane but Erza as well. And of course my daughter, Cana."

"Don't forget Laxus," Evergreen piped up immediately. "And the other two members of the Raijinshuu - Freed and Bickslow."

"Well, we've been having great success in getting everyone together so far," Tonks said reassuringly. "I mean… yeah… there seem to have been some bumps in the road but its all been working out so far."

"True but… we still don't know who's in the Fairy Spheres that You-Know-Who's managed to get hold of," said Bill.

"SAY WHAT!?" Natsu was on his feet instantly. "That Dark Bastard's got our friends!? Why the hell haven't you done anything about this!?"

"If we knew where to look we would have moved in for sure," Charlie was quick to try and placate him. "I'm sure that if Dumbledore knew where they were he would lead the charge personally to rescue them. But even with Snape acting as a double agent we don't know nearly as much as we'd like about You-Know-Who's dealings."

"To be honest, we don't really know for sure that You-Know-Who has them, right?" Dedalus Diggle squeaked. "All we know for sure is that Harry Potter had a dream about it."

"Yes, but based on what I have heard, when Harry has a dream or a strong feeling concerning Voldemort and what he's doing, he is rarely wrong," Sirius muttered gravely.

The formerly jovial attitude of the room had plummeted rapidly at this conversation and there was a moment of dark silence from all corners. But then suddenly Natsu put his hands behind his head and grinned. "Well, if that's the case then I hope its Gramps they've got in that Sphere. Or Erza or Laxus. Or Mirajane actually," he grinned at the startled Lisanna. "Cos if its any of them and this Dark Lord guy tries to pull a fast one on any of them, then he'll never know what hit him! Any one of them would pulverise him before he could so much as wave his stick, right Lisanna?"

Lisanna stared into Natsu's grinned face for a moment before a small smile slipped into place. "Yeah… you're right. She would, wouldn't she? Actually… I kinda wish that I'll be there to see it. Is that wrong?"

"Not at all. It'd be awesome!" Natsu laughed. "But seriously, don't sweat it, Lisanna. Mira and Elfman are tough customers. They can take care of themselves. But we'll definitely bring them home and until we do, I'll be here to look out for you in their place. We all will, right?"

There was an instant round of nodding from near every head on the table and Lisanna took a moment to bask in the feeling of warmth that reared up inside her at Natsu's words. "Thanks, Natsu," she said. "And don't worry. I'll be around to look out for all of you too, whether you need it or not."

"Cos that's Fairy Tail right!" Natsu seized another chicken leg and bit into it while simultaneously reaching his hand across the table to hold it up for a high-five, which Lisanna was quick to take him up on, slapping her palm down on top of his own brightly.

"Wow… how does he do that?" Sirius shook his head. "Manages to completely put his foot in it one moment and then say exactly the right thing a few moments later."

"Such is Natsu," Happy grinned.

"All the same, I hope we find the others soon," Lucy murmured, shivering slightly. "Some of those remaining are among out most powerful members. I'd hate to see what might happen in an understanding with them."

* * *

As night rolled in, Harry found himself unable to sleep. He was fighting a constant urge to punch his pillow in anger. He'd never thought that he would hate anyone in the school more than he hated Snape. But after what Charla had told him that evening, Umbridge had successfully managed to trump Snape in just about every way. She was rapidly getting close to being level with Voldemort himself for how much he hated someone.

He rolled onto his back and traced the scars on the back of his hand, the marks reading 'I must not tell lies' that Umbridge herself had made him put there. Some right she had to make him put marks like that there. Not only had he been telling the truth the whole time but she had been the one lying. He could still remember the words she'd said to Dumbledore way back in the disciplinary hearing he'd been forced to attend for fending off those Dementors during the summer.

'_I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor Dumbledore. So silly of me. But it sounded for a teensy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered the attack on this boy!'_

'Bitch!' Harry thought to himself. It hadn't even been the whole Ministry, it had just been her and her alone. And she had the nerve to sit there and suggest that anything like that was totally ludicrous!

His friends had been similarly appalled. Hermione had suggested that they go and tell Dumbledore about this straight away, but surprisingly Ron had pointed out that that wouldn't really make a difference. After all, the only proof they had that Umbridge had done it was the word of a talking cat who was a member of a guild that were a recognised enemy of the Ministry. They would need a lot more solid evidence than that to accuse Umbridge of anything like this.

Not for the first time, Harry regretted that Muggle technology couldn't work in Hogwarts. He'd seen a television program or two where the good guy was able to get dirt on the villain by recording them saying something detrimental. But there was no way that would work here. He could think of no way to prove what Umbridge had done other than somehow tricking her into saying it in front of the right people… but how the hell would they do that without using the Imperius Curse or something?

So wrapped up in his thoughts was he that Harry didn't notice when his eyelids finally drooped shut…

"CRUCIO!"

The two men on the floor screeched so loudly that it was amazing their voice boxes were not destroying themselves under the strain they were being placed under. Harry snarled down at them, pointing his wand like it was a lightning rod and watching them writhe and kick and scream for mercy. But he had none to give.

Eventually he relented and the two men slumped to the floor of the dark room, huffing for breath. Harry strode over to them and stared imperiously down at them. "Tell me…" he growled. "Do either of you know the meaning of the words 'don't draw attention to yourselves?'"

"Yes… yes, my lord," Goyle Senior croaked helplessly. "We just… we just thought that…"

"Thought what exactly?"

"Thought that we should try and take the opportunity to take out some of your enemies," Crabbe cringed.

"That is not what I asked you to do. I asked you to stay low, to monitor the situation, report back to me what happens. I did not tell you to start an avalanche! And while perhaps I can commend you for your creativity in your attempt to dispatch the enemy, what I cannot commend you for is planting the Dark Mark in the sky where everyone in the Ministry could see it!"

"We're… we're sorry, my lord!" Goyle cried. "It was… a… a spur of the moment thing. We wanted Fairy Tail to fear you! After all they are working with the Order now, and they must surely know about you."

Evidently that was the right thing to say. Harry had been planning of murdering these two imbeciles for their discrepancy, but these words took his mind down a completely different path. "Yes," he murmured as he turned around and stepped away, rubbing his chin slightly. "That is… most unfortunate. I had hoped to try convincing anyone that came out of those Spheres we have to join me against the Ministry that is hunting their friends. But if the Order is involved…"

"By all accounts the things we've seen, my lord," Lucius Malfoy's voice came from the door. "These Fairy Tail mages… they have incredible power. And if they're rallying against you… can we really defeat them?"

"I have not come as far as I have, Lucius, to be stopped in my tracks by a bunch of… aliens… and besides, there are other ways to ensure the cooperation of whoever comes out of that Sphere. But you are right. They are strong. It seems that if we have to contend with them in addition to the Order… then I shall have to… accelerate my plans!"

Harry gasped, waking up in a sudden cold sweat, and for several moments he patted his body with his hands just to make sure it was his own… it had happened again… oh god, what was happening to him?

And… accelerate my plans?

What exactly did that mean?


	26. Through the Fireplace

Hey guys. Reeeeally sorry for the long delay to this story but suffice to say March was a ludicrously busy month in terms of assignments and university work, which kinda drained my motivation to do pretty much anything. But I'm back and I hope to stay back for a while yet, so I give you this new chapter. I hope that you all enjoy the read!

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 26:- Through the Fireplace**

* * *

"You can't be serious!"

That was perhaps the fifth time that those words had been uttered in just as many minutes, in a private room at 10 Downing Street, and all of them by the same man. The Muggle Prime Minister stared in disbelief at Cornelius Fudge, who was rapidly pacing from one side of the other and forcing his non-magical counterpart to swing his head to follow him, as if watching a tennis match in super slow-motion.

"Deadly serious, I'm afraid," Cornelius nodded. "These… these outlaws, these… aliens… by all accounts they really do come from another world. But I assure you that I am doing all in my power to make sure they are brought down."

"And yet all your power hasn't been capable of doing that to a single one of them?" the Muggle Minister spluttered. "I don't know what you… magical people… are really capable of but I am surprised to hear that, I can tell you!"

"I will have every corner of Wizarding Britain on high alert in the search for them. We will find them and we will put a stop to them but we just need more time."

"Time? People are looking for answers now, Mister Fudge. The phenomenon that broke out in the Cairngorms yesterday… it's swept the nation. And it won't be too long before its sweeping the world. Video footage of a man apparently using some kind of… fire based power to stop an avalanche? There's really no way for you to cover that up, is there?"

"We did our best," Scrimgeour coughed from where he was sitting in the corner. "We were able to implant a false memory into the mind of every Muggle present at the scene so that all they saw was the wall of fire, and none of the other magical feats present at the scene, or the wolves."

"But in the footage you can clearly see that its a man that is causing that fire wall. And there is no way that even you, with all your resources, can wipe the memory of everybody in the country to make them forget that they saw this, and I assure you there is most likely not a single person that has not seen it yet except for those without access to a television. People have begun all kinds of wild speculation! Some people say he's a real life superhero! Some say he's a demon! And others have arrived the the conclusion that he's indeed magical. And I'm sure there are one or two out there who think he's from another universe. And you tell me there are over a dozen more like him out there? Do you know what could happen if the widespread non-magical community were to discover the existence of your own?"

"I am all too aware of the potential consequences," Fudge wheeled around to stare with wide eyes, gesticulating so wildly it looked like his body was spasming out of control. "Believe me, we want to keep the Statute of Secrecy intact even more than you do. All I am asking from you for now is to keep up a pretence of investigating the matter until we can find a convincing cover story."

"I'm not sure you can find a convincing cover story," the Muggle Minister shook his head. "At present the only possible idea I've got in my head was that the man was a scientist that had somehow managed to develop flame powers and sacrificed himself while saving people from that avalanche, but that still sounds like something straight of a comic book! And yet there's already been such an outcry, I'm starting to think many people might believe that one. But just as many other people won't."

"All we need is more time. And I promise you, when they are brought under control we will ensure that they never threaten the Statute of Secrecy again. We will do whatever it takes to see these… terrorists… are neutralised."

"Terrorists is a bit of a harsh term, isn't it?" Scrimgeour coughed, drawing the attention of both men, who swivelled their heads to look at him in tandem.

"They are people who are spreading terror through our entire community, Rufus," Fudge pointed out. "'Terrorist' sounds like quite an apt description to me."

"But Minister… is it really?" Scrimgeour got to his feet. "Are you forgetting one piece of crucial information? Yes, the footage of that boy… Natsu, I believe his name is… has been seen by most of the Muggle populace of the United Kingdom but beyond using insanely strong fire magic… what did they see him do? They saw him save lives, Ministers. They saw him deliberately risk his life, throwing himself into the path of that avalanche, to prevent it from hitting the rest of the people on the mountain. And he succeeded too. There were no casualties that day. None at all."

"…That is a point," the Muggle Minister stated.

"No, it isn't," Fudge shook his head vehemently. "Most certainly not. His comrades were also on that mountain. His fellow Fairy Tail mages. They were the only ones he was trying to save - the rest were just lucky."

"How can you categorically say that, Minister?" Scrimgeour growled boldly. "What do you truly know of these people? Only what that Levy McGarden told you under the influence of a Truth Potion and she was not given the time to tell us everything before she was broken out."

"By mages that wrecked half of our Ministry!"

"By mages that were trying to save their friend! I don't think we should be thinking of these people as enemies, Minister! I think we should take the opportunity to extend the hand of friendship to them."

"Hand of friendship… are you listening to yourself? If you shook hands with these monsters they would probably shatter every bone in your body!"

"Monsters, you say? Minister, the mere fact that they are willing to rescue each other proves that they are not…"

"It proves nothing, Head Auror Scrimgeour," Fudge straightened up to his full height which was not that much. "Look… I am not going to pretend that I know exactly what these Fairy Tail mages are planning, or what they want. All I know is that they are dangerous, destructive and violent. They proved that when they tore our walls to shred and put over two dozen people into Saint Mungo's for treatment for broken bones. And can we forget what happened down in Chagford?"

"I certainly can't," the Muggle Minister cried. "An entire population of people wiped out in less than an hour?! That cannot be allowed to happen again. That's got to be the biggest single disaster in British history and I'm not sure how much longer people will bite the freak tornado story."

"Exactly! And who could have done that if not a Fairy Tail mage," Fudge nodded. "The people are terrified and it is our duty to keep them safe. And so long as I am Minister, I want you to keep doing your duty in bringing them in, understand?"

"…Yes, Minister," Scrimgeour scowled, though he was clearly far from happy with the decision. "And what of the Dark Mark that also appeared in the sky above that mountain? Clearly whoever cast is was most likely the one that orchestrated that avalanche in the first place."

"Yes, yes, yes, look into it," Fudge nodded. "But Fairy Tail is to remain the top priority."

"Are you certain, Minister? You don't think… the appearance of the Dark Mark… could signify a larger threat?"

"…Are you suggesting, Scrimgeour, that you are starting to think the He-Know-Must-Not-Be-Named… might have returned?"

"Is it not something we should be concerned about after this?"

"Need I remind you that the Dark Mark was fired into the sky at the Quidditch World Cup final last year as well, before Dumbledore started all this false hysteria? This is not the work of a Dark Lord, this is the work of someone seeking to cause panic, and I want them found certainly. But our most important worry right now is keeping the Statute of Secrecy intact."

"Quite right," the Muggle Minister nodded. "If the people found out that I was aware of such a world and kept it secret from them it could mean the end of my career, and who knows how else they would react. These… extradimensional beings… they need to be contained. I don't know whether the right approach is to imprison them or befriend them, but either way I am relying on you, Mister Fudge, to get the job done."

"And I shall," Fudge nodded. "Good day, Minister."

"Good day, Minister."

Scrimgeour wrinkled his nose as he took a handful of Floo Powder and stepped into the fireplace before Cornelius. After the events of the Cairngorms he now firmly believed that the Ministry as a whole was taking the wrong approach to the problem at hand. Fairy Tail was not evil. They didn't deserve to be made into enemies. Clearly they were reckless, stubborn, powerful and possibly half-mad individuals in some cases. And they were definitely causing problems - nobody could deny that.

But the ones he had encountered at least were being unjustly vilified. And the primary reason for that was fear. Fudge was afraid of them. As were most of the Wizengamot, most of the public… and to be honest they had good reasons to. Chagford was now a name that everyone in the country was familiar with… and yet the Fairy Tail mages had insisted they had not been the ones responsible for that… massacre.

But if not them… then who?

The Dark Lord? Maybe… if he really was out there. But even in the old days he had never caused that destruction on such a scale. Though… was it possible that he could have done it in an attempt to frame the Fairy Tail mages? Keep the Ministry's attention on Fairy Tail? But if that was the case then why would someone send the Dark Mark up later that very same day? It made no sense.

One thing Fudge was correct about though - the country as a whole was terrified. And that had to stop.

"Maybe I'll send another patrol down to Devon," he murmured as he entered the fireplace. "See if we can't suss out who was really responsible for that."

* * *

Lucy hummed to herself as she hurried downstairs, idly flicking her hair back slightly and doing her very best to ignore the row of severed House Elf heads that she was forced to bypass on the way to the kitchen below. Though she was unable to stop the chill from creeping up her spine when she did so. Gods, this place gave her the creeps. Everywhere she looked there were things that made her mind scream at her to get out! Get out now for she was clearly in the house of a madman or some… twisted Dark Guild member or something.

It was fortunate that the others around her seemed to have settled in quite well or she was sure she would have had nightmares. And Sirius' assertion that he, the owner of the house, hated it even more than she did, had been quite reassuring.

Most of the Order members had headed to work that morning as per usual. But as she entered the kitchen, Lucy chuckled when she noted that Charlie Weasley was still there. And, as had been predicted, he was talking eagerly with Natsu - who seemed to be just as eager to reply.

"Headbutting rocks?" Charlie laughed.

"Yeah," Natsu grinned widely, pounding the top of his head with his fist as if to demonstrate. "I think that one was his favourite form of training. He said the most important thing to learn was the importance of never giving up and whenever I cheated by using magic to break the boulder instead of just my head, he would drop me in the river."

"Hahahaha! Oh, I can't tell you how envious I am of you. Beyond words can say!" Charlie exulted. "I'd give anything to meet this Igneel. Or either of the other two dragons! If I did, I am pretty sure I could die happy."

"Uwa… I hate it when someone uses my name like that," Happy rubbed his forehead with a paw from where he was sitting at the table. "Always makes me imagine them turning into me and then dying with my face… creepy…"

"Oh, Lucy… late morning," Natsu grinned when he saw her enter the room.

"Well, considering everything that happened yesterday I thought I could treat myself to a lie-in," Lucy noted as she sat down at the table nearby. "And you're still talking about Igneel, I see."

"He goes on for hours if you let him," Lisanna snickered.

"Believe me, I know," Lucy smirked back. "Not that that's a bad thing of course. He's an interesting subject."

"You can say that again," Charlie nodded. "I've spent my whole life since leaving school working with dragons and hearing about everything from your world… it really sets my imagination on fire… pun really not intended there, I promise."

"Is your mother okay with you doing that?" Lucy asked. "Wendy told me the dragons of this world are just dangerous animals in comparison to the ones in ours."

"Um… really no offence meant," Wendy bobbed her head from where she was sitting next to Gajeel at the opposite end of the table.

"Really no offence taken," Charlie replied, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "I've always thought dragons were fascinating creatures. And they are. They may be animals but they are simply fantastic. No question about it. But the idea of dragons talking, teaching magic to humans… it almost sounds absurd, unbelievable… like something out of… well… out of a Fairy Tale, I guess… pun, really, really not intended."

"You have to take the bad with the good though," Gildarts murmured from where he was leaning against the wall at the other end of the room. "Yeah, the dragons in our world are incredible but with intelligence comes the opportunity to be evil. At least in this world, you wouldn't get a dragon like Acnologia."

"…That's true. That guy sounds terrifying," Charlie agreed. "But still… there's a part of me that would quite like to see him."

"You'd change your mind very fast if you did, believe me," Lucy muttered dryly.

"Maybe… but to answer your question, Lucy… no, my mother's not okay with it really. She worries a lot. But then again, that's what she's supposed to do. I'd be honestly offended if she wasn't worried. But hey, its my dream and I'm gonna follow it."

"Sounds good to me," Natsu said wistfully, looking off into space. "My dream is to find Igneel again. And I'm definitely gonna follow that one. Even if I'm trapped in another universe to him now I will find my way back."

"…You love him, don't you?" Charlie breathed.

"He's my Dad," Natsu shrugged, before he then smirked and said, "But when I find him you can bet I won't stop kicking him until he tells me why he left me behind all of a sudden with nothing but the scarf he gave me."

"The scarf? You mean that scarf you're wearing? That was a present from a dragon?!" Charlie sat up to stare at the scale-like garment in wonder. "I wondered why you were still wearing that indoors."

"Yeah, I always wear it. I don't like the way I look when I don't wear it anymore," Natsu laughed.

"It does look weird," Lucy agreed. "He even wears it to bed."

"Hoh? And how would you know that, Lucy?" Evergreen raised a brow teasingly, prompting Lucy to go very red and scream at the top of her lungs:-

"BECAUSE HE KEEPS SLEEPING IN MY DAMN BED WITHOUT ASKING, THAT'S WHY! I end up having to sleep on the floor when he does!"

Evergreen and Lisanna both giggled, while Juvia placed her hands to her face and said, "Aaah, what Juvia wouldn't give to find Gray-sama lying in her bed."

"Ghhn…" Gray coughed up the water he was drinking and slowly moved away from the daydreaming Water Mage.

"Jeez, this conversation got stupid," Gajeel rolled his eyes. "But, you know, I think I'd quite like to see one of the dragons you've got in this world. Check 'em out, see how they compare to Metalicana you know?"

"Well, if we ever have the time for it, you're more than free to come to Romania to see them," Charlie offered. "We've got all the species of dragon in the world living in our reserve there. Mostly Longhorns of course, but we take in all kinds. Horntails, Ironbellies, Vipertooths, Opaleyes, Ridgebacks, Fireballs… the lot."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that last one," Natsu cried.

"I like the sound of the Ironbelly," Gajeel smirked, pounding his own stomach and producing a distinctive clanging noise.

"I've seen an Ironbelly before," Sirius spoke up from the armchair in the corner. "It's the only live dragon I've ever actually clapped eyes on. Though unfortunately it was at Gringott's Bank… you know… when I was still allowed in there."

"Bank?" Gajeel frowned. "Isn't that the place where humans go and put money in this world? Like the one where I stopped a robbery before I found anyone I knew here? Why the heck would there be a dragon at a place like that."

"Ugh," Charlie gagged, his face taking on such a sour expression it was a wonder he didn't vomit on the spot. "It's those goblins. They keep them down there in the vaults, use them as bodyguards for the money. Locking them down with great chains, training them like security trolls to…"

He didn't get any further than that before Natsu suddenly seized him by the front of his robes and hauled him out the chair. The room erupted with gasps as Natsu slammed Charlie bodily against the wall, his teeth clenched into a furious snarl as the veins on his forehead stood out like cords. Charlie's breath was expelled from his lungs as Natsu's pupils dilated so much he looked more like a feral beast than a human.

"What… did… you… say?" he growled. "Dragons… in chains…?"

"Oi, Natsu!" Gray yelled. "The hell are you doing?"

"Butt out, Ice Face," Gajeel glowered at him, his hand gripping the tabletop unusually hard. "I wanna hear the answer to this."

"Geuugh… its not me that imprisons the dragons," Charlie coughed, sweating slightly as he could feel Natsu's hands literally begin to heat up while holding him, and half-expected them for them to burst into flames at any second. "I hate the idea as much as you do! If it were up to me they'd all be set free!"

Natsu grimaced and dropped Charlie's robes, allowing him to drop to the floor and land unsteadily on his feet.

"Natsu, don't you think that was uncalled for?" Lucy asked, but Charlie raised a hand and interrupted her:-

"No, it's okay. Really it is. Had I been in his shoes I would have a pretty similar reaction. In fact, I did in a way. I mean, I've always known that Gringotts had dragons as guards but… well… it's downright cruel, is what it is. The Goblins that keep them don't seem to have any pity for them whatsoever."

"What are Goblins anyway?" Evergreen asked, her brow furrowing slightly. "Are they the same as in our world - tiny little squirrelly creatures with little pickaxes that attack people by rolling at them?"

"Ha! I wish!" Charlie shook his head. "No, in our world, Goblins are like humans except they're shorter, gnarled-looking, with big noses and clawed fingers. And they're very, very intelligent. But when it comes to gold and money they believe in absolute fairness which is why they have been allowed to control the financing sector of the wider magical world."

"Can we get to the part about the dragons in chains?" Natsu's clenched fist was shaking slightly as if he was physically struggling not to punch something.

"I am," Charlie replied. "One of the things they value most is their security. Which makes sense considering what they're guarding. So they went out and captured dragons from the wild and forced them deep underground into cramped spaces where they couldn't even hope to fully stretch out their wings. They keep them fettered at all times. They blind them so that they cannot see them and attack on sight, and they train them to back away when they hear certain sounds by brutally torturing them, all so that the more wealthy in our society can have some extra security for their vaults."

"That's… that's horrible…" Wendy choked, the corners of her eyes pricking with tears as held her hands over her mouth, as if she was about to vomit.

"Horrible is putting it nicely," Lisanna agreed. "That's… vile! No, worse than that, it's absolutely diabolical!"

"THOSE BASTARDS!" Natsu spun around and slammed his fists into the kitchen table, hard enough to split it clean in two down the middle, and thus forcing Happy to jump off it to avoid tumbling to the floor.

"Natsu…" the cat murmured.

Even the normally standoffish Gajeel had a look of barely masked fury about his intimidating frame. "I've changed my mind," he said. "I thought that I wouldn't want anyone to meet with Acnologia, but all of a sudden I find myself wishing I could take some of these goblin things back to our world and chuck them at the Black Dragon's feet. See them tame that one."

"Why the hell do you even allow them to do that?" Natsu turned back to look at Charlie accusingly, but the Weasley sibling held up his arms in defence.

"Hey, I told you. If it was up to me, all the dragons in Gringotts would be released and allowed to come and live free at my reserve in Romania. But its not my call to make. It's a call no wizard can make. The Goblins have been given exclusive rights to do whatever they want within the walls of Gringotts as long as they keep the Wizarding money safe. They're a very proud race, very quick to anger, very slow to let a grudge drop. If we went in there telling them what they could and couldn't do they could start a rebellion. Again."

"Again?" Juvia asked.

"Yeah, there's been quite a long and bloody history between wizards and goblins," Sirius grimaced. "And it always stems from the same problem - wizards thinking that goblins are inferior to them, while the goblins thinking pretty much the same thing about wizards. The difference is, unbelievably, most wizards actually assume that the goblins also think we're superior and are happy to serve us, much like a House Elf. But they couldn't be more wrong. We already impose so many rules on them, like not letting them have wands for instance. If we told them what they had to do within the walls of their own bank, things would get messy very fast."

"Which means the dragons suffer and there's very little we can do about it," Charlie agreed. "It really churns my stomach. In fact, this topic led to the biggest fight that I ever had with my brother Bill. We didn't speak for almost four months!"

"What happened?" Lisanna asked, wide-eyed. The thought of her falling out so badly with either of her siblings was nothing short of petrifying.

"Bill works for Gringotts," Charlie replied. "Not torturing dragons!" he added quickly when Natsu spun around looking furious and Gajeel gripped his chair arm so hard it splintered beneath his grip. "No, he worked as a Curse Breaker before the Order was resurrected and he came back here to find a more permanent position. But as a Curse Breaker, he could fulfil his own passion for ancient history and tombs and stuff. But I was furious with him at the time. Mad that anyone in my family would ever work for a company that torments my favourite magical creature so horrifically. It led to such a big shouting match between us that it shook the house."

"But you've made up now?" Lucy questioned.

"Yeah… but it took time. But I think I was in the wrong really - I shouldn't have been angry at Bill for that. After all… the Goblins are going to do that whether or not he works alongside them. But as you can imagine… I don't like them very much."

"Me neither," Natsu was clenching his teeth so hard that it was a wonder he wasn't damaging his own jaw. "I won't forgive them…"

"Natsu…" Lucy murmured.

"We all feel the same way as you, Natsu," Lisanna threw in. "Perhaps not quite as strongly but we do. But I'm sorry to say there's really not a lot we can do about it. Please just… try and relax…"

Natsu glanced across at the white-haired girl before nodding slowly and sitting down in his chair, crossing his arms and glowering into thin air, while Sirius waved his wand and the table sprang back into place. An air of heavy silence filled the room, as everyone present flicked their eyes slowly between the three Dragon Slayers. While Natsu was the most visibly angry, Gajeel had a scowl that made it look like he was trying to burn holes through the wall with his eyes and Wendy was biting her lip and didn't know whether she wanted to cry or glare herself.

"Well… this just got awkward," Sirius noted. "Perhaps we should change the subject."

"Oh, I know what will make you feel better, Natsu!" Happy cried. "Let's try… tickling all the girls in this room!"

Natsu's death glare immediately switched to the expression of an excited schoolchild that had been given a paintbrush! "Great idea! Who's first!?" he leaped to his feet, whereupon Lucy and Wendy screamed and fled the room and practically tackled Levy - who had chosen the wrong moment to come in, Juvia dodged behind Gray grabbed him and yelled, "GRAY-SAMA, SAVE ME!" Lisanna laughed before realising he was serious and ducked under the table and Evergreen rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, you're so immature sometimes," she snorted.

"You're first, Evergreen!" Natsu snickered, advancing towards her with wiggling fingers. The Fairy Mage blinked, startled - she hadn't expected him to dare try it on her!

"No… no, wait… Natsu! Stop! Get… back… stay away from me… No… Kyaaaaaa!"

"Is this really happening?" Sirius asked, staring in disbelief as Juvia and Lisanna both took the opportunity to run past Natsu and escape upstairs while he was busy tickling the daylights out of poor Evergreen. "A moment ago it looked like he was ready to murder a Goblin that walked in the room."

"Natsu's a free spirit," Gildarts replied with a smirk. "They all are really. And really, what shouldn't they be?"

"Oh, I'm not complaining," Sirius laughed. "In fact, it's pretty damn nice to have such a godawful house lightened with such cheerful people. Heck, with you guys around - even I can stomach living here. And believe you me, that is saying something."

"Just be thankful they're reigning themselves in enough not to start destroying things. The Order would need a new Headquarters."

"Yeah. By the way, I'm going to try and talk to Harry through the fireplace again tonight."

"Seriously?" Gildarts raised a brow. "Can't you just send Happy back with a message when he returns to the castle tomorrow?"

"That's not really good enough for me. Harry's my godson. Sometimes, I just need to talk to him face to face. Be there for him, you know? Like I should have been when I was locked up in Azkaban all those years."

Gildarts' jaw tightened slightly and he stared up at the ceiling, his mind stirring up an image of Cana's smiling face pasted across it in his mind's eye.

"Yeah… I know what you mean."

* * *

Harry was not in the best of moods. A stark contrast to yesterday when he'd been overjoyed by all the stunts that the twins and their new compatriots were pulling on Umbridge. But then again, it seemed Monday was never going to be his day this year and not just because it was the day where he had all four of the lessons he didn't like.

The news that Mavis had brought that morning, that the two Fairy Tail mages that had emerged in the mountains had been found and brought in was far from enough for him to forget that dream he'd had last night. If anything, it made it worse. Because that, combined with the blaring front page of that morning's Daily Prophet, talking about an avalanche that had gone off in the mountains while the Fairy Tail mages had been present… told him that the dream he'd had last night could not have merely been a dream.

Voldemort really had said those exact words last night. About the avalanche and the Dark Mark… and stepping up his plans.

This time he'd taken the decision not to tell anybody about what he'd seen. After all… what would really be the point? He'd freak most of them out when he really didn't have any useful information to give. He had no idea what any of Voldemort's plans would be. And it would lead to all kinds of awkward questions like, why the heck was Harry having visions of what his own nemesis was getting up to?

Questions that Harry wanted the answers to, but didn't want to worry anyone else with.

Fortunately though, they were prepared for the announcement that all club activities were banned until Umbridge decided to authorise them. Charla's spying had already told them that Umbridge had learned of the meeting at the Hog's Head, and they'd been able to spread the word enough so that nobody acted suspiciously at the news, though when people asked how they'd got it they'd spread the word that Fred and George had overheard something rather than telling them what had actually happened.

Though Harry had not been prepared for Angelina's explosion when she learned that Quidditch was being included in the ban. He hadn't even left the Great Hall yet and he was wondering how much worse his day could get.

And then of course Hedwig, his faithful owl, had arrived in the middle of a History of Magic lesson looking bedraggled, as if she'd been attacked. He had no idea what had happened to her but he was just relieved she was okay.

But it had been pretty gratifying to look up from his work during Potions and Divination, both of which had Umbridge filling out her role as High Inquisitor by inspecting the teachers, to see the squat little eyesore staring at the door and the window as if expecting something huge and hairy to come burst through it at any moment. And the same could be said of Umbridge's own lesson. She continued to force them to read Defensive Magical Theory - the single dreariest piece of literature he'd ever read (even more so than the History books, at least they were interesting even if Binns wasn't) but she flinched whenever someone turned the page.

It actually became a game without words in the class to see which one of them could make her jump the most without making it seem like they were trying to scare her. Victory went, surprisingly, to Lavender Brown who sneezed so violently when Umbridge walked past her that the dumpy woman actually fell over. It was quite hard not to give Lavender a round of applause for that.

But all the terrified Umbridge in the world could not stop the gnawing Harry felt in his gut every time his thoughts turned to last night's dream, and its many potential questions and implications.

The one spark that kept him going through it all was the message from Sirius. _Today, same time, same place. _A message that told Harry without words that they were due for another midnight chat in the fireplace.

Should he tell Sirius?

Yes… he decided he should… He had to tell someone and he was a little reluctant to take this to Dumbledore considering how dismissive Dumbledore had been last time. Not to mention he was still quite peeved that Dumbledore had not told him about Fairy Tail, although even he admitted to himself that that one was unfair since actually nobody had told him. And yet it didn't stop him from thinking it.

After chugging through an Potions essay that made him want to beat his brains out against the desk, eventually it was just him, Ron and Hermione left in the common room. Except for Charla… and Crookshanks. The former of which was getting increasingly irritated with the latter, as Crookshanks kept moving over to her and sitting extremely close to her, no matter how many times she moved away.

"What is this guy's problem?" she muttered, able to speak now that nobody in the room assumed she was an ordinary cat. "He won't leave me alone."

"Could it be, Hermione?" Ron snickered and clasped his hands together and raised the pitch of his voice slightly as he mock-cooed. "Is Crookshanks in looooooove?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," Hermione rolled her eyes. "He's a male cat. When it comes to cats its the females that try and get the attention of the males, not the other way around. So he wouldn't be interested in… unless… you're not in heat are you, Charla?"

"…IN HEAT!" Charla squealed shaking her paw angrily before she was hushed by all three of the humans. Simmering slightly, Charla muttered. "Of course I'm not in heat. I don't even think I'm old enough for that. And even if I was, I certainly wouldn't be interested in a regular cat that way."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I was only asking. I really don't know anything much about your race."

"And that must really kill you, huh?" Ron smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes but faltering and blushing. "Maybe a little…"

"Ugh," Charla ran a paw over her face. "I swear… if he starts bringing me fish… I will make someone turn him into one."

"Am I interrupting something?" said a voice from the fireplace.

"Sirius!" Harry grinned in delight, instantly vaulting out of the armchair to kneel in front of the fireplace, where the others joined him. "It's great to see you again!"

"I could say the same," Sirius' ashen head nodded. "Ah, you've got Charla with you. That's good. Happy's here with us at Grimmauld Place right now. He says that he's coming back to the school tomorrow to continue his spy duties. He just wanted to stay an extra day so he could catch up with his friend, Natsu."

"I cannot say I blame him," Charla said. "Are Natsu and Lucy doing good?"

"They appear to be settling in well. In fact, I was just talking with Lucy about…"

"Oooooh! This is so cool!" a voice interrupted as a second head appeared in the fireplace next to Sirius' own, startling the three Gryffindors. "Talking through fire! Why have we never invented this in our world! Oh, hello Charla!"

"Natsu," the white Exceed smiled. "I might have known you'd butt in. It's good to see you."

"You too. Hey, Sirius, what would happen if I ate this fire right now?"

"Er… I'm pretty sure we'd lose the connection," Sirius replied, slightly bemused.

"Wait, if you're the fire guy, then you must be the one that stopped that avalanche yesterday!" Ron said.

"Ah, that was no sweat. Ooh, what would happen if I do this? Karyuu no…"

"Whoa, hold on a second!" Sirius cried, but too late.

"Hoooukooooouuuu…" Natsu cried, and Sirius' head instantly vanished from the fire as a small blast of flame was expelled into the Gryffindor Common Room out of Natsu's mouth. Harry and Ron instantly fell backwards to avoid getting roasted, before Natsu's head was abruptly whisked out of sight and the fire stopped. The Exceed and the three students were left staring non-plussed at the fireplace before Sirius' head re-appeared, looking decidedly deadpan.

"Sorry about that…" he muttered. "Gildarts pulled him out the fireplace by his ankle and threw him into the wall… it's left a Natsu-sized dent in it that we'll have to fix later."

"What? Is he okay?" Hermione gasped.

"He's fine… a bit stunned but no worse for wear. It seems these Fairy Tail mages are made of stern stuff… I'm pretty sure half the bones in my body would have broken if that had happened to me. Anyway… what did happen? He caused an blast of fire all around him in the fireplace on this end."

"Yeah, we got some through this end too," Harry coughed. "But why the hell did he do that? We could have been fried!"

"Well… from I know… it seems Natsu is not prone to thinking things through. The other new recruit, Lucy… she seems to have her head on a lot straighter. But anyway, back to the actual purpose of this discussion… this secret Defence Against the Dark Arts thing you're doing."

"You know, huh?" said Harry. "I wondered if one of them would tell you."

"Well, them and Mundungus. He was in that bar too. Which, by the way, was not the best choice of meeting place, but to be honest I'm quite glad you chose it. It allowed you to meet Fairy Tail. And if you hadn't done that, we would not have been able to learn of the discovery of the Fairy Sphere in the mountains from Umbridge. And it additionally alleviated me of having to keep our coalition from you. I'm sorry, Harry," Sirius gave him a lop-sided grin. "I really don't like keeping things from you, you know."

"It's… it's okay… I understand. But… what do you think?"

"Oh, I absolutely love it! I was thrilled when I learned you were taking matters into your own hands. Which is more than I can say for your mother, Ron. She pitched a fit."

"I figured she might," Ron murmured. "I was kinda hoping she wouldn't find out."

"Just shows she cares, Ron. She gave me quite a long message to give to you about how doing something like this could ruin your entire future, how it would certainly get you kicked out the school and how you're too young to be worrying about fighting Voldemort anyway. Typical worrying mother stuff. Might sound like fretting but, I'll be honest, I wish my mother had given enough damns to be concerned about me. But the point is, she told me to urge all three of you not to go ahead with the plan. Though I will completely override her and say you should definitely go for it!"

Harry felt some of his worries ease. For some reason it was always a relief to know that Sirius was backing him up. Maybe it was because Sirius was pretty reckless anyway and if he thought something was too risky then it _really, really_ was.

"Thanks, Sirius," he grinned - his first full and genuine smile of the day.

"You should know I am immensely proud of you," Sirius let out a laugh that was almost a bark. "For sticking it to that old hag. You'd be doing your father proud too."

"Well, that's not the only thing we've been doing," Charla noted. "Lily's been giving Miss Umbridge quite a few frights."

"Oh? Do tell."

Harry was quick to outline the plan to lower Umbridge's authority within the school by using Pantherlily as a phantom werewolf to terrify her and Sirius almost fell face first into the cinders, he was laughing so hard.

"Using her fear against her like that!" he cackled. "Oh, just wait until I tell Remus about this! I dunno how he'll react to something like this but I bet even he'll be amused. That woman's messed with werewolves enough. Having them figuratively bite her in the bum is beyond appropriate."

"Yeah but… I've been thinking," Hermione said worriedly. "What if this makes her fiercer in her persecution of werewolves after all of this?"

"…Yikes, I hadn't thought about that," Ron paled. "You don't think that's a possibility, do you?"

"Pfft, I wouldn't worry about it too much," Sirius snorted. "After all, if the plan works, it's not just her influence in the school that will end up dropping, but her influence overall. But… ahahaha… I'm sorry I can't stop chuckling. That really is absolutely priceless. Ooh, what I wouldn't give to see the look on her face when…AGH!"

Harry reeled back in horror, as did the others as suddenly a hand seemed to appear in the fireplace, lunging out of nowhere and seizing Sirius by his hair. Sirius yelled and seemed to try and pull backwards but the hand tugged back hard… and it was a very familiar hand… stubby fingers… ugly rings…

"Sirius!" cried Harry as Umbridge's hand tugged on him extra hard and suddenly both it and Sirius disappeared in a flash of green light. "Sirius…! SIRIUS!"

* * *

Sirius thrashed and kicked, his world seeming to have become a total windmill. He could smell Floo Powder and in the sudden maelstrom of flashing colours around him he could tell that whoever had grabbed him had used an extra dose of Floo Powder to haul his whole body magically into the fireplace, a feat that would have been very hard to do with physical strength alone especially since he'd been gripping the edges of the fireplace on the other side. But he'd been pulled in anyway, as if someone had grabbed him an Apparated, and he was being whisked along to wherever the hand had originated from.

Floo Powder journeys were rapid - almost instantaneous. The moment he felt his body leave Grimmauld Place he knew he'd have a matter of seconds to break free before he was pulled to his destination. So he thrashed and kicked for all he was worth, seizing the wrist of the hand he could still feel in his hair with both of his own hands and heaving, breaking it free before he lunged sideways, pitching himself headfirst into the wall of the Floo whirlwind…

…and tumbling out through a grate into the middle of what looked like someone's sitting room.

"Gah… ugh…" he grunted as he levered himself up onto his hands and knees, reaching a hand up to rub his head where the hand had been gripping him by the hair while he looked around. The floor beneath him was strewn with ash, but fortunately it didn't seem as though there was anybody here. Wizard or Muggle, that would have been difficult to explain.

"Ah jeez," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet and brushing off copious amounts of ash. "The heck happened there anyway?"

But he didn't need someone to answer. He could already guess. Somehow, Umbridge must have known something was going to go down and tried to pull him through the fireplace to her. Perhaps she hoped to take him prisoner and grab all the glory of capturing Sirius Black… but more importantly… did she now know that he and Harry had some sort of connection with each other?

Almost definitely. But she wouldn't have any verifiable proof to back it up. Memories could be tampered with and Veritaserum could be resisted if you knew how, which meant neither of them counted as evidence in a court of law.

That, at least, was somewhat relieving.

But… what was he supposed to do now?

He briefly checked around for Floo Powder to take him back to Grimmauld Place but there was none. This was probably a Muggle house if that was the case. And he didn't have his wand with him! He'd left it on the table while talking to Harry, meaning that he couldn't just Apparate back either, or create a Portkey! And there would be no hope of rescue through the fireplace, the others would have no way of telling where he'd come out. Fortunately though, neither would Umbridge.

He was stuck… wandless… on the run… just like he had been for the previous two years. He'd only been able to get his new one recently when he'd joined the Order, using Polyjuice Potion provided by Snape to masquerade as Remus and visit Ollivander's Wand Shop. But now, he was back to square one. He even had no hippogriff to ride on again.

But… he still had one thing on his side. The same thing that had been on his side through that entire first year. He morphed into a dog and trotted off through the house. The doors were locked so he forced an exit by crashing his way through a window. He felt a bit sorry for the owner of the house but with any luck they'd just think it was kids.

So… where was he? That was the question… and how would he get back.

Well… he was definitely in a city - that much was obvious. And despite the late hour there were still quite a few cars on the roads and more than a few pedestrians wandering around. Sirius kept to the shadows, slinking his lithe, canine body around the corners and padding down the streets, dodging across roads like a fox in search of a helpful signpost that could tell him where he was. He feverishly hoped that he was still in London… at least then he could get back to the Order quickly enough…

Ha… oh the irony. Now he was out of the house he was trying to get back to that dreary sinkhole of a building as quickly as possible.

But then… he saw a sign that made his heart sink.

One that read 'University of Central Lancashire.'

To be honest, he was not entirely certain where that was but it definitely wasn't London, or anywhere that close to it…

…Did this mean that he was going to have to walk his way all the way back?

Ugh… this was a freaking nightmare and no mistake. But he had to get a move on if that was the case. Harry was probably freaking out right now, and Sirius couldn't stand for that. He needed to reassure his godson that he was alright!

But, just as he was about to move on, a loud cheering noise across the road drew his attention briefly and he saw a large crowd of people gathered outside a well-lit pub and raising their fists into the air. Students of the university maybe… well, what did that matter? It was no concern of his. And yet his keen ears picked up the conversation they were having easily.

"You're absolutely sure?" a man's voice said. "You're not just pulling my leg, are you?"

"Aah, come on," replied a woman's voice, which slurred just enough to tell Sirius the woman was inebriated. "Have a little faith, boy. Trust me, you'll definitely do well in the test. The tarot doesn't lie."

"Still sounds like a bunch of crap to me," the boy said.

"Oh, believe me man, it isn't." another guy cried. "I thought something similar last week, but Cana predicted the scores of the weekend's football match exactly. I won over five-hundred pounds on the bet."

'Cana?' Sirius head shot up.

"And she told me that I'd have my first kiss with my girlfriend around five in the afternoon last Thursday and she was right on the money," another guy agreed.

"And she told me exactly where I'd dropped the keys to my apartment!" said another female voice.

By this point Sirius had crossed the road, and was trying to find an angle where he could see through the crowd. And sure enough, sitting at a table surrounded by amazed students and other pubcrawleres was a woman with long wavy dark brown hair, wearing a green shirt with orange trimmings, a mauve skirt, red stockings and brown boots. She was leaning back in her chair looking quite pleased with herself, her face red and her smile broad and slightly goofy as she laughed and patted the shoulder of the man sitting next to her.

"Don't worry about it," Cana Alberona smiled. "You'll ace the test and be able to proudly take the results back to your family. Now, who's next," she picked up a card. "I can do this all night."

"Cana, I think that'll be enough for now," said another rich, female voice and the crowd parted slightly as another woman walked through them towards the table. Sirius locked eyes on this new woman, who was wearing a simple white shirt over a blue skirt and long deep red hair that flowed down to her mid-back.

Very red hair…

You could say… scarlet.

"Don't you think we should be going back to the hotel?" the woman asked.

"Aaaw, come on, just one more," Cana pouted. "Go on, Erza, please."

Erza! Could it be…?

Yes… there! On the redhead's arm. Sirius could see it, emblazoned in blue for all to see.

The mark of Fairy Tail!

"We need to get a good night's sleep, Cana," Erza Scarlet replied. "After all, we have a long way to go tomorrow and I want us to be ready for anything."


	27. Missing Family

Ugh, really sorry folks but university work has seriously been bogging me down. I am hoping to get back on track soon but at this stage I'm making no promises. But I do promise you that I will continue this story no matter how long it takes me to reach the end.

**Valuris** \- To answer your question, which I did not allow onto the review page so nobody else would be able to see what it was and get spoilers - yes.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 27:- Missing Family**

* * *

To Sirius, the click of his claws on the tarmac beneath him sounded abominably loud in his ears, even despite all the other surrounding noises from the cars and the pedestrians. He almost felt like some kind of creepy stalker, the same exact way that he'd felt when he'd first escaped from Azkaban and popped over to Privet Drive just to see how Harry was doing before he went after Wormtail.

But this time he was following two young and, it had to be said, very attractive looking young women.

He might have been in the guise of a large dog, but he almost felt as though he should have been on a leash, walking alongside some creepy man trying to act like an innocent dog-walker in the hopes to throw his two targets off suspecting him as they walked back to the place where they were staying.

_This isn't you being creepy,_ he murmured to himself mentally as he followed one behind Erza and Cana, the latter leaning a little heavily against the former and quaffing the bottle she held in her hand like there was no tomorrow. _This is just so you can find a way to talk to them and let them know you know who they are… yeah… that doesn't sound creepy at all. Dear gosh though… that Cana reeks of alcohol… she must have had far much more than I thought. I guess she can really hold her liquor…_

"You know, I'm sure that if we'd waited just a little longer I could have made at least a hundred more… more… er… what's the name of this money again… I've lost the word."

"Pounds. You would have gained a hundred more pounds!"

"Oi, you saying I'd get fat!?" Cana slurred, laughing raucously. "Nah, I'm kidding… but seriously who thought it would be a good idea to name a money the same as a weight measure?"

"Maybe the money came first in this world," Erza replied. "But please keep it down. Remember, we can't let people know we're not familiar with the customs of this world."

"Roger… You can rely on… hic… me, Cap'n Erza…"

Sirius ears perked up at the captor's words. So… somehow they knew that they were in another dimension to their own. But how could they have known that? Certainly they couldn't have had a run-in with the Ministry, or Kingsley or Tonks would have heard about it. Had they had a run-in with another witch or wizard then… no surely not… if they had then they must have known that Fairy Tail was being hunted by the Ministry. And if they knew that, why would Erza be walking around with her Fairy Tail mark in plain sight? If he'd been correctly informed about her, she was powerful but she was not reckless.

"Then Cap'n Erza decrees that you need to get some rest," Erza chuckled. But just then, she looked back over her shoulder, her eyes came to rest on Sirius. Balking internally, the shaggy dog instantly changed course and approached a tree growing out of the pavement, sniffing around the base of it slightly, his human brain fighting the urge to retch when he realised he could smell the urine of another dog that had been there recently.

_Wow… trying to make sure the target doesn't know I'm following her… yeah this really is stalker-like behaviour,_ Sirius muttered. He rolled his eye slightly to see what Erza was doing… and found she was still staring at him.

"Huh? What's wrong, Erza?" Cana asked.

"That dog…" Erza replied… "It's cute."

Sirius' ears shot up. Cute? A girl had just called him cute? Wow… normally people described his canine form as rather fierce-looking or something of that ilk… but cute… that was a new one…

"Eh… you wanna take it home with us?" Cana snickered.

"Well… um… I have always wanted a pet," Erza blushed slightly.

"Really?" Cana blinked. "I never knew that."

"Well… I've never really broadcast it. But I've always thought it would be nice to have something I can just… dote on a little… But I wouldn't have the time. I'm always going on missions so I'd have to have someone look after it for me all the time and… with the way most of the men in our guild act its like we've already got ourselves a little zoo sometimes."

Cana burst out laughing. "Well that's true. But I don't think we can take a dog with us on the train."

"You're right of course," Erza nodded, before they turned back and headed away once more. Sirius allowed his tail to wag a little just for the benefit of anyone else that might be watching, head tilting up to watch the two mages wander away. Now that Erza had registered he was there he couldn't follow them by sight anymore, or she'd suspect something was up. But fortunately he was a dog, equipped with their brilliantly versatile sense of smell. So when he lost sight of them he placed his nose to the ground and followed along jauntily, inhaling the fresh scene of more dog urine, cigarette smoke, car exhaust… ugh, humans really were polluting their cities… oh, he could smell fish and chips too. He fancied some of that.

But he could also smell the scent of the two women, although it was almost drowned out by that of the alcohol Cana was… probably still drinking.

He meandered down two more streets, following the scent, before it veered off sharply into a narrow, dank-looking alleyway. Hmm… odd… why on earth would they have come in here? But he cantered down it anyway… right before something crashed down in front of him and suddenly there was a sword levelled right at his face.

"GGRGG!" Instinct took hold and Sirius sprang backwards, fangs baring as a vicious snarl peeled forth from the back of his throat, hackles raising in defiance of the woman standing before him. Somehow Erza had managed to don what appeared to be a suit of armour that covered much of her upper body and was fixing perhaps the most intense stare that Sirius had ever seen right on him… it was a stare that rivalled that of Lily Potter's… or even Dumbledore's.

"I was right," Erza noted. "You are no ordinary dog, are you? I noticed you following us right back at the pub and deliberately went off down random side-streets just to see whether you would continue to do so… what are you really?"

Sirius growled, wrinkling his nose, his animalistic instincts telling him to either flee or attack, and his human brain fighting for control for a moment - after all any animal would panic with such a large sword being levelled at him. His eyes flicked to the side when Cana moved out of the shadows too, eyeing him warily and with several splayed cards clutched in one hand, while the other… was still holding the same bottle as before. Was she incapable of putting it down?

"Talk," Erza growled lowly, extending her arm to inch the blade's tip closer to Sirius' face. "I am going to assume that you can. Were you a simple animal you would have acted in some way by this point."

"You hope," Cana muttered. It would be pretty embarrassing if Erza really was just yelling at an ordinary dog.

But… well… now was as good a time as any. If Sirius could have shrugged his canine shoulders he would have done, but he couldn't… so he slowly shifted back into his normal shape and shrugged his human shoulders instead, holding up his arms and giving both the girls his most charming smile.

"Okay, okay. You caught me," he said. "I give you full marks for your observational skills. Well done."

"So… magic does exist in this world," Cana murmured. "We were starting to wonder… what was that, Transformation Magic or a Take-Over."

"The magic is not important," Erza countered. "It is the man that is. Who are you?"

"The name's Sirius. And I'd like to request that you refrain from trying to cut my head off when I tell you that I am already fully aware of who you both are… Erza Scarlet and Cana… um… no wait, your surname's not Clive, is it - it's something else."

"Clive?" Cana barked, looking far more sober now than she had five minutes ago. "That's my father's surname. You know him?"

"Indeed I do. I was just talking with him not two hours ago actually. He and several other of your Fairy Tail friends…"

"And why should we believe that?" Erza interjected. "If that were true, then what was stopping you from just coming up to us in the street and talking to us about that? Why the need to stalk us in the shape of a dog?"

"It's complicated," Sirius held him arms up demurely. "But hey, how can I be lying about the fact I know Cana's father. I would hardly just be able to make something like that up, could I?"

"There exist techniques in our world where it is possible to read the mind of others," Erza stated. "I have encountered first-hand a man with such sensitive hearing that he was even capable of hearing people's thoughts. And even if it were true that you knew Gildarts, I have also been to a world which had duplicate members of myself and everyone from our world. You could mean that, and for all we know the Gildarts of this world is a powerful warlord hell bent on destruction."

"There's a scary thought," Cana shivered.

"So, I reiterate… why should we believe you?" Erza concluded.

"…Er… well… you've pretty much covered all the bases that I would use and crossed them off as being unreliable…" Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. "By that logic, I don't think that there is anything I can say to make you believe me. I can only ask you to at least hear me out."

Erza stared at him hard for an uncomfortable ten seconds before she glanced to her companion. "What do you think, Cana?" she intoned, her armour rustling as she lowered her blade ever so slightly. "Should we give him the benefit of the doubt for now…"

"I think… it would be pretty stupid of us not to. I mean, yeah he could be lying, but he could also not be. We'd be idiots to just turn him away without even listening to what he has to say. We can decide for ourselves later if he's valid."

"…Good point," Erza nodded and lowered her blade, the tip clinking against the ground as Sirius let out a sigh of relief that he didn't know he'd been holding. He didn't fancy his chances in a fight with this woman, especially without a wand. His only option would have been to turn canine and leg it, but for some reason he didn't think that would have been enough.

"Alright then," the scarlet warrior placed both of hands on the pommel of her sword and stared fixedly at Sirius while Cana took another swig of her bottle. "Talk. Tell us what you know."

"Well, for a start, I know why you and the rest of your friends were not vaporised by that black dragon, Acnologia. And I can tell you that as far as I'm aware, every one of your pals that were on that island are still alive. I'm not sure where all of them are yet but, most of them are accounted for. But the point is, you were saved by the ghost of your first Master, Mavis Vermilion…"

Sirius' storytelling skills weren't the best, and he had to keep doubling back to mention something he'd forgotten and try to create the full picture, but Erza listened attentively to every word. As did Cana, or at least Sirius assumed so. But eventually everything was told, and Sirius spread his arms and gave them a disarming grin.

"That's the lot. Believe me or not, that's what I have to say."

"Well…" Erza placed an armour-plated finger to her chin. "It is a very comprehensive story… quite detailed as well… it would impressive to make something like that up on the spot."

"Yeah, but there's still something you haven't told us," Cana raised a brow. "Why you were stalking us through the streets like that instead of just walking up and asking to speak to us in private or something. I'd be a lot more inclined to trust your word if you'd done that."

"So would I," admitted Sirius. "But I'm afraid I can't really show my face in public. It wouldn't end well for me."

"And why not?" said Erza.

Sirius grimaced, passing a hand over his face and groaning internally… let's see how much they trusted him if he told them this:-

"Because… because I'm a wanted fugitive. For a crime I didn't commit!" he added hastily. "But… yeah… if any of those people out there had been a wizard or a witch and they had seen me, they would have contacted the authorities immediately. I was tailing you back to your place so that I could try and confront you in private."

"What crime?" Erza asked bluntly.

"Mass murder. But it wasn't me, it was the man that I was confronting - a snivelling little coward who blew up half the street we were in and then faked his own death to make it look like I'd killed him. Most of the people in this world still think I'm guilty. If I'm caught it would probably mean the death penalty… or worse…"

Cana's eyes were narrowed suspiciously, eyeing Sirius up and down, clearly sceptical of everything he was saying. But Erza… she suddenly looked a little taken aback. A faint breeze wafted at her long red hair, and briefly imprinted in her mind's eye was the image of another man… one with blue hair and a strange, arrow-like tattoo running down one side of his face.

A man who really had committed murder…

…although not of his own will.

"You realise we still have only your word that any of this is true," Cana began, but Erza suddenly dispelled her sword, the blade vanishing in a flash of pure light. "Um… Erza…"

"Very well," Erza said. "I will believe you."

"You will?" Sirius blinked. He'd been certain that she would try and impale him on the spot when he confessed to being on the run from the law.

"You will?" Cana agreed, equally nonplussed.

"For now," Erza nodded sombrely. "I… could not in good conscience condemn a man without knowing the full picture. Not after…" she paused, her face reddening slightly before she shook her head. "I choose to believe you. But, if it turns out that you are lying to us and you really are a threat, you will be the one that regrets me ever trusting you, not the other way around."

"Well, I… very much appreciate it," Sirius coughed, before turning to Cana. "And you?"

Cana wrinkled her nose but lowered her cards. "I still dunno about this. But… Erza's intuition is pretty good. Hmm… alright, fine. I'll run with this for now too."

"Glad to hear it," Sirius grinned.

"So… our friends are at this… Grimmauld Place that you mentioned?"

"Yes, at least most of them are. And that's in London which is… where are we?"

"Preston," Cana replied. "That's the name of this city."

"Ah. Well then, its a long way south of here."

"Then it is fortunate we ran into you," Erza stated. "We were planning to head north, towards those mountains we saw on that visual box… television, I believe it is called… where the avalanche was stopped by what we were certain was our friend Natsu. If he is now at the other end of the country, it's good you found us before we went off on a wild goose chase."

"Indeed, and I will be more than willing to take you there. Though its a long journey so we'd still have to catch a train. And you should make sure to cover up those Fairy Tail marks of yours. You're lucky that the Ministry haven't cottoned on to the fact that you're here…"

"Noted," Erza nodded.

"Um… by the way… now I've told my story I really think I should hear yours. "How are you… here in the middle of a city without drawing attention to yourself. The way you Fairy Tail mages usually act… your incredible magic… the Ministry should have come falling on the two of you like a ton of bricks by now."

"And perhaps they would have done, had we been openly using our magic in public. But… we've been being discrete."

"…Not a word I would use to describe the majority of you," Sirius muttered.

"Not a word we'd use either," Cana snorted.

"But then… how long have you been here?"

"About a week and a half now. We woke up on the side of a riverbank a few miles from here, no clue where we were, freaking out that we didn't know where our friends were, you know - the usual specs for being attacked by a dragon and the next thing you know finding yourself alone in a strange, unfamiliar place," Cana recited. "So we wandered off together searching for someone we knew, but the first thing we saw was this… huge road."

"Road?"

"Indeed," Erza nodded. "We were quite taken aback at the sight of it. Actually though it was more like two roads immediately next to each other. One with all these vehicles going in the same direction in three rows, and the other with vehicles going in the exact opposite direction in another three rows."

"Ah," Sirius couldn't help but smirk, putting on a faux voice of awe as he continued. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, what you are describing there is the world's largest and longest variety of road… they call it… the motorway!"

Erza rolled her eyes slightly. "Clearly it is a common thing in this world. But I am very well travelled back in my country and I had never encountered anything like it before. Most of the vehicles that were on it too were unfamiliar to me. And having been to an alternate world to my own only recently, also full of strange new things, it wasn't hard for me to deduce that we'd somehow landed in another world again."

"It's been known to happen," Cana agreed. "Granted only once that I'm aware of but we remembered Lisanna's story. How she almost died and then woke up in a totally strange place. We figured the same thing must have happened to us somehow. Though of course, Erza was willing to stroll right onto the road, stop a car in its tracks and make whoever was inside answer all her questions about this world," the brunette added with a wry smirk.

"I still don't see what would have been so wrong with that. After all, when I ask people things they usually tell me."

"Unless they don't do it fast enough," Cana shook her head. "But… fortunately… I stopped her and we heading into the nearest town. We reasoned that there was a chance this world was unfamiliar with magic and so searched for any signs of magic but couldn't really find any. So we decided to keep our own magic hidden so we wouldn't scare anyone and I used my tarot-reading skills to earn enough money for us to stay at a little bed and breakfast nearby. And… that's where we've been ever since, trying to work out what our next move will be."

"It's a relief to finally learn that our friends are okay," Erza smiled, before her expression hardened and she added, "Which means if we find out you were lying about that my rage will be doubled, understand?"

"Crystal clear, ma'am," Sirius saluted. "But heck, serious congratulations are in order for managing to keep such a low profile. My guess though is that Preston doesn't have very many wizards and witches in it. With that mark blared across the front page of every copy of the Daily Prophet, you would definitely have had Ministry company if a wizard or witch had seen you. But never mind that now. I'll take you lovely ladies down to London first thing in the morning. And then we can have a big old family reunion at Grimmauld Place as soon as I get Dumbledore to let you in. But for now…er…"

"You want to crash with us?" Cana snorted. "Well, wouldn't that make you a lucky fella, kipping in a room with two ladies like us. Hoping for a chance to see up our skirts, are you?"

"Cana…" Erza sighed.

"You know, if you really do know my father, you should probably not tell him that. I dunno how good his parenting skills are given he only found out he was my Dad the day Acnologia attacked, but I don't think he'd take it well… or… actually he might clap you on the back given how many women he's been with."

"Oh, I used to be a bit of ladies man myself," Sirius barked. "Not so much since my time in prison though. But, well, I could use a place to stay."

"Very well," Erza nodded, and the armour around her torso glowed and disappeared, leaving her back in the white shirt she'd been wearing underneath. "Then let's see if we can convince the landlady to let you stay. And hope we don't have to find a kennel to put you up for the night."

"…I've slept in worse places," Sirius muttered darkly, before transforming into a dog once more and trotting dutifully along next to the two women as they headed out of the alleyway.

* * *

Despite the lateness of the hour, Harry was very much still awake. How could he not be, having just seen his godfather snatched straight out of the fire in front of him. He was pacing back and forth across the Common Room at blazing speed, clenching his hands and having to physically stop himself from taking a swing at something.

The first thing he'd done after Hermione had stopped him from screaming Sirius' name and potentially waking the whole House, had been to dash up the stairs and grab the Marauder's Map. He'd scanned the battered parchment rapidly for Sirius' name and was extremely relieved to find it was not there. He could see Umbridge's name, in her office and standing next to her fireplace, probably trying to determine where the heck Sirius had come from and where he'd gone.

He'd then grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and rushed back down the stairs, intent on alerting Dumbledore to what had just happened, but Ron had accosted him before he could get out of the door.

"Mate, slow down," he said. "Lily and Charla just left to talk to Dumbledore. If Sirius has gone from Grimmauld Place I bet they'll be sending out search parties within the next five minutes."

"Yeah, and I should be with them," Harry cried, trying to shoulder past his best friend, but Ron was quite a bit taller than he was and was able to hold him back.

"If you go out looking for Sirius, Umbridge is going to notice!" he reasoned. "She's going to know that Sirius was talking to you."

"I don't care! Ron, what if this was your father that had just been snatched. You're telling me you'd just sit back and do nothing while others sorted it out? He's the only family I've got left!"

"My father's not a fugitive. If he'd been snatched then it wouldn't look suspicious for me to go after him! But you? Damn it, Harry, people are already calling you a deluded attention-seeker just for telling the truth about You-Know-Who. If people start to think you and Sirius are in cahoots before Sirius' name is cleared? They'll start saying you're trying to become the next Dark Lord or something."

"That's ridiculous! That's complete and utter…"

"You think I don't know that? But come on, Harry, the Daily Prophet will say anything and people will believe it. And even if you don't count that, if Fudge learns you and Sirius are in contact, he'd have you arrested immediately."

"Ron's right, Harry," said a voice, and Harry turned to see Ginny coming down the stairs, Hermione close behind her. Evidently Hermione had chosen to rouse her in light of what had happened. "Even if Dumbledore will let you go anywhere until the world believes that You-Know-Who is back in action you're stuck here."

Harry really had kicked something at that, and then immediately regretted it because the sofa was quite sturdy even if it was comfortable to sit on. But then he sagged down upon the cushions for a while and put his face in his hands. Hermione and Ginny sat down on either side of him, while Ron headed up the stairs to wake up the twins - who would be royally pissed if they found out that they'd been excluded from this later on. The two of them had come down looking very white. They'd forged quite a strong friendship with Sirius over the summer, especially when they'd found out he and Lupin had been two members of the Marauders.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Harry," Fred noted, sounding just as much like he was consoling himself as the younger boy. "After all, Padfoot's got years of experience on the run even back here in his Hogwarts days running from the teachers."

"He knows how to keep his ass out of prison," agreed George. "And the Ministry still doesn't know about his Animagus form. If they did, it would have been in the papers by now."

It was fifteen minutes later that Charla appeared on the windowsill to find Harry pacing. The bespectacled boy immediately ran over to her and said, "What's happening, what did he say?"

"Professor Dumbledore says that you should get some rest," Charla replied.

"What, that's it? My godfather was snatched out of his own home and he just says I should go to bed?"

"Realistically Harry, that's all you yourself can do. But he says not to worry. Umbridge won't be able to trace the fireplace that she tried to snatch Sirius out of. The Fidelius Charm on Grimmauld Place extends to the Floo Network."

"But can we track what fireplace Sirius came out of?" Ginny asked.

"Not if he broke free of the Floo stream which he apparently did to get out of Umbridge's grip. He could have emerged from any fireplace connected to the Network between here and London. But Dumbledore advises you not to worry. He's sending out search parties and advises you to remember that Sirius knows the way home. He'll also update you if there's any news."

"I… I can't just… sit here…" Harry floundered.

"But you have to," Charla reprimanded him, sounding almost like she was a staff member. "Also, ten points have been taken from Gryffindor."

"Wait… what?" Ron blinked.

"Dumbledore was very disappointed you were communicating in such a reckless manner without his knowledge," Charla shrugged. "But he can't really do much more than that without giving away you did something wrong so… he docked points."

"I… guess that's fair," Hermione murmured.

"Disagree," Ron heaved a sigh, but looked relieved that they weren't in more trouble.

"Lily and I are going to head back to London to aid in the search," Charla said. "If he's in London, we'll find him. We'll see you soon, okay?"

"Thanks," Harry muttered, grateful despite his frustration, and Charla hopped back off the windowsill and spread her wings, soaring off in the direction of the Hog's Head where Lily would be waiting for them to make a Floo jump.

"Harry, he's right. It is a reckless way to communicate. Anyone could have come downstairs at any time to find us talking to him," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I know!" Harry snapped bitterly. "You don't need to give me the lecture. We're not talking through the fireplace again after this, okay?"

"And you're taking your irritation out on Hermione because…?" Ginny raised a brow. "Just chill, Harry. I'm sure Sirius will be fine. And in the meantime, what's happened here tonight is just another excuse we have for taking maximum pleasure out of defying that squat little toadstool of a woman with our secret Defence group."

"Yeah… yeah, you're right," Harry nodded, clenching his fist and staring at the marks engraved on the back of it that Umbridge had made him put there. "And when Pantherlily gets back we're putting that werewolf thing back into action. We're not going to let this teacher last until the end of the year if I have anything to say about it."

* * *

"Got anything, Natsu?" Happy asked as he swept through the night sky over London. It was so dark out that most nobody would really have been able to see them, but he was still flying high enough that it would have taken very careful observation for a pedestrian to realise they were not a bird.

"Nothing yet," Natsu said, swinging his head back and forth like it was a metal detector and inhaling deeply through his nostrils every three seconds. "If I do smell something I'll let you know… damn though, this is a big ass city."

"And I thought that the Royal capital of Edolas was big," Happy agreed. "This one might be even bigger. Probably is actually."

"Yeah… and… somewhere below it…" Natsu trailed off, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist so hard his veins stood out on the back of it.

"Natsu… are you still thinking about the dragons?" Happy asked, nervously.

"I couldn't stop thinking about them," Natsu muttered harshly. "Tickling the girls can only drive it away for so long…"

"But Natsu, you have to try and forget. There's nothing that you can do about that to get the goblins to let them go."

"I know that," Natsu folded his arms, his voice a low growl. "But still… I can't help but…"

He trailed off.

"Hmm? Can't help but what?" Happy asked.

"Nothing," Natsu shook his head. "Let's keep looking."

Happy opened his mouth to say something else - clearly Natsu was in quite a bad mood and he didn't like seeing his partner like this. But he decided against saying any more because there wouldn't be any point. It wouldn't change the fact that there were dragons in chains beneath the city so until Natsu could put that behind him it would not change his mood. At least not for long anyway.

"Although…" Natsu suddenly said, turning to glance up at the blue Exceed. "Happy… we're partners, right?"

"Huh…" Happy blinked, before his face split into a grin, the city lights below flashing in the darkness as they arced over the River Trent. "Aye. And that's something that's never going to change."

Natsu's returning grin though… was just a tiny bit savage.

"Glad to hear it. Cos there's something I think we have to do."

* * *

Sneaking Sirius into the bed and breakfast wasn't easy. There was a strict no animal policy and since both girls wanted to avoid paying for another person to stay so that they could have the maximum amount of money to pay for the train, they decided to try and sneak him in through the door.

Fortunately Cana's fortune-telling skills came to the rescue once again, and when she was loudly distracting the woman at the reception with her predictions, Erza hurried the dog-shaped wizard through the lobby and up the stairs before anyone could notice him, whereupon he turned back into a man just before the stairs and they waited for Cana to rejoin them.

"Well, that woman's not going to have a good week," Cana shrugged as she appeared and they headed up to the room that the two of them had booked. "It looked like she was going to get the fright of her life in the near future, but I didn't tell her that. I fudged the results a bit this time just to keep her happy. After all, she wasn't paying me."

"So you really can tell fortunes then?" Sirius asked curiously.

"It's a talent," Cana smirked.

"Could you tell me mine?"

"Probably, but usually its not all that clear unless you ask me a specific question."

"I think we've probably had enough fortune-telling tonight," Erza said as she entered the room, which contained a bunk bed, a desk and a wardrobe and pretty much nothing else. Almost as soon as the door was shut, Erza's body glowed and, for a split second Sirius was pretty sure she was stark naked beneath the glowing light. He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to look away (or whether he should take a closer look) but before he could do either Erza was suddenly dressed in a pair of pyjamas, just like that.

"Huh, that's handy," Sirius said. "I'm surprised we haven't come up with a spell that lets us do that."

"You can sleep in the top bunk tonight, Sirius," Erza stated with a nod of her head as she walked over to the window.

"I can? But what about you? Aren't you planning on sleeping?"

"No, I shall keep watch," the redhead drew up a chair and settled down into it, giving Sirius a wide smirk as she made herself comfortable. "You haven't quite passed the barrier of trust just yet, after all. And even if everything you've told us is one-hundred percent true… you still might try peeking up Cana's skirt in the night after all."

"Naughty boy," Cana laughed as she collapsed into the bottom bunk and almost immediately fell asleep, having been a little more inebriated than she looked.

"Fair enough," Sirius said, before clambering into the top bunk and shifting back into a dog, curling up into a ball and settling himself down amongst the covers, flicking his tail lightly. Erza had to admit, he really did look kinda cute like that. But she settled herself down for a night of vigilance - something that was more than used to.

But… what none of them had reckoned with was the fact that while the rooms of the bed and breakfast were free of surveillance… the stairwell and hallways were lined with security cameras. Security cameras that led to screens behind the reception. And on one of those screens was a paused image that had been zoomed in to frame Sirius' face.

The receptionist frowned, racking her brain as she tried to summon up the memory. She'd watched on the cameras as the two women had ferried this strange man right up to their room. A man who very definitely had not paid, and who knew what kind of hijinks they might be getting up to behind closed doors! That certainly wasn't on! And she'd been about to storm up the stairs to confront them and probably throw them out… except…

There was something familiar about that man. Who… who was he? Where had she seen his face before?

And then… Cana's prediction came true and the woman got the fright of her life when she remembered! Oh no! Two years ago… it had been all over the news! Word of a mass murderer that had escaped from prison and armed himself with a gun!

Although Sirius Black was a wizard, the Muggle population had been warned about him nonetheless…

Oh gosh! Maybe the girls were in danger! Maybe they were being forced to harbour this man! Whatever the case, her next course of action was clear!

She picked up the phone… and called 999.

* * *

The night wore on, and still Natsu and Happy could find nothing. Eventually they were joined in the air by Gajeel and Wendy, the two other Dragon Slayers taking to the skies as soon as their Exceed popped in through the fireplace to help with the search. Like giant bats they zoomed over the London landscape, criss-crossing each other's paths constantly and covering every inch within the M25 ring road between them.

But after they found a grand total of nothing, the three of them regrouped on the roof of the tallest building in the city - a skyscraper with a pyramid roof called One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, right in the heart of the wide city sprawl.

"Well, that's that then," Gajeel huffed. "If he was in the city we'd have found him by now."

"What do we do now?" Wendy asked.

"There's not a whole lot we can do. If he's not here, he's not here. We can't go trawling the entire country for him tonight," Charla said.

"We should go back to Grimmauld Place," Lily agreed. "Let the others know."

"You can do that if you want," Natsu muttered in a low voice. He stood framed against the skyline, his scarf billowing out to one side in the late night wind, the mosaic of lights spread out before him like fireflies. "I have somewhere else to be. Happy… let's go."

"Natsu, are you sure about this?" the blue Exceed asked hesitantly.

"Dead sure. I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't. Let's go!"

"…Aye sir!" Happy nodded determinedly, leaping up to grab Natsu's back and heave him off the roof, diving straight down the side of the building like a falling meteor.

"Oi! Salamander! Where are you going!?" Gajeel roared as he bolted to the side, Wendy right beside him. When they saw Natsu level off and swoop away on Happy's wings, the Iron Dragon Slayer grimaced and threw himself into the air, going into instant free-fall down, down, down towards the pavement.

"Gajeel-san!" Wendy yelled, as Lily dived off after him, snatching the heavy man and twisting into flight. Moments later, Charla scooped up Wendy herself and both Dragon Slayer and Exceed duos rushed off in pursuit of the third.

"The hell do you think you're going!?" Gajeel yelled.

Natsu grimaced and looked back over his shoulder. "I found it," he said. "While flying over the city. That place that Charlie was talking about earlier. That Gringott's place."

"What?" Gajeel blinked.

"The place where the goblins are holding the dragons captive?" Wendy gasped.

"Wait, say what?" Charla, who had missed this conversation due to being at Hogwarts, gaped. "Dragons held captive?"

"That's right!" Natsu snarled, veins pulsing in his forehead as Happy shot low over the building rooftops, snaking his way around the topmost floors of the skyscrapers. "And I'm going to free them!"

"What? You can't, Natsu-san!" Wendy cried. "If you attack something important like a bank then the Ministry will surely think that we…"

"I DON'T CARE!" Natsu roared, cutting Wendy off before she could finish. "Tell me you weren't the same, Wendy. Tell me you weren't picturing the same thing as me when you heard what Charlie was saying?"

Wendy faltered and bit her lip, screwing up her eyes as her imagination welled its way up to the surface again. Her ears were filled with stricken, agonised roars and screams, and the rattles of chains. Her mind's eye flared with the images she'd tried to push to the back of her mind. Images of a dragon weighted down by chains, wings cruelly tethered to its sides and screeching, struggling madly for freedom as men crowded around it (she'd never seen a goblin so she substituted for men) and poking at the dragon with scalding brands, hacking it with swords and axes, turning the dragon's world into nothing but a ball of pain.

But it was not just any dragon that Wendy was picturing.

"Grandine…" Wendy shivered, watching as the imaginary version of the beautiful white Sky Dragon bellowed in pain. "I imagined that it was Grandine in captivity. I imagined.. that she was the one they were tormenting."

"I knew it. I'm the same. I picture it to be Igneel…" Natsu growled, watching as his valiant foster father struggled with all his might only to be pinned down and muzzled like some violent guard dog. "There's no way that Igneel would ever let himself be taken down by some crappy goblins but I still can't stop imagining it."

Wendy rubbed her eyes and turned to their companion. "What about you, Gajeel-san? Do you imagine Metalicana?"

Gajeel snorted. "You kidding me? There's no way Metalicana could ever be chained down. After all he'd just eat the damn chains and get some serious payback."

"But did you imagine it anyway?" Lily questioned.

"Mgh…" Gajeel grunted, a sour looking crossing his face slightly. "…Yeah, I imagined it. Not that I care… the guy was always a jerk…"

Lily rolled his eyes. He certainly hadn't known Gajeel very long compared to Happy and Charla knowing their partners, but he'd already become very good at spotting when Gajeel wasn't being entirely honest. For someone who wanted a cat as desperately as he apparently had, he was oddly stand-offish about people knowing he missed his dragon foster-father.

"Well, I can't stop picturing it," Natsu stated. "It's messed up. Now I wonder if Igneel really did get captured. Maybe that's why he disappeared."

"You don't think that could really have happened, do you?" Wendy asked.

"I dunno. But I can't do anything about that right now. All I know is that I can free the dragons in that bank place! If Igneel was down there I'd do it in a heartbeat! So why should I hold myself back from freeing other dragons? I can't… and I won't… I'm going in! You guys with me?"

Wendy glanced at Gajeel for his reaction but Gajeel was staring into space, his studded brow creased as he allowed himself to dwell on Metalicana for a moment. He'd never mentioned it before but when the Iron Dragon had disappeared he too had spent long months searching for him, and despaired when he'd found nothing. And as he allowed himself to imagine, really imagine now, the dragon that raised him tormented and in pain… his blood began to boil.

"Alright… it's time for us to go on one more rampage!" he growled.

Wendy swallowed, but her face twisted into a mask of resolution. "Okay, I'm in! Let's do it!"

"Wendy, think about this!" Charla cried. "We promised the Order that we would work with them from now on, consult them about things before we…"

"Charla… Natsu-san's right. We have to do this!" Wendy shook her head. "I can't not do it. And the Order can't help us. They can't interfere with the Goblins, they said so."

"But we can!" Natsu grinned fiercely. "So let's do it now while the Ministry still thinks we're enemies anyway!"

* * *

Bill Weasley sighed as he stepped out of his office and placed his hands on his hips, bending over backwards in an attempt to work the kinks out of his spine from where he'd been bent over a desk all night. Ugh, he missed the tombs in Egypt. At least all-nighters over there were fun. His work here required him to mostly sign and stamp about five-thousand forms every half an hour. It was exhausting and it often kept him so busy that he missed out on hearing important Order updates. Like now, for instance, as he was totally unaware of the fact Sirius had disappeared.

"Ah, Monsieur Bill. It looks like you 'ave been 'aving quite ze long night."

Although… working here did have its perks.

"Oh, hello Fleur," Bill cleared his throat quickly as a beautiful Quarter-Veela with long, luxurious silvery-blonde hair approached him. Fleur Delacour, the young witch from France who had recently gotten a job here as well in an attempt to improve her English speaking skills. Though she had been quite good at it to begin with and her accent was still just as strong as ever even after a couple of months. "Just finished your shift as well, have you?"

"Oui," Fleur flashed him a breathtaking smile. "It is most tiring, but I am grateful that ze goblins are at least generous wiz zose that work 'ard. It means I can keep up with my rent quite easily. I was just about to 'ead 'ome when I saw you zere."

"Well, I was just about to do the same," Bill nodded. "Um… why don't I escort you to the fireplaces?"

"Ooh, 'ow dashing, Monsieur Weasley," Fleur batted her eyelashes slightly, which she seemed to do to everyone so Bill wondered if it was a behavioural reflex that just came from being part Veela, though of course he didn't ask that.

"Just like your brozer, Monsieur Ron and his friend 'Arry. 'Ow are zey, by ze way?"

"Well… I think they could be better in all honesty," Bill said. "It doesn't sound like things are going easily at Hogwarts, what with that Umbridge woman there and all. And of course Harry's having to put up with being slandered every day by the general public."

Fleur huffed. "Oh, I know. It is disgraceful. I 'ave been reading ze zings zey 'ave been saying about 'im. I zink it is a load of trollop. I did not know 'Arry very well even zough 'e was also a Triwizard Champion but from what I saw 'e is one of ze bravest and yet most modest people I 'ave ever met. And I was zere… zat night that Cedric…" she trailed off, biting her lip shaking her head, the clack of her heels on the polished floor of the bank's entrance hall sounding very loud in the awkward silence. "It is so ridiculous zat your Ministry is zo obstinately refusing to listen to 'im."

Bill was surprised at Fleur's vehemence. Given that he was part of the Order and couldn't really afford to be seen backing Harry too strongly even though it was common knowledge he was friends with the Weasley family, he had not really discussed this topic with Fleur before now. "So… you definitely believe him then? That You-Know-Who is back?"

"Of course. Don't you?" Fleur asked. "'Arry would not lie about something like zat. I remember well 'ow un'appy 'e was when 'e was forced to become a Champion. 'Ow much 'e wanted to fade into ze background. 'e would not make something like zis up, especially given what 'appened to 'is family. Madame Maxime agrees with me on zat fact, and so does Monsieur Krum."

"Victor Krum?" Bill blinked.

"Oui. I asked 'im before we left 'Ogwarts last year," Fleur nodded.

"Oh right," Bill nodded. Now he was seriously considering asking if Fleur could become a member of Order. She might not have performed as well as the other competitors in the Triwizard Tournament but she was still a highly capable witch otherwise she wouldn't have been picked for it by the Goblet of Fire. And she seemed very much on Harry's side, plus Madame Maxime was an honorary member as it was. She might make a good fit.

"Well, I agree," Bill nodded. "I think its stupid the amount of flak that Harry's getting. This is going to bite the Ministry in the backside at some point, I can tell you. But they're much more focused on catching these Fairy Tail mages right now."

"Oh yes, I 'ave 'eard about zem. What do you make of zem? Do you zink ze Dark Lord would try and reach out to zem as allies?"

"He might try," Bill snorted. "But to be honest I don't think he'd have much luck. I don't think that these Fairy Tail mages are quite as bad as the Ministry's painting them."

"Really? What makes you say zat?"

"Well, if you think about it, based on the power they seem to have they could have probably levelled the Ministry if they wanted to. But they didn't, they only damaged some parts of it and escaped. And they haven't attacked anywhere since then even though they probably could. I'm willing to bet that as long as we leave them alone, they'd be perfectly willing to leave us alone too."

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

The colossal fiery explosion fifty feet away sent the bronze doors flying clean off their hinges. Goblins screeched and scattered as they clanged down with enough force to shake the room. Bill, who was used to having to react to something sudden and fast thanks to being a Curse Breaker, twisted around and seized Fleur's waist, pulling her backwards and away from the door just in time for them to see three figures come swooping in through the smoke, the one in the lead bellowing at the top of his voice.

"**I'M ALL FIRED UP!"**


	28. Gringotts Attack

**Warden of Lore** \- Wow, thank you very much indeed! But to be honest, I've been writing this story much slower than my previous ones thanks to real life getting in the way all the time, most specifically uni. I hope I'll be getting on the ball soon but I make no promises. But thank you for your support!

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 28:- Gringotts Attack**

* * *

Chaos broke out across the bank instantaneously from the moment the doors were blasted in! Goblins dove off their chairs and scrambled away in sudden panic, piles of Galleons and Sickles overturning to spill across the floor like small rivers, as the three Exceed carried their respective Dragon Slayers swooping down the middle of the foyer.

Almost without needing to be told, Happy abruptly released Natsu, allowing him to thunder downwards and skid across the polished marble even as his fist exploded into light and he wheeled around to one goblin teller who seemed petrified in his seat, staring down his crooked nose at the savagely grimacing Fire Mage.

"WHERE… ARE… THE DRAGONS!?" he roared with a whirl of his scarf as he hammered his fist into the ground. Fire erupted all around him, shattering the marble and billowing out in all directions to char the floor and the walls and send goblins flying with the sheer backlash of the blast. The moment it subsided, Gajeel and Wendy landed next to him while the three cats whirled around overhead.

"Natsu-san, let's not take it too far…" Wendy started, but then she clapped her hands over her ears as a sudden alarm blared throughout the bank and several goblins started screaming:-

"ATTACK! ATTACK! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! ARM YOURSELVES QUICK, WE'RE BEING ATTAAAAAAACKED!"

"Doesn't sound like restraint's going to be much of an option here," Gajeel smirked, watching as several goblins grabbed polished swords and shields from a pile by a nearby door, brandishing them wildly as they charged straight in towards the intruders. The Iron Mage lunged forwards, to intercept, leaping into a furious spin and morphing his arm into a club, sending it sweeping out to the side to obliterate three desks and blindside seven Goblins at once, sending them catapulting across the bank to hit the wall at the bank.

"We'll make 'em tell us where the dragons are," Natsu grinned, his fists blazing. "We're not leaving here without them, so you better get fired up too, Wendy. We've got a fight on our hands!"

"R…Right…" Wendy nodded, her head whipping up around her as she drew on her own Sky Dragon abilities. "I'll do my best, Natsu-san, Gajeel-san." She punctuated the remark by sweeping her arms out to either side, generating a magic circle beneath each palm. "Arms! Vernier! Enchant!" she cried, sending power flooding straight into not only herself but the other two, their bodies glowing for a moment to signify the spell had worked. The other two grinned and barrelled forwards side by side at incredible speed, hammering through a nearby wall with a burst of flame and a clang of iron, sending goblins and a couple of other wizard workers scattering to avoid the debris.

Bill had dragged Fleur behind a pillar, holding the French witch close as they peered out at the destruction (a purely platonic gesture to keep them hidden, honest). "What the hell are they doing?" Bill hissed as he watched the goblins try to rally only to be blown back by another fiery blast. "They said they wouldn't pull this kind of stunt anymore!"

"Monsieur Bill?" Fleur blinked, looking up at him. "You… you know zem?"

Bill blinked and swore slightly when he realised he'd said that out loud. "Well… I just… okay, look Fleur its a long story and I promise I'll explain it to you when I have the time but now really isn't it. But if the Dragon Slayers are here…" he mused, before gritting his teeth. "Charlie must have told them… oh crap, why didn't we think of this before? Of course they'd be mad! Ugh, sorry Fleur, I have to do something!"

"But… wait…" Fleur blinked as Bill extricated himself and ran across the room, pulling out his wand as he went. He whirled towards the door and cast a silvery light with a flick of his wrist, which whooshed out of the door and vanished into the night sky, before Bill turned around to where Gajeel had picked up a desk and sent it shooting backwards with a kick, his legs extending outwards as a metal plug to splinter the desk against the wall and shower nearby goblins with the pieces. The Dragon Slayers were turning the foyer into a train wreck!

"Bill?" said a voice, and the eldest Weasley brother looked up to see Charla swooping down to hover nearby. "What are you doing here?"

"I was working a late shift! More to the point, what are you doing here? I'd have thought you'd have more sense than to let them do this, Charla!"

"I was heavily against it, believe me! But when it comes to dragons its impossible to dissuade any of them…"

"Are you going to help us?" Happy asked.

"I can't help you! If I did I'd be publicly letting people know I'm in league with you! I shouldn't even be talking to you!"

"**KARYUU NO… YOKUGEKI!" **Natsu roared as he barrelled his way into the middle of the room, lashing his arms out and unleashing his wing attack, which pulsed out in all directions to pulse the most of the remaining members of the staff in the foyer into the air, scattering them across and leaving them dazed or unconscious. Bill was now the only one left standing besides Fleur, and he couldn't help but gape as he stared about the room. For the first time he was witnessing a taste of what these offworlders were capable of… and it was stunning.

But now Wendy was sniffing the air, her head cocked as she raised her nostrils up to take in deep lungfuls. Suddenly she gasped and point off down a nearby corridor. "Natsu-san! Gajeel-san! I can smell them. It's faint but it smells a bit like the dragons I met a few weeks ago."

"Then we're going that way! I'll clear a path!" Gajeel grinned as he thundered forwards. Lines of goblins were charging down the corridor towards them, but Gajeel swiftly put paid to that by lashing his head around and crying, **"TETSURYUU NO… HOUKOU!"** His Iron Roar cannoned down the corridor in a swirling helix of metallic bits, scooping up goblins and sending them shooting backwards and to either side, littering the corridor with their faintly groaning bodies. Gajeel plunged straight down the middle like a freight train, Natsu right behind him and Wendy bringing up the rear.

"If you're not going to help us, Bill," Lily said as he lowered himself to the Weasley brother's level. "Then I suggest you get clear and tell the authorities that the attack happened just after you left."

"Wait!" Bill cried as the cats whirled around to follow their partners. "What the heck do they think they're going to do with those dragons once they find them! They're not tame you know!" But it was too late. They'd already left earshot. Bill gritted his teeth and, against his better judgement, he ran after them.

And after a short pause, Fleur's curiosity got the best of her and she followed.

* * *

"How many of these things are there?" Gajeel yelled a minute or so later as he kicked another Goblin squarely in the shield it was trying to use to defend itself against him and sent both flying backwards.

"Doesn't matter how many of them they bring at us!" Natsu bellowed as he sprang past Gajeel to land on his hands and sweep his legs through the air, sweeping fire from his soles to batter aside another cluster. "We've got 'em bang to rights! Doesn't matter what they throw at us - we're ready for them!"

"There's a door ahead!" cried Wendy, as they beheld a big, spherical golden door set at the end of the corridor, with goblins flocking around it. "I can smell the dragons on the other side!"

"I smell 'em too!" Natsu grinned. "And we're coming through! Out of my way!" He bolted down the pass, his body entirely enshrouded in flame that filled the corridor like an oncoming meteor. Natsu sprang in a mighty leap, flames surging as it blasted him down the hall towards the door.

"Gajeel-san! There's magic on that door!" Wendy gasped. "It might be able to withstand his attack!"

"Then let's give him a boost!" Gajeel grinned, solidifying his body into metal and lashing out with an Iron Dragon Club that lanced down the corridor to impact Natsu's feet and carry him forwards at an even greater speed. Wendy added a full scale Sky Dragon's Roar into the mix, throwing it beneath Gajeel's arms to fan Natsu's fire and send him even more explosively forwards. Goblins screeched and scattered before the oncoming comet as Natsu bellowed, "KARYUU NO… KENKAKU!"

He slammed headfirst into the vault door, a blow that would cave in the head of any ordinary person, but Natsu instead tore the not just the door, but the entire wall around it away. The blast lifted goblin and human alike into the air to send them flying willy-nilly, and Gajeel had to grab Wendy to keep her from being blown backwards as well, but as the door clanged to the ground, Natsu tucked his legs in and forward-rolled to a smooth landing on the other side…

…and also inside a cart.

"Huh?" Natsu blinked, staring down at the four-wheeled device he'd found himself in… and the rails in front of it that curved sharply down to descend into an enormous cavern below, numerous tracks crossing and crossing over the gap. And then… the cart started to move, Natsu's landing having jolted it free of its moorings as it tipped towards the edge of the rails.

"NAAH!" Natsu gasped, instantly turning around and trying to scramble off but the cart whooshed over the first drop in the tracks and threw him onto his back. "NO! HELP!" he wailed. "NOT… THIS…! MMMGHH!" His cheeks puffed out, his lips puckered and his face turned blue as a sudden urge to vomit swept through him. "Heeeeeeeeeeelp…" he croaked as the cart whooshed down the track and away!

"Natsu-san!" Wendy screamed. "Oh no, I didn't cast a Troia on him!"

"Bloody Salamander and his bloody motion sickness!" Gajeel yelled as he ran forwards to stare after the disappearing cart whirling its way around the impromptu rollercoaster. "This ain't supposed to be a rescue mission for him!"

"We've got more incoming!" Charla shouted as Goblins poured out of the corridors all around them. They had rallied quickly, arming themselves to the teeth. Swords and spears of glittering steel were clutched in their long fingered hands, and they quickly converged on the Dragon Slayers from almost all points of the compass.

"Leave them to me," Pantherlily said as he landed on the ground, sprouting out into his full battle size and hefting his Musica Blade from him back. "You guys go after Natsu and free those dragons. I'll hold them off for a while."

"Will you be okay on your own?" Happy asked.

"You kidding me!? That's my cat you're talking to," Gajeel grinned. "Come on, let's move!"

"Aye!" Happy cried as he grabbed Gajeel and hefted him into the air while Charla gripped Wendy and soared off too. Lily's face set in a fierce snarl as he hefted his blade at the snarling mob coming towards him. These guys were only protecting what was there's so Lily didn't want to kill them. But he couldn't afford to be lenient with them either.

"COME ON THEN!" he roared, swinging his blade out and enlarging it, using the flat of the humungous blade to blindside the front rows of the goblin attackers and like a cricket bat to the ball, knocking them all for sixes. More Goblins pressed in and Lily swept his blade back the other way, then threw himself into a full one-eighty spin that swept many more aside. But the waves of them approached and Lily quickly found them too close to wield the sword to its full length efficiently. So he shortened the blade and dived straight into the oncoming ranks.

His sword collided with two goblin spears with a sharp clang and he heaved the wielders aside with a mighty swing while he whirled around to parry another hacking stab from the sword of another goblin. He suddenly lashed out with one hand and grabbed the Goblin by the front of his robe, hefting him off the ground and using him as a flail to bat aside two more while his sword twisted to the side and batted the legs out from a further three. He spun with the grace of a dancer that belied his massive frame to pitch the goblin in his arm into a crowd of others and grab the hilt of his sword in both hands, bringing it in front of him to form a shield against the thrusts of four more Goblins and sweeping them back, enlarging the blade to crash it into over a dozen others.

But as he pressed his attack, the Goblins pressed theirs in turn, yelling and shrieking in some guttural language he couldn't place. And there were so many of them, coming on in waves, so when he made another sweep to send another five spinning, two Goblin spears raked across his back. "Nngh!" he grunted as he hefted the blade over his shoulder and slammed it into the ground, using it as a pole to swing his body around and kick several Goblins away, then gripped it and enlarged it before swinging it while still embedded in the floor, tearing up the marble in a plume of rubble that blasted aside several others. But even as he did that another spear slashed at his leg and a sword raked across his gut.

"Ghhg…" Lily jumped backwards towards the gap in the wall but the Goblins pressed in even further. Lily gritted his teeth - they filled the spaces he created instantly and they were so small and high in number that they were getting past his guard. Two of them flung their spears at him and he parried them out of the air with a sweep of the blade before bringing it down to shield himself from three hacking swords, but a fourth and fifth sword hacked into his thigh from the side.

"Damnit," Lily muttered to himself, blood streaming down his leg from the sharp blades even as he backhanded the goblins that did it with his fist. "I'm too big a target for such small creatures… but perhaps there's a way to rectify that."

He smirked as one Goblin lunged at him with a sweep of a large axe, before suddenly dropping back into his little form and parrying the stroke, levering the startled Goblin aside with his much smaller sword. He extended his wings and flung himself bodily into the nearest Goblin, head butting him backwards and kicking off from his body to bat the sword of another aside and clout him in the face with the flat of his own sword.

Instantly afterwards he looped over and soared across the line of Goblins, holding his sword out to the side to slam the legs out from beneath them, then swept up and over to land in the middle of a large bunch of them. They all turned to hack at him but he span in a circle with blade outstretched, surging up into full battle form again to sweep in one huge three-sixty degree swing that sent over thirty goblins flying in all directions, before immediately shrinking into his smaller form again and neatly dodging a flying spear before dive-bombing the one who threw it.

"Come and get me!" he grinned. "Let's see how you like it when your opponent is smaller than you for a change! Geehee!"

* * *

"….aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhnnnnnn…." Natsu could only squeak as he rocketed madly from left to right, round and round and all about in a series of angles that he would surely have fallen out if there was not some magic keeping him in the cart. He'd never had motion sickness this bad before on anything he'd ever ridden before and he could only lie in the bottom of the cart with his legs sticking up and try not to throw up or pass out, or both, as his ride barrelled down the track at insane speed.

"Natsu! Hold on, we're coming!" Happy yelled as he shot after the cart with Gajeel, spinning straight down the middle of the track and veering in pursuit at boosted Vernier speed, Wendy and Charla on their heels. "Gajeel, can you get him?"

"My pleasure!" Gajeel grinned savagely, windmilling one arm and roaring, "TETSURYUUKON!" hurling down an Iron Dragon Club that shot across the track right in front of Natsu's cart, causing a sudden head-on collision that sent Natsu's transportation flying off the rails and into freefall. Natsu spilled out of it, dazed and blue in the face as he obeyed the call of gravity and fell straight down. Gajeel quickly remoulded the end of the club back into a hand and swung it around to try and catch him by the ankle… when…

"YAAAGH!" he and Happy both yelled as they where suddenly yanked off course by an unseen force and began to spin madly around in circles on the spot, their bodies highlighted by a yellowish aura that indicated they'd blundered into one of the many traps that Gringotts had set in place for thieves that might try and fly in on a broom.

"WHAAAAAT THHHHEEEE BLOOOOOOODDDYYYY HEEEEEEEELLLLLL!?" Gajeel roared as he was whipped around like a tornado.

"NAAAAAAATSSSSSUUUUUUU!" Happy agreed as the Fire Dragon plunged further down into the darkness. But Wendy was streaking down after him, Charla putting her max speed into her downwards swoop as they drew level with Natsu, allowing Wendy to sweep out her arms and generate a Sky Dragon's Wing Attack that hoisted him back upwards by the sheer force of the updraft.

"ARMS!" Wendy cried, giving Charla a strength boost as she herself grabbed Natsu by hooking her arms beneath his, allowing Charla to easily carry two people up and away, landing on a nearby ledge just as Natsu began to recover. And up above, Gajeel roared and broke free of the curse by kicking out with his legs, extending them as poles to slam into a nearby wall and allow him to rebound off it from a distance. A dizzy Happy struggled to regain his equilibrium, but he was able to carry Gajeel down to an ungainly landing next to Natsu.

"Ugh… now that one almost made me motion sick," Gajeel muttered.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" Natsu suddenly shot up and lunged forward to slam his head into Gajeel's. "YOU TRYING TO GET ME KILLED?"

"I WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO DO THAT IF YOU'D JUST WATCHED WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" Gajeel roared, pushing back with his own forehead.

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT WAS THERE?!"

"YOU WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO KNOW IF YOU DIDN'T GO CHARGING IN BRAINLESSLY!"

"LIKE YOU'RE ANY DIFFERENT!"

"YOU WANNA GO!?"

"I'LL PULP YOU TO IRON FILLINGS!"

"Guys!" Wendy shouted, bringing the argument to a momentary halt as she pointed upwards. Natsu and Gajeel swung their heads around to look, eyes widening as they saw more goblins rushing out of the catacombs a couple of levels above them, armed to the teeth and looking eager for battle.

"Bloody hell, how many of them are there?" Gajeel muttered.

"Doesn't matter how many there are. We'll send them all packing," Natsu grimaced, the two Dragon Slayers abandoning their argument and squaring off the of the upcoming fight.

* * *

It was unusual for Cornelius Fudge to still be in office at this late hour, but he had just been attending a meeting with the Wizarding Cabinet, in talks about how they were going to try and keep the Statute of Secrecy intact after that disastrously public show of magic in the Cairngorms. It had not got them very far - none of them really had any clue about how to tackle the problem except to issue a statement telling all witches and wizards to keep their heads down and not do anything suspicious in the hope that the situation would blow over and eventually the Muggles would forget about it. But considering the mass destruction in Chagford that had also gone down, it was unlikely that would be for a while.

The subject had naturally turned to what they were going to do about Fairy Tail, but given they had no clue where Fairy Tail was they had not made any progress on that front either.

The question on everyone's mind though was what they were planning to do with any Fairy Tail member that they did manage to capture. Their destructive capabilities, after all, had everyone on a knife edge and nobody could agree on how they should contain them. There were some who thought they should try and rehabilitate these offworlders into their society, but many others who were against it and thought they should be locked away in a bunker somewhere far from society.

It was a mess, and Fudge was struggling under the pressure to lead the scared public through this troubled time.

But the meeting was just about to adjourn… and that was when a green robed witch from the Department of Security burst in, pale in the face and almost frothing at the mouth.

"Minister! Minister!" she panted. "It's bad… Merlin's beard, it's very bad!"

"Calm down, Agnes!" Scrimgeour intervened, stepping forward to grip the woman's shoulder and steady her. "What's happened? What's going on?"

The witch heaved in a couple of deep breaths before gasping out, "There's an attack! We've received word that Gringott's Bank in Diagon Alley is under attack!"

"What?" Fudge was on his feet instantly. "By who?"

"F… Fairy Tail, Minister," Agnes quailed. "The Goblins say that there are three Fairy Tail mages there!"

"You see, Scrimgeour!" Fudge said. "How can we extend the hand of friendship, as you put it, to people that wantonly attack our finance system! They must be trying to cripple us by taking out our money reserves!"

Scrimgeour grimaced - he couldn't deny that he couldn't possibly fathom why Fairy Tail would suddenly attack a bank if they were the innocent party they were painting themselves as. Who could they possibly want to rescue from there? "Shall I deploy some Aurors to the scene, Minister?"

"Immediately!" Fudge cried. "With orders to stun first and ask questions later. These Fairy Tail mages must be brought in for questioning at all costs!"

Scrimgeour nodded gravely and made to depart when suddenly the door was flung open again and another green-robed witch ran in. "Minister! We've received am urgent report from Preston!"

"Is it Fairy Tail? Are they attacking Preston too?"

"No, Minister," the second witch shook her head. "It's Sirius Black! We've received an urgent message from a Muggle police officer who's married to a witch in the local area. Apparently they got a call five minutes ago claiming that Black somehow crept into a bed and breakfast in Preston, not far from a Muggle university and he has two female accomplices. The Muggle police force is mobilising. What should we do, Minister?"

Fudge froze. On the one hand, Fairy Tail was attacking the bank right now! On the other, they couldn't let such an notorious mass murderer as Sirius Black slip through their fingers again. And yet how could they send in the Aurors to capture him when the Muggle police were already after him? Would they be enough to stop him?

"Minister…" Scrimgeour prompted him.

"Send all available Aurors to Gringotts. Help the goblins against their attackers!" Fudge ordered.

"But what about Black?"

"We'll find another way to deal with him. Send the Aurors in. Now!"

* * *

The kitchen of Grimmauld Place was crowded. Word had spread rapidly that Sirius had gone missing and now the table was clustered with Order and Fairy Tail members who were anxiously waiting for the Dragon Slayers to return and give their report about whether Sirius was in London. Remus looked particularly ashen, drumming his fingers on the table-top until Tonks placed a hand over his own to keep his fingers still, squeezing slightly for comfort. Remus look up at Tonks grimly and for a moment their eyes met, their gazes holding for a moment before Tonks looked away, a faint blush in her cheeks. But she didn't let go of Lupin's hand.

Kingsley and Moody was stood in the corner, conversing in low tones, while Charlie, Arthur and Molly Weasley all mixed in with the various Fairy Tail members. All of them kept glancing towards the door, waiting for someone to come running in, except for Moody who kept his magical eye continuously locked on it.

Which was why he was the first to say, "Something's coming."

"Is it them?" Lucy looked up immediately.

"No," Moody said gruffly. "It's a Patronus."

That got everyone's attention, though some of the Fairy Tail mages blinked, unfamiliar with what a Patronus actually was. But suddenly a silvery light shot in through the door and morphed into the shame of a fully grown silver lion! Gray, Gildarts and Juvia all tensed in preparation to attack, but the lion opened is jaws and cried out urgently in Bill's voice.

"The Dragon Slayers are attacking Gringotts! I think they intend to free the dragons trapped beneath it! Help would be hugely appreciated!"

And then it dissolved into smoke.

Uproar broke out across the room. "Oh my gosh, what are they thinking?" Molly gasped.

"Those boneheaded idiots!" Gray shouted. "How did they get Wendy to go along with that?"

"This is exactly what we were supposed to not do!" Levy said at the same time.

"Oh I should have guessed they'd try that!" Lucy buried her face in her hands. "Even Wendy has too big a soft spot for dragons!"

"I thought you guys said you were going to work with us more closely from now on!" Tonks cried.

But all the yelling was brought to an abrupt halt by Moody, who drew his wand and generated a flash of light throughout the room. "Alright," he growled. "No point panicking over this. It's happened, so we have to deal with it!"

"What do we do, Alastor?" Arthur asked.

"Some of us need to stay here to wait on word for Sirius. Gildarts, Levy and Lucy I'm nominating you two for that. Levy and Lucy need to rest from the mountain experience and Gildarts, your magic's too strong to be used in an enclosed space like Diagon Alley. The rest of you, we're heading to Diagon Alley straight away. Soon as the Ministry gets word of this, they'll send for reinforcements."

"That means Aurors," Tonks interjected. "You want us to fight against them?"

"Only to hold them back. They can't Apparate straight into Gringotts due to the wards so we'll have to prevent them from entering through the front door. Everyone not from Fairy Tail, cast a Disillusionment Charm over yourself so they won't recognise you. We'll split into two teams, one to hold the Aurors back and one to run in and extract those foolhardy Dragon Slayers!" Moody immediately stumped towards the door. "Gildarts, Lucy and Levy, hold the fort until we get back. Everyone else, move out!"

* * *

Natsu collided with a nearby wall feet-first with enough force to splinter the stonework, whirling himself around to expel a great tongue of flame from his mouth that washed over the path to his right. The Goblins clustered upon it back-pedalled rapidly, scrambling over each other in a bid to dash around the corner and avoid the incoming fire, but Natsu himself was already gone, leaping across another gap as he descended deeper into the dimly lit cavern.

Not far away, Gajeel was quite literally running down the trackway that was meant for the carts, though occasionally the steep inclines forced him to slide, his legs spread apart over the gap between the rails as he whooshed downwards. Both his arms had been converted into swords and he was sweeping them through the air with the fury of a buzzsaw, blocking arrows that were being sent lashing in towards him. The Goblins had rallied enough to gather their archers and they were certainly good shots, which was why these two were no longer travelling down by Exceed, lest they get shot out of the air.

Wendy was now being carried by both Happy and Charla now, sweeping her arms around her to deflect the arrows as well, sending them whistling off to the side with slight wind gusts from her fingertips. And as they dropped further down, the scent of dragon was getting all the stronger.

"I don't think they're far away!" she called.

"Yeah, I smell 'em," Natsu nodded as he landed again, arms burning as another phalanx of goblin archers spilled out of a tunnel nearby like an endless tide, fitting arrows to strings and releasing a volley straight at him. Natsu grinned confidently and belched forth another plume of fire, expecting them to turn the arrows to ashes on the spot.

Except they didn't…

The goblin wrought iron shot straight through the firestorm, unaffected by the blazing heat and only knocked slightly askew by the blast. Natsu had just enough time to cross his arms in front of his chest like a shield, protecting his vital organs as several of the arrows punctured his skin. "GYAANNKK!" he gasped, stumbling backwards and spitting blood, a couple of the arrows embedding in his gut as he fell against the wall.

"Natsu!" Happy cried out in horror.

"Salamander!" Gajeel hollered, swinging his iron foot and clearing the Goblin archers off their ledge and sending them hurtling into the darkness below.

"Damn… didn't see that coming," Natsu gasped, trying to push himself up even now before falling back again, heaving for breath.

"Hold on, we're coming!" Charla shouted as the two Exceed veered Wendy in towards him. "Gajeel, can you hold them back?"

"They ain't getting past me," Gajeel growled with a savage delight, his arms morphing into a spear and roaring as he swing it out wide with a yell of "TETSURYUUSOU: KISHIN!" Even as another volley of arrows flew, Gajeel sent out twice as many spears bolting from his harm, swatting arrows aside and peppering the walls with spears that sent the goblins scrambling for cover. But a few that got through his barrage clashed into his iron skin and Gajeel gasped as he felt them embed in him slightly, about a centimetre of their tips digging into his armoured skin. Clearly these goblins were capable of making weaponry that left human arrows in the dust - no human-made arrow could penetrate the armour of the Iron Dragon even slightly!

Wendy scrambled forwards to land beside Natsu and grip one of the arrows protruding from his spleen. "This is going to hurt, Natsu-san!" she grimaced, yanking the arrow out of him. Natsu bit his tongue to hold in the scream and brought up his own arms to start yanking arrows out of himself, ignoring the bleeding it caused.

"Just… fix me up quick before more of them come," he grunted as Wendy's hands glowed and hovered over the wounds, watching as they began to close before his eyes. "Bloody hell that hurt! I'm not making that mistake again."

"GGGGGYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!" Gajeel suddenly yelled, drawing everyone's attention, and their eyes widened to see what looked like electricity pulsing through him, pulses of it passing through the rails he was standing on to surge into the iron human standing atop them. The iron conducted the electricity with such force that Gajeel was bodily thrown from the tracks and sent hurtling into another wall. For a moment he disappeared in a cloud of dust but then he began to drop downwards. Still, he was was able to dig his metal fingers into the rock wall and drag himself to a stop.

"Ungh," he grunted, shaking his head as he slowly began to climb back up. "Damn, haven't felt a shock like that in a while."

"These Goblins may not be tough one on one," Happy observed. "But the things they've made down here are working against us!"

"We don't have time for this crap!" Natsu grunted as Wendy closed up a hole in his abdomen, the only trace of its existence being a splodge of blood around where the wound had been. Wendy then quickly helped him to his feet as Gajeel hopped over the side of the ledge to join them. "We're getting close! I can smell it!"

"It might be easier if we could have just ridden one of those carts down," Gajeel said dryly, prompting Natsu to flash him a look of annoyance and gag slightly at the thought.

"There's a path down here," Wendy pointed down a ledge way that descended further into the darkness, flanked on one side by rows of circular doors that led to individual vaults and on the other side by a steep drop. She hurried down it, the others close behind and all of them could hear the scurrying and clanking sounds of armour-plated Goblins coming closer behind them. Arrows continued to fly in their general direction and one of them nicked at the ribbon tied around Charla's tail. The two Exceed hurriedly dropped out of the air to run along with their partners to avoid the chance of being shot out of the sky.

And then, quite abruptly, Wendy's foot suddenly sank into the floor! One minute she was running down the path and the next minute her foot plunged straight into the ground as if there was nothing there! "Aaah!" she screamed as she pitched forwards and landed face first on the soft ground even as her other foot sank into it too. Natsu and Gajeel skidded to a halt quickly behind her but both of their feet also started to disappear while Happy and Charla were almost instantly up to their necks in the earth!

"What's going on?!" Happy yelped in alarm as he wrenched his body madly in a bid to break free, but now the earth seemed to be sucking at them, trying to drag them downwards into its mass as if it was made of quicksand even though it still felt like hard rock!

"Another trap!" Charla cried. "This place is riddled with them!"

"AAAGHHH! I BLOODY HATE SNEAKY MAGIC LIKE THIS!" Natsu roared as he set his foot alight in a bit to blast his way loose, but it didn't seem to have any effect! Gajeel hacked down at the rock with his arm turned sword but the moment he did his arm just got stuck in the ground as well. He tried to wrench it back, but it seemed to be dragged even further downwards as he tried.

"Gnng… whatever the hell this is, it's got us!" he snarled while Natsu was now firing both legs to try and force himself out the ground as if on rocket boots, but all he was succeeding in down was heating up the ground around him. It was like whatever was beneath them had no substance at all, and now he was almost buried up to waist height!

"Help! I'm going under!" Happy wailed, craning his face as the earth attempted to swallow over his head, Charla gasping next to him as she did the same. Wendy was in the same boat - having fallen on her face she was now wrenching her body to try and keep her head from submerging in the rock, straining as her torso was dragged slowly down beneath the surface.

And that was when several Goblins rounded the corner. On seeing the sinking mages, they cried out in their harsh, guttural tongue and ran forward eagerly, swords glinting in the surrounding torchlight.

"We've got 'em! We've got 'em!" yelled one.

"Not even the likes of Fairy Tail mages can navigate our bank safely!" grinned another harshly.

"Let's deal with them once and for all," another cackled, as they charged forwards, waving their blades in triumph. "And mount their heads upon our walls!"

Natsu and Gajeel, the former using both his hands to try and hold Happy and Charla up while the latter had seized Wendy's shoulder with his remaining hand to do the same. Natsu instantly spat out a humungous gout of flame that arced over the heads of the others to wash towards the Goblins like an incoming flood. But this time the Goblins had come prepared and, one of them ran forward to slam a large shield down, embedding it into the ground as the others crouched behind it. Natsu's fire blasted into it and was deflected to either side, washing over it like rain down an umbrella as the goblins pushed it forwards to advance down the middle of his roar.

"Nice try!" one of them sneered. "But we crafted this shield to stop dragon fire. You can't touch us now!"

Natsu swore loudly and Gajeel grimaced, the panicked yells of the two cats and Wendy ringing in their ears as they were all but dragged underneath! But just as Gajeel was debating to try a roar attack of his own or not, the space behind the Goblins erupted in flares of red light, which zipped in like miniature bullets to impact the Goblins in the back one by one.

"Ack!"

"Ungh!"

"Gah!"

"WhatNn…"

In the space of five seconds all the Goblins were unconscious and the Dragon Slayers blinked as they saw something run over the top of them. Something difficult to see properly cos it seemed to take on the colour of whatever was behind it.

A Disillusionment Charm. And the one who it was cast on… smelt like…

"Bill?" Gajeel gasped.

"Ssh," Bill hissed as he ran over to the spot where they were sinking, yet miraculously he did not start sinking into the floor. "Don't say my name or the point of disguising myself to help you out becomes pointless! Now hold on. You're caught in a Void Curse - nasty business. It traps anyone that gets caught in a pocket of space where the laws of physics don't apply until they either starve to death or are released. Fortunately as I'm a registered employee of Gringotts it doesn't affect me."

"Never mind the details, get us out! Hurry!" Happy begged before his mouth was submerged in the floor and he could no longer speak. Bill quickly waved his wand, murmuring incomprehensible words under his breath as he stepped around the sinking quintet, jabbing and hacking his wand in intricate patterns. Natsu was about to ask him what he was doing before Gajeel seized his lower face, silencing the question so he wouldn't break Bill's intense concentration.

About twenty seconds later, after which Happy and Charla could only be seen by their ear tips and Wendy's face had vanished into the floor, Bill rapped his wand down sharply upon the rock, which flashed and instantly expelled them all like it was spitting out peach seeds. They all fell back across the floor in heaps, Wendy and the Exceed gasping for breath and Bill grinning lopsidedly. "Good thing I made a career as a Curse Breaker," he said. "Or your little rescue mission would have ended very badly."

"Thank you, B… sir… you saved us," Wendy smiled as she pushed herself up.

"Why do the Goblins have so many horrible traps laid about?" Charla asked.

"Well they take guarding their gold very seriously," Bill noted.

"We're not interested in their damn gold," Natsu griped.

"Yes, but the traps don't distinguish between what one intruder wants to the next," Bill rolled his eyes. "I doubt the Goblins put any in for people specifically wanting to rescue their Dragons. Seriously, what are you guys thinking? You can't just expect to waltz out of here with six adult dragons!"

"Six? Is that how many they have here?" Natsu's teeth gnashed. "Bastards! But we're definitely getting them out of here!"

"You're in the middle of London! Have you ever stopped to think about what might happen if you unleash that many angry dragons on our capital city?"

"We'll stop 'em from causing damage," Gajeel growled stubbornly. "Like Wendy said, your dragons ain't nearly as tough as ours. We can handle 'em."

"We can't stay here," Charla insisted. "I can hear more Goblins approaching. Bill's right - this was a foolish and reckless plan from the start. We should just leave while we can."

"Like hell I'm leaving. I won't leave one Dragon trapped down here when I can do something about it! Not a single one!" Natsu snarled. "Cos I know that if Igneel was here, that's what he'd do!"

"…There's not going to be any talking you out of this, is there?" Bill sighed.

"Sorry," Wendy smiled sheepishly.

The eldest Weasley son ran a hand over his face. "Well… I can hardly stop you… so I suppose the only thing I can do is give you a hand. I'm risking my job and my freedom by doing this but… honestly… what the Goblins do down here has never sat well with me either. Come on, I'll show you where to find the dragons."

"I zink you might need a little more 'elp zan zat," said another voice that put them all instantly on their guard. They whirled around and… Natsu and Gajeel found their jaws dropping slightly at the sight of the beautiful girl standing there. For a moment they were physically unable to tear their eyes away from her, right up until the point where Bill gasped:-

"Fleur? What are… why are you…?"

"Monsieur Bill, did you really expect me to just stay be'ind while you went chasing after ze intruders alone?" Fleur chided. "I don't know what is 'appening and I zink you owe me an explanation as to why you know zees Fairy Tail people. But zat can wait until later. For now, we should move if we want to free ze dragons."

"Huh?" Bill started. "You want to help us."

"I do not like ze Goblins very much anyway," Fleur smirked. "Zey poke fun at my Veela 'eritage all ze time. I zink ze only reason they 'ired me was zat I was a Triwizard Champion. And I still trust you, Bill, in spite of zis. I still want ze full story later, but for now I brought zees to 'elp." She lifted up a bag that seemed to rattle slightly as she moved it, and after a few stumped seconds Bill beamed - though it was hard to see beneath his Disillusionment Charm.

"The Clangers! Of course! Fleur, you're brilliant!"

"Why zank you," Fleur smiled, a slight tinge appearing in her cheeks.

"I don't get it," Natsu frowned. "What's that bag?"

"We'll explain later," Bill said as Fleur rapped her own head to Disillusion herself and modified the memories of the Stunned Goblins with a flash of white light. "For now, let's just settle for the fact we have another ally."

"Another ally's always good," Natsu grinned. "Alright then, let's go!"

"This way. I'll make sure you don't blunder into anymore traps," Bill ran past Fleur and grabbed her hand to make sure they'd stay together, the others right behind him, following them with their sense of smell since it was so hard to see them. And not a moment too soon, for Goblins suddenly surged around the corner behind them and charged in towards them en masse.

Natsu paused briefly to wheel around and leap into the air. **"KARYUU NO… TEKKEN!"** he bellowed as his flaming fist connected with the ceiling, which burst into flaming fragments of rock that cascaded down onto the ledge. Goblins scrambled backwards to avoid being buried in the rockslide as their path was cut off, while Natsu smirked and bolted off after the others.

* * *

Scrimgeour Apparated into Diagon Alley with a group of Aurors that he'd been able to assemble, a grimace firmly implanted on his face. He was no longer sure what to believe about these Fairy Tail wizards. Everything he'd witnessed on his last encounter with them only the other day indicated that they weren't the kind of people who would break into a bank like this. He'd seen that blond girl save the lives of Muggles from a falling helicopter and that fire boy risk his life to stop an entire avalanche. Why would they suddenly turn around now and attack Gringotts? It didn't add up in his head.

Still, he was sure there had to be a reason. And he was going to find it.

He would have to. Because he didn't think the force he'd managed to collect at such a late hour would be enough to take down those mages if they were very serious.

As they couldn't Apparate directly into the bank they'd had to appear a couple of blocks away and they ran forwards as one, wands drawn and ready for anything…

Except the sudden wall of ice that rose up out of nowhere to block their path.

The Aurors pulled to a halt in shock, Scrimgeour's eyes tracking up to the top of the wall and settling on the black-haired young man standing on top of it.

"Sorry lads," Gray gave them a slight salute. "Can't let you get past here."

"You… I remember you from the Ministry break-in," Scrimgeour jabbed his wand at him. "Mind telling me what in the world you think you're doing here?"

"It'd take a while for you to fully understand it," Gray shrugged. "Let's just say that we've launched a rescue operation for the idiots who first broke in here to launch their own rescue operation."

"Who in the world could they be trying to rescue by breaking into a bank?"

"Not who. What. Turns out that boneheaded Natsu doesn't like the idea of those Goblin guys keeping dragons locked up in there."

"Dragons?" Scrimgeour blinked. "You're trying to free the imprisoned dragons? Are you insane? They'd try and eat you as soon as look at you!"

"I'm not the one who broke in here. Don't judge me for that."

Scrimgeour grimaced. On the one hand, it once again seemed as though these Fairy Tail people had good intentions underneath their reckless destruction, but that was not going to be an excuse this time. He couldn't ignore the fact they had broken into such a highly valued building and if those dragons got loose, there could be chaos. Yet at the same time, Gray had built his barrier right along the line of the wards, meaning they could not simply Apparate past it to enter the bank.

"I don't suppose you'll stand down and come in for questioning, will you?" he grunted.

"After the way you guys treated Levy? Not likely."

"Then I'm afraid we will have to use force."

"I knew you would," Gray said, and slammed his hand down into the ice wall. Before the eyes of the watching men it changed shape, remoulding itself into something far more solid and architectural, until it had a full set of ramparts and resembled an actual castle wall rather than some crude barricade. And almost immediately, red flashed of light began to emanate from tiny holes in the base. Stunning Spells. Two of the Aurors dropped beneath the barrage but the rest erected Shield Charms in time to deflect them.

"Take cover!" Scrimgeour yelled, firing a Stunning Spell or two of his own up at Gray who blocked it with a shield of ice he held in both hands before it reshaped into a hammer and he flung it downwards, scattering the Aurors on the front line as it crashed down into the street.

"So they do have help," Scrimgeour muttered as he turned aside three Stunners that were aimed at his chest, scrutinising the walls to try and make out the enemy wizards from his own world and not seeing anything. "The Minister was right, they do have people working with them… yet I see no Killing Curses… so they surely cannot be Death Eaters… but then who?"

"Return fire!" he cried, darting out into the street and hurling a Stunning Spell at once of the gaps. It sailed through, but whoever was behind it had clearly sidestepped before it struck because another Stunner lanced out at him a moment later. The Aurors around him quickly gathered to launch a barrage of spells at the wall, peppering it with red light along its length while others held up Shield Charms to guard from the assault.

"Bludgeoning Hexes on my mark!" Scrimgeour cried, and four Aurors lined up with him to fire upon the wall, blasting four simultaneous hexes forwards that belted into the wall and splintered it, sending a shower of ice inwards. But just as they tried to press forwards and get through the gap it closed again, Gray's moulding magic sealing the space in an instant flat.

"You ain't getting past me!" Gray cried, slamming his hands together and sweeping them out to the side, generating thick ice shards that pelted downwards like hail and a few moments later… a woman appeared! One that Scrimgeour was not familiar with - long brown hair and glasses with what appeared to be four wings sprouting out of her back! These guys could have wings now?

"**YŌSEI KIJŪ: LEPRECHAUN!"** she swung out her own hand, flinging dozens of energy needles that joined Gray's ice barrage upon the Aurors. She held her arms out wide as she landed on the wall next to Gray.

The Aurors reinforced their shields but they were pinned down under the barrage, those protecting the others unable to move very fast due to the effort of maintaining the barriers keeping the constant barrage at bay. The others darted around, firing back on the wall. Evergreen smirked as she glanced across at Gray. "So, these are those Aurors I've been hearing about? They're persistent, I'll give them that."

"They're tougher than they look," Gray noted. "They've never faced anything quite like us before. Though we are pulling our punches a little."

As he spoke, four of the Aurors rallied around and dropped to their knees, levelling their wands with cries of "INCENDIO!" Spurts of fire lashed out of the wooden instruments, licking at the wall and quickly beginning to melt at it. Gray quickly dropped to his knees to pour his magic into the wall and fix it, but as the Aurors tried to melt it, others continued casting Bludgeoning Hexes.

Which was not the best news for those on the ground behind the wall.

Arthur Weasley rolled to the side moments before a section on ice burst in where he'd been standing, blowing for breath and waiting for the the wall to solidify. All along its base, Order members were fighting back, mostly invisible thanks to their Disillusionment Charms and dodging quickly out of the way of incoming spells before returning to their window and firing back. Arthur quickly did that himself and fired a Disarming Charm through the gap that sent one of the fire-spitting wands zinging through the air and away, forcing the Auror to go and pick it up.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he huffed as he fired two Stunners that ricocheted of their Shields. "Fighting against Scrimgeour? I'd lose more than my job if he found out it was me?"

"Then stop talking or you'll give yourself away," Moody growled, monitoring the Aurors across the wall with the use of his magical eye and spotting one leaping out of an alleyway to try casting a Stunner up at Evergreen. Moody's own Stunning spell caught him square in the chest and his snorted through his misshapen nose. "Like I'm always saying, constant vigilance, kid!"

Tonks was everywhere at once. For a girl that was usually so unsteady on her feet she was sure fast in combat, and was dodging from opening to opening in an attempt to give the impression there were more of them than there actually were. Kingsley ducked as an Impediment Jinx sailed over his head through the gap he'd been standing in and returned fire with a curse that made a noise like a thunderclap and caused the cobbles by the feet of one of the Aurors to explode and toss him backwards. And Remus was firing an Aguamenti spell out from his own space to impact with one of the Incendio charms, the two straining against each other in a cloud of steam, a push-of-war that Remus slowly appeared to be winning.

That still left Juvia, Lisanna, Charlie and Molly unaccounted for. They were hanging back slightly, watching the battle unfold for a moment.

"Are you sure they'll be alright?" Molly called, clearly worried for her husband's safety.

"They'll be fine," Juvia smiled, a little smugly, as she placed a hand on Molly's shoulder. "Gray-sama is the one protecting them. He won't let them down… though Juvia wishes she was up there with Gray-sama instead of Evergreen-san…" she added with a mutter. "Is she a love rival?"

"I think she's the least of your worries," Lisanna snickered, remembering how she'd started acting around her older brother recently. "But I think we can leave it to them. Come on, we should do our job."

"Yeah," Charlie nodded, as he and his mother Disillusioned themselves, mounting their Cleansweep Sevens. "Let's see if we can help Bill extract the others out of there."

And with a swirl of two brooms, a rush of feathers from Lisanna's sudden wings and a blast of water from Juvia's legs they arced through the door of the bank.


	29. Prisoner Exchange

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 29:- Prisoner Exchange**

* * *

Unaware of the veritable war going on beneath London many miles to the south, Erza reclined on the chair by the windowsill of her bed and breakfast room, sitting so still she could almost be mistaken for an elaborate sculpture. Her eyes were half closed, her breathing steady and it looked like she was half-asleep. Which she was. But she was also fully alert. Erza had long ago perfected the art of resting as much as possible without falling asleep while still being fully aware of her surroundings - a skill that was difficult to master but made sentry duty easy, ensuring you were able to see incoming threats and make sure you weren't too tired when they arrived.

She was keeping her eye on Sirius naturally. He looked innocent enough, lying curled up on the covers and making occasional gruff snorts in his sleep. In fact, Erza had not been lying when she said he thought that his dog form was cute. And aside from his initial stalking of them and his claim to be a fugitive, nothing that he'd done had given Erza any reason to doubt his word or his intentions.

Yet this was a different world. And Erza had already been to a different world where she herself was a lieutenant in an oppressive army that made a living out of hunting Fairy Tail members! So while she was willing to trust Sirius to a large degree, she was not quite ready to put all of her eggs in one basket. If she were then she would have simply fallen fully asleep as she had done every previous night.

But it was quite a good thing that she'd decided not to tonight. If she had, then she would not have noticed the flashing red and blue lights starting to emanate through the window from the street outside.

Erza frowned in confusion as she stood up and peered slightly around the edge of the window to see several cars pulling to a stop outside with two odd flashing lights on top - one blue and one red - which alternated between each colour to create a constant strobe effect - red, blue, red, blue, red, blue.

"That's odd," Erza murmured to herself. For in the last week she'd spent here she had seen these vehicles before. She didn't know what they were for exactly and had not asked anyone from this world for fear that it would make her look ignorant and raise suspicion against her. Sometimes she'd seen them driving without the lights flashing, but whenever she'd seen them driving with the flashing lights they had also been accompanied by a high-pitched wailing noise that seemed to prompt all other vehicles to get out of their way. The first time Erza had heard the noise she'd thought it had been some kind of strange animal in distress, or perhaps a monster, and had very nearly exposed her magic in preparation for a fight before she discovered it was just a car.

This was new. Seeing them with the lights on but no noise. And why were they pulling up outside? She could see in some kind of uniform spilling out into the street from the doors and rushing around like panicked ants. Some crouched behind the cars and peered up towards the building Erza was in while others hurried towards the front door quietly.

Whatever it was, it certainly didn't look good.

Erza quickly strode away from the window, flashing slightly as she donned her Heart Kreuz armour with a rapid Requip. "Sirius," she said, reaching onto the top bunk and poking him in the side with an armoured finger. Sirius immediately shot up with teeth bared, snarling defensively, but once he saw who'd done it he calmed rapidly and shifted back into human form.

"What is it?" he grunted, rubbing his eyes.

"Can you tell me what the function of those four-wheelers outside might be?" Erza nodded her head towards the window. Sirius' gaze followed the nod and frowned when he noticed the lights, bounding out the bed and crossing over see for himself. And when he saw, he swore slightly under his breath.

"Oh crap," he muttered. "It's the Muggle police."

"The what?" Erza frowned. "What is a Muggle?"

"Oh, its the term that we use to describe non-magic people in this world," Sirius brushed that off. "But that's not important. What is important is while I don't know a huge amount about all Muggle customs, I do know that those men outside are non-magical law enforcement."

"Like non-magical Rune Knights," Erza hummed. "But why would they be here?"

"They must have somehow found out I was here," Sirius growled. "Like I said I'm a fugitive and the Muggle police were warned about me too when I escaped from prison. They don't know I'm a wizard but they think I'm dangerous. They've come to try and arrest me… and anyone that I'm associated with."

Erza's eyes narrowed and her fist clenched, the gauntlet rattling slightly. "Well I suppose that explains why they aren't making strange noises. They must be trying to sneak up on you."

"And they'd have succeeded if you hadn't stayed up."

"Indeed. But I have had more than enough experience with unjust arrests," she said, remembering well the time the Council had had her arrested to serve as a scapegoat for the Lullaby incident… and worse still the memory of when Jellal had been taken away despite his recent actions in destroying Nirvana and the fact all his crimes had been committed under the influence of another.

And as she thought that, she suddenly saw Sirius in a whole new light. Suddenly he was a proper comrade. Because if it was true that he was wanted for a crime that he didn't commit then she'd be damned if she'd let him be taken away while she could prevent it. Not like she had with Jellal.

"If its true they are after you then we will get you out of here," Erza said firmly. "We will fight our way out if needs be."

"I'm grateful," Sirius smiled, and he meant it. "If I had my wand I could zap us out of here in an instant but I'm afraid the only magical thing I can do without it is turn into a dog. And… if you're anything like the other Fairy Tail mages I've witnessed the we can't fight those people. They're innocents after all. We should try and avoid hurting them at all costs. Besides… maybe you don't have to fight. Maybe I can try to escape as a dog and you can put out the story that you were my hostages or something…"

"We will not leave abandon a comrade. That is not the way we do things. But I agree that we must avoid hurting these people," Erza nodded and turned around to lay a hand on a slumbering Cana's leg and shook her. "Cana, wake up."

"Huh?" Cana blinked, sitting up and stretching with a tired grimace. "What's up, Erza? It's not morning yet."

"Okay, how are you not hung over?" Sirius gaped at her. "The amount of stuff I saw you drink…"

"Hey, I'm the best there is at holding my liquor," Cana smirked. "So, what's going on?"

"We're leaving," Erza replied. "Right now."

* * *

The police force worked quickly and efficiently, creeping up the staircase and carrying their truncheons at the ready. All of them were clad in bulletproof vests as their files indicated that Sirius Black possessed a gun, but as British police did not usually carry guns themselves they wanted to make sure to catch him unawares if at all possible and so not risk civilian casualties. And since they had learned he apparently had two female accomplices then they'd need to neutralise them too.

Through the use of hand signals they carefully moved their way up the stairs bit by bit, trying to make as little noise as possible, until they reached the correct floor. Having been provided with a spare key by the manager, the police sergeant leading the group gently inserted it into the lock, inching it in circle to try and open it as silently as he could, inch by inch, while the others clustered behind him and prepared to make the charge inside, breath bated, stomachs clenching and nerves steeling.

But, as the sergeant was in the middle of unlocking the door, something slid out from underneath it - a card with a picture of a leprechaun blowing a trumpet and standing over a slumbering sheep. The policemen didn't notice it until it started to give off a strange, greenish glow that came off it in wisps like some kind of gas. They all instantly backed away but it was too late. Their eyelids drooped as the magic did its work and one by one they slumped to the ground, stretching out across the floor or collapsing back against the walls. Some snored, some yawned in their sleep, but all of them were out like a light.

The door opened and Cana leaned out, grabbing her Sleep Card and smirking at the incapacitated men. "Nighty night," she said, before closing it again and turning to her companions. "That takes care of those on the inside."

"Handy technique," Sirius nodded approvingly. "But will it work on those outside?"

"Long as I throw enough cards it should," Cana held up her hand, splaying ten cards across it with the skill of a top quality dealer.

"Throw cards?" Sirius asked. "Do you have some magic that prevents them from being caught in the wind?"

"Nope," Cana shook her head, stepping to the window and peering out. "Just had a helluva lot of practice. Okay… I count four vehicles out there. Why have they formed a semi-circle around the door?"

"It's a barrier, designed to stop us from escaping if we try to jump out of the window or something," Erza noted.

"We'd have to be pretty desperate to try that," Sirius murmured. Two seconds later, Erza stepped past him and boldly flung the windows open, hopping onto the windowsill and throwing herself out into space!

"What the…!" Sirius cried, running to the window and watching as she dropped down a full three stories. Yet she landed flawlessly, legs bending beneath her as she fell into a full forward roll. And on the way down she had apparently pulled four knives out from her Requip space because as she rolled to her feet they scythed through the air to puncture one of the tyres on each of the vehicles, filling the street with the whistling of deflating rubber.

The officers cried out and took cover behind the vehicles just in case she had more knives, except for two brave ones who immediately ran forward in an attempt to tackle Erza to the ground. The redheaded mage neatly sidestepped one and grabbed the other by the arm, spinning him around to pull him into a full nelson she could hold in one hand, before hooking the other arm around the neck of the second and squeezing tightly. As she held them, she watched four cards zoom down from the window and land neatly on the sirens of each of the police vehicles, emitted the same greenish glow as the first, while another three landed on the ground around them.

It took mere seconds for the police officers behind the vehicles to succumb to the effects of the magic, laying them out across the road just as they were about to run to the aid of their comrades. Erza and her two opponents were too far from the cards range to be affected but the one she was strangling had already passed out so she dropped him, before she gripped the other and delivered a practiced punch right to his gut, just like she did with Natsu whenever he got motion sick on a train. The policeman coughed and collapsed against her, unconscious.

"Sorry," she said to him as she lowered him to the floor gently beside his companion.

Any pedestrians who were witness to this event were running away at this point, and Erza turned back to the door just as Sirius hurried out of it. Moments later, Cana followed, after first having laid a ten pound note on the desk in front of the receptionist for the trouble.

"Well that was efficient," Sirius noted as he looked out across the slumbering police force. "Good job."

"Yes, but now we'll need to get out of here," Erza said. "Perhaps we should head for the train station."

"Sounds good to me but I don't know where it is. Never been here before."

"Good thing we know then," Cana said. "We searched it out as soon as we came here to try and see if we could recognise any of the destinations on the map. Come on, we should go before this lot wake up from their nappy time."

Sirius nodded and added, "Or before the Ministry shows up. Don't forget to keep your Fairy Tail marks covered," before he shifted into a dog while the girls retrieved their cards and knives respectively. All three of them them hurried off together down the street, Sirius in the middle and the other two on either side of him.

"I gotta admit," Cana snickered. "It does feel kinda fun to be on the run from the law. Makes me feel badass."

"Yes well I do hope that we will not have to get used to it," Erza murmured. "I hope that we can patch things up with this Ministry of yours as soon as we reunite with our comrades, Sirius."

Sirius wanted to say, "If you've been spotted with me then that might make things more difficult," but could not because of his current form. So he just ran on, his breath coming out in little clouds in the chill autumn air… which felt unusually cold to him considering he had a thick coat and all.

"Hey, is it me or is it getting colder?" Cana suddenly asked, shivering slightly as she ran. "And… darker?"

"Now that you mention it, it is," Erza frowned, little puffs of steam spilling out of their mouths as the streetlights seemed to dim. "How odd…"

Sirius' ears pricked up and his hair stood on end when he realised he could feel it too - there seemed to be a distinctive drop in the temperature around him as if he was slowly being lowered into a freezing cold lake, except the cold didn't seem to be making him shiver… more like… making him fearful…

…Oh no…

Muggles be damned, he suddenly shifted back into human form and grabbed the shoulders of the two girls, stopping them in their tracks. "You have to get out of here! Now! I'll try and draw them away!"

"Huh?" Cana blinked. "Draw what away?"

But Sirius' pupils had narrowed into dots as he stared in the direction they'd been running.

"…Them."

Even before Erza's head turned to look she felt as if her armour had transformed into ice, a terrible chill passing through her body that made her stomach fall away and knees start to shake. But when she set eyes on what Sirius had seen, a sudden and overwhelming sense of despair seemed to wash over her like a tidal wave, sweeping her up and down the road in its flood.

For there, gliding down the street towards them, wafting over cars and wheeling around Muggle pedestrians like wraiths were near on twenty figures in long black cloaks… hoods covering up their faces but their rotting, scabbed hands clearly visible and reaching out towards the three fugitives, bringing with them a blanket of fog that rolled along behind them like a cloud. Deep, rattling breaths that seemed to suck the air out of Erza's lungs even from a great distance could be heard, and wherever they passed the Muggles were dropping to their knees, shivering and whimpering as they covered their heads, but the creatures ignored them and continued on, solely focused on their goal.

"What… what are they?" Cana croaked, the brunette starting to sweat despite the cold that seemed to be spreading through every nerve ending in her body.

"Dementors…" Sirius breathed. "The Ministry's called in Dementors to come after me! Come on, the other way! Run!" He grabbed Cana and Erza's arms and attempted to drag them backwards but though Cana stumbled back with him, Erza did not budge. She appeared to be rooted to the spot, staring at the Dementors as if she was seeing something else entirely and her whole body shaking in either cold or fear.

"Sirius Black!" shouted a voice from nearby. And there stood a small group of three Aurors, led by a man named Proudfoot and who were currently being shielded by a Patronus in the form of an eagle that was arcing slowly around the three of them in a way that a real eagle could never fly. "You are under arrest. Surrender to Ministry jurisdiction and come quietly or you and your accomplices will be brought in by force."

"Not a chance," Sirius hissed under his breath as the Dementors drew closer, his emotions draining by the second. "Erza, come on!"

"Erza, we have to go!" Cana yelled, her voice straining as her stomach began to clench into a tight little ball of anguish. But Erza was now barely breathing, her armour rattling as she trembled and unparalleled horror welling up inside her.

"St…stay back!" she cried, managing to summon the strength to take a single step back as the Dementors closed in, but they ignored her and kept coming, picking up speed as they sensed prey at hand. "STAY BACK!" she yelled, and she suddenly threw caution to the wind and Requipped right there in the middle of the street, metallic wings whooshing out to either side of her as she donned her Heaven's Wheel Armour, generating a dozen swords in the air above her head and shrieking in a higher pitch than normal:- **"TENRIN: BLUMENBLATT!"**

The swords fired forwards with a thrust of her hand as if they'd been shot from a cannon, piercing the Dementor's cloaks and thunking into their bodies. But the Dementors didn't even slow down. Instead they just got angry, hissing beneath their hoods as the gripped the swords in their decimated hands and yanked them loose, dropping them into the street and rushing forwards like a stream.

And as they shot in, Erza's world seemed to fall away. Her vision went dark and suddenly screams filled her ears. Terrified yelling and cries for family members, accompanied by crackling flames. An orange glow appeared in her mind's eye until she could see the fire, could see people running panicked as men in cloaks and masks pursued them through the burning remains of… Rosemary village!

Erza's home when she'd been a child! She was rewitnessing its sacking from the supporters of Zeref.

"KILL ALL THE ADULTS!" roared one particularly fat masked man as he skewered a man in the back with his blade. "TAKE ALL THE CHILDREN!"

"Big brother, where are you?" wailed a small girl with a ribbon in her hair desperately as the masked men bore down on her.

"No… no…" Erza thudded to her knees as she watched the massacre. "Stop! S… stop it! Please, stop it!"

But the scene was already shifting, and Erza saw herself, younger and with short hair, her wrists captured in the cruel iron manacles she'd worn for years as she collapsed from exhaustion, her feet blistered and her hands scraped and bruised, only for a guard to rush over screaming at her to get back up and flaying his whip, striking little Erza across the back in a blow that sent pain tearing through her body - so much so that older Erza actually felt it herself.

"STOP! STOP!" Erza's high-pitched screams rent the street, clapping her head in her hands and shaking it furiously. "STOOOOP!"

But it didn't stop, and as the Dementors bore in the scene kept changing. She felt her torture at the hands of the guards after she was blamed for the failed escape attempt of her and her friends. She saw her pain as her eye was brutally damaged. She saw the the magic troops bearing down on the rebelling slaves, gaunt and twisted much like the Dementors themselves, firing upon her terrified brethren! She saw the incoming attack bearing down on her before suddenly Grandpa Rob was in front of her, arms wide and shielding her with his body.

"I will not allow such young life to perish!" he croaked, his voice ringing in Erza's ears as if he was right next to her, as if it was happening for real. She watched helplessly as he defended her from the magical strikes until his very body splintered and he broke into pieces before her.

"GRANDPA ROOOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBB! NOOOOOOOOOO!" she wailed as if she was still that same one-eyed girl, the despair and horror as fresh as it had been back on that day. And it only got worse.

"Erza, there is no freedom in this world," she suddenly heard the voice of a younger Jellal as he turned and sneered at her with an expression that looked alien on his face. "This tower is mine. I will complete it!"

"Stop it, Jellal!"

"Don't you hate them, Erza?" Jellal grinned sinisterly before he slaughtered two guards right then and there.

"I have no more need for you. However I will allow you to live. If you try to tell someone, I will have to destroy this tower and everyone on it."

Suddenly an older her was standing the in the lacrima tower, body immobilised as Jellal pushed her into the crystal. "Your body will be deconstructed and reconstituted into Zeref's."

A split second later and she was standing in front of a heavily beaten Natsu, arms wide, as Jellal's Altiaris bore down on her, right before someone threw himself in the way, arms wide and shielding her just like Grandpa Rob. Erza watched all over again as Simon's broken body fell to the ground in front of her.

"…I… loved… you…" he rasped his final words before his body went limp and his eye slowly closed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Erza's screams doubled as both her memory self and her real self wailed at the same time. Erza felt herself convulsing uncontrollably, struggling about wildly on the spot as if bound in ropes or stuck in mud, thrashing from side to side like a thing possessed and screaming, non-stop, as she felt her insides coalesce into a vast, swirling ball of misery, guilt, fear and horror. She could no longer remember she was in the middle of street, or even that the Dementors were the ones causing this pain. All she could do was scream.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAHHHH! AAAHHH! AAHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sirius' jaw hung open - he'd never seen such a violent reaction to a Dementor in his life! But the more horrible things you'd seen, the more the Dementors affected you. So how many terrible, painful things had this poor girl been dragged through to react this badly?

Though she wasn't alone. He too was feeling the all too familiar effects - ones he'd hoped to never feel again. He could hear his own screams when he heard the news that James and Lily had been murdered, could hear Wormtail's accusing voice before he blew up the street and faked his own death. And a quick glance to the side told him Cana was suffering too, for she'd clamped her hands over her eyes and was shaking her head desperately.

"You'll never be worthy," said a voice in Cana's ear. It was her own voice, welling up from all the times Cana had wallowed in self-depression when she thought about her amazingly powerful father. "You're useless. Just a waste of space that nobody needs. You're a loser, an alcoholic, too weak to become an S-Class mage. There's no way you can ever live up to your father's legacy. You don't deserve him and he doesn't want you."

"No!" Cana cried vehemently, tears stinging her eyes as she looked up, watching the Dementors reaching out towards the immobilised Erza, hands inches from touching her hair. "No! He's accepted me! He knows I'm his daughter and he wants to be my Dad!" she roared, grabbing three of her cards and flinging them through the air at the nearest Dementors.** "RAKURAI NO UNMEI!"** she yelled, bolts of electricity burst from the cards to shock the Dementors and push them back slightly, hissing and their cloaks smoking a little but looking none the worse for wear.

But even as they did, Erza finally succumbed fully to their hideous power and blacked out, falling limply downwards with a clash of metal against tarmac. Cana stood over her, snarling as the voices contained to ring in her ears, trying her best to block out her own former self-loathing as she swung another two cards through the air to add, **"WIND EDGE!"** and generate a sudden barrier of wind around her and Erza that the Dementors gathered around for a moment, cloaks whipping around them, before they continued to press forwards, passing through the wind as if it wasn't even there.

"GET AWAY!" Cana bellowed desperately, starting to feel her strength waning as her own despair pounded at her brain. **"BAKUEN!"** she threw down another card and suddenly the wind changed into a burst of fire that consumed the Dementors, but Cana didn't for a moment think she'd won because the anguish didn't lessen for a moment and then clammy hands started to stretch out of the fire, following by clammy arms, the Dementors cloaks alight with flame and burning away to reveal their grey skin underneath.

Sirius was rooted to the spot as he watched Cana desperately trying to defend her friend. What could he do? There was nothing that came to mind. Without his wand he couldn't Disapparate them away, nor could he summon a Patronus to help. He was entirely powerless. Turning into a dog to try and fight the Dementors would be pointless and would give his best disguise away to the watching Aurors…

His only remaining option seemed to be to run… abandon the two to their fate… but he couldn't do that surely… but on the other hand maybe he could find someone and tell them what had happened if he did…

But then all his deliberating was made irrelevant when a clammy hand grabbed his shoulder. Sirius whirled around, gasping - five more Dementors had got in behind them! They were surrounded! There was nowhere left to go. He wrenched free of the Dementor's grip, stumbling back towards Cana until they were back to back over the fallen Erza, all happy thoughts draining out of them as if the Dementors were physically sucking them away.

"No… stay back…" Cana coughed, losing strength and piling on another explosion attack to no effect. Her vision started to darken, losing strength in her legs until she fell backwards onto her backside, while the Dementors snagged at her arms and began to haul her off the ground, struggling feebly. Sirius was in the same boat, coughing and gagging, but his eyes wide as one of the Dementors lowered its hood, its eyeless face and gaping mouth leaning towards him!

This was it! He was going to lose his soul!

"Enough!" barked a voice suddenly, and the Dementor lurched away from him as if physically struck. Sirius looked up blearily as Proudfoot and the other two Aurors marched forwards, the eagle Patronus around them, but they made sure to stop before the bird's positive effect could be felt by Sirius himself.

"Do not Kiss him yet," Proudfoot said. "I know that that was the order, but his two companions… they're Fairy Tail mages. Minister Fudge will have some serious questions about how these two met. We wait until we've got that information before you Kiss him."

"No…" Sirius choked, his head lolling to the side and beholding an unconscious Cana and Erza lying nestled in the disgusting arms of two other Dementors that were carrying them bridal style. It was the last thing Sirius saw before one final, overwhelming spell of despair hit him, and he blacked out too.

Proudfoot grimaced. Truth be told, watching that had made him horribly uncomfortable. The redhead's reaction had been torturous to see. But it was an inevitability. Even if there had not been a sudden attack on the bank in London, it would have ended this way - Fudge had decreed that Dementors be brought in in any potential Sirius Black lead to help deal with such a dangerous man.

Still… this was certainly a win for the Ministry! Sirius Black and two Fairy Tail mages at once! What a prize.

* * *

Pantherlily was falling back. Despite his coordinated assaults, the Goblins around him just kept flooding through, and he had a large gash in his side now from where a goblin's sword had come a little too close for comfort. Gritting his fangs, he retreated backwards, ducking underneath another Goblin cleave and rapping the perpetrator in the nose with the butt of his sword, hard enough to break it.

But just as he was contemplating flinging himself into space and diving down to try and rejoin the Dragon Slayers, flashing lights from down one of the corridors caught his eye.

"Stupefy!" shouted two separate voices as two broomsticks with barely visible people astride them swooped over the heads of the Goblins, red lights lancing out to send several Goblins crashing down like ninepins. Following shortly behind them was Lisanna, her legs morphed into those of a bird and forcing other Goblins to duck as her talons skimmed over their heads, soaring over them on her feathered wings.

And then came Juvia, bringing up the rear by literally flooding out the corridor. Goblins yelped as they were caught up in the flood of water and swept along like bits of driftwood. As soon as Juvia reached the vault door where Lily was standing she threw her liquid arms out and redirected the water stream down all the other corridors leading to this spot, washing the Goblins away and granting them a temporary reprieve.

"You… how did you guys get here?" Lily asked, dropping back into his regular form once again.

"More to the point, what are you doing here at at all?" A voice he recognised to be Molly's came from one of the two brooms. "This is about the most foolhardy thing I think I've ever heard in my life."

"We can worry about that later," Lisanna said. "Right now we should focus on getting to the others. Where are they, Lily?"

"They went down," Lily jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Not sure exactly where."

"We'll one of the carts to the bottom," Charlie said as he landed. "We can hop out on the way if need be, but we'll avoid the traps if we stay in here… I hope."

"That's not so encouraging," Molly pursed her lips as she landed too, piling into one of the carts along with the others. Lily quickly grabbed the pedal to set it loose and was about to hop in himself when suddenly his wound panged at him and he grabbed his side, gritting his teeth.

"Lily!" Lisanna reached out a hand to him as the card rolled to the edge of the drop.

"Don't worry about me! I'll catch up!" Lily grinned right before they dropped out of sight. He took a moment to wait for the pain to subside a little before spreading his wings and descending down after them. He could already hear the sounds of more Goblins coming in behind him, recuperating from Juvia's flash flood and coming back for more.

But as the cart barrelled downwards in tight spirals, Pantherlily noticed a line of Goblin archers pulling up on a nearby edge and taking careful aim at the cart. Quickly he swooped in, growing into battle form and swinging his blade in a huge arc as the arrows were released, allowing the blade to grow until it could swat all the arrows out of the air with a single stroke and cleave a large stalactite into dust as well. Lily dived in towards the goblins as they hastily tried to re-nock their arrows and ploughed the flat of the blade into them, sending all fifteen of them hammering into the wall at once.

And as he landed on the ledge to recuperate… a nearby voice made his small ears twitch.

"Mrrooaw… quite a swing you've got there," said the unmistakably female voice. "I adore a male with a bit of brute force."

"Huh?" Lily looked around, and his eyes widened when he beheld a bizarre feline creature he'd never seen before. From the neck down it appeared to be lioness, with a dusky golden coat, large paws and a tail that was constantly flicking at the back. But its head was that of a pretty human woman with long hair the same colour as her pelt.

"Something wrong?" the woman-cat cocked her head. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Erm… forgive me for asking but… what are you?" Lily asked.

The woman-cat gasped in mock horror. "How rude," she smirked. "You don't recognise a Sphinx when you see one? Oh, you wound me."

A sphinx? Lily had never heard of one of those from either Edolas or Earthland, and had only heard the word a couple of times since he'd got here. So this was what they were, huh?

And Lily could see that this Sphinx was not exactly here by choice. She was sitting in a large doorway which presumably lead to more bank vaults, but she couldn't move away from it due to the heavy iron collar locked around her neck, attached to a chain that ran to the side of the wall. A chain that would be long enough to allow her to reach the far wall, but not long enough for much else.

"You're a prisoner here then?"

"How perceptive of you," the sphinx tossed her hair slightly. "Yes, I've been 'employed' here at Gringott's since I was merely six years old. Spent my whole life more or less just sitting here in this hallway. I can't say much for the view - it never really changes. But the Goblins make me sit here and pose riddles to people wanting to access the vaults beyond. If they get it wrong, I don't let them pass. But this chain prevents me from attacking the clients as much as it stops me from getting out. Honestly they never let me eat any of them, even if they get it wrong. It's maddening. Anyway, what's your name, handsome? And for that matter, what are you? I don't exactly have a great knowledge of the outside world after all."

"That wouldn't really help you in this case," Lily murmured. "I am Pantherlily and I am an Exceed. Do you have a name?"

"Yes," the sphinx grimaced. "Sphinxes don't really have a need for names, but my captors named me Sobekneferu."

"You don't like that name," Lily observed.

"Apparently an ancient female ruler of my homeland was called Sobekneferu and I was named after her."

"Is that not a name to wear with pride then?"

"Not really. It means 'the beauty of Sobek' and Sobek is an ancient river god nobody believes in anymore with the head of a crocodile! A crocodile! How is naming a cat after a human that was named after a crocodile a good name?"

"I… shall abstain from commenting," Lily replied dryly.

"Anyway, what's a butch cat like you doing down here anyway?" Sobekneferu snickered, openly winking at Lily, an action that made him shift about on the spot a little. Clearly she was flirting with him, but Lily reasoned that it was probably because she didn't get to do much down here and was just messing about for her own amusement.

"I came with my human friends. We're here to rescue the dragons that the Goblins hold prisoner down below."

"The dragons?" Sobekneferu raised her head sharply. "Free them? You mean, you're on a rescue mission."

"A suicidal one probably," Lily muttered dryly. "But yes, I am."

"And we are you here to free those fire-breathing lizards and not we sphinxes may I ask?"

"We didn't know there were any sphinxes down here. All we heard was they kept dragons prisoner - there was no mention of your kind. We're not exactly familiar with this place."

"I see," Sobekneferu lifted up a heavy paw and tugged at the chain around her neck with it. "But since you're here, would you mind terribly cutting me loose?"

Lily frowned, lowering his sword. "Why should I do that?"

"Why? Well you're here to free prisoners aren't you? I'm a prisoner! Hello? You see the chain, don't you?" she waggled said chain, allowing it to rattle against her collar. "Use that whacking great big sword and those bulging… firm… muscles of yours," she grinned. "And cut me loose."

"You're saying I can trust you then? I seem to recall you complaining a minute ago that you weren't allowed to eat humans. Why should I cut you free if there's a chance you'll try that on one of my friends?"

"Aww, come on. Don't I have an honest face?" Sobekneferu pouted, batting her eyelashes at him prettily. Lily grunted, but was unmoved by the display. The sphinx frowned and pushed herself to her feet, revealing that she stood tall enough for her head to be just over waist height, and then turned side on. Lily's eyes widened when he beheld the array of scars and burn marks that adorned her feline flank, some which looked very old and others shockingly new.

"This is why," she said. "You can't just leave me down here while you free some wild fire-breathing lizard. The Goblins treat me and the other Sphinxes like crap. Its a constant torture - they bring the hot irons with them every time they feed me to make sure I don't try and eat them instead. I want out of this hell pit and the other Sphinxes will too. So if you free me, big boy, I swear that I won't kill any humans. Just goblins."

Lily's jaw tightened. "No. Not even Goblins. Goodness knows they deserve it after what they've done to you, but there's to be no killing if it can be avoided."

"What kind of big cat are you if you aren't willing to kill something?"

"I'm an Exceed. So, do we have a deal? I want your word that if I free you, you will not do any killing of any sentient being under my watch."

Sobekneferu scowled, but slowly relented, rolling her eyes and sighing deeply. "My, my, you drive a hard bargain… I like a forceful male," she licked her lips cheekily.

"Deal?" Lily pressed.

"Oh, very well, deal," Sobekneferu nodded. "I swear it on pain of death. Now cut me loose."

"With pleasure," Lily hefted his blade and slammed it down, slicing neatly through the chain a mere inch from Sobekneferu's side. The sphinx stared at the chain, almost as if she didn't dare to believe it, but Lily just hefted his sword and said, "So, what next?"

"Next? Why next we find the others and free them too. There are ten Sphinxes down here somewhere including myself. Let's sniff them out. Follow me." And she bounded down the nearest pathway, Lily taking flight and swooping next to her.

As they went, Sobekneferu threw back her head and laughed out loud. "HAHAHAHAHA! Oh gosh! I'd forgotten what it was like to run! Wow, I feel so free! Hold on my sisters. I'm coming for you!"

Lily chuckled to himself. His new companion was quirky but despite her brazenness, he had a feeling he could get used to her.

* * *

Lily wasn't the only one who'd found something though. Perhaps a full mile beneath him under the ground, guided well by Bill as the Curse Breaker navigated them smoothly around all the hidden traps and pitfalls throughout the bank. By this point they'd also managed to pull ahead of most of the Goblins, meaning whenever they encountered one, it required a mere swing of an iron club or blast of fire to send them packing.

"We're getting close," Wendy breathed.

"Yeah. I can smell one. Right up ahead," Gajeel agreed as they ran towards a large cavern, a massive gaping space in the rock up ahead with a faint, orange glow emanating from within. Two Goblins were standing guard, but before they could even react Bill and Fleur rattled off a Stunning Spell each that dropped them to the ground, hitting the Goblins straight in the face as they had been wearing armour that they both knew would reflect a spell like that back.

"Okay then," Bill said, bracing himself as he squared up to the entrance of the cavern. He'd never had to do this before personally after all since he was usually in Egypt finding treasure. "Let's see if this works… I might need one of you ready just in case it doesn't." He took the Clankers from Fleur and stepped cautiously into the entranceway, rattling the bag carefully and deliberately to generate the sound it was named for. The others stepped cautiously behind him, Happy and Charla floating in the air on their wings.

And sure enough, looming in the middle of the cavern as soon as they rounded the corner, was a dragon. It towered over the humans, its wings folded in close to its sides but its stature no less impressive. This particular dragon had scales that were a glistening pearly colour, its spine adorned with with long spines at regular intervals down its length and its long snake-like tail wrapped slightly around a stalagmite nearby. It wasn't quite as large as any of the dragons that the Dragon Slayers were familiar with, but it was pretty close.

But a couple of seconds after they laid eyes on it, a guttural growl ripped through Natsu's throat. For the dragon was clearly in terrible condition. Many of its spines were broken, its legs were anchored down with heavy iron manacles, and its entire body was covered in scars, its scales flaking around the wounds, most of which clearly hadn't healed properly and some of which were still open and oozing slightly. Most of them were centred around its head, which was criss-crossed with so many injuries that it barely had any scales left at all, and its eyes in ruin. Quite clearly it was blind, and had been for a very long time.

The dragon looked up as it smelled them approach, baring its teeth and shifting its body weight as much as the chains would allow. But it could clearly hear the sound of the Clankers and it slowly backed away, bowing its head down and trying to tuck it under its wing, which it probably couldn't even stretch properly in the cramped space.

Even Bill was horrified. He'd never actually seen any of the captive Gringotts dragons. He'd never needed to since the Weasley family vault was nowhere near important enough to be guarded by one. And to see for the first time exactly what the Goblins had done to the beast… it made him seriously question whether he was working for the right company and whether he should go join Charlie in Romania from this moment on. How could anyone do that to… anything? Let alone a flaming dragon.

"Oh gods," Wendy had her hands over her mouth, looking like she was going be sick.

"Bastards…" Gajeel growled lowly. "Those utter bastards…"

"Zis is… barbaric…" Fleur agreed, looking equally stunned.

"I think this one's an Antipodean Opaleye," Bill frowned. "If I remember what Charlie's told me correctly. They're supposed to have amazing, multi-coloured eyes, hence the name… but this one… it may as well not even have it."

"What are the Clankers for?" Charla asked.

"Its trained to expect pain whenever it hears them. It's probably wondering when one of us is going to give it a new wound."

"Like hell!" Natsu snapped, and he suddenly strode boldly forwards, walking right past Bill and striding towards the dragon. The dragon heard him approaching and swung its head around to face him as he walked towards it.

"Monsieur, are you crazy?" Fleur hissed at him. "Zat zing could eat you in a second!"

But Natsu ignored her and walked forwards until he was right in front of the dragon's face. The great winged lizard's nostrils twitched slightly, sightless remains of eyes staring Natsu in the face as it took several deep whiffs of his scent. Natsu stood there, firm as a statue, fire building in his stomach like boiling lava as he surveyed the grisly work of the Goblins all across the dragon's snout.

If it wanted to, the dragon could have easily lunged forwards and seized Natsu in its mighty jaws. But it didn't. It craned its head forwards slowly, sniffing Natsu's hair, his scarf, his clothes. And Natsu simply let it before reaching out a hand slowly and placing it on the dragon's nose. The dragon growled slightly, a slight glow appearing from within its maw, but Natsu ignored the vague threats and leaned forwards himself, until he was resting his forehead against the dragon's snout, just between where its former eyes. And the two of them just stood there for several moments, listening to one another's breathing and taking in one another's scent.

Bill couldn't stop his jaw from dropping. "What's going on?" he asked. "Why… how is he doing that?"

"He's not doing anything," Gajeel replied stiffly. "I reckon that dragon's just… recognising him as some sort of kindred spirit, I guess."

"But he's a Dragon Slayer. You said his magic revolved around magic that can kill dragons."

"It's also the same magic that dragons themselves use," Wendy said. "I guess you can say we've got a little bit of dragon inside us."

"But then how come that Hebridean Black attacked you?"

"Well that one was guarding its eggs," Wendy reasoned. "I guess she was driven to protect her young."

"That dragon may be an animal," Charla agreed. "But many animals have strong instincts that tell them whether something is a foe or not. I suppose that dragon simply recognises that Natsu is not an enemy."

Bill and Fleur could only stare in amazement before Natsu pulled his head away and looked back. "Wendy," he said. "You think you can heal her?"

"Her?" Bill blinked, wondering how Natsu could tell but Wendy had hurried forward to survey the damage.

"I think I can get rid of some of the major damage but… there's nothing I can do about her eyes. Eyes are so delicate and complex… that's beyond me."

"Just do what you can," Natsu said. "Cos we're getting this girl out of here, along with all the others."

"Damn straight we are," Gajeel said as he marched forwards. "Oi, blue cat. White cat. I'd prepare to whisk Bill and … whatshername… Flare?"

"Fleur," Fleur coughed, while off in another universe a redhead with very long hair sneezed.

"Right yeah, Fleur… prepare to whisk them out of the way," Gajeel cracked his knuckles. "Don't think the dragon will hold them to quite same level of kinship as us."

"Aye, you're probably right there," Happy said as he hopped up onto Bill's shoulder, while Charla took Fleur. Gajeel stepped up to the manacles around the dragon's legs and turned to lock eyes with Natsu and Wendy.

"We do this quick," he said. "Go from one dragon to another fast as we can. Otherwise those Goblins will be able to come up with some kind of counter when they figure out what we're doing if we don't work fast enough."

"Roger," Wendy nodded.

"Let's do it," Natsu agreed.

And without another word, Gajeel suddenly barrelled between the dragon's legs, whirling around and lashing out with both Iron Dragon Swords. The manacles cracked and fell away before the sturdy dragon metal and as Gajeel rolled out the other side, Natsu roared, "Onto the next!" As one the three Dragon Slayers bolted out of the cavern, running side by side while Happy and Charla whooshed their human passengers along before them.

It took a few moments before the dragon realised it was now free, and as soon as it did it reared up, a roar shaking the caverns and momentarily making Pantherlily freeze up even from a mile up, thinking it might be thunder. The dragon's tail lashed out to collide with a wall, its wings unfurling as far as the cave would allow before it suddenly dropped back down onto all four feet with a crash that fractured rock and barrelled out of the cavern, following its nose towards the distant trace of fresh air it had been able to smell but not taste for years!

The Dragon Slayers didn't even look back as the dragon charged out behind them and went a different way. They followed their noses as they vaulted over rocks and dodged around stalagmites, trailed by the Exceed as they hurried towards the next cavern. They bolted in to find it filled with a Common Welsh Green, which looked in slightly better shape than the Opaleye but not by much and was also blind. Happy swooped in first, Bill rattling the Clankers to cow the Green into submission before the Dragon Slayers hurried forwards, Natsu calming it, Wendy doing what she could to heal it in ten seconds and Gajeel shattering its chains.

They weren't even in the cavern for half a minute before they rushed out, leaving the Green bewildered and sniffing after the draconic smelling humans curiously, before it too realised it was free and dashed forwards so fast it crashed into a stone wall, causing a small rockslide which it ignored as it thundered away in the same direction as the Opaleye. The Dragon Slayers were already running onto the next, and Wendy could already tell from the smell that this one would be a Hebridean Black.

"ARE YOU FEELING IT, SALAMANDER!?" Gajeel bellowed almost giddily as they pounded along.

"FEELING IT?" Natsu cackled. "OH, I'M REALLY FIRED UP NOW!"

* * *

The roars of the dragons were not lost on those in the cart, who were keeping their heads down beneath the rim of the rushing cart while Charlie held up his wand to cast a Shield Charm over the top in an bid to deflect any Goblin projectiles that came there way. But at the sound of the roars they all glanced at each other, wide-eyed.

"Oh gods, they've already done it," Charlie whispered. "I don't know whether I should be happy about that or not."

"Never mind that now," Juvia poked her head out of the cart, to peer over the side. A Goblin arrow struck her in the shoulder but she ignored it since it passed right through her water body harmlessly, but she could see flame down below and the white form of the Opaleye rearing up and spreading its wings to their full capacity at last. She gasped as it threw itself into the air, powering its wings as hard as it could before crashing down again on a nearby ledge, unused to flying after so long. It clawed its way up the wall like an overgrown gecko, flapping its wings and throwing itself upwards again.

Right towards the cart!

"Incoming!" Juvia cried and flooded the cart instantly, scooping all four of them out into open air moments before the Opaleye crashed through the rails and turned the cart to splinters as it fought its way upwards. Goblins screamed when they realised the dragon was loose, diving for cover as the dragon expelled a gout of flame from its jaws that washed over the wall where many of them had been standing moments before, crashing once again into the rock and scrabbling on upwards.

Juvia reformed, having narrowly dodged the dragon's wing. Lisanna quickly took on her bird shape to grab Molly and Charlie by the arm in each of her feet, giving them a chance to mount their brooms and fly properly even though they were soaking wet, before she spiralled down and latched her feet around Juvia's arms.

"They did it…" Charlie gasped as he watched the Opaleye climbing away, sending bits of rock falling down beneath it. "They really went and did it."

"And they're still doing it," Molly pointed down to where the Welsh Green had emerged, taking its own turn to leap into the air. The four of them steered sharply right and away from the Green as it hefted itself upwards.

"Come on," Lisanna cried. "If we follow the direction the dragons are coming from, that's where they'll be."


	30. Instincts

Hey guys. Sorry about the wait but I spent the last month in Australia on a filming project with a bunch of Tasmanian Devils so I didn't exactly get a lot of chances for writing. But I am back now and aim to continue with what will hopefully be a decent pace.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 30:- Instincts**

* * *

The speed with which the Dragon Slayers worked was staggering, charging pell-mell from one cavern to another and shattering anything that got in their way, up to and including an entire rock wall at one point rather than take the long way round to the entrance of the cavern. Bill and Fleur were almost hard pressed to keep up even while being carried by the Exceed. Though this might have partly been due to the fact that they were dropping Goblins whenever one showed up with a well-placed Stunner. They never saw the attack coming - after all they were too focused on the far more noticeable Dragon Slayers.

Of the six Dragons, two of them were Common Welsh Greens. And other than the Antipodean Opaleye that was the first to have her chains shattered there was also a Hebridean Black, a Portuguese Long-Snout and a white Ukrainian Ironbelly, which was the last to be visited and Gajeel instantly turned it loose with a swift double strike of his Iron Dragon Swords.

Stepping back, all three mages watched with wide smirks and folded arms as the Ironbelly spread its wings so rapidly that it shook rubble loose from the walls on either side of it with the shockwave of its wingbeat. It ploughed forwards like a runaway train, shooting straight past the humans and rounding a corner at such speed that it had to kick the wall and rebound off it just to avoid crashing straight into it.

"That's the last of them!" Bill said as Happy carried him after it, swinging around the curve to watch the Ironbelly join the race to the surface. Half a dozen Goblins ran forward, holding what appeared to be pikes and aiming the viciously hooked blades right for the Ironbelly's outstretched wings, but the Dragon threw itself right over the top of them, its tail swinging down and clouting them aside like they were nothing.

It almost collided with the second Welsh Green, which had been a little slower in its escape than the others as it had been here longest and was the most heavily scarred. The two Dragons twisted around each other in mid-air, snarling at each other momentarily as their wings thrummed like giant sails. But in the end they simply crashed down on different rock walls and ignored each other, scrambling their way up to the surface like oversized bats. Further up ahead, the Long-Snout was clambering up one of the cart tracks, which didn't seem able to support its weight as they bent and snapped beneath it, but it thundered on regardless of its mis-steps.

"Well, you did it. They're free!" Bill marvelled.

"Yes, but I zink you should get up zere and make sure you can keep zem from damaging ze city!" Fleur pointed out urgently. "Who can say what zey will do if zey breach ze surface!"

"I don't think we need to worry much," Wendy said. "Those dragons only have one thing on their minds now - getting as far away from here as physically possible as fast as they can."

"Given what we've seen I don't blame them," Charla sniffed. "The cruelty of humans really can know no limits."

"Well whatever the case, we've done our job. We should get out of here," Bill said.

"Yes… indeed you should," said a familiar voice that made Bill's blood freeze slightly. He whipped his head around to behold a broomstick that looked riderless at first glance, but on second glance was revealed to be ridden by a Disillusioned woman. One that Bill had been able to recognise from voice alone.

"Mum!" he cried. "What are… what are you doing here?"

"I could say the same of you, Bill! What were you thinking, helping them in this mad scheme to free the dragons? I might have expected that from Charlie but I thought you would have known better! They could have roasted you alive, any one of them!"

"Perhaps we should save the lectures for after we make our escape," Charlie himself suggested as he flew over, Lisanna and Juvia right behind him. "There are more Goblins on the way, and the Aurors are being held back at the surface by the others as we speak!"

"It's a long way back up and the tracks are broken," Molly agreed. "How are we planning to get everyone else back up there past the Goblins?"

"We'll blast our way out!" Natsu cried instantly. "We'll go through them no matter the number!"

"Our best option now is to fly. Hopefully we'll come under less Goblin fire as they'll be focusing on the dragons," Bill nodded, as Happy and Charla set him and Fleur down on the cavern floor.

"Salamander and I will take point!" Gajeel pounded his chest. "We'll make sure those dragons behave themselves and you guys can come up after us when they're no longer dangerous. White cat, you're my transportation now! Let's go!"

"Hey! You're not my partner. I'm carrying Wendy!" Charla snapped.

"You called her transportation!" Natsu staggered away from Gajeel in momentary horror. "You heartless bastard!"

"It's okay, Charla. You take Gajeel. I can carry Wendy," Lisanna offered as she landed beside the bluenette. "Gajeel might be a bit heavy for my hollow-boned bird forms to carry but Wendy's light enough."

"I almost feel sad about that," Wendy sighed, before nodding. "Take Gajeel-san, Charla. I'll be fine."

Charla hesitated but only for a moment. She then nodded and seized the back of Gajeel's shirt as Happy took hold of Natsu's, the two Exceed blasting upwards with a burst of their Aera, closing in on the Welsh Green that was bringing up the rear. Goblin spears flew in towards its flank but Gajeel cleaved them aside with a kick of his Iron Dragon's Club, while Natsu shot straight up past the Green and fired a Breath attack that swept across a ledge filled with Goblins that were preparing their arrows to aim at the Ironbelly, which threw itself forward like it was trying to claw its way to the gates of heaven.

"Zey are truly fearsome," Fleur marvelled as she watched.

"In the end, Juvia didn't have to do anything down here," the Water Mage in question folded her arms and pouted. "Which means Juvia could have stayed at the surface with Gray-sama like she wanted."

"Well, maybe next time," Charlie patted her shoulder as Bill mounted the broom behind his brother.

"Ready to go, Wendy?" Lisanna morphed fully into a bird and presented her back to the petit girl, ready for her to climb.

"Thanks, Lisanna," Wendy said. But, right as she was about to clamber aboard, she paused… frowned… and inhaled deeply, taking in a deep whiff of air from around the caverns. "Wait!" she gasped. "There's another one!"

"Huh?" Bill looked around sharply. "Another one? You mean another Dragon?"

"Yes. I can smell him," Wendy nodded fervently. "There aren't six Dragons down here… there are seven!" She twisted her head about, nostrils twitching as she tracked the scent. "This way!" she jabbed her finger off into the distance and dashed off in the same direction, re-enchanting herself so she all but flew off in the direction of the final Dragon. The others swung after her, but Bill's face was creased into a frown of confusion.

"This doesn't add up," he said. "I was told only last year that there were only six dragons in Gringotts… unless… they weren't lying… wait! Wendy, stop! Don't do it!"

But Wendy was already out of earshot, the little girl's eyes locking onto a thick lattice of iron bars up ahead that stretched across a gap in the rock from floor to ceiling, wall to wall in a gigantic iron-wrought cage. But the bars were wide, obviously designed to let small people like Goblins through without having to open up a large dragon-sized door. Wendy quickly ducked between the bars and pulled to a halt, finding herself facing a humungous Dragon - easily the biggest one she'd seen in this world so far. Somehow it seemed an even darker black than a Hebridean, and it was lying curled into a ball with its wings folded over its head and tail.

This one only had two chains, both of which stretched in from the rock walls at either side of the cage and disappeared beneath its wing, making Wendy suspect that they were attached to its neck and tail. And it appeared to be sleeping… which puzzled Wendy at first because surely the loud roars of the other dragons breaking free would have woken it up, but then she guessed that it had probably been drugged or something. Grimacing in anger, she hurried forwards and cried, **"ARMS! DOUBLE BOOST! TENRYUU NO… YOKUGEKI!"**

Splaying her arms out, she sent a gigantic blast of wind at max power shooting out towards the chains. Normal wind would never have been able to fracture metal in this way, but Wendy's wind was that of a Sky Dragon and the chain links broke into dozens of pieces. Wendy quickly hurried over to the dragon's side and placed her hands against it, pooling her magic into its body to counter the effects of the drugs.

"It's okay," she said. "You're free now!"

"WENDY!" Bill yelled urgently as the others finally caught up, pulling to a halt on the other side of the cage door. "STOP! DON'T WAKE THAT ONE UP!"

But it was too late. The Dragon lurched and as Wendy stepped back its reptilian head snapped up like a jack-in-the-box, fire seeping from between its teeth as it clambered to its feet and swung its body around, almost trampling Wendy where she stood. She jumped backwards, landing awkwardly on her backside and staring up at the Dragon as it loomed over her, glaring down at her. Yes, glaring. For this one still had its eyes intact… and now Wendy got a good look at it, this one was considerably less scarred than the others… and it wasn't guarding anything.

It hit Wendy in an instant. This Dragon must be a very recent acquisition, taken out of the wild by the Goblins maybe a couple of months or so ago. One that they had not yet managed to break into a half-tamed and pitiful creature like the others. One that had not yet gotten used to its imprisonment… and was royally pissed about it! And with a loud clinking it sloughed off the chains binding its tail, whipping it into sight and revealing it to be covered in row upon row of spear-like spikes.

"A Hungarian Horntail!" Charlie cried. "Why is it always a Horntail?"

"Wendy, get away!" Lisanna yelled a fraction of a second before the Horntail let rip, twin gouts of fire spitting from its blunt maw and merging together in a massive torrent of flame that washed through half the cage.

Wendy threw up her arms in a vain attempt to shield herself, but thankfully Molly Weasley was on the ball. On seeing a child in danger she reacted immediately, pointing her wand and screaming, "Accio Wendy!" Wendy was instantly yanked backwards through the air as if she'd been grabbed by a large hook, narrowly avoiding being toasted by the dragon's flames as she sailed through the bars and Molly caught her in her arms.

"Are you okay?" she asked quickly.

"Yes… I'm fine… thank you!" Wendy smiled gratefully, but the moment was instantly shattered as the Dragon thundered forwards like a freighter.

"SCATTER!" Charlie cried, and everyone leapt in different directions as the Horntail hammered into the bars with enough force to cause a small earthquake, its momentum tearing through the metal, bending some bars almost in half and ripping others out of their moorings so they clattered to the floor around it. It snapped its head around and spat another tongue of flame right at the broom that was carrying Molly, Fleur and Wendy.

Wendy hastily flung up a wall of wind that dispersed the attack somewhat but some of it still got through and only a mad roll to the side saved them, and it still set the bristles of the broom alight. Fleur was quick to put it out with a spurt of water from her wand, but the Horntail had already switched targets and locked onto Lisanna, diving forwards and slamming its huge foot down in the hopes of crushing her. Lisanna dove backwards, morphing her arms into bird wings to propel herself back, the claw lashing down inches from her face, and she quickly kicked off from the wall and shot between the dragon's legs to evade it. But again the Horntail had already swung around and sprang into the air in pursuit of Bill and Charlie, rapidly gaining on them and lashing out with its tail like the world's most deadly bullwhip.

If it hadn't been for Charlie's past skills as a Gryffindor Seeker, they might have been done for, but he managed to flip them upside-down and barrel-roll out of the way, but the backlash from the strike sent them veering out of control. Charlie fought for control as Bill clung on, stumbling to a crash landing and both falling over as the Horntail slammed to the ground and spun around with a speed that belied its massive frame. The brothers tried to jump back onto the broom but the Horntail's fire gushed in towards them like a weaponised inferno.

"**WATER NEBULA!"**

Just as the lives of the brothers were flashing before their eyes, Juvia swung in front of them, a liquidised rocket that swung her hands around and sent a massive, twisting helix of water to intercept the flame, the two attacks colliding head-on in a terrific burst of steam that enveloped both combatants, surprising the dragon enough for it to relinquish its attack. Juvia's powered through to clout it across the face, drenching its scales and washing out its eyes. It shook its head violently, snarled and thundered into the steam, using its sense of smell to find Juvia and chomp down on her.

Juvia dodged sideways, not willing to risk her water body being accidentally ingested, and summoned a Water Cane to smack the dragon across the face twice with it. Her attacks were powerful but the scales of the dragon were tough and it easily withstood it, wheeling around to follow her with tail lashing, as Charlie and Bill quickly got out of the way.

"Looks like Juvia's got it distracted," Bill said as they landed nearby, Molly's broom and Lisanna soaring in to land beside them. "For now."

"That was too close!" Molly cried, throwing her arms around her sons without even getting off her broom. "When we get back, you two aren't leaving the house for a month!"

"Ack…" Charlie cried as he pulled his neck free of his mother's arm and said, "Wendy, can't you do something? Use your Dragon Slayer magic on it."

"But that might hurt it," Wendy protested. "If I damaged his wings, how would we get him out of here?"

Fleur supplied the question on everyone's mind. "Well zen, what do we do?"

* * *

A Goblin screeched in terror as the mighty paws of a Sphinx descended upon him, the leering face of Sobekneferu hovering above him with a slightly zealous gleam in her eyes.

"You know," she purred. "I've always wondered what Goblin tasted like. Especially those fleshy noses of yours… definitely got some good meat on that. Care to let me partake?"

"No eating!" Pantherlily shouted at her even as he spun his ginormous blade around to sweep it through the rocks above the opening of a tunnel, rubble tumbling down to block off the swarm of Goblins trying to approach down it.

"Aah, you're no fun," the Sphinx grunted as she swung a paw and batted the goblin aside, slamming it headfirst into a wall and knocking it out. A loud screech from nearby alerted her that another of her kind had been stabbed in the flank with a pair of spears from a further two guards, but even as she twisted around to snarl in defiance and prepare to swing, three more Sphinxes came barrelling in to beat them aside with mighty sweeps of their claws. Thus far, Lily had cut the chains off nine of the ten Sphinxes and the whole group was now thundering their way through the caverns to the final one.

Had Lily been alone he would have succumbed to countless Goblin traps at this point but the Sphinxes seemed to have some kind of sixth sense that allowed them to detect where they were, steering Lily around them as they hurried from one captive to the next. Lily reasoned it must be some sort of internal magic they possessed. No wonder they made such good guardians - if the Goblins had treated these ladies properly then they might have led a decent life down here.

"This way," Sobekneferu burst down another tunnel, Lily landing behind her and dispelling his wings to charge in behind her, followed by the rest of the Sphinxes like a feline freight train. Sobekneferu powered through four more Goblins and there, ahead, they saw the final Sphinx. Evidently the Goblins had managed to send word of the revolt ahead, because this particular one had been muzzled and had chains cruelly attached to all four paws and neck, over a dozen Goblins working as a team in an attempt to drag her away.

"Oh, no you don't!" Lily cried and leapt into the air, his sword growing to almost one hundred feet in length and slashing down without its wielder having to move forward. The blade cleaved through the chains holding the Sphinx on its left side, including the neck chain and the Sphinx instantly took matters into her own hands, smacking two Goblins flying with her paw while Sobekneferu and two others fell on the rest of the group like a ton of bricks. Lily burst his way forward and grabbed the muzzle of the final Sphinx, tearing the metal device away with a burst of muscle power and crushing it to a pulp in the middle of his fist.

Sobekneferu looked around and nodded with satisfaction. "Yes," she said. "We're all here now. Let's break our way out of here."

"Hold up," Lily turned to face her sternly. "What do you intend to do when you get out of here? There's an entire city of Muggles above."

"And?" another of the Sphinxes raised her brow. "Just another barrier to get through."

"Woe betide any of them that tries to get in our way," another agreed.

"No! I'm sorry but I cannot let you rampage across this city. That is out of the question," Lily responded severely. "Besides, the headquarters of the Ministry of Magic is in this city. You go out there and it'll be only a matter of time before you're recaptured."

"Then what does the big, strong tomcat suggest?" Sobekneferu cocked her head, purring and lifting her paw, curling the toes as if she were a fully human woman flirtatiously imitating a cat. "We have to get back to Egypt somehow."

Lily grunted and ignored the action, wracking his brain for a solution… but before he could organise his thoughts a deafening roar washed over the group. All the Sphinxes instantly dropped to the ground and covered their ears with their paws, while Lily popped back into his smaller form and momentarily did the same, his phobia of thunder kicking in at the terrific noise. But a moment later he turned about, ears flat against his skull, just in time to see the head of the Antipodean Opaleye shoot up over the nearest ledge. The Sphinxes backed away as one as the dragon scrabbled its way past, clambering its way up the wall like an almost literal bat out of hell.

"My gods," Lily breathed, riveted at the sight of the dragon crashing its way past, and as it went one of its claws tore away a huge chunk of the wall. The dragon stumbled slightly but latched on again and continued its ascent, but the torn section of rock sailed through the air directly towards the Sphinxes, bathing them in its shadow. Lily grabbed his sword and prepared to grow into a larger form again, but he was promptly beaten to the punch by a pillar of iron that lanced out of nowhere to obliterate the rock into shards.

"Looks like you've been keeping yourself busy!" Gajeel grinned as he swept to a landing, Charla peeking over his shoulder and panting slightly - not used to carrying such a heavy man.

"As have you," Lily observed, holding his blade up in front of Sobekneferu, who had tensed at the sight of the newcomer, spine coiling like a serpent in preparation to spring. "It seems the goblins had more prisoners down here than we thought."

"Both dragons and cats…" Charla noted. "There's… an odd symmetry there, isn't there? Anyway, Lily. You can take Gajeel from here. I'm going back to check on Wendy."

"No, wait!" Lily raised a paw just before Charla could dive out of sight. "Someone needs to head outside and tell one of the others to prep that Portkey cage. We'll need it to get these Sphinxes to safety."

"Cage?" one of the Sphinxes hissed.

"You wish to put us behind bars the moment we are freed of our chains?" another agreed.

"It's the only means we have to transport you. Don't worry, we shall release you later! Charla, tell someone to prep it to go to this… Egypt… place… Hurry!"

Charla bit her lip, obviously loathing to be apart from Wendy for longer than necessary, but she nodded and swept her way back up towards the entrance, falling in alongside Happy as the blue cat carried Natsu past. Lily hoisted himself into the air and took Charla's place behind Gajeel, looking over his shoulder at the pack of Sphinxes.

"Come on! Follow me to your freedom!" he shouted, and as he hefted Gajeel upwards, the Sphinxes broke into a run behind him.

"Never took you for a ladies' man," Gajeel glanced back at his partner with a smirk.

"You're one to talk. Seems you have a thing for smart girls."

"SHADDUP!"

* * *

The fighting in Diagon Alley was heating up. Several of the Aurors had run down the street to the nearby broomstick shop and had taken to the air with intent to fly over the wall, prompting Evergreen to do the same in her attempts to fend them off. She was unable to turn them to stone, as that would cause them to drop from their broom and risk killing them via shattering on the rooftops or the street, so she was doing her best to fend them off with her Fairy Magic alone.

**"…GREMLIN!"** she shouted, fling her arms out as wide as her wings, a thick fog of Fairy dust churning up from mid-air around her to form a thick, sparkling blanket over the top of Gray's ice wall. The first of the incoming Aurors pitched to the side and attempted to fly through the dust cloud, but Evergreen snapped her fingers and detonated several dozen particles in front of him before he could, the blast repulsing him backwards and sending him spiralling downwards fighting for control of his broom. The remaining members weaved from side to side, looking for a gap, but Evergreen had managed to cover the entire width of Diagon Alley and extended the cloud right to the doors of the bank.

A phalanx of Stunners was sent in towards the airborne mage, but she nimbly dodged aside like a mosquito in a hurricane, her fingers stretching as she maintained the cloud. Down beneath her, Gray had similarly risen a wall of ice around himself so he could continue to stand on the top and reinforce the barrier, battling against the constant bludgeoning hexes and fire spells that were pitched against it to reinforce its sturdiness. And all the while the Order kept up the retaliatory pace, firing any spell they could think of through the minute gaps in a bid to slow the Aurors down.

But Scrimgeour was not to be so easily denied. He had quickly come to realise that standard Auror tactics were not going to work against these Fairy Tail mages! Their magic was nothing like those of the Aurors, leaving them facing something they had had no training to counter.

So they had to think outside the box themselves. Which was why he rallied his men, gathering ten Aurors in a line at the back and, when the time was right, screaming out, "DUCK!" Instantly the rest of the force dropped to their knees, allowing himself and the other ten Aurors to fire a spell simultaneously that whooshed forward to impact the ice wall… which instantly transformed from frozen water into bricks!

"Huh?" Gray blinked in sudden shock as if found himself standing on something he had definitely not himself made. But before he could react, half a dozen more Bludgeoning Hexes stormed in towards the wall and hammered through it, blasting brick back into the street behind them. Tonks dove to one side to avoid being struck by rubble that exploded in towards her. Moody was not quite so fast and was was sent spinning, crashing to the ground in a heap - his clawed wooden leg creating grooves in the cobbles of the street.

And another Bludgeoning Hex struck the wall right in front of Gray, hammering him backwards with a roar as he was flung right off the top. "AAAHH!" he cried as he was sent head over heels, battered by bits of debris to crashland on his back.

"Gray! Are you alright!?" Arthur cried as Kingsley hurried to Moody and pulled him back to his feet.

"Yeah…" Gray grunted as he pushed himself back up, a little scraped and bruised but none the worse for wear. "They caught me off guard is all," he glared at the Aurors charging forwards to try and get through the gaps they'd made in the wall. "ICE MAKE: FLOOR!" he bellowed, slamming his hands into the ground and sending a wave of ice across it to half-way down the Alley, sending several dozen Aurors slamming onto their backs as they lost their balance on the slippery surface.

"They're starting to get used to fighting us," Evergreen muttered, and as if to prove her point the airborne Aurors swished their wands and a high-powered wind gushed from the wooden tips. She herself was only pushed back slightly but the dust around her was caught as if in a gale and whipped away, her explosive cloud dispersing around her like dandelion seeds in a breeze. She applied more pressure to her magic, unleashing more in an attempt to fill the gap, but the strong winds whipped that away just as quickly as the riding Aurors closed in.

But even as she wracked her brains for a solution… there was a loud thud behind her. For a moment the whole street seemed to shake, particularly the bank… and the moment after that was filled with dead silence. Aurors, Order members and Fairy Tail mages alike stopped, frozen as if Gray had turned them all to ice, heads swivelling slowly round on their necks to start at the bank.

A second after that, a sudden swarm of goblins poured out of the ruined gates, panic stretched across many of their faces.

And a second after that… something massive punched through the roof of the bank like a cannonball from hell, a gigantic fountain of stone and glass shooting into the sky like ash from an erupting volcano. Gray instantly created a barrier of ice that shielded his companions from being showered with it, but through the transparent shield he could see the enormous shape emerging from the fractured ceiling. A great white wing unfurled like some kind of pop-up marquee, another appearing alongside it moments later. The heavily scarred head rose up, swerving from side to side as if brandishing its horns to the world and the support columns of the building buckling beneath its colossal feet.

Gray had only ever seen one dragon. And to be honest, this one was not as impressive as the Black one. But it still took his breath away.

Then the Aurors panicked, as did the citizens of Diagon Alley who had been daring to watch the battle through their windows. Several of them broke and ran. Others were frozen in fear, hyperventilating. And even the Order members were rooted to the spot as if they'd been hammered into the ground, waiting with breath bated and bodies tense for the dragon to make its move.

But the Opaleye had no interest in them whatsoever. With a burst of its wings it hefted itself into the air, ignoring a couple of random hexes some of the braver Aurors managed to hit it in the stomach with. Higher and higher it rose, its flight unbalanced and wobbly which demonstrated how weak and out of practice it really was. But it swept high into the sky and turned away, flying southeast as fast as it could. Its only motivation was to escape the hell it had been trapped in for so long.

"YAAAAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAAAA!" a scream of joy dragged everyone's attention back to the bank where Natsu stood on the edge of the wreckage, punching the air with both fists. "BE FREE, DRAGON! FLY AND BE FREE!"

"They're mad…" Tonks shook her head in disbelief. "They're actually mad."

"Please, please don't lump me in with him," Gray muttered.

"We've got more incoming," Charla said as she swept in to land beside them. "And it seems we're adding a bunch of Sphinxes to our rescue attempt! Someone needs to get the cage from Tenrou Island quick! To take them back home!"

"What about the dragons?" Kingsley asked.

"They can fly their way to safety. Hurry! It won't be long before they arrive!" Charla said, and half a second later a second cobble shattering roar rent the air as one of the Welsh Greens hurtled out into the open air. One of the Goblins threw a lance at and successfully managed to pierce through the weakened armour around its neck. The dragon screeched with an almost devilish shriek of pain and lashed its head around, fire exploding from out of its jaws in the direction of the foolhardy Goblin, a wall of fire gushing out down the alley like a tidal bore sweeping down a river, seeking to engulf all the combatants in its path.

"NOT ON MY WATCH!" Natsu roared, blasting himself forwards with a spurt of fire from his feet and intercepting the fiery blast, momentarily vanishing amongst the flames before he sucked it down his throat, his stomach bulging momentarily as it was filled with the raging flames. Moments later and Gajeel thundered out of the hole, Lily at his back, one arm morphed into iron which he hammered into the Green's chin, cutting off its fiery attack.

"FLY DAMN IT!" he bellowed. "GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE!"

The Green didn't need to be told twice and shot into the air, scrabbling for altitude as if the Devil was chasing it.

"Whoa…" Arthur breathed, as this was the first time he'd seen Dragon Slayers in action. He definitely couldn't fault his son for admiring these guys.

"Don't just stand there!" Charla waved her arms. "We need to move!"

"We can head for Tenroujima," Lupin cried, helping to support Moody despite his stubborn attempts to stand on his own feet. "But we need to get out of the Anti-Apparition wards."

"I can handle that!" Gray slammed his hands together. **"ICE MAKE: TUNNEL!"**

A thick half-cylinder of ice formed down the street, ending in a solid wall so the Aurors couldn't get in the other end. Lupin and Moody quickly ducked into the open end, hurrying down it until they could get far enough away from the bank to Apparate out. Scrimgeour growled as he hefted his wand, preparing to try blowing a section of the tunnel in, only for an extremely well placed Stunner to hit him in the chest and send him crumpling to the floor.

"Oooh, I just Stunned my boss," Tonks sucked on her teeth. "Okay… he can never find out about that, alright?"

And a split second after Lupin and Moody disappeared with a loud cracking sound, an even louder cracking sound rent the air as one of the Hebridean Blacks burst through the wall of the bank and prepared to fly off itself.

* * *

Down below, Juvia was swirling in watery streams around the Horntail's head, the enormous creature snapping at her with jaws closing like steel traps as it whirled around in circles in pursuit of her like a gigantic moth round a lightbulb, tearing the walls and the floors to shreds as it did. Juvia flipped out of the way just in time to avoid being chomped on and surged towards the wall, rebounding off it and whirling in like a typhoon towards the dragon's stomach. The Horntail whirled around and cleaved straight through her with its tail, slicing her watery form in two, but she remerged with herself and came again with a shout of "WATER JIGSAW!"

Her body span and whirled with dozens of watery blades, high powered jets crashing straight into the dragon's back. But the impact barely made the winged lizard stumble, its tough scales holding up under the blow with only minor damage before it whipped around and fired a blast of flame into Juvia at point blank rage. She was repulsed backwards, landing skidding on her feet and violently steaming as she reformed into her body, panting for breath as the Horntail bore down on her again.

The others watched from nearby, crouching around a corner and watching wide-eyed as Juvia took on the Horntail alone. Wendy whimpered. This dragon was a tough customer. Though clearly not nearly as strong as Grandine or Acnologia, it could definitely take a beating. Juvia was a powerful mage and yet it was still shrugging off her attacks with little effort.

The little Sky Dragon Slayer was sure her attacks would do more damage due to the nature of her magic, but she didn't want to do it. And yet it seemed like if she didn't, Juvia might eventually tire. And if she ran out of magic, even her water body wouldn't help her against this opponent.

"What do we do?" she whispered. "What do we do?"

"We can't just stand here. We have to help her," Charlie replied.

"But how? We're no match for that," Bill pointed out.

"We don't have to be. We just need to drive it outside. And I think the best way to do that will be to blind it."

"What?" Wendy gasped in alarm. "You want to do what the Goblins did to the others to this one?"

"No, of course not. I mean a Conjunctivitis Curse," Charlie hefted his wand. "It'll render it hard for the dragon to see for a while and it may decide to try and escape. But we'd need to hit it in the eye and with the way its thrashing around I don't know how we could!"

"I know," Fleur said. "I 'ave dealt wiz a dragon before myself. Leave it to me!" And the Veela abruptly dashing out of hiding and ran towards the fight before she could be stopped, her silvery hair flying out behind her as she shouted, "Water Woman! Bring it zis way! Quick!"

Juvia didn't need to be told twice, jetting her way between the dragon's legs just as its jaws closed down behind her. It twisted around in pursuit of her and barrelled in towards them. Fleur glanced over her shoulder at the others and cried, "ZTUN IT! QUICK!"

Charlie and Bill immediately jumped out of hiding as if physically compelled, Fleur having accidentally put in a little of her Veela power into the words that spurred the two boys to obey in a bid to impress her. Molly followed less quickly but the three of them raised their wands and fired a triple Stunning Spell between them that lanced in and struck the dragon in the chest. A dragon's resistance to magic meant that this was not nearly enough to incapacitate it, but it did make it momentarily dizzy and it pulled to a halt, shaking its head in a bid to clear it. And Fleur immediately took advantage of its momentary lull in movement to begin waving her wade, twisting it in complicated circles and waving her free hand in equally complex circuits, humming as she worked and her wand glowing a luminescent green as she worked her magic.

The dragon stared at her, its eyes seeming to glaze over slightly as it watched the young woman move. It began to sway airily from side to side, its head lolling from left to right as if it was on the verge of falling asleep. A little fire spurted from its nostrils as it snorted sleepily, but Juvia was able to put it out quickly with a spurt of steam.

"You're… putting it into a trance?" she glanced at the woman she didn't know beside her.

"Yes," Fleur nodded without breaking her concentration. This was exactly what she had done to the Common Welsh Green she had faced last year during the Triwizard Tournament, putting it into a sleepy state so she could collect the Golden Egg it was guarding. She was quite relieved to learn that it worked on Hungarian Horntails too.

"Juvia wishes she could put Gray-sama into a trance…" the Water Mage whispered. "Wait… could you put him into a trance… are you a love rival?!" she bristled.

"Juvia-san! Please let her concentrate!" Wendy cried.

"Charlie. Bill. 'It it now!" Fleur shouted as the dragon swayed as if it had somehow managed to get drunk. The two Weasley brothers nodded and levelled their wands, taking careful aim and blasting twin orange beams from their wooden weapons that lanced across the cavern and cannoned straight into each of the dragon's eye sockets.

"HHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

The dragon snapped out of the trance with the force of a bullet snapping out of a gun, rearing up on its hind legs so fast that it smacked its head forcefully against the rocky ceiling, sending chunks of stone flying around it as it overbalanced and crashed down onto its back with such force that it knocked over all the humans. But the dragon was up on its feet instantly, spinning around and flailing in a blind panic as it tried to peer through the swelling and the yellow discharge that its eyes began to exude. Fire streamed from between its teeth, and Juvia was forced to envelop Fleur in her watery form and whisk her aside to avoid her getting charbroiled.

But Charlie's hunch was correct. The furious dragon was now panicked and instantly it turned on its heel, relying on its sense of smell to scent out the nearest fresh air. Scrambling out of the tunnel and into the open cavern it bellowed as it unfurled its wings, powering itself upwards with far more precision and ease than the other dragons, thundering towards the surface with great, thrumming wingbeats but still careening into the walls every now and then as it struggled to see where it was going.

"Nice call, Charlie!" Bill pounded his brother on the back.

"Yeah but I hate casting that spell on a dragon," Charlie grunted.

"All in a good cause, Charlie-san," Juvia said as she reformed, gripping the soaking Fleur beneath her arms to help her keep her balance. "Let's follow it up to the surface. Juvia wants to make sure Gray-sama is okay."

"Come on, Fleur!" Bill agreed as he grabbed his broom, Fleur mounting it behind him as soon as she'd cast a quick drying spell over herself.

"I've got you, Wendy!" Lisanna said, morphing into a large green bird and gripping Wendy around her biceps to hoist her upwards. She powered her way up after Bill and Fleur, with Charlie and Molly riding another broom behind them and a liquidised Juvia bringing up the rear. The Horntail loomed ahead of them in the light, rapidly climbing up through the caverns and breaking its way through the criss-crossing tracks as it past, almost not noticing they were even there and forcing its pursuers to dodge bits of falling rails as they ascended behind it.

"We've done it," Wendy breathed, a wide smile on her face. "I… I think we've really done it."

And naturally that's where things went wrong.

Because that was when near one hundred Goblins spilled out onto a ledge just above the Horntail. They had managed to rally together while the Dragon Slayers were otherwise occupied and they were armed to the teeth with lances, spears and worst of all… harpoons. Lisanna was the first to spot them as they lined the lip of the ledge, her avian eyes widening as she breathed… "Oh no…"

Yelling and screaming in their harsh tongue, the Goblins hurled their harpoons with deadly precision as soon as the Dragon reached their level. And their weapons were magically designed to be able to pierce almost anything, for they punctured straight through the Horntail's scales where even Juvia's water attacks had not. A high pitched screech of pain ripped from the black dragon's mouth as the hooked barbs punched deep into it, the goblins anchoring the long cables attached to the harpoons quickly into the walls and jerking the Horntail's ascension to a halt. It stumbled in the air, powering its wings in a bid to regain its balance but it was brought crashing forwards into the wall, latching quickly onto the rock to keep it from falling back into the blackness. And other Goblins quickly threw their long spears and lances, punching holes in the Horntail's scales like needles in a pincushion.

This was the kind of thing they had done to capture the dragon in the first place. Their weapons were laden with magic that sapped at the dragon's strength, slowly weakening it until it would succumb and become unable to stop itself from being chained.

"STOP IT! STOP THAT NOW!" Wendy screamed as Lisanna hurried upwards, releasing the younger girl with a flex of her legs to send her flying towards the Goblins. They turned to see just as she swung her hands out and yelled, **"TENRYUU NO… YOKUGEKI!"** and span her body around to launch huge blasts of wings from arms to send many of them flying, into the stonework behind them. Many more turned towards her, ready to charge, but Wendy's distraction had been just what the Horntail needed, flexing its wings and kicking off from the wall to tear the chains out by their roots.

But it didn't head up to the surface again. Instead it crashed down on the ledge in front of Wendy, crushing several Goblins underfoot and blasting fire from its jaws to engulf many others. Wendy froze in momentary horror at seeing some of the Goblins killed - no matter how horrible these creatures were she hadn't wanted them to die! But the Horntail's spiked tail swept in at her from the side, forcing Lisanna to dive in and seize her, yanking her over the top of the swipe just in time, a deep gouge appearing in the bottom of Wendy's sandal. Millimetres higher and it would have slashed her foot.

The dragon whirled around the ledge, stomping and slashing and cooking up a storm, its beating wings fanning the fire and turning the ledge into a furnace as it stormed around after the Goblins, its boiling anger at those who had harmed it compelling it towards retaliation. But more Goblins were running in from the side, holding the same kind of shield that had managed to deflect even Natsu's breath attack, forming a wall of steel before them that the dragon's fire washed harmlessly over while more Goblins launched more harpoons over the top of the barrier, sinking into the dragon's shoulders and dragging pained screeches from out of it.

"We need to stop them!" Wendy cried, heart in her mouth. "Before they kill each other!"

"But what can we do? We can't put it in a trance again unless we draw its attention back to us and that's not a good idea while we're airborne!" Charlie shouted back.

Lisanna clenched her beak shut, feeling utterly useless at that moment. None of her animal forms would do a thing against a dragon, not even the Doscadon she had so recently acquired. Even though this black dragon was nothing like Acnologia, she felt just as helpless now as she had when…

Wait a second…

This dragon was nothing like Acnologia. The only thing it shared with him was basic anatomy. That's right… Wendy herself had said it! The dragons of their world were highly intelligent, extraordinarily powerful and unique beings. But in this world they were just animals!

Just animals…

Was it possible?

Could she perhaps do a Take-Over on this Horntail?

There was no way she could pull one on an Earthland dragon. Her magic was not adapted to it. As far as she knew, nobody's magic was. After all most people had thought the entire dragon race extinct for the past four-hundred years and even if they hadn't, she'd never heard of a Take-Over type designed to work on them. Nobody had ever developed it. Possibly nobody had ever had the chance to even try.

But this dragon… it was an animal. A magical animal yes, but an animal nevertheless. So… it might work!

There was only one way to find out for sure. Lisanna banked sharply over to one of the brooms and deposited a surprised Wendy right behind Molly. Then, without another word, Lisanna folded her wings and streaked straight in towards the flailing Horntail like an arrow fired from a bow.

"Lisanna-san!" Wendy shouted.

"What are you doing?" Bill agreed, but Lisanna was already in close, aiming herself for the the back of the flailing windmill that that the dragon was making for itself. She dodged around a powerful wingbeat and morphed back into her human self just in time to land on the Horntail's shoulder, grabbing one of its back spikes and one of the Goblin's harpoons to keep herself in position, holding on for dear life as the dragon whisked her around in circle, not even noticing that she was there in its mad bid to crush more Goblins.

"Here goes…" she whispered, focusing her magic, drawing on the same power she'd used on the Doscadon mere days ago, trying to emulate the energy flow and mindset that she'd used back then.

"Sorry, big guy!" she shouted as her body glowed with bright light. **"TAKE… OOOOVEEERRR!"**

The dragon momentarily froze, rearing up onto its hind legs and roaring as it too was engulfed in the light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes from the intense glare in the darkness of the cavern, almost as if a supernova had gone off in the middle of a black hole!

"What's she doing!?" Fleur shouted.

"Don't tell me she's…" Juvia breathed.

"Is it… is it possible…?" Wendy gasped in astonishment, trying to peer through the glare and see for herself. She too had never considered it… someone actually doing a Take-Over on a dragon. It sounded absurd. And yet… it was working! She could feel Lisanna's magic working as her body dematerialised and entered that of the dragon, their souls merging together as one within the Horntail's body.

Then the light snapped out… leaving the Horntail standing there for a moment, its inflamed eyes unfocused and dazed. There was dead silence around the cavern, except for the faint roars and crashes coming from the other dragons above.

"Lisanna-san?" Wendy called. "Is… is that you?"

Before the dragon even made any acknowledgement that it had heard Wendy, another Goblin harpoon flew through the air and struck the dragon right in the chest. Instantly the dragon's eyes snapped back into focus and it bellowed in pain and… rage! It fell back onto all fours and barrelled forwards, slamming one clawed leg down to smash a Goblin into the rock and a spurt of flame gushing from its mouth to wash over several others. The maelstrom of flailing limbs began again as if nothing had happened in between, the Horntail smashing and stomping its way around almost even harder than before, splintering the rock of the very ledge it was standing on.

"What's going on?" Bill shouted. "What's Lisanna doing?"

"Where did she go?" Fleur cried, not sure what was happening, but her question went ignored.

"Didn't it work?" Charlie looked to Wendy and Juvia desperately. "Didn't Lisanna take it over?"

"Oh no…" Wendy's eyes widened in horror. "She's lost control! Just like Elfman-san did with the Beast!"

"What? What do you mean?" Charlie pressed.

"Lisanna-san has done a full body Take-Over! It worked! But she can't control the dragon! She's become lost in its instincts - they're too strong so they're overwhelming her. She probably doesn't even remember she's Lisanna at the moment. She's just become part of the dragon!"

"The same thing happened to her older brother when he tried to do it on a powerful monster," Juvia agreed. "This dragon is stronger than anything Lisanna's tried to control before, and its the first magical animal she's ever done it on. She wasn't ready!"

"Then what do we do now?" Charlie hollered, eyes wide as he struggled to find a solution.

"NNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Before any of them could respond a massive fireball suddenly streaked in from the side and hammered straight into the Lisanna-dragon's side, breaking the harpoons loose from her scales and sending her hurtling sideways to roll right off the ledge. Her wings flailed and she scrabbled against the rock to keep herself from plummeting and she just managed to catch herself in time, pulling herself back upwards once more. The fireball landed in the middle of the ledge and revealed itself to be a certain Dragon Slayer.

"Natsu-san!" Wendy gasped.

"The other dragons have all taken to the sky!" Natsu shouted as Happy whooshed in behind him. "Didn't realise we had an extra one. Good thing I doubled back to check, right?" he said as the Lisanna-dragon scrambled up over the side of the ledge, glaring at him and her mouth glowing as she readied her next breath attack. "Looks like this one's been a little trouble though. I'll send it packing."

"NATSU-SAN WAIT!" Wendy screamed. "THAT'S…" But it was was too late, the Lisanna-dragon had already opened fire, expelling a massive fiery blast towards Natsu, who charged forwards and ran straight into it without a second thought. The fire reversed direction behind him and was sucked into his mouth - he was eating the attack even as he charged through it. And as he ran he coated his knee with his own fiery and sprang up to hammer it into the dragon's chin. The dragon's jaw snapped shut, cutting off its fire with a strangled yelp as its head lurched upwards as if jumping out a jack-in-the-box, while Natsu flipped himself over and smashed his fist into the rock below him.

**"KARYUU NO TEKKEN!"** he shouted, pulverising the rock to smithereens with his flaming punch and sending both himself and the dragon falling into space as they their place to stand fractured to pieces. Happy zoomed in and snatched Natsu before he could fall too far while the dragon flared its wings and beat them hard to regain its equilibrium. Once it found it, it powered upwards, its thoughts on revenge banished under the painful punches of the Dragon Slayer and its instincts to flee renewed as it hurtled towards the surface.

Natsu grinned. He'd been pulling his punches slightly but it seemed Dragon Slayer attacks had a bonus effect on the dragons of this world just like his own.

"Mission's almost been accomplished, right?" he said.

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered. "That was awesome, Natsu!"

"Who… what are…" Fleur's jaw had dropped, unable to believe what she'd witnessed and neither were the other three members of her world - they'd all known what Natsu could do but to actually see it. It was astounding.

But Wendy, who was used to it, was more lucid. "Natsu-san, no! We have to stop that dragon!"

"Huh? Why?" Natsu frowned.

"That's Lisanna-san!" Juvia pointed up at the fleeing dragon. "She did a Take-Over on it but lost control! And now she's getting away!"

"WHAT?" Happy screamed

"…Eh?" Natsu blinked several times. "EH!? THAT'S LISANNA!? THAT'S… THAT'S… THAT'S SO COOL! AAAHHH WHY COULDN'T I DO THAT? I WANNA BE A DRAGON!"

"NATSU!" Happy chided him as he streaked upwards. "That's not the important part! You just attacked Lisanna and now she's running away from us! We need to get her back!"

"Oh… OH!" Natsu yelped as the full extent of the situation reached him. "YOU'RE RIGHT! LISANNA! LISANNA, WAIT! I… I DIDN'T MEAN TO HIT YOU IN THE FACE! I SWEAR! I… THOUGHT YOU WERE GRAY!" he roared as Happy streaked up in pursuit of the Horntail their friend had become, the rest of the group following close behind.

* * *

The Ukrainian Ironbelly was just hoving its way out of sight when Sobekneferu finally emerged from the bank, leading the group of sphinxes like the alpha lioness on a hunt. Goblins scattered before them as they snarled their way into the street of Diagon Alley, their paws impacting lightly against the stone. So into the charge were they that they would probably have hurtled the full length of the alley if it hadn't been for Gray's ice wall, which he had rebuilt further down to hold the barrier between his group and the remaining Aurors while keeping them out of the wards of the bank.

Tonks, Kingsley and Arthur had all immediately turned their wands on the Sphinxes as they had emerged, the words of their next intended spell hovering on the back of their voice boxes just in case they needed them. The Sphinxes hissed in response, coiling to spring, Lily quickly grew to full size and got between the two sides.

"Hold your fire," he said. "We're all on the same side here."

"I doubt that," Sobekbeferu sniffed. "I don't much like humans any more than goblins. After all, they let them keep us down there without doing anything to rescue us until you lot arrived."

"We didn't exactly have the option you know," Tonks replied quickly.

"Yes, and whatever happens we cannot let it be known that the Order participated in this raid on Gringotts bank," Kingsley agreed. "When we become public knowledge, as we inevitably will when the Dark Lord is revealed to really be back, we need to be a symbol of protection against him… not the kind of people who aid people from other universes in attacking banks."

"And when people find out we've been in league with Fairy Tail for a while?" Arthur asked worriedly. "What will happen then?"

"By then I hope very much that Fairy Tail have managed to build themselves a better image in the eyes of the public," Kingsley said dryly. "Because at the rate they're going… they never will. There will be a backlash for what's happened here today, mark my words."

At that moment there was a flash as the large cage appeared from out of thin air, filling the gap between them and Gray's ice wall. Lupin and Moody were clinging to it, the latter refusing to fall over despite his bruises and slightly damaged faux leg, pushing himself to an upright position and clunking his way forward.

"This the lot who we're transporting this time?" he growled. "Honestly, at this rate the Order's going to build a greater name for rescuing animals and magical creatures than rescuing humans. We're going to be like that… that Muggle organisation that I've heard about that goes round saving wildlife at all costs…"

"Which one? There are a few," Lupin chuckled.

"You expect us to get in there?" Sobekneferu growled, glowering at the open door suspiciously. "How do we know that it will not simply return us to the Goblin caverns."

"I will get in with you if necessary," Lily said. "You can trust these people. They are our allies. Now let's go quickly before the Aurors and Goblins regroup now that the dragons have gone."

An enormous thundercrack of a roar broke the comparative stillness around them, so loud that it must have woken half of London. Everyone practically threw themselves to the ground as another section of wall exploded out of the bank, the massive form of the Hungarian Horntail sweeping out of it, crushing the stonework beneath it and cavernous mouth stretched wide as it bellowed to the sky. That got the Sphinxes moving pretty quickly. They bolted straight into the cage, helter-skelter, tumbling and clambering over one another in a sudden panic as the huge lizard charged out towards them with wings spread. Lupin slammed the door behind them and waved his hand quickly.

"Come on! Let's get them home!" he said.

"I'll see you later!" Lily called through the bars to the Sphinxes as Lupin vanished with the cage into nothingness. At the same time, the Horntail powered its wings and rose up into the sky, the blowback from its wingbeat knocking everyone off their feet. And as it rose higher, Natsu and Happy surged out of the bank behind it, launching themselves in after the fleeing reptile.

"Lisanna! Oi!" Natsu cried as he pulled up alongside her. "Lisanna, listen to me! It's me, Natsu! Snap out of it!"

"Lisanna please!" Happy shouted too, tears pricking at his eyes in desperation as the dragon ignored them and climbed higher. "Come back, Lisanna. Wake up!"

"What should we do?" Natsu hissed to himself but before he could think of anything the Lisanna-dragon whirled around, irritated at the annoying fly soaring up with it. She spat a gout of fire down at him, which Natsu quickly countered with a roar of his own, the two attacks crashing into each other and cancelling each other out with a colossal explosion that sent Natsu and Happy shooting backwards… right into the path of Lisanna's flailing tail.

"GWAAHH!" Natsu cried as Happy rolled them desperately to one side, but not fast enough to avoid three of the spikes raking their way across his front and tearing through his clothing and skin alike, or to avoid an unspiked section of the tail pummelling into Natsu's midriff and knocking the breath out of him. The impact sent them both rocketing back towards the ground, Natsu clutching his stomach and heaving for breath as he felt his blood running over his arms.

"Lisanna…" he gasped despairingly, watching through half-closed eyes as the dragon turned away and winged its way northwards through the night sky at high speed.

Down below and the others had rejoined the group. Juvia tried to fling herself into Gray's arms, but he managed to catch her by her biceps and thus avoid a hug. Nevertheless he smiled at her and said, "Glad to see you're still in one piece. Not that I'm surprised."

"Juvia says the same, Gray-sama!"

Arthur, on the other hand, did receive a hug. In fact, he initiated it with his wife as she landed and dropped her Disillusionment charm, looking over her shoulder at Bill and Charlie in undisguised relief. "Thank goodness," he said. "Next time I am definitely going down there with you Molly, no matter how much you protest. Are you all okay?"

"There were tense moments but we're alright," Charlie said.

"And who is this?" Kingsley asked, pointing his wand warily at Fleur before Bill stepped in front of her quickly.

"This is Fleur Delacour, a recent co-worker of mine and the Triwizard Champion of Beauxbatons last year. She helped us out down there. In fact if she hadn't I think we would have been in trouble several times over. And I'd like to formally request that she be allowed to join the Order."

"Order? What Order?" Fleur asked, frowning in confusion. "What is all zis about Bill? I zink I am due an explanation."

Kingsley considered her for a moment before lowering his wand and nodding. "Very well, she may accompany us back to Headquarters, but she will need permission from Dumbledore first before she can enter. Take her to the Hog's Head and send word to Dumbledore. We will debrief you properly Miss Delacour when we can."

Bill nodded and grabbed Fleur's hand, twisting on the spot and Apparating them both away.

"Where's Lisanna?" Charla asked as she landed on Wendy's shoulder.

"Well…" Wendy hesitated, but at that moment Natsu crashed back into the floor, clutching his stomach and grimacing.

"Wendy, hurry!" Happy waved his arm. "Natsu's bleeding. Heal him quick!"

"R… Right!" Wendy rushed over and immediately held up her hands, Natsu removing his arms from the gashes across his front to allow the smaller Dragon Slayer access.

"Where is Lisanna then?" Evergreen prompted. "She… she didn't come out with you."

"Oh, she did," Charlie said. "She was that last dragon!"

"Wait… what?" Tonks gasped. "You mean… she…?"

"A Take-Over on a Dragon?" Gajeel went momentarily slack-jawed. "I didn't even think that could be done."

"It can here apparently," Natsu grunted, staring up at the sky… the noticeably empty night sky. "But she's not in control! And now… she's gone. That dragon is fast!"

"Well… then we must go after her!" Evergreen replied quickly. "We have to find her. We can't lose Lisanna again, especially not so soon after we got her back!"

A split second later and several Aurors suddenly Apparated into existence around them, now able to get past Gray's wall since he'd moved it further forwards. The Order members no longer Disillusioned threw up their arms to hide their faces quickly. Spells flew through the air and though instinct drove many to dive aside Tonks, Gray and Charlie were all hit with Stunning spells and dropped to the floor, Gray still conscious but reeling and unable to stand.

"No time!" Moody barked, seizing Tonks' body. "Back to headquarters quick!" And then he Disapparated with a crack! The Order members dashed about hurriedly, grabbing Fairy Tail members and taking off with them before the Aurors could set up new anti-apparation wards. Molly took Evergreen, Arthur seized Gray and Juvia, Charlie grabbed both Gajeel and Lily, and Kingsley, who was still thankfully Disillusioned, dodging past two spells and repelling one back on the caster as he hurried for Wendy and Natsu.

"But what about Lisanna?" Wendy cried, as Natsu's last gash fully closed.

"I'll get her!" Natsu surged to his feet, flinging a fiery arm out and sending several Aurors diving for cover. "I made her a promise. I told her that I would look after her while Mira and Elfman weren't here. And I need to keep that promise. Wendy, take Charla and go! I won't come back without her!"

"Natsu-san," Wendy breathed, admiration for the older Dragon Slayer welling up inside her, but nodding as Charla grabbed her and swept her the remaining distance to Kingsley, who grabbed them both and Disapparated instantly.

"Come on, Happy! Let's fly!" Natsu burst into the air with a blast of fire from his feet.

"AYE!" Happy agreed determinedly, sweeping in after him and grabbing him to shoot off into the sky, spells fired after them falling woefully short as they whooshed away from the ground. "Where to, Natsu?"

"I've still got her scent!" Natsu replied with a growl. "We head north and we don't stop until we've caught up with her."

Happy understood the meaning of that growl. "Natsu… this isn't your fault…"

"I'm the one who convinced the others to attack the bank," Natsu cut him off. "This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for me. But I'm going to keep my promise. I'll bring her back to Mira and Elfman, no matter what!"

* * *

Streams of molten rock bubbled and frothed as they trickled through the ravine, bare ugly rock looming up on either side of the lava rivers and the air filled with a combination of smoke and steam and a constant smell of brimstone that never died away. A broiling, hot landscape that never changed, never wavered… and in which stood one single, solitary figure.

Deep red scales, the colour of rust, adorned his enormous body above his lighter, cream-coloured belly, the chest of which was adorned with a huge, X-shaped scar. A great, sweeping tail that coiled around a boulder behind him, each limb tipped with huge claws and his reptilian head plastered embellished with long horns that swept out the back and side, a spiked chin and a large curved horn on the tip of his nose. Not to mention the immense wings that jutted out from his shoulders, so broad that they were like the ceiling of a cathedral between them.

And a deep, growling voice that rolled across the landscape like a tide:-

"A human performing a Take-Over on a dragon…" Igneel mused thoughtfully. "How interesting. This… deserves further investigation."


	31. Morning News

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 31:- Morning News**

* * *

"You understand our terms then, Minister Fudge?" snarled one of several Gringott's Goblins that stood in a ring around Cornelius' desk.

"Absolutely yes, of course," Fudge nodded, trying very hard not to rub the sleep out of his eyes - he had not gotten a wink of sleep that night and it didn't look like he was going to get the chance to hit the hay anytime soon. "Rest assured Ragnok, we want the menace that is these Fairy Tail mages to be stopped just as badly as you do. And we will do everything in our power to ensure that they will not get anywhere near Gringott's bank again."

"I should hope so," Ragnok wrinkled his obscenely long nose. "Do you realise how bad this is going to be to our image? Nobody has ever broken into our bank, in all of its long history, and made it out with anything! Not only did these offworlders breach our security, they also took half of it away with them! There is to be no mercy given to them. None! And rest assured that if you back out of this arrangement, we will be closing the doors of our bank to you and all of wizardkind."

"As soon as you've rebuilt the doors, that is," Scrimgeour muttered under his breath, his hand over his chest where a Stunning spell had hit him only a few hours ago. Fortunately though the Goblins didn't seem to hear him, and they filed out of the room, gnashing their teeth and looking no less livid than they had when they'd walked in several hours ago.

Fudge ran a hand over his face as the door closed, looking up at the Head of the Auror department and several Wizengamot members that had risen to join the meeting.

"How can these keep happening?" Fudge asked, locking eyes with Scrimgeour. "If these Fairy Tail mages are not brought down then we are in serious risk of them destroying the entire Wizarding World as we know it! They break into two of the most secure places in London and leave without a single casualty, they destroy a town, they reveal magic to the Muggle population on a massive scale that we can barely cover up… how much longer is it going to be before they do something we cannot recover from?"

"If I might, Minister," Scrimgeour cleared his throat. "I would suggest an alternative path to hunting them."

"You are surely not about to suggest what I think you are going suggest, Scrimgeour. You would still offer a hand in friendship to them after all this. They broke into Gringotts. Gringotts! Even if I were to propose something as ludicrous as shaking hands with these… monsters… the Goblins would never work for Wizardkind again. How long would it be before another war breaks out with their race?"

"If I might, Minister," piped up the stern voice of Amelia Bones from where she was sat in the corner of the room poring over several scraps of parchment. "If I am reading this report correctly, then the attack on this bank… it did not appear to be a robbery. Certainly it doesn't appear as if anything was taken. Nothing significant enough to be noticed anyway. In fact, it says here that none of the vault doors were opened or even damaged during the entire skirmish."

"What are you saying, Madame Bones?"

"I'm saying that Fairy Tail broke into Gringotts and the only thing that left when they did are the Dragons and the Sphinxes. Only living beings. Which, I might add, the Goblins all kept prisoner down there."

"…You're saying you feel this was a humanitarian act?" Fudge blustered.

"That is what the evidence seems to suggest. The level of power these Fairy Tail mages possess clearly indicates to me that if they so chose, they could have broken into almost any vault in there and made off with anything that suited their fancy after all."

"All the more reason that they should be brought down now before they realise that," Fudge raised a finger. "It sounds to me like we were extremely lucky. They unleashed seven dragons on the middle of London! If you ask me they were probably hoping the Dragons would descend upon the city and cause chaos! We're lucky the winged reptiles decided to pass it by and that the attack happened at night! People still heard the roars and saw the lights, but most couldn't make out what was going on out there so the cover story of a practice fireworks display for November 5th should hopefully work, but if it had happened during the day we'd all be in trouble. And even if this was some kind of… bare-faced rescue mission from a bunch of Whomping Willow Huggers, we cannot forget the other things that they have done. We must not let them believe that they can simply walk all over us. How long before they seized control? How long before they decide to supplant each and every one of us here?"

"Minister…" Scrimgeour started, but he was cut off.

"And most importantly… how long before more arrive? Hmm?" Fudge looked hard at Scrimgeour. "I don't believe anyone is still sceptical of their claims that they come from another universe. And if they indeed are, then there is a whole world of others just like them out there. They could be the advance guard for an invasion!"

Most of the Wizengamot members were nodded, looking around fearfully as if expecting for the Fairy Tail mages to come blasting through the wall and slaughter them at any moment. Scrimgeour glanced over at Amelia, and was somewhat relieved that Madame Bones didn't appear to be among the terrified. She was pursing her lips, looking sceptical of Fudge's claims. And Scrimgeour could probably see why. She was, after all, looking at the report and therefore knew one irrefutable fact.

That there had been no casualties or even serious injuries amongst the Aurors that had been sent there that night.

The report described the events in great detail. How the Ice Moulding Mage had kept up a firm defence when he could have easily gone on offence and how the flying woman with glasses used some kind of explosive dust that could have, if she so wanted, enveloped the whole group of Aurors and caused terrible damage to any who didn't get out of the way in time and yet she too had only used it as a defensive barrier. And though the unknown party hidden behind the ice wall had been fighting back against the Aurors fiercely, not one Killing Curse had been fired. In fact, he had seen not one spell that would have caused serious damage to anyone.

The more Scrimgeour battled these people, the more he became convinced that if they wanted to cause harm, somebody would have died by now. They didn't act like terrorists. And yet Fudge and so many other people, important or otherwise, seemed so terrified at the prospect of what they could do that they just didn't seem to be considering the evidence properly as to what they would do.

"If it helps…" Auror Proudfoot raised his hand. "We do have two Fairy Tail mages in custody now."

"What!?" Fudge looked up sharply.

"What!?" Scrimgeour snapped his head around at the exact same time.

"Yes. Along with Sirius Black," Proudfoot puffed his chest out slightly, looking rather pleased with himself all of a sudden.

"Why was I not informed of this immediately?" Scrimgeour barked, striding over to loom over Proudfoot. In all honesty considering everything that had happened at Diagon Alley he had quite forgotten that Sirius Black had also been on the target list that night.

"The matter at the bank and the meeting with the Goblins seemed more pressing, sir," Proudfoot replied. "The three prisoners are down in the holding cells below now, under constant guard from Dementors…" At that his face fell slightly and Scrimgeour picked up definite traces of guilt in his features. "They're… quite well contained, sir. That is why I thought it could wait."

"Well do not wait any longer," Fudge practically jumped around his desk. "Lead me down to the cells now! How did we come to capture two Fairy Tail mages along with Black in the first place?"

"They were with him, Minister," Proudfoot said as he led the way, the majority of the room filing out behind him. "Two women, a redhead and a brunette… they seem to be associates with Black. They're the ones who harboured him at the Muggle Bed and Breakfast before they were flushed out by the Muggle police force."

"Associates of none other than Sirius Black!" Fudge cried. "You believe them to still be humanitarian now, Scrimgeour? If they were not trying to cause us harm why would they associate with a known felon and mass murderer?"

"Deception," Scrimgeour pointed out. "Black might not have told them who we really is," but Fudge didn't even seem to hear him. Instead he ploughed on with the question on everybody's mind:-

"But however did you catch them?"

"The Dementors, sir," that guilty look flashed across Proudfoot's face again. "We just sent them in as instructed and… well, they had a pretty violent reaction to their presence Minister… the redhead in particular… I don't think I've ever seen anyone scream so loudly before a Dementor… not even the inmates of Azkaban. And the brunette didn't take long to succumb to them either."

"Interesting. Then it appears the Dementors are the key," Fudge mused. "If they can have such an effect on one or two Fairy Tail mages then they can have a similar effect on others. I want Dementors stationed everywhere we can spare them - the Ministry, Diagon Alley, Hogwarts! Everywhere!"

"But Minister, you stationed Dementors at Hogwarts two years ago!" Madame Bones protested. "And you had to withdraw them because they almost planted a Kiss on a student. On Harry Potter, no less!"

"Then we must make sure to keep them under firmer control. These Fairy Tail mages are far more dangerous than Black could ever be, and I will take all precautions to ensure the safety of the Hogwarts students. And I am sure that Dolores would very much agree with me."

"And Dumbledore?" Scrimgeour asked pointedly.

"Dumbledore will be dealt with, and in this case I am sure even he would agree," Fudge replied.

A few minutes later and Proudfoot led them into the holding cells. Fudge's eyes practically lit up when he saw the hunched form of Sirius in the corner of the first one, rocking backwards and forwards slightly with his hands over his ears while the Dementor standing at the other side of the cell seemed to grope the air in his direction, as if desperate to come closer to him and feed upon any remaining traces of happiness he had left… and possibly more… while a Patronus in the shape of a badger stalked up and down the outside, keeping those in the corridor safe from the Dementor's adverse effects.

"Well, that at least is one menace to the Wizarding community that we can now firmly say has been dealt with," Fudge nodded. "Excellent work, Proudfoot. I think this deserves for you to be rewarded with the Order of Merlin, First Class."

"Th… thank you, Minister," Proudfoot nodded, as the group moved on to the next cell, in which sat Cana Alberona. The brunette was hugging her knees as she pressed herself against the far wall, her chest heaving and her eyes wide and unblinking, as she struggled for breath.

"I'm… I'm not worthless…" she whispered to herself in a voice that was almost more hoarse than the rattling breath of her Dementor cellmate. "I'm… I'm not worthless… I'm not…"

Scrimgeour grimaced. He never liked sicking a Dementor on anyone if he could avoid it, but this girl already looked like she'd spent several months locked up in Azkaban prison!

"What kind of magic does she use?" he asked brusquely.

"She appears to have some kind of ability based on using magical cards. We confiscated them of course," Proudfoot tapped the box which contained Cana's deck and everyone else drew back from it as if they might explode at any moment.

Then…

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! GGGAHHNNNNN! AAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Scrimgeour's spine stiffened and he bolted to the next cell along, seeing a redhead in a white frilly top and blue skirt convulsing on the ground like she was having the most violent seizure he'd ever seen. She clutched her head and howled for several seconds before she collapsed, limp as a discarded doll, into an unconscious state.

"What happened?" Scrimgeour asked.

"That's… just the way she reacts, sir…" now the guilt was really hitting hard on Proudfoot's face. "Every time she wakes up in the presence of a Dementor she immediately starts screaming. I… I don't think I've ever seen anyone so tormented by one."

"It's horrible," Amelia whispered, looking very physically ill as she stared at Erza's face, twisted into an expression of terror even in her comatose state.

"So… now that we have them… what do you intend to do with them?" Scrimgeour folded his arms, waiting for Fudge's verdict.

"Yes… yes, well… let's see… ah, Weasley, take note of this please."

"Yes, Minister," the bespectacled form of Percy Weasley nodded fervently as he made a piece of parchment hover before him and took out a Self-Inking Quill.

"I want you to dispatch word to the _Daily Prophet._ If we hurry then even now we might be able to make the morning addition. I want the full story spread out to every Wizarding home in the country, stating that Sirius Black will receive the Dementor's Kiss tomorrow, or rather today, at midday. I would have it done now, but I would like to question him about his association with his connection with Fairy Tail first. Oh, and don't mention the two of them were caught together, just say that we also have two Fairy Tail mages in custody, both of whom will be sent to Azkaban until the Wizengamot has decided on how to proceed with their sentence."

"Azkaban!?" Scrimgeour barked, startling Fudge and making him jump half a foot into the air. "You're going to take that woman… that girl there… and send her off to the densest population of Dementors in the northern hemisphere? That's practically torture! Subjecting her to the Cruciatus Curse would be more humane!"

"What else do you propose I do with her?" Fudge blustered, straightening his bowler hat which had almost gone flying off his head. "We can't give her an opportunity to escape and besides, she is a criminal. Azkaban is where we send criminals - that's how it works."

"But she hasn't done anything wrong other than be associated with people who have. And neither has the brunette for that matter."

"We will deal with them properly after we have dealt with Black. For now, they will go to Azkaban and there is nothing more to be said on the matter." Fudge said. "Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to get at least two hours of sleep if I can. Weasley, hurry to the _Prophet_ now. This will definitely make their front page."

As Percy hurried away and the majority of the Wizengamot filed out of the room, Scrimgeour felt a hand placed on his arm and glanced down to see Madame Bone looking up at him.

"Might I suggest that until we can find some proof that Fairy Tail are not as malicious as the Minister is painting that you become a little less outspoken about it? You might be at risk of losing your position if he suspects you are growing too sympathetic."

"I'm relieved at least someone else is on the same mindset," Scrimgeour replied. "Sending those girls to Azkaban… that just isn't right."

"Fear is often the death of reason. And the Minister seems to fear a great many things… and let's be honest, the Fairy Tail members haven't exactly been doing a lot to dissuade those fears," Amelia shook her head. I can only hope that a solution is found quickly. If that girl goes insane in Azkaban… they might never forgive us."

* * *

All through the night, Lisanna powered her wings forward in beats so powerful that they almost seemed to create miniature shockwaves through the air behind her as they passed. Her spiked tail undulated behind her like a colossal whip, and her side panged at her from where Natsu had unknowingly struck her with his Dragon Slayer magic.

Not that she was aware of her actions… the instincts of the Horntail had swallowed up her own entirely, suppressing her consciousness beneath its own so that while Lisanna was technically in control of the body, technically the one flapping the wings, the Horntail's mind was still running the show.

As she flew, the sky around her began to brighten, the vestiges of dawn beginning to wash over the world like the incoming tide. Her stomach began to cry for attention, alerting Lisanna to the need to feed. She had not eaten for days… and she could smell food down on the ground. Horses, cows… something down there would be worth catching and devouring.

But just as she angled her body westwards to follow the scent of a particularly delicious smelling cow…

"HHHHRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWRRRRRR!"

Lisanna's head snapped around as the mighty roar ripped through the sky around her, just in time to see a colossal form covered in hard, bronze scales come shooting out of a nearby cloud to crash straight into her, claws snagging at her shoulders and a gigantic blunt head slamming into the side of her own!

Another dragon! And this one seemed to be even larger than her! How it had managed to sneak up on her without her smelling it was a mystery, but Lisanna instantly responded with a roar of her own and lashed out with her teeth, snapping her jaws around the dragon's neck only for her teeth to clash against thick armour that her fangs couldn't pierce. Two huge feet kicked her in the gut and shoved her away and as she rolled backwards in the air she lashed up with her tail. The spikes clashed against her attacker's stomach hard enough to create sparks but they seemed to cause no damage to the other dragon at all as it upended itself with a tilt of its massive wings and powered down, slamming straight into her stomach in mid-air and body-slamming her down towards the ground.

The two dragons grappled with either other as they plummeted earthwards, a mess of flailing wings, flashing claws and swinging tails as they battered at each other relentlessly. Lisanna scrabbled at it madly, lunging her jaws for one of its wings only for it to lurch out of the way and a clawed foot to seize her nose and shove it downwards.

The ground grew ever closer rapidly, so Lisanna snarled and twisted about until she could see the dragon's huge head before her own, golden eyes staring into her own as she opened her jaws and blasted a huge gout of flame from the back of her throat right into its face. The fire washed over the scaly head, hungrily licking at the bronze armour but the dragon didn't even seem to blink! Instead, it opened its own jaws and exhaled some kind of… mist… that dispersed Lisanna's attack and whooshed over her own face like a wave. Lisanna sneezed, coughing and spluttering as she felt a sudden weariness crashing over her… her eyelids drooping and her muscles slackening as she started to fall asleep in mid-air!

The last thing she saw was the other dragon's gigantic teeth right before her face before her eyes slowly closed and her world went dark.

* * *

Pantherlily grunted as he made his way down the stairs of Grimmauld Place an hour or so after sunrise. He hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep. None of them had really… but Dumbledore had arrived at headquarters not that long ago and had called an emergency meeting of the Order, asking the Fairy Tail members to attend as well.

The black cat found himself dwelling on what had happened last night after they had escaped from Diagon Alley. He, Remus and Moody had had to take a few trips via the Portkey cage before they had finally arrived in Egypt, which was apparently too far to make a single trip. But, once they had arrived in the middle of a desert and right in front of an enormous statue of another Sphinx, Lily slipped through the bars and grew into his larger form to yank the door to the cage open.

The Sphinxes had filed out in single file, with Sobekneferu bringing up the rear as Lily closed the door behind her.

"There you are," said Lily. "Home free. And I recommend you ladies keep an eye out for Goblins in the future. No doubt they'd like to replenish their stock of guards in the near future."

"No doubt indeed," Sobekneferu purred, stepping around Lily and rubbing her flank against his legs like a household cat. "Speaking of which, we'd better get out of this area. There are tombs around here that could be crawling with Goblins. Thanks for all you did for us, big boy. Is there any way I can repay you?"

"I bet I could think of something," snickered another Sphinx, and the whole group purred.

Lily coughed slightly, and immediately jumped up to land on top of the cage in his smaller form. "That is… very kind of you," he said. "If I ever think of something then I will be sure to come back and call on you. But for now, knowing you're free of your chains is more than enough."

"Suit yourself," Sobekneferu tossed her head and tail at the same time. "Well, thanks again. Come on girls, its time to see the world." And she lead the way across the sand as the entire feline group hurried off into the distance, soon lost to sight in the dust cloud that they kicked up around them.

"That was… awkward…" Lily coughed as he descended to the ground next to Remus and Moody.

"Well if Exceed society is anything like that of humans, you did the right thing in turning them all down," Remus nodded sagely.

"…Them all…?" Lily blinked. "I thought only Sobekneferu was…"

"Oh, she was only the most outspoken," Moody gave a growling chuckle. "All of them were interested. Sphinx society is a lot like that of a lion. Male Sphinxes are extremely rare, so when one is found, its usually with a lot of female ones, all of which are his mates."

"Something tells me you would have had a hard time coping with that," Remus snorted at the look on Lily's face. "Looks like you dodged a Killing Curse there."

"So it seems," Lily nodded slowly.

But that had all been yesterday. Now the black cat was hurrying down the stairs along with everyone else, into the kitchen. With a full compliment of the Order except Sirius and every Fairy Tail mage accounted for with the exception of Natsu, Happy and Lisanna, the room was now getting extremely crowded. Dumbledore was at the head, staring levelly at them as they entered and found a place to stand around the walls, before he opened the meeting with the words:-

"Well, last night was an unmitigated disaster."

"You can say that again," Lucy rubbed her forehead with her fingers. "Though… in all fairness we should have known better than to send Natsu out to search for Sirius. We really should have guessed that he'd try something like that."

"You Fairy Tail people promised that you would consult us before doing something rash like this," Hestia Jones protested, holding up an early issue of the _Daily Prophet_ as she did. "Now its all over the news that you attacked the bank and tried unleashing dragons on the city."

"The paper didn't even mention that there were no human casualties. Not did it say you also rescued the Sphinxes," Professor McGonagall agreed. "They've done nothing but put a negative spin on this, and at this moment I hardly think we can blame them. This Order is supposed to be focusing its attentions on stopping You-Know-Who, not on harbouring a bunch of offworlders who insist on causing trouble whenever they can."

"Minerva is right I'm afraid," Dumbledore sighed. "This cannot go on. For now we are an operation that works in the shadows, just as Voldemort himself is now doing. But sooner or later the general public are going to realise the harsh reality that the Dark Lord really has returned, and when they do they are going to similarly find out about us and what we have been doing. Including how we worked hard to keep you out of the hands of our own Ministry."

"Surely the fact that you're working to stop Voldemort would be grounds enough to make them trust in your decision to help us, right?" Wendy asked.

"I wouldn't think so," Gray wrinkled his nose. "They'd just assume that the Order had combined forces with us to take down both Voldemort and the Ministry. They'd assume the reason we're combating Voldemort is to eliminate the competition for who will rule when the Ministry falls."

"Precisely," nodded Dumbledore. "Which is why I must really, truly urge you to reign your… destructive tendencies in."

"Not to worry, Dumbledore," said a voice as a previously invisible Mavis floated into view and landed delicately on one end of the table. "It will not happen again. I am invoking a new protocol. Until the Third Master is found and returned, all Fairy Tail members will have to gain permission from either myself or from an Order member before they can go out and do anything of this nature again. Is that understood?"

Most of the mages around the room looked thoroughly shame-faced, especially Wendy who had, after all, let her love of dragons get the better of her in this instance too. Gajeel grunted and looked mildly indifferent but he too superseded to the First Master's authority."

"You have our word," Gildarts said, his voice seeming to quieten the entire room down. "No more spontaneous missions… no matter how well-meaning they may be."

"Thank you," Dumbledore said. "With any luck we can still turn this situation around for the good of us all. And with that said, I'd like to welcome our newest recruit to the Order. Miss Delacour, I am sure you will be a fine addition to our team. How are you settling in?"

"Well…" the quarter-Veela coughed from where she was sitting next to Bill. "Zis 'as been… difficult… to take in. But I zink… given what I saw yesterday… zat I can 'ardly just sit back and 'xcuse myself. I believed 'Arry about ze Dark Lord as soon as I 'eard about what 'appened to Zedric. I 'ave zought many a time what might 'ave 'appened if it 'ad been me zat touched ze Cup and was whisked off to zat Graveyard. I will gladly join zis fight."

"We're happy to have you on board," Arthur nodded with a smile.

"Yes…" Molly said slowly, eyeing how close together Bill and Fleur were sitting with a slightly peeved look. "Yes, we… certainly are."

"Good," Dumbledore nodded. "But now we must turn our attention to more… pressing matters. For it seems that the skirmish at the bank was not the only thing that happened last night."

"Is it Sirius?" Levy asked worriedly.

"Yes," Remus sighed heavily, looking particularly haggard as he picked up a copy of the _Prophet _and passed it to Levy. The blunette quickly donned her Gale-Force glasses and rushed through the front page of the newspaper in two seconds flat. She instantly gasped and cried, "Sirius has been caught along with two Fairy Tail members…!?"

"What?" several voices across the room yelled at once.

"Which ones?" Gray asked instantly.

"It doesn't give name, but it describes them as two women… one with brown hair… and one with red… and Evergreen is here that narrows the suspects down to two."

"Erza-san…" Juvia breathed.

"And Cana," Evergreen finished.

SLAM!

Several Order of the Phoenix members fell off their chairs as the entire dining room table splintered into fragments under the fists that had suddenly pounded into it, leaving Mavis hovering in the air once more. Veins had appeared in Gildart's forehead, his pupils almost narrowed into slits. The normally cool and placid man suddenly looked absolutely terrifying.

"My daughter," he growled, in a voice almost more primal than even Natsu's angriest tone. "They have my daughter as a prisoner?"

"And Erza and Sirius too," Lucy said. "How the heck did they manage to capture Erza?"

"It says here that they sent in Dementors to bring them down," Levy said. "Oh gods… I hate those things."

"Damn, no wonder Erza was taken," Gray hissed, his fist clenching so tightly he could have crushed rock in it. "The kind of shit that she's had to go through… the terrible things she's seen… and those Dementors bastards just made her relive all that! I'll kill them!"

"Where?" Gildarts asked. "Where… is my daughter?"

"Apparently they've been taken to Azkaban prison," said Kingsley. "I don't envy them… I've been there a few times and even from the outside its a terrible place."

"Take me there," Gildarts strode towards him through the wreckage of the table. "Take me there now."

"Gildarts, wait…" Molly started.

"If you think I'm going to leave Cana in the middle of a fortress full of soul-sucking demons for one second longer than necessary…" Gildarts interrupted, but Molly quickly interrupted him back, getting in front of him and placing her hands on his navel (as he was so tall she couldn't reach much higher without looking ridiculous).

"I know… believe me, I know how you feel. If it was my Ginny in there… or any of my sons for that matter then I would absolutely distraught… but you can't just go charging into Azkaban. It's full of the most dangerous criminals of all of Wizarding Britain! If you charge in there and destroy everything they could escape!"

"You do not understand," Gildarts shook his head firmly. "None of you can. Cana's eighteen years old, and I only found out she was my daughter five minutes before Acnologia descended on Tenroujima to attack us. For the first eighteen years of her life I never even knew I had a child. I was never there for her when she needed me, and when I finally promised to be a father to her she was ripped away from me again. Now I know where she is, and she's in possibly the worst place on this entire world. I will not sit on the sidelines while she is there."

"Nobody here doubts your love for your newfound daughter, Gildarts," Dumbledore spoke up. "But do you not remember what we were just talking about?"

"He's right," Mavis said as she stepped up next to Molly. "You gave your word there would be no more rashly charging in. And that includes now."

"You're suggesting we leave her there?" Gildarts said incredulously.

"Absolutely not," Mavis replied. "We will certainly rescue her. And Erza, and Sirius too. But we have to go about it in the right way."

Gildarts wrinkled his nose and relented, but he didn't relax even in the slightest. "Very well but I am going to Azkaban. I will not be left behind, not this time."

"Very well," said Dumbledore. "But I think you should be the only Fairy Tail mage that does."

"Why?" Juvia asked. "The rest of us want to rescue Erza-san and Cana-san too. Juvia considers them both dear friends… she can't just stay behind?"

"I'm afraid that I must insist you do," Dumbledore replied. "If a party is going to be sent on a rescue mission to Azkaban, it should be kept as small as possible. And let us not forget, it is not just your friends Erza and Cana that are particularly prone to the effects of Dementors."

"He's right about that," Levy shivered. She noticed Gajeel was looking at her and quickly stepped out of his line of sight behind Lucy.

"Agreed," Gray bit his lip hard, remembering well how vivid Deliora's roars had been in his ears after just five seconds of being near one before. Juvia placed a hand on his shoulder, and this time he didn't shrug her off, grateful for the comforting touch.

"It looks like this time will be a mission primarily for the Order," Kingsley said. "I would volunteer to take part myself, Dumbledore, but I am afraid I will be needed in the Ministry today. I was in charge of the hunt for Sirius… I'm going to have some explaining to do."

"Sirius is another top priority," Tonks nodded, looking physically ill and anyone who knew Dementors well could tell she was picturing what might happen at Sirius' upcoming execution. If that was the right word… after all he wouldn't die if a Dementor managed to suck his soul out. But for lack of a better word… that's what they were going with. "We have to figure out a way to get him out of there, no matter what. And he's scheduled to be executed in just a few hours!"

"And yet… how can we?" Lupin asked hoarsely. "The last time that Sirius was held captive, Fudge made the mistake of leaving him alone in his imprisonment which was what allowed Harry and Hermione to rescue him on the back of a hippogriff. He's not going to make that mistake again - Sirius will be under constant watch right up until the final moment… how can we hope to just… pull him out from under the Ministry's nose?"

"I don't know! But we have to… I'll turn traitor right in front of Fudge if its to get my cousin his freedom back."

"Now who's the one thinking of rushing in?" Gajeel smirked slightly. "I don't suppose you'll be wanting us to just run in there and bust him out like we did before, huh?"

"It would be best if that could be avoided I think," McGonagall nodded.

"Hmm…" That may be," Dumbledore said, running his hand over his beard thoughtfully. "But there is not going to be any way to rescue a man as heavily guarded as Sirius right in the middle of the Ministry of Magic itself… without a little drama unfolding, I suppose."

"What are you saying, Dumbledore?" Kingsley asked.

"I am saying that I might just have the beginnings of an idea," Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling again. "And this time… I would be asking for a little offworldly help."

"From us, you mean," noted Charla.

"What would you have us do?" Lucy asked immediately. "If there's any way we can help to rescue an innocent man, I think I speak for everyone here when I say we'll do it. Right guys?"

"Aye!" several of the mages cried, which made a far-off Happy sneeze and almost drop Natsu out of the sky.

"This time though, it will call for no small degree of subtlety if we want to do this right," Dumbledore replied. "Here is where my train of thought is heading…"

* * *

Harry had barely slept that night either for obvious reasons. The sun was coming up outside and while Neville, Seamus and Dean slept peacefully, he could only sit in his bunk, wringing his hands and hunching his shoulders. He was unable to focus on anything other than what might be happening to Sirius right now… effectively the only family he had left… on the run again.

Ron had stayed awake most of the night too, constantly supplying him with reassurances that didn't help ease Harry's worrying but did make him grateful that Ron was at least trying. But eventually the youngest Weasley brother had been too tired to continue and had nodded off with his face buried so deep in his pillow that if it wasn't for the constant rising and falling of his back to indicate his breathing that Harry would have thought he was dead.

To be honest, Harry knew there was little reason to worry. As Hermione had said, it was extremely unlikely they knew where Sirius had come out of the fire and he had spent two years on the run already. And of course the Ministry didn't know about his Animagus form. Surely Sirius, of all people, would be fine.

But that didn't stop Harry from worrying either.

Just as the clock was reaching seven in the morning, round about the time that the castle would begin to stir, the door to the boy's dormitory creaked open. Harry looked up immediately to see Hermione peaking through the gap. The bushy haired girl spotted that he was awake and hurriedly beckoned to him. Catching the urgency of her mannerism, Harry instantly guessed that it had something to do with Sirius and leapt out of bed, grabbing Ron's shoulder and shaking him as he passed.

"Hnngh… huh… what…?" Ron looked up sleepily, but it didn't take long for him too to realise what was happening and he almost fell out the bed in his efforts to follow.

Hermione led the boys down the stairs to the common room where Pantherlily and Charla were waiting for them on the table. Ginny, Fred and George were also already there.

"Where's Happy?" was the first thing Ron asked.

"Long story," Charla massaged her forehead with one paw. "But he's alright as far as we know."

"Did you find Sirius?" Harry whispered urgently, his knuckles turning white under the death grip he had on the back of a nearby chair.

"No… but we have news," Pantherlily said. "And we thought you should hear it from us before you read about it in the morning paper. It's… not good."

Harry's heart momentarily stopped. "He's been captured, hasn't he?"

"…Unfortunately yes," Charla said, to a sudden chorus of gasps and some particularly colourful expletives from the twins.

"This is my fault! I should have just told him it was too dangerous to talk through the fire!" Harry growled, furious with himself. "Has… Have they… done… it?"

"If by 'it' you mean given him over to the Dementors then… no, they have not done that yet," Charla replied. "It seems we lucked out in that regard - he was caught in the company of two of our own friends from our world. All three of them were taken prisoner, and they probably want to question him about that first. But 'it' is scheduled to happen at midday today."

"They want to question him?" Ginny asked quickly. "Well then… what if they give him Veritaserum? If they did that then maybe he could use that to tell them all that stuff about Wormtail? Surely they'd believe him then and maybe they'd let him off!"

"No, they won't use Veritaserum," Hermione shook her head.

"Why not?" Ron asked.

"Because it's not considered reliable enough," Hermione said. "Some people can resist its effects if they know how, especially if they know or at least suspect that they're going to be given it. That's why they don't just arrest people and force-feed it to them to find out whether they're guilty or not. If Sirius was given it and told them about Pettigrew, they'd just assume he was one of those who can resist it."

"So what… they'll just… question him for a while and then have his soul sucked out as soon as they're done with him?" Ron looked like he wanted to throw up.

"I'm sure Dumbledore will think of a way to get him out…" Hermione was unconsciously wringing her hands now. "I mean… he has to, right? He wouldn't just leave Sirius in the lurch?"

"I need to get to the Ministry of Magic," Harry said before either of the Exceed could reply, immediately turning and running for the portrait door.

"Harry! Harry, what are you doing?" Ginny shot to her feet.

"I'm not going to stay here while Sirius is in trouble," Harry declared as he hurried out, the others hot on his heels. "I'll hex my way through Umbridge and Fudge himself if I need to. But I am not going to lose him!"

"Harry, slow down!" Charla barked as she swung around in front of him, flaring her wings in his face to bring him to a halt. "Dear lord… do you always just rush in like this without a plan?"

"Usually… we kinda do, yes," Ron said.

"Well you'd make a very good fit in the Fairy Tail guild then," Pantherlily smirked wryly. "Only this time, we're listening to Dumbledore first. There is a plan, Harry. It's being put into motion as we speak."

"Then I want to be a part of it," Harry stated firmly. "I'm not going to just sit here. Not this time."

"Harry, you can't be a part of it," Hermione reasoned. "If you were seen in helping to rescue Sirius then they'd use it as an excuse to expel you and arrest you instantly. Lord knows, the Ministry's been looking for enough excuses to at least do the former already. You can't help him."

"Er… actually he can," Lily smirked.

Everyone turned to stare at the black cat with varying reactions. Ron and the twins looked nonplussed, Hermione incredulous and Harry… extremely surprised. He'd gotten so used to people telling him that he couldn't do anything but stay in school that suddenly being told the opposite almost sent him physically reeling.

"What?" he blinked.

"You can help," Charla said. "You're actually part of Dumbledore's plan. He's going to want you there at the execution."

"If it all works out," Lily nodded. "You'll have your own part to play in rescuing your godfather."

"But that's crazy!" Hermione squeaked. "Has Dumbledore lost his mind?!"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not," Lily said. "But this time he's calling on you, Harry. We need you there… but we also need something else from you too."

"What's that?" Harry asked, a little warily.

The black cat and held out a paw:-

"One of your hairs."

* * *

Rocks…

…An… awful lot of rocks…

That was the first thing that Lisanna saw when she opened her eyes. Her very much human eyes.

"Nnngh…" she moaned, pushing herself upwards and clutching at her head woozily, little bits of dirt and dust falling out of her white hair. "Wha… what happened?" she rubbed her eyes, blinking in an attempt to focus her vision. She appeared to be lying on a wide rocky ledge about halfway up a mountain, rugged hills and peaks stretching out around her for as far as she could make out. Her clothing was frayed and torn in some places, her head was pounding and there was an odd taste in her mouth. One that she couldn't quite seem to place.

Why was she here? She couldn't seem to remember a thing about how she'd got here… what was the last thing she could remember… Natsu doing something reckless… the goblins… the bank…

The dragons.

Lisanna gasped and sat up, her heart pounding as her mouth instantly went wide. She'd tried to do a Take-Over on a dragon… no… she had succeeded in doing a Take-Over on a dragon. But everything that had happened after that was a mess in her mind… some kind of blur… a jumble of thoughts she could only pick out parts of. Natsu roaring, plumes of flame, screaming goblins…

In a flash, she realised what had happened.

"I lost control…" she whispered. "Just like Elf-niichan did that time… I… became buried in the dragon's mind… oh no… oh gods…" she scrambled her way quickly to her feet. "Did I hurt anyone!? Are the others okay!? NATSU!? WENDY!?… JUVIA!? CHARLIE!? MOLLY!?… ANYONE!?"

She cupped her hands on either side of her mouth to scream for the others, but there was nothing… just her echoes bouncing off the cliffsides around her… and obviously this wasn't London. How far had she flown to get here? And… if she'd hurt… if she'd killed…

She clapped a hand to her mouth, her stomach heaving and she only just managed to stop herself from being sick at the thought. Was this how Elfman had felt two years ago? No, it couldn't be - he'd been absolutely sure that he had killed her back then. And if this was how Lisanna felt after not even knowing whether she had or not…

She'd always known her brother had felt terrible but to feel more terrible than this…?

But the shadow that fell across her interrupted her thoughts. Her head snapped up and she gasped at the gargantuan form that swooped overhead, beating its wings hard as it prepared to come in for a landing. The blast of wind it created with its wingbeats alone, knocking Lisanna off her feet with a yelp and she scrambled backwards across the ledge, backing into the wall of the mountain which seemed to shake as the beast landed on a larger ledge just below the one she was on, jolting Lisanna onto her back with the impact of its feet hitting rock.

The Take-Over Mage could only stare open mouthed in abject horror at the colossal Dragon before her. It was enormous, easily bigger than any of the ones she'd seen in Gringotts and possibly big enough to rival even Acnologia. Its thick scales were a dusty bronze colour, and seemed to cover its entire body, even its chest and underside which was different from the soft bellies of all the other dragons she'd seen in this world.

Its legs and shoulders were encrusted with smaller scales that looked like knobbly chain mail and its neck and back were covered in large ridges that ran all the way down to the tip of its thick tail which was tipped with several long, lethal looking spikes. It's wings were each the size of a marquee, with four long, skeletal bones that splayed out, thin skin stretched between them to form a massively wide surface area while a single claw jutted out from each the joint they all connected to, exactly like a bat's wing. And as they folded into its sides, the dragon stepped forward. Lisanna's ledge only came up to just below its shoulders so it still towered over her and bathed her in its shadow as it peered down at her.

Lisanna could only stare, transfixed, at its head. It had three distinctive short horns at the back that looked a bit like a crown from a certain angle, and had several much, much smaller horns over each eye which almost made it look like it had eyebrows. Its nose was rounded and blunt with two gaping nostrils and its large eyes had golden irises that locked onto her like a pair of headlights on a frozen deer.

In spite of her terror, Lisanna couldn't help but think this was a truly magnificent animal.

But then it opened its jaws, revealing row upon row of viciously pointed teeth within. She heard the dragon sucking in a breath through its nose and she instantly clamped her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable deluge of fire that would engulf her and end her life.

"Greetings, Lisanna Strauss."

…Huh?

Lisanna's eyes snapped open, staring incredulously at the dragon, who was now smirking. Yes, smirking! It's mouth had curled into an amused grin that was almost human-like and its chest and neck shook as a breezy chuckle escaped from its throat. The voice had been smooth and steady, rather rich actually, and it seemed to wash over Lisanna's ears like she'd been dunked in a tank of pure wisdom.

"I apologise for my abrupt entrance, but I grew hungry waiting for you to wake up," the dragon said.

A million and one questions exploded into Lisanna's mind, but all she could seem to find the ability to say was… "Eh?"

The dragon laughed again. "Oh, it's been too long since I've spoken to someone new. Yes, I rather think I will find this very refreshing. As I said, greetings, Lisanna. My name is Kilgharrah… and I think we have quite a lot to discuss."


	32. Dragon Kin

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 32:- Dragon Kin**

* * *

He had spoken!

The dragon towering over Lisanna had spoken!

The young Take-Over mage was nothing short of astonished. She'd long heard stories from Natsu about his father Igneel, and how he had not only taught him magic as a child but had also taught him things about culture and began teaching him how to read, even though he had vanished without entirely finishing the job. And though Natsu had never once had to outright say that Igneel could talk, she'd often wondered what his voice must be like. She assumed deep and gravelly, like a constant growl coming from the back of his throat.

But she'd never seen a dragon speak for herself before. Even Acnologia hadn't said a word when he'd attacked them before.

And now this one… was speaking. And not only that, but he was speaking directly to her.

"You look surprised, my child," the dragon noted. "But you need not cower so. I have no intention of eating you. Or indeed harming you in any way. If I did then I would have done it the moment I separated you from that Horntail."

"…Huh?" Lisanna croaked, her voice straining to return to her. "You… you undid my Take-Over spell?"

"More or less," the dragon's voice seemed to surround her, and she found his soft mannerisms and rich tones soothing away the tension in her muscles as if he was somehow giving her a massage with just words. "I placed an enchantment upon you both that made you fall asleep in mid-air and you came apart moments later of your own volition. It took but a mere moment for me to snatch you out of the air and wake the Horntail up before he crashed into the floor. He flew off rather quickly. I tend to have that effect on some of my… lesser kin."

"Um… thank… thank you," Lisanna slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, staring up at him with awe. His golden eyes were like deep pools of wisdom that seemed to draw her in. Though she couldn't tell to look at him she got the feeling that this dragon was… seriously old…

"You are most welcome. It's been a while since I've ever felt the need to help a human."

"Um… what did you… say your name was again?" Lisanna asked curiously.

"If you would refer to me by it then you may call me Kilgharrah," he replied. "Perhaps it would be better than simply 'The Great Dragon,' which is a title many refer to me by… or once did at any rate."

"Are you… from my world?"

Another rumbling laugh pulsed its way out of Kilgharrah's stomach and Lisanna could practically feel the entire ledge she was standing on vibrate beneath her. "Heavens no… though I almost wish that I was. But no, I am from this one."

"But… but how can that be possible…? Charlie said that none of the dragons in this world could talk. He said… he said that they were all simple animals… not sentient and not capable of speech."

"Indeed. And that is most certainly true… of all the dragons he has ever seen," Kilgharrah smirked. "I am from a far more ancient and more noble breed of dragon than the ones your friend is familiar with. I am a creature of the Old Religion… and once, I was the last dragon left in the entire world."

"…Huh?" Lisanna blinked. "But… that… how can… that doesn't make sense…"

"Oh, it does, if you know the full story," Kilgharrah said, settling back on his haunches and elbows to lower his head down several metres. "Has this… Charlie… by chance ever mentioned the reign of King Arthur Pendragon?"

"…Yes. Yes, he has," Lisanna remembered, the conversation bubbling up to the forefront of her memory. "I remember now… he spoke of the legends of the ancient king and how… and how some of them included dragons who could talk and… men who could command them… But he told me himself that he thought they were just legends!"

"Not so," Kilgharrah's eyes twinkled in a way that reminded Lisanna rather eerily of Dumbledore. "I was there."

"You were?" Lisanna's eyes widened. "You're… one-thousand years old?"

"Nearing on two-thousand now actually. But for half of that life I have been almost entirely alone. Once, there were many of my race, flying free throughout the skies of the world. We hunted, we reproduced, we flourished. And we lived in relative harmony alongside mankind. Oh, every so often one of my kind would go rogue and eat a few hundred or so, but usually we left each other in peace. But, of course, that was before the Purge."

Lisanna's heart felt like it turned to ice and not just because of the way Kilgharrah's voice dropped, taking on a far lower, angrier tone.

"…What happened?" she breathed.

"It was initiated by Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father. To cut a long story short, he conspired with a sorceress to use her magic to give his barren wife a son. But in order to use magic to create life in this manner there must be a death to restore balance to the world and as a result, Arthur's mother died during childbirth. Uther was consumed with hatred for the very thing that had brought his son to life and sought to entirely eradicate magic from his kingdom. He butchered, burned and drowned thousands who used magic - men, women and children alike, regardless of whether they had learned the art or had just been born with it, or how much they used it."

"…Oh gods…" Lisanna choked, trying to imagine the level of death, destruction and grief that must have happened back then, before promptly trying to stop. That was… unimaginable… far worse even than what had happened in Edolas. At least there, King Faust had forced everyone into giving up their magical items and only hunted to the death those who resisted. But the idea of cutting down anyone who so much as cast a spell… she suddenly felt sick just thinking about it.

"But of course he didn't stop there," Kilgharrah sighed. "Creatures of magic had to be eliminated too, including us Dragons. And we were powerful, far stronger than mankind could ever be even if they assembled all their most powerful of sorcerers together in one army."

"Then how did he…?" Lisanna trailed off - the rest of the question didn't need to be asked.

"Through the use of Dragonlords," replied Kilgharrah. "Men with special traits that made them kin with dragons. Rather like your Dragon Slayers, only very different. Their purpose was not to kill dragons but to support them, work with them for the benefit of both species. They were part of the reason disputes between Dragon and human were so rare, for when a Dragonlord commanded a Dragon to do something, the Dragon was compelled to obey. So… I suppose you could say that Dragonlords were like combinations of Dragon Slayers and Take-Over Mages… such as yourself."

"…Wow…" was all Lisanna could think to say. She felt a deep sense of respect for these men she'd never met welling up within her. They were like… the ambassadors between two different races, permanently keeping the peace between them. It was the kind of thing she could imagine Natsu being, for despite the fact his magic was designed to kill a dragon he had no desire ever to do so.

"A Dragonlord was not supposed to abuse their power over Dragons," Kilgharrah went on to say. "Those that did were punished by their fellow Dragonlords or by the Dragons themselves as soon as they got the chance. But… during the Purge, Uther had the Dragonlords rounded up. He had them brutally tortured for days… months on end… until finally their wills broke and they simply wanted it all to end. And so, Uther allowed it. On condition that first they use their power to command every Dragon in the world to come to Camelot and allow themselves to be killed. Even in our prime there were never more than a few hundred of us at at time. By Uther's reign there were only about ninety of us. And they were all slaughtered… every one… except for me."

The bitterness in Kilgharrah's voice now almost overwhelmed his audience. "That's beyond barbaric!" she proclaimed angrily. "How dare he…!? How dare he presume to wipe out such a magnificent race of creatures! That's… that's genocide… just because his wife died?!"

"It was indeed," Kilgharrah replied. "I was the last to be summoned, and instead of killing me Uther chose to make me an example. He imprisoned me in a cavern beneath his castle, a magical chain that even I couldn't break keeping me in there. A true testament to Uther's hypocrisy that he would use a magical device himself in this manner. And I wasted away there for twenty years before I was finally freed by the last known Dragonlord ever… Merlin himself."

"That Merlin guy that everyone in this world talks about was a Dragonlord? And you knew him personally?" Lisanna's eyes widened. "Whoa… wait until I tell Charlie this. He may have a hernia… But… I'm so… so sorry to hear all that, Kilgharrah. I can't imagine how lonely you must be."

"It was not easy to bear, even for me," Kilgharrah acknowledged.

"But… you're not the last of your kind anymore… you said? How does that work?"

"That was pure luck. A single Dragon's egg managed to escape from Uther's Purge. The mother who laid that egg was slain but well-meaning sorcerers were able to hide her egg, lying dormant for years until it was discovered and re-awakened by Merlin. Her name is Aithusa. Perhaps you will meet her someday."

"A female?" Lisanna brightened. "That's great! So you must have…"

"Repopulated?" Kilgharrah raised a horned brow, giving Lisanna a dry stare that made her blush. "She may be one-thousand years old but she is still half my age. There is something of a stigma to that even among dragons, young lady. And even after all this time, Aithusa is still often childish. Perhaps one day we may mate… but I highly doubt that will be for at least another one-thousand years yet. No, we are the last of our kind. And that does not look set to change."

"But then what about all of the other dragons?" Lisanna asked. "Like the Horntail and all the other ones that were being held prisoner by the Goblins? If you and… Aithusa… never mated then where did they come from?"

"Wyverns," Kilgharrah replied.

"Sorry?"

"Back in the time of Camelot we dragons had distant cousins, much like humans of this world are distant cousins of its apes. They were called wyverns. They had similar bodies to us, but they were much smaller and more beastly. They didn't have a shred of our intelligence, nor our magical abilities. And while Dragonlords had some limited power over them, they couldn't command them to do anything they wanted like they could with us Dragons. So while my kind was wiped out, wyverns escaped Uther's Purge and were still common by the time Arthur welcomed magic back to the kingdom."

"So all other dragons in this world are just wyverns?"

"No… I suppose in a sense they are dragons now," Kilgharrah wrinkled his nose in slight distaste. "After Dragonkind vanished, sorcerers around the world decided to try and… resurrect us so to speak. By capturing wyverns and performing magical experiments on them in a bid to make them more draconic, giving them the ability to breathe fire as we could - which they could not before - making them bigger, giving them more horns and tougher scales.

"They succeeded in making them look very like dragons, but they couldn't give them our power, our grace or our sentience. And the transformed wyverns bred with the untransformed ones and passed those traits along until, over time, the entire wyvern species evolved into modern day dragons, that branched out into many different species due to the different ways that wizards across the world changed their own first wyverns. Like us but not like us. Hence why you could use your Animal Soul Take-Over on one."

"…I hope I don't offend you when I say this…" Lisanna said. "But that's horrible too. Experimentation on animals… you're saying every dragon in the world besides you and Aithusa are the way they are due to human intervention? What were they thinking?"

"I hope you don't take offence to my words either, but I find humans very rarely think of the consequences of their actions. And even less, the morality of them."

"That's not true of all of us! But… is true of a depressing amount…"

"Precisely," Kilgharrah said. "And that… is my story. But we've gotten rather off the topic that I was hoping to broach today. I am far more interested in your story than my own. In all the two-thousand years I have lived… I have never encountered anyone from another universe entirely. Until now."

"Yes, that's another question I have!" Lisanna cried, getting to her feet. "How do you know so much about my world? You said that you haven't talked to any humans for a while! And even if you can read, which I'I doubt you read newspapers… so how can you know about Dragon Slayers and Take-Over Mages. Did you read my mind."

"Certainly not," Kilgharrah replied with a lopsidedly lizardly grin. "But… I suppose you could say I have… reliable sources."

"So someone told you? Who then?"

"That is not currently my place to say."

"…Why?"

"That I cannot answer either, but I am fairly certain you will find out for yourself in due course. But often the only source I really need is myself. After all, I knew you would be arriving here in our world long before you finally appeared. Years before, in fact."

"Wow… so you can see the future? Perhaps you should teach Divination at Hogwarts."

Kilgharrah snorted derisively. "Modern day crystal balls and tea leaves are utter tripe compared true Divination of the Old Religion. Yes, I can see the future. Not to the finest detail. After all, the future is always changing. But I see strong possibilities that can impact many. And I see the overall path a person's life can take… I can see people's destinies… including your own, Lisanna."

Lisanna's mind spun with the implications of that. This dragon… what things could he know about what would happen? To herself and to her friends? If he could really see destinies… he was making Charla's clairvoyant abilities look pale in comparison! Perhaps he even knew who she would one day marry!

"And what… is my destiny?"

"I think perhaps it would be best if I didn't reveal that to you," Kilgharrah smirked. "I told Merlin of his destiny back in the days of Camelot and he ended up trying so hard to make sure he fulfilled it that his efforts were almost more often a hindrance than a help. But… I think I can get away with saying, Lisanna, that you shall play quite a key role in many things to come. We can expect great things from you."

"…From me?" Lisanna whispered, looking down at her hands. "But… how can that be? I'm not very strong. Next to people like Elf-niichan, Natsu, Gray and Juvia, I'm practically nothing. Erza and Mira-nee are even further out of my league… and while Levy might not be super powerful either she's much smarter than I am. I lost two years in Edolas where I couldn't get stronger because I couldn't use my magic. Compared to everyone else I'm just leftovers."

"Does that bother you?" Kilgharrah asked.

"Actually not really," Lisanna smiled. "I'm perfectly happy the way I am. I don't really feel the desire to be strong. If I can just bring a smile to people's faces then that's good enough for me."

"Yet you have the potential to be very powerful indeed. After all, you did turn into a dragon."

"…I did, didn't I?" Lisanna breathed, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply as she felt within herself. She could feel the power of the Horntail brimming inside her, boiling beneath the surface of her skin and ready to launch forth anytime she called upon it. She had obtained a brand new Take-Over form last night. Her most powerful one to date!

But… she had lost control of it…

"The others!" she barked. "Wendy, Juvia and the others… are they safe?"

"They are all perfectly fine. You needn't worry - you didn't kill anyone while you were merged with the Horntail."

"Oh thank Mavis," Lisanna placed her hand over her rapidly pumping heart. "If I had hurt them… I… I don't think I could have handled that… but… the Horntail's power… if I was to call on it again, would it overwhelm me once more?"

"It might be easier for you to control it a second time around. After all, the Dragon within you would not be filled with fear and rage as that one was before. But do you realise the implications of what you have done, Lisanna?"

"Huh?"

"You transformed into a dragon! A full-sized and very real dragon! It may have been only the primitive, beastly kind but you still did it. That is something that nobody from this world, not even the Dragonlords, have ever managed to do. Numerous attempts have been made over the centuries for people seeking to by Animaguses to gain draconic forms too, but none have ever succeeded. And from your own world, there had only ever been one who has managed to become a dragon."

"Wait… what? There has? Who was that?"

"Again, there is someone else who would be more appropriate to tell you that than me. More importantly, I think that you now have an opportunity here, Lisanna."

"Opportunity?"

"Indeed. And opportunity to become stronger than you ever dared imagine yourself to be," the Great Dragon flashed her another crooked smirk. "That is why I have come. That is why I travelled to intercept your flightpath and meet with you now, breaking my long solitude to speak with another again."

"…Go on…" Lisanna murmured, her curiosity peaked.

"Humans failed to turn wyverns into full, true Dragons," Kilgharrah said. "But now I wish to take my turn to experiment. I want to see if I can turn a human into a true Dragon. That human being you. Simply stated, Lisanna Strauss… I want you to use your Take-Over on me."

Lisanna couldn't say anything. She just stood there, stunned in almost more than one sense of the word.

"You are the closest thing to a new Dragonlord for one-thousand years," Kilgharrah went on. "You have the ability to command the lesser dragons of this world. I would nurture that ability and strengthen it until you could apply it to all of dragon-kind."

"But… but… that's crazy…" Lisanna exclaimed. "I can't use Take-Over on you. I can tell that already - you are far from just an animal. And my Take-Over only works on animals. And not only that, you're incredibly powerful! Far stronger than me! I don't even know if I could handle that kind of power."

"You are quite right - we are not mere animals. We are a noble race of sentient beings easily on par with humans, demons. You could not use Take-Over on me presently. But you are very close. You already have the soul of a dragon inside you. A lesser dragon perhaps, but a dragon nevertheless. And that might just be the key. The key to taking a further step down the path of dragonkind. The key to unlocking a new power, never before seen in either world. An entirely new type of Take-Over spell.

"…Dragon Soul…" Lisanna whispered the words reverently. Was it possible? Was she, of all people, capable of something like that?

"Yes, you are," Kilgharrah said, as if he had guessed exactly what she was thinking. "If we are successful then by the time we are finished, you could potentially use your new power on not just myself, but on dragons from your world too. And I can tell you right now… you will return home."

"We will?"

"Indeed. To be frank, I do not know how. But you are not destined to be trapped here forever. There are things Fairy Tail must do back in their own world. And you will play your part in those affairs. The only question is… how much of an impact will you make? What say you, Lisanna Strauss?"

The options stormed through Lisanna's mind like a runaway freight train. Even with such a wise being saying it, it sounded utterly absurd! The very idea that a young girl like her could possibly draw on… no, create… such a power… that was the kind of thing that only magical masterminds with decades of experience did. Yet… what if it was possible? What if she really could pull it off?

While her assertion that she didn't desire incredible power were very true, she couldn't deny that during the whole Grimoire Heart situation she had wished she could be more useful in combat. They had all made it out fine but there had been close shaves.

And there was one particular memory that was really burned into the back of her mind… and that was when she'd been trapped in giant tree roots by Azuma, which he had then set a timer to detonation on. The wooden structures had held her securely and while she could have theoretically slipped out of them by morphing into her fish form, they would have detonated if she'd tried.

Of course she wouldn't have died thanks to the spell upon the island that prevented anyone with the mark of Fairy Tail being killed while they were on its shores. But neither she nor Mirajane had been aware of that at the time. She'd be forced to stand there, utterly helpless and watching as her beloved sister desperately battled an opponent that was out of her league in a bid to free her.

In all her life, she'd never felt more useless than she had then. And she'd desperately wished she'd had more power. Power to break free and join her sister in the fight. Power to protect her and her friends from harm.

She felt that feeling again now, swelling inside her chest as she clenched her fist. She still didn't want power for the sake of power. But if she could gain enough to protect her friends… then it would be worth it.

But… there might be something else she could do with this power… maybe with it… she could find Igneel.

She felt her heart pitter-pattering at the thought. When they were young children, she'd often seen Natsu sitting by himself and staring into space with a sad, almost empty look filling his eyes. And whenever she'd seen that, she'd known what he was thinking about. Only thoughts of Igneel could make the Natsu's blisteringly upbeat personality turn like that while everyone else in the guild was still happy. The dragon he loved, gone with the wind… nowhere to be found… wondering where he was always ate him up inside.

In fact that had been how she and Natsu had initially met. She'd seen the new kid sitting in the rain by himself next to the river and had wandered over to talk to him in a bid to cheer him up. And she'd succeeded, leading them to begin bonding over how amazing Igneel was, even though Lisanna had never met him herself. But she considered Igneel to be something of the catalyst that had started one of her most precious of friendships.

As he got older, Natsu would sadly mull over wherever Igneel could be much less often. But he still thought about him all the time, following up every lead he could find on his foster father's whereabouts no matter how vague. And even after two years in Edolas, Lisanna could see that Natsu still did. And it had always torn Lisanna up inside that though she could cheer Natsu up with a smile and a game, she could never fix the problem that made him sad in the first place.

If she were to gain this power… the power of Dragon Soul… could she maybe find Igneel for him? And the other dragons too for Gajeel and Wendy? If there was anything Lisanna could do to reunite them with their foster parents she would do it.

"It seems you have made your decision," Kilgharrah chuckled. "If the resolute expression on your face is anything to go by."

"…I have," Lisanna nodded, taking a deep breath and looking Kilgharrah firmly in the eye. "I don't know if this will work or not. But I am willing to give it a shot. For my friends. For my family. And most especially for Natsu."

"I thought you would say that," the dragon stood up, towering up to his full height and lifting up one enormous foot to deposit a large hunk of charred meat on the ledge in front of Lisanna. "Then eat up and when you have, I will take you to a mountain stream for you to rehydrate yourself. You will need your strength for what we are about to do."

* * *

Lucius Malfoy placed his copy of the _Daily Prophet_ down upon the dining room table, spreading out and staring at the huge title:- DRAGON ESCAPE, BLACK CAPTURE. He pursed his lips, looking up across the table and locking his eyes with another pair… a red, slitted pair.

"It seems there is no denying it now, My Lord," he said. "The Order of the Phoenix is definitely working with Fairy Tail. Crabbe and Goyle did not make a mistake on that mountain the other day."

"So I have gathered, Lucius," Voldemort hissed as he stalked along the other side of the room, slowly pacing backwards and forwards the length of the table, his cloak billowing out behind and Nagini the serpent faithfully slithering along behind him. "Now Black has been captured by the Ministry along with two of their number. Those morons will doubtless do us a favour and rid us of a couple of nuisances before long. But the Order are another matter. They are not morons, and if they are with Fairy Tail, then doubtless Fairy Tail will have now heard of me. And based on their recent activities, it is clear they are the kind of people who would oppose my reign. The Ministry may be too blinded by fear to see it, but every time they have opposed the Ministry has been in some sort of rescue… or good will mission…"

"It's curious that Snape did not tell us about this new development though… is it not, my Lord?" Lucius asked.

"Severus knows not to cross me. His position at Hogwarts may be invaluable but it does make it difficult for him to make his reports. Nevertheless I will be having… a talk… with him about making such urgent news as a new and powerful enemy much more prompt in future."

"How are we to proceed now…? These Fairy Tail mages… can we really fight them?"

"…You doubt me, Lucius?" Voldemort abruptly stopped pacing, his gaunt face turning slowly to fix his blood-red eyes upon the blond man, who immediately took a step backwards, swallowing hard.

"Of… of course not, my Lord… but… but clearly these mages, my Lord… they are well beyond anything we've ever faced before…"

"That does not mean that we cannot defeat them!" Voldemort surged towards the table and slammed his hands down upon it, causing Lucius to almost jump out of his skin. "Perhaps the job will be more difficult than we anticipated. Perhaps we shall need more allies. But I will not be denied my right. I am the most powerful wizard in the world, and no outsiders will take that away from me!"

"Of… of course…" Lucius nodded hurriedly. "For… Forgive me, my Lord, I never truly had doubts…"

Voldemort ignored his weaselling attempts at sycophancy, sweeping back around and staring out of the window. "Fairy Tail can still be fought. We simply have to change our tactics. Clearly though we must make haste. As I told you before, our plans will now have to accelerate. The newspaper… it gave us something more. It seems that a good many of these… mages… have a weakness to Dementors, do they not?"

"So it seems, yes…"

"Then I think it is about time I visited Azkaban," Voldemort's mouth creased into a wide smile. "There are many within that prison waiting for me to come forward… and I shall deny them no longer. And it will take but a small push for the Dementors to join our cause. And the paper… it said that the two captured Fairy Tail mages have been taken to the prison."

"That's right, my Lord."

"Then I want them brought back here. Those two women… I will find a way to turn them against their friends. Force them to become our allies. Or if they prove too troublesome, I will kill them." He turned around and stepped over Nagini. "Prepare the Death Eaters we have available, Lucius. I want the invasion of Azkaban to begin at…"

"My Lord!" he was suddenly interrupted as Peter Pettigrew shuffled into the room, waving his silver hand wildly. Voldemort swung around and fired a curse from his wand that whistled past Wormtail's ear and destroyed part of the wall behind him, making the stumpy man leap backwards in terror.

"WORMTAIL!" The Dark Lord snapped. "What have I told you about interrupting me?"

"But… but my Lord… it's important," Wormtail snivelled. "The Sphere… one of the Spheres… something's happening to it!"

"…What?" Voldemort asked. "What do you mean?"

"It's started to… to pulse or something. I think… I think it might be about to… to lower, Sire…"

Voldemort was already striding past the wretched coward before he'd finished speaking, Lucius hard on his heels and Wormtail spinning around to bring up the rear. The three of them hurried down the corridor to the room where the two Fairy Spheres were being kept, and Voldemort stared with rapt interest at the one Wormtail had been talking about. It was indeed pulsing, practically flashing like a blinking warning light as the surface of the golden globe rippled like light across a lake.

It was on the verge of dissipation.

"Change of plans, Lucius," Voldemort said, turning to smile sinisterly at his lieutenant. "I will be staying here. You will lead a group of Death Eaters to Azkaban to treat with the Dementors and bringing back those Fairy Tail mages. I will deal with whatever happens here shortly. Go… and if you fail me… you had better hope that you are kissed by a Dementor. You would prefer that to what I have in mind right now."

"…Yes, my Lord," Lucius nodded and hurried out of the room, Wormtail scuttling out behind him. Voldemort slowly approached the Sphere and stared into its depths as if hoping it would become more translucent and let him see inside.

* * *

"Natsu, are we getting close?" Happy asked as he zipped along the sky with enough speed to send the clouds inches above his wings billowing out to either side of his slipstream. "Surely we should have found Lisanna by now… and I'm starting to run low on magic…"

"Damn it all!" Natsu growled, inhaling deeply. "What's going on? For some reason I can't seem to pinpoint Lisanna's scent… I can still smell her but its like something's interfering with the trail…"

"I suppose tracking things that are flying through the air is probably harder," Happy conceded.

"Yeah, but its not just that," Natsu replied. "I'm sure we would have found her by now if that was the only problem. It's like… something doesn't want me to find her… and is trying to throw me off…"

"What could be doing something like that? Do you think Lisanna's okay?"

"I don't know… but when I find her and she's been hurt by something… I'm gonna make that something pay!"

* * *

Lisanna was quite relieved to finally have her raging hunger and thirst slaked, though she didn't dare to ask exactly what Kilgharrah had provided her to eat. She had checked to make sure it wasn't human though, and Kilgharrah had laughed and told her that though he had killed humans before, he had never eaten one.

Now though… she was exhilarated beyond measure! Because she was currently sitting astride Kilgharrah's back just above his armour-plated shoulders, holding on to one of the ridges in his scales as the wind blew her short hair wildly in every direction. Kilgharrah's humongous wings beat a slow, rhythmic pace on either side of her, blocking off her view of much of the ground whenever they raised up, his low thrumming wingbeats seeming to send her whole body vibrating.

"You sound like you're enjoying yourself back there," Kilgharrah's voice thrummed from up ahead, and it was only that that point that Lisanna realised she'd been whooping for joy!

"Well, can I really be blamed?" Lisanna called back. "This is amazing! And how many people besides me can ever have claimed to have done this."

"Certainly very few if you're talking about riding my personal back," Kilgharrah replied. "But this is no mere field trip. I have brought you up here for a reason. The sky is the dragon's domain, and I believe we will establish a connection more easily with you astride my shoulders. Are you ready to begin?"

Lisanna took a deep breath and nodded firmly. "I am," she said. "What do I have to do?"

"I am going to try and teach you the art of being a Dragonlord. You are not one obviously. For one thing you are female and Dragonlords were only ever males, for the ability was only ever passed from father to son. Even if your father had been a Dragonlord, you you never have inherited the ability. However, I believe your Take-Over magic will be enough to emulate the Dragonlord's ability. And I will consider the first step of this training accomplished when you have successfully given me a command."

"What kind of command?"

"Quite simple really," the dragon laughed. "I am not going to put you down until you have succeeded. Therefore you must command me to land."

"…Okay…" Lisanna nodded, gripping his scales harder and her expression locking into a grimace of determination. "Let's do this."

"First, delve deep within yourself and picture the Hungarian Horntail…" Kilgharrah intoned. "The Dragon you managed to Take-Over back in the capital. Form an image of him in your mind. Remember every detail of his body, every horn on his head, every spike on his tail, every scale down the length of his torso… When you have that picture in your mind, go deeper. Feel his soul intertwining with your own. You have it inside you. Allow him to fill you up and for your souls to unite as far as possible without turning into him."

Lisanna wordlessly did as bid, closing her eyes and holding her breath as she created the vision within her mind's eye. She'd used Animal Soul so many times that she barely had to think about the process before shifting into an animal anymore, but this time she allowed herself to dwell on it.

Almost immediately she felt the effects. Her body tensed… even though she was still entirely human she felt suddenly so much more powerful. She could feel the strength of the dragon coursing through her veins and arteries, filling her to the brim with its raw, sinewy strength. Her chest suddenly felt warm, as if she had a fire brimming within it ready to burst forth at any moment. And she felt the savagery… the primal instincts of the dragon burning to the forefront… defend its territory, find food, rest, find a mate… all the basic drives of any animal yet multiplied by ten.

Before she could stop herself she actually growled, the smell of another dragon filling her nose and filling her with unease.

Kilgharrah's voice broke through the reverie as he said, "Do not succumb to the dragon's thoughts and focus on its soul. You need to meld it with yours as if you were kin… siblings… you need to understand every part of him without allowing him to rule you. Feel his body around you, his wings on your back, his tail behind you, but keep yourself in control at all times. You are one, but you are in command, not him."

Kicking herself, Lisanna focused and felt her body relax. In a strange way this was a new experience for her. Usually she just became the animal but she still felt like herself even in the new body. This was something different. This time she really felt truly like she was a real dragon, even though her body and her mind were still entirely human. She felt as though she could exhale and breath fire everywhere, as if she charge into a wall and smash through it with her sheer strength. Of course, if she were to actually try those things at this moment she would doubtless fail, but it felt like she would succeed.

"I… I think I have it," she said, so quietly that for a moment she wondered if Kilgharrah would even hear her. But he evidently did because he said:-

"Good. Now… keep that state of being and extend your magic out over me, in exactly the same way you would to a regular animal. But do not lose the dragon within you at any time whilst you do, or I fear what I have in mind will not work."

Lisanna focused her senses on the dragon below her, reaching out to him with her soul as she extended her power. It didn't take long before she could feel a deep thrumming within her chest… a beat that didn't seem to be coming from her own body… because it was coming from Kilgharrah's. She could now feel the Dragon's heartbeat. His thick scales had prevented her from doing so before but now it was like she could feel two heartbeats within herself! Huh… Kilgharrah's heart was on the right hand side of his body rather than his left… interesting…

"That's it," Kilgharrah said encouragingly, his wingbeats slowing as he settled into a glide. "Use that Horntail as conduit. If you make yourself kin with him then you make yourself kin with me. And with him inside you… find the voice that you and I now share…"

"I… can feel it…" Lisanna breathed. "I can feel… you…" she whispered. She was no longer riding Kilgharrah, she now felt like an extension of his body. She could feel the wind passing over the top of his wings as if they were her own… she could feel every tooth in his jaw, the flick of his spiked tail… and she could feel the ancient wisdom within him… thousands of years of experience… so much that she felt her mind would explode.

"Then tell me…" the dragon replied. "Tell me to land and set you down upon the ground."

Inhaling deeply, Lisanna exerted her power and said, "I command you to land…"

…Kilgharrah didn't alter his course. He continued gliding, weaving slowly in and out between the clouds. If anything he went higher than before.

"You are trying to use too much of the dragon now," Kilgharrah said. "Do not push too hard for me to do your will. I am not some common lizard your normal Take-Over can control. The dragon within you is lesser than I - it cannot force me to do anything. It is key, yes, but your dragon and human sides must combine together in perfect synchrony. Neither can do it alone. But above all, do not try and force me. Dragonlords who tried to force us to do things for their own gain were considered to be abusing their power. We had to do what they said, certainly, but we were not servants. We were friends. I am your brother. Remember that… and try again…"

'My brother…' Lisanna thought to herself. Her mind swivelled on an axis as she suddenly found herself picturing her real brother, Elfman. When he was in a celebratory mood, he could sometimes scoop her up and place her on his shoulders, parading around the guild with her on high. She'd always been somewhat embarrassed when that happened but still, it was one of his quirks she enjoyed.

Gods how she missed him right at that moment.

'Imagine he's Elf-niichan… feel the bond you have with him and apply it to Kilgharrah…' She squared her shoulders and felt her heart opening up. The brother she had lost for so long and then lost again so soon after being reunited with him… she felt sudden great affection for him welling up inside her and with it, affection for the dragon she was now riding instead of him. Now it felt like their hearts were pumping in unison as she exerted her magic once more, opened her mouth and said, "Please land and put me down, Kilgharrah-niichan…"

"Now you're doing it too much with your human side," the dragon refused to change course. Gasping, Lisanna slammed her focus back onto the soul of the Horntail. 'Okay, don't imagine he's Elf-niichan… just imagine your bond with him… and apply it through the dragon… okay… here I go…'

And as she balanced the love from her human side and the power from her dragon side… she felt a change rush through her body like a freight train. As she stretched out for a Take-Over she felt a sudden, raw power flooding through her system… unlike anything she'd ever experienced before even when she'd been the Horntail. She felt as if her soul was slowly slipping free from the confines of her body, and Kilgharrah's doing the same… the two of them intertwining like… like she was hugging two long-lost siblings again. She felt the magic within her expand, bolstering and… evolving… inside of her, taking on a brand new form that felt simply… indescribable.

And in that moment she knew she had it…

"Land… and put me down… Kilgharrah…" she said quietly. And almost immediately Kilgharrah tilted his wings, almost as if his body had been compelled to obey, and arced gracefully to one side - stooping into a dive as he rushed down towards a nearby mountain. Lisanna held on tight as he rushed in at breakneck speed, before flaring his gigantic wings and pounding them hard to brake into a hover above a large ledge which he then landed on with a heavy thud that shook pieces of grit from the cliff walls above him.

Wordlessly the dragon lowered his neck until his monstrous yet magnificent head was resting on the stone, providing a perfect walkway for Lisanna to make her way down and climb off.

"I… I did it…" Lisanna whispered, scarcely daring to believe it. "You… you did what I asked you to."

"I felt something within my unlike anything I have felt for hundreds of years," the dragon sounded suddenly and deeply satisfied. "It was just like my soul was meeting with that of a Dragonlord once again. I think it is safe to say, Lisanna Strauss… that you and I have accomplished something great today."

Lisanna stepped slowly down his neck, using the ridges as handholds before she hopped through the horns on his head and slid off past his eye. She landed awkwardly, stumbling and swinging around to land on her backside, but that just made Kilgharrah laugh as he raised his head. "And you remind me of Merlin too," he grinned. "He could be oddly clumsy for such a powerful warlock."

"Then… I have it? I have… the Dragon Soul…?" Lisanna asked without standing up.

"Not yet," Kilgharrah shook his head. "You have only tapped into a part of the power by giving me that command. The core of a Take-Over is being able to take on the shape of your subject as well, is it not? Your magic has developed inside you to accommodate my kind of dragon but it is incomplete, and thus it could be potentially dangerous if it is not brought full circle."

"That's true. But you've been an amazing teacher to get me this far," she beamed up at him. "Thank you."

"Would that young Aithusa would be so willing to listen to what I had to say," Kilgharrah heaved a heavy sigh. "Or Merlin for that matter - he ignored my advice half the time he asked for it…"

"His loss. So now… I have to become you, right?"

"Yes and no."

"…And no?" Lisanna frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Am I correct in understanding that if a Mage from your world tries to take on a spell that consumes too much of their power, they risk potentially killing themselves?" Kilgharrah's scaly brow raised up slightly. Lisanna swallowed. Master Makarov had warned the younger children countless times never to try something they were not ready for. Like Loke's former owner, Karen, who had attempted to open a second Zodiac Gate before she was ready and had almost died in the process, leaving herself so weak she could easily be killed by her opponent.

"Yes, that is true."

"Indeed," Kilgharrah said. "You must remember the difference between myself and the Horntail. My magic is infinitely more powerful. If you were perform a Full Body Take-Over on me you would become instantly as powerful as I. But you are still human and your magic is still developing. If you gained all of my power as you are now then it would be too much for your human body and you would be destroyed from the inside. Perhaps one day, after you have trained up your magic enough, you would be able to transform into me with no adverse effects. But that day is a long way off."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"A partial Take-Over is what would be best for now. Incorporating some draconic aspects into your body, enough to give you a dose of my power, without receiving it all at once."

"Right… like my Cat Form," Lisanna nodded. She had the ability to transform her body completely into that of a cat but she found that only partially changing into one was far more useful in a combat scenario as it allowed her to keep her human strength while gaining the cat's agility and made her claws that much larger. "But… how can I make sure that I don't try and copy too much of your power? What if I… overestimate how much I can take?"

"Then you would die," Kilgharrah said simply. "However, I have a solution to that. With your permission, I would like to cast a spell upon you."

"A spell? What kind of spell?" Lisanna asked, suddenly a little wary.

"The Magic of the Old Religion can do many things, Lisanna. And it's principals are quite similar to those of your own. Sorcerers back in Camelot who could use it were also in danger of perishing if they tried to cast something too powerful. However, I can cast a spell of limitation upon you. One that will stop halt the progress of any spell you cast before it reaches a stage it can overwhelm you. As your magic grows, the spell will adapt with it to let you gain greater and greater access to the power of the dragons you use it on without risk of you overdoing it. It's a spell many warlocks would use upon their apprentices if they ever found them necessary."

"That sounds perfect! But will it ever wear off?"

"No… but it can be broken if you push it hard enough. If you ever try and draw on so much power that you feel something straining to stop you from gaining more… do not try. You would undo the spell and risk causing catastrophic damage to yourself the process. Understand?"

Lisanna slowly clambered to her feet and nodded. "Yes, I do. This power… I am learning it to protect my friends. But my brother and sister… they have already lost me once. I will not let them lose me again. No matter what."

"Then hold still…" Kilgharrah flexed his wings and reared his head back, sucking in a deep breath through his fangs before pushing his head forwards and breathing hard over Lisanna's entire body. The air rippled with the force of his breath and Lisanna could almost see the wind as if he was copying Wendy's breath attack but without the violent blowback. The young girl felt her body tingling as if she suddenly developed pins and needles everywhere. Other than that she didn't feel any different, but she could somehow tell that something was happening… maybe it was her newly found kinship with the magnificent creature before her but she could just tell his spell was working.

But, just Kilgharrah was beginning to close his mouth…

"RRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

"NATSU!" Lisanna gasped, swinging around to see the Dragon Slayer come surging out the sky at top speed with his blazing fist raised, Happy clinging to his back and blasting forwards straight for Kilgharrah's face.

"YOU'RE NOT EATING HER!" He shouted as he launched his his punch for Kilgharrah's jaw, but the dragon moved deceptively fast for something of his enormous bulk and powered off from the ledge, his wings carrying him aloft as Natsu shot past and pulverised the cliffside in a shower of rubble and debris. But he planted his feet off a falling boulder and rebounded off it, surging right up for Kilgharrah once again.

"NATSU WAIT!" Lisanna shouted. She understood what was happening - if Natsu had spotted Kilgharrah breathing on her like that then from afar it must have looked like he was about to try ingesting her. But her cry was drowned out by a thunderous bellow from Kilgharrah, who returned fire quite literally, exhaling a veritable inferno from his jaws down at his attacker.

Lisanna took several steps back, the heat searing at her even from a pace of fifty metres or so - Kilgharrah's breath attack was phenomenally stronger than any of the dragons in Gringotts. But it still had no effect on Natsu, who thrust his arms out to shield Happy from the blast at it impacted him, slurping the flames into her mouth and drawing the conflagration deep into his stomach by the bucketload. But Kilgharrah seemed to have expected that to happen, because he merely said, "Fascinating magic indeed."

"WAAH! IT TAAAALKED!" Happy yelled. "That's not supposed to happen in this world!"

"Looks like this world's dragons are smarter than we thought," Natsu growled, not even stopping to question the situation. "But we aren't letting anyone touch Lisanna! **KARYUU NO… KOEN!" **he formed a huge fireball between his hands and lobbed it at Kilgharrah, who pitched his body sideways to dodge the blast. Natsu sent another flying at him a moment later but this time the dragon brought his wings crashing down with a colossal beat, creating a blast of wind strong enough to knock the projectile off course and send it fizzling out as it did so.

Lisanna couldn't prevent herself from blushing slightly when Natsu boldly declared to protect her, but the emotion was quickly swept away as she watched the dragon arcing his body down to aim himself at Natsu like a like the world's largest cannonball. Happy wrenched Natsu upwards into a spin to dodge him but as Kilgharrah shot past his slipstream still sent the both of them spinning wildly over and over. Happy beat his wings like crazy to right themselves again and immediately dove down towards Kilgharrah's back.

"EAT THIS! **KARYUU NO… YOKUGEKI!"** Natsu roared, lashing his arms to launch a wing attack, two long streaks of flame curving out of his arms to crash down on Kilgharrah's exposed shoulders. The dragon bellowed, a sudden roar of pain surging from within his throat, but still Natsu's attack didn't seem to affect him too greatly. He twisted his body around so he was face up as Natsu descended, readying another Fist attack and this time Kilgharrah brought his tail into play, lashing it up to use it as both a club and a shield. Natsu redirected the aim of his punch at the last second to slam it straight into the incoming tail and while he caused some damage he was still sent hurtling backwards under the brutal impact. Happy was only just able to stop them from crashing into the mountainside and Natsu clutched his wrist, displaying some bruised knuckles but other than that no worse for wear yet.

"Natsu!" Lisanna tried to cry out but Natsu was already hurtling right back up. She recognised this - he was in the full swing of battle and it would now take something quite drastic to snap him out of it. But what could…

…Of course! It was now or never! And she saw Kilgharrah glance in her direction for a moment, his golden eyes locking with hers and his great head nodding before he dodged Natsu again.

Lisanna focused her magic, bringing forth the dragon inside her and melding with it just like when she'd been riding his back. 'Remember…' she thought as she stretched her magic towards Kilgharrah once more, a low growl building in her throat as she felt their souls connecting. '…the basics of a Take-Over is to know your subject. Focus! Focus, Lisanna, come on! Focus on the parts that you want to change!'

And as Dragon and Dragon Slayer traded blows above her, Lisanna slammed her fists into the ground and screamed:-

"**TAKE-OVER… DRAGON SOUL!"**

Natsu and Happy curved through the air, dodging another fiery wall expelled from Kilgharrah's mouth. The Salamander brought his hands together and growled, "I'm gonna have to break out the big guns here… **METSURYUU OUGI!"** he roared, readying the most powerful attack he could call upon as he was.** "GUREN… BAKUENJI…"**

Right before he could finish calling out the attack, something streaked up from below and crashed straight into him, grabbing him by the wrists and knocking him and Happy backwards and away from his adversary.

"Natsu! That's enough!"

All thoughts of fighting evaporated from Natsu's mind when he saw what was now holding him back, his limbs practically going slack in her grip as he stared at her in astonishment. "L… Lisanna…?" he breathed.

"What… what's going on?" Happy was similarly stunned. "What… is that form?"

Lisanna let go of Natsu's wrists, falling away from him and flexing her wings to keep herself aloft and she looked down at herself. Yes, wings. She now had two large wings growing from out of her shoulders, large flaps of pale brown skin stretched between skeletal bony fingers just like Kilgharrah's own mighty wings.

Her clothing was gone, replaced by scaly armour covering certain parts of her body, including a breastplate that covered her upper chest and back with segmented bronzed plates and ran down the centre of her navel to her waist, but left her shoulders, lower back and sides bare along with her upper arms, while her lower arms were covered by brown, scaly vambraces each with five curve spikes running up the centre just above her still human hands. Her lower half had several brown, vertical plates that descended in a full circle around her body from her hips to her upper thighs which resembled something like a cross between a skirt and a fauld.

Her bare legs were entirely human from the thighs down to the middle of her calves, where abruptly they changed and became not only scaly buy distinctly draconic, her feet now having only three toes each with a large claw. A long sweeping lizard tail swept out from the back of her scaly skirt, swishing faintly in the air behind her. And to cap the image off, a ridge of scales was sat atop her white hair like some kind of tiara except on the back of her head rather than the front, and capped with three horns akin to Kilgharrah's own.

Her face thought was exactly the same as ever. The same warm, friendly blue eyes and wide smile as usual, but now with an added amount of astonishment as she inspected her new attire. But she could feel the power broiling within her… it was but a mere fraction of Kilgharrah's full strength she now had but compared to anything she had ever used before it was massive!

"I… I don't believe it…" she breathed. "I actually… did it…"

"Indeed you did," Kilgharrah alighted on the ledge behind her, cocking his head as he too admired Lisanna's new form. "If we were not kin before then we are now, Lisanna. You have done something now that none before you have ever achieved in either world. You have created Dragon Soul."

"Dragon… Soul…" Natsu looked absolutely dumbstruck, his jaw flapping about as if it were on a hinge as he searched for something to say. Turning into the Horntail was one thing but this… this was on a whole other level.

"Don't tell me…" Happy agreed. "Lisanna can now use Take-Over on all kinds of dragons? Not just the animal ones?"

"It… looks that way…" Lisanna beamed, turning around and clasping her hands together over her breastplate as she looked to Kilgharrah. "And I couldn't have done it without you… I… I don't know how I can ever thank you enough for this. It has to be one of the most amazing gifts I have ever gotten. Thank you… a million times."

"It was an honest to goodness pleasure. And a privilege to see it unfold."

"Although… you knew who Natsu was too, didn't you… so why exactly were you fighting him instead of trying to explain what was really happening to him?"

"Call it curiosity. I wanted to get a taste of the power of these Dragon Slayers for myself," Kilgharrah chuckled.

"…WHAT!? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" Natsu suddenly yelled. "MY HEAD HURTS!"

Lisanna turned to smile at him, her eyes shining. "Don't worry, Natsu. I'll let you know as soon as I get my head around it myself. This is going to take some getting used to."

"Yes," Kilgharrah said. "More than you currently know."

"Huh?" Lisanna looked up her brow creasing slightly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… there is a reason I have chosen to help you learn this magic beyond what I have currently told you," Kilgharrah replied sombrely. "And now that we have succeeded… I think it is time you learn what that reason is."

* * *

Voldemort stood by the Sphere for a good ten more minutes after Lucius left before suddenly… quite abruptly… the Sphere vanished in the blink of an eye. Like a light bulb that had suddenly had a power surge and blown away into nothingness. The other couple of Death Eaters in the room stepped back in alarm, but Voldemort only stepped forward, eyes wide with greed as he beheld the two figures lying prone before him.

One large, muscle-bound man with tan skin and no shirt, bandages around his arms and torso, his blue trousers tattered and the Fairy Tail mark emblazoned in black upon his neck.

And one slender woman, also with bandaged arms and wearing a a dress that was pink from the waist up and white from the waist down, her white Fairy Tail mark visible on her left leg through a slit in the dress and her fringe tied in a small forwards facing ponytail.

And both their hair was white… the same as Lisanna's. For Voldemort was staring down at the unconscious forms of none other than her genuine siblings, Mirajane and Elfman!

"Welcome to our world," Voldemort leered at them. "Now, you belong to me!"

* * *

**Yes, I gave a whole chapter to Lisanna learning this new Take-Over. But considering its such a massive step for her, I think that that was needed. And indeed, she has a whole new form to go with it. I hope you liked the description I gave… but… I ALSO HAVE A PICTURE! It was drawn for me by a good friend of mine and if you want to see it then go to my profile. You will see a link at the bottom to a wordpress blog site. Take out the spaces and you will find the website its on. I hope you like it!**

**Anyway, as an extra little note, many of you seemed to know who exactly Kilgharrah is. For those of you who do not, I shall now tell you that this is actually a three-way crossover of sorts. For Kilgharrah and indeed Aithusa who was also mentioned, as well as the story Kilgharrah told from the days of King Arthur, are all taken from the BBC hit TV series called 'Merlin.' Since Merlin is considered to be ancient history to the wizards and witches of Harry Potter, rather than a simple myth, I thought it would be a fitting element to add in without using an entire third universe. But to those of you unfamiliar with the show, you won't need to watch it to continue to understand what's going on in the story. Any time a plot detail involving the ancient history of Camelot is brought up, I will have it explained properly.**

**However, those of you who are familiar with Merlin may have noticed that there's one major inconsistency in this chapter with the series, and that is that Kilgharrah is still alive when at the end of Merlin's final season he said that he would die soon. This is because I was quite dis-satisfied with final season of the show and the way it ended, so I am putting my own spin on it. But everything that happened through Seasons 1 to 4 is totally canon here. Hope you enjoyed!**


	33. Secret Flames

**ATTENTION:- This is an important message for everyone who does not read the Fairy Tail manga and only watches the anime. There is going to be some MAJOR spoilers in this chapter of things that have not yet been shown in the anime, not even in the original Japanese version that I watch. So****… ****read on at your own risk! If you want to wait and read it spoiler-free****… ****I suggest you wait until at least Christmas****… ****unless you watch the English dub in which case you will have to wait longer.**

Additionally, I feel the need to point out one more thing, as it is a point raised by one of my reviewers - according to the official website Pottermore, Merlin actually attended Hogwarts during its early years and was sorted into Slytherin House before then going on to help Arthur and his knights after he graduated. I am calling bull on this - Hogwarts was formed in around the 10th century whereas the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table take place in the late 5th to early 6th century, hundreds of years before Hogwarts was founded. Therefore Merlin having gone to Hogwarts like that makes no sense at all, so I am ignoring this Potterverse fact altogether and going with the Merlin show.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 33:- Secret Flames**

* * *

"Um… Natsu…" Lisanna murmured, standing stock-still with her newfound wings folded in tightly against her back, her arms by her sides and a faint blush on her cheeks. "Have you ever heard of… personal space? Cos… you're kinda in mine."

Natsu didn't pay her words any attention, but he was paying a lot of attention to the rest of her, jumping in circles around her and leaning in close to inspect her new form from just about every angle he could manage.

"This is so cool…" he said for possibly the eighth time. "I've always wanted wings. Being carried around by Happy is great but sometimes I'd like to fly under my own power. And a tail too, that's so awesome. Igneel used to knock trees over with his, and he had a Fire Dragon tail attack that I've never really used in battle cause when I do it looks like I'm farting fire - if I had a real tail it would look awesome! And those scales look really tough, I bet you can shrug off a lot of powerful hits with those… can I touch them…?" He reached out a hand and Lisanna gasped and quickly grabbed his wrist.

"Natsu… keep moving my hands forwards… and you'll be touching my breast…" she said slowly, as if trying to explain it to a child despite the furious blush on her face.

"So? It's covered in scales now," Natsu said, looking genuinely bemused.

"That's irrelevant! You don't touch a girl's chest unless you're alone with the girl and going out with her!" Lisanna shivered. "Neither of which applies to us."

"But you always said he's the daddy and you're the mummy," Happy snickered with his paws over his mouth. "You liiiiike him."

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Lisanna cried, now sure her face would stay red for the rest of her life before she guided Natsu's hand to one of her scaly vambraces. "Here… that you can touch."

"Oooh, so smooth… yet so tough, I can tell," Natsu said as he ran his hand over Lisanna's arm, gliding his fingers up one of the spikes on her vambrace to tap the sharp tip. "I can tell, you've gotten a serious power-up now, Lisanna. Wait! Does this mean you're a Dragon Slayer now, like me?"

"No, it does not," said Kilgharrah - the huge dragon was watching with mild amusement from a nearby ledge. "I do not possess the Dragon Slayer magic of your kind - my magic is quite different. It would still be quite effective against another dragon but she does not possess power akin to yours, young mage. But you are right about her scales being tough. We dragons are extremely resistant to almost all types of magic. You should find yourself able to shrug off something like a human Stunning spell with ease now, Lisanna. Possibly even several at once."

"I can feel the power brimming inside me," Lisanna said as she pulled her arm out of Natsu's grip and clenched her fist. "And it still feels like I'm only scratching the surface of this form's potential… Natsu… when we get back to London we need to find a place to train," she said firmly, a hardened resolution filling her eyes. "I want to expand my magical potential. The stronger I get, the more of this new power I'll be able to use. And if it will help protect you and everyone else then I will gladly do it, no matter how rigorous the training may be."

Natsu grinned widely, raising his own hand palm open and waiting until Lisanna grasped it firmly, a fierce glint in both their eyes as if they were about to start the training right then and there. "You betcha," Natsu nodded. "I want to see more of this magic myself. But I ain't gonna hold back on you. Igneel never held back on me."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Lisanna nodded.

"This is going to blow the minds of the others," Happy bounced up and down a couple of times.

"It's still blowing my mind," Lisanna smiled… but that smile was promptly replaced with a frown as she turned back to Kilgharrah. "But… you said that… there was another reason you chose to teach me this power beyond your simple curiosity… what reason is that?"

Kilgharrah's golden eyes sparkled slightly. "That reason is quite a complex one. But before it can be explained to you… I must first do this…" he raised his head, his throat pulsating like a giant hose before he exhaled sharply over all three of them, wind billowing from his maw in quite a similar manner to how he'd put Lisanna's power limiter in place. Lisanna felt a little tingly as she felt his power wash over her but nowhere near as much as last time.

Suddenly Happy keeled over, his eyes closing and falling onto his back with a small thud. Lisanna looked down at him in surprise… he'd suddenly fallen asleep, prone upon the rock with a contented smile on his face that told Lisanna he was already dreaming about fish.

And Natsu… was now standing totally still… his arms falling slack to his sides, his eyes wide and unblinking, staring at Lisanna as if he was looking straight through her somehow. Lisanna blinked and moved aside a little but Natsu didn't budge an inch. He just kept staring at the rocky wall of the mountainside, even when Lisanna raised her hand up and waved it in front of his face. No response at all.

"What did you do?" she looked up at the dragon as he settled back on his haunches.

"I put the Exceed to sleep and young Natsu into a trance. The information you're about to receive is not for either of their ears. They are for yours alone."

"Could you have not just… sent them away?"

"No… it will help if Natsu is still here…" Kilgharrah said cryptically.

"Er… why?"

"You shall see. Now… one of the things we dragons possess, Lisanna, is some telepathic ability. Since you now have some of my strength, you can now you it too. So… stand in front of Natsu and stare into his eyes. Stretch out with your mind, like you do with your Take-Over magic, and try to make contact with his own."

"Will he hear me if he's in a trance?"

"No."

"Then why am I doing it?"

"You'll see."

Lisanna frowned - clearly she wasn't going to get any more information out of Kilgharrah. But she didn't see the harm in his suggestion so she got back in front of him and focused her eyes upon his own. Focusing her mind, she imagined something like an invisible tendril of thought wafting her body to connect with his, concentrating as hard as she could manage to open her mind and connect it to Natsu's.

_Hello?_ she thought. _Can you hear me?_

_Indeed I can._

Lisanna gasped - in fact she almost screamed! The voice that suddenly echoed through her mind wasn't Natsu's at all! It was much bigger, gruffer - like a constant albeit non-threatening growl. Then suddenly the world around her melted away, almost literally. Natsu, Happy and Kilgharrah vanished, and lava welled up on all sides around her, filling up the mountainous landscape that became nothing but brown rock, smoke and ash. Lisanna gasped when she realised she was standing on a small slab no less than a couple of metres squared in the middle of a lava river and hurriedly flexed her wings in preparation to take off…

But then a huge foot slammed down on the bank of the lava river before her… a reptilian foot encrusted with rust red scales and was as thick as a tree. Lisanna froze, her blue eyes slowly tracking up the legs to see it conjoined with a massive body, a pale stomach with criss-crossing scars and a heavily armoured back from which two great wings sprouted to block out the volcanoes behind it, all giving way to a long, thick neck and and immense reptilian head.

Another dragon…

And Lisanna found herself unable to do anything but gape… guessing almost immediately who this was. She'd heard Natsu describe him enough times to build up a picture in her mind of what he must have looked like, and now she was seeing him, she hadn't been that far off. The horn on his nose was a little blunter than she'd imagined, and the horns sweeping out the back of his head were a little longer, but the wing-like frills at either side of the base of his skull, the cavernous jaws, massive teeth and yellow eyes… they were all there. He even had the long scar over his right eye and the X-shaped scar a little way down the right side of his jaw.

"…Igneel… You… you're Igneel…"

For such a fearsome looking reptile, the dragon's eyes were surprisingly soft and kind. His enormously long, whip-like tail swept over to curl around his feet as he sat upon his haunches, his jaw curling up into a benevolent smile.

"I am," he said, his voice making Lisanna feel suddenly warm inside like she'd been submerged in lava that somehow didn't burn her.

"Natsu's foster father…"

"That's me," Igneel nodded. "And you are Lisanna Strauss. The first person that Natsu truly called a friend after I… disappeared… from his life."

"…Is this real?" Lisanna's eyes flicked around her to observe the volcanic scenery - she could smell the ash, sulphur and brimstone trying to clog up her nasal passages with their brittle scents. "Where… where are we?"

"It is real and yet not real," Igneel replied, shifting his wings slightly and folding them in to make himself look less imposing. "You are still standing on the mountainside staring into my foster son's eyes. And we are still communicating telepathically rather than with our real voices. But I have created this vision in your mind, one of where you would see if you really were standing right in front of me, so that we can talk face to face. I thought it would be more personal."

"You can say that again… but… where are you then? How can I be talking to you? And… is this where you've been all this time?" Lisanna suddenly flexed her own wings, her voice getting stronger as her disbelief gradually started to wane. "Is this place where you have been hiding yourself away ever since you abandoned Natsu on July 7th, year X777? And why? Why in the world would you ever do that to him? He missed you so much, why were you never there for him?"

Igneel's smile lapsed slightly, still in place but now somehow much sadder, his head lifting to stare out across the landscape above Lisanna's head. His expression was more than enough to make Lisanna stop talking - seeing heartache on the face of a dragon was a new one for her, but she could still clearly recognise that that's what it was."

"All good questions," Igneel rumbled, closing his eyes and dipping his head in what looked… very much like shame. "And I am speaking with you now to answer them all. But before we begin… I would just like to say… thank you."

"…Huh?" Lisanna swallowed. "Thank you? For… for what?"

"For being there for my son when he needed someone there for him the most. I knew that when I left it would leave him feeling vulnerable and alone… he wandered the wilderness by himself for weeks before he happened upon your guild and all that time, he felt so terrible. He thought himself a burden on me, that perhaps I had left him because I did not really care or that I thought he was not good enough for him. Nothing could be further from the truth," he rumbled, stamping his foot down and almost knocking Lisanna off her feet - wow, this was a realistic vision.

But the dragon turned his gaze upon Lisanna and smiled warmly at her. "But when he arrived at your guild and became a member to find work, you were the one who reassured him otherwise. The one that went to him, comforted him, convinced him that I must have had a reason for my actions. You were the one that reawakened his hope that one day, he and I would be reunited. I cannot tell you how grateful I was when I heard your words."

"…You were watching that?" Lisanna breathed. She could remember that well - Natsu had initially been reluctant to talk about Igneel when he'd first arrived and she'd managed to get him to. Not only had that helped them start to bond but after that he'd begun to open up to the rest of the guild too.

"I was always watching," Igneel nodded. "I saw every adventure Natsu had with you and all your guildmates. I supervised all of your games. I was there when Natsu heard that you had been killed. I felt almost as devastated as he was at the news. After all," he suddenly gave an extremely wide smirk. "If you're the mummy and Natsu's the daddy, and the Exceed is the kid, that must make me the grandpa of the family."

This time Lisanna felt as if her whole body was burning hotter than the lava itself as her face lit up with a spectacular blush. "You saw all that too?" she squeaked.

"Everything."

"But… but how…? And how are you talking to me now? Do you have some kind of… magic that allows you to see anything you want no matter where you are?"

"I do not, but I wish I had. It would have made things a lot easier in the long run if I'd had access to a power like that."

"But then how can you be talking to me? I'm in a completely different dimension to you."

"…No… you are not."

"…Eh? You're in… this world."

"Indeed. I came with you. And I am not communicating across a great distance. What you see around you may be a vision of where I am… but in reality… I am still directly in front of you."

"…What? I… I don't under… stand…" Lisanna's voice slowly trailed away as the reality of the situation kicked in. She'd stretched out her mind to Natsu's to try and communicate and instead ended up talking to his foster father. Natsu was the one right in front of her… which meant that Igneel…

"You're… inside… Natsu?" Lisanna breathed, looking around her at the volatile landscape, her heart suddenly pounding in her ears. "All this… is inside Natsu's body?"

"It's a magical container I created in which I could live for as long as I am here," Igneel nodded sagely. "A pocket dimension, if you will, one that is infinitely larger on the inside than it is on the outside. There's nothing beyond those mountains but an invisible wall but on the outside its the size of a human thumbnail. Natsu does not even notice it. And I have been here ever since, using my telepathy to piggyback on the wavelengths of Natsu's mind and of the people around him so that I could continue to watch him grow. And even though I've been stuck here in this tiny space for the last seven years, thirteen if you include being frozen in the Fairy Sphere… they've been among the happiest of my life."

Lisanna was struggling to take it all in. If she'd thought Kilgharrah's story about the days of Camelot had been an information overload, it was nothing compared to this. Every time she'd looked at Natsu she'd also been looking at Igneel. Every time Natsu had looked right back, so had Igneel.

"What about Wendy? And Gajeel? Their… their dragons… did they…?"

"You are referring to Grandine and Metalicana. The answer is yes… all five of the dragons that were raising human children by the year X777 disappeared into their bodies on July 7th."

"…Wait, five?" Lisanna blinked. "But… I only know three. Laxus was never raised by a dragon. And nor was that man from Oracion Seis that Natsu told me about."

"Indeed not. The other two are boys called Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney. They were young Wendy's age when their foster parents, Weisslogia and Skiadrum, entered their bodies. But of course they weren't frozen in time so they'll be eighteen by this point. I find it very likely you'll meet them one day when you return to your world."

"But why?" Lisanna's voice seemed to find its strength again. "Why did you all do that? You say you've been watching your children grow up for seven years? Well, then you must have also seen how much they missed you! How many times they were in terrible danger and were nearly killed! You must have been watching when Acnologia was attacking us on Tenroujima! Why did you never reveal yourselves and come to their aid?"

Igneel's face twisted into a pained grimace and his foot clenched hard enough to crush a portion of the bank about three feet wide and send the pieces of rock sinking into the lava. "We wanted to," he clenched his teeth so hard it was a miracle they didn't shatter out of his jaw. "It pained us beyond measure to sit back and do nothing all those times. Grandine linked with me telepathically a couple of times wondering if we were doing the right thing to put them through that. In those moments, never before had I felt so helpless, especially when that accursed Black Dragon appeared. But we had to stay put and not interfere. We had to leave the humans be until the time was right."

Lisanna's stomach had now clenched, feeling suddenly awful for raising questions that were obviously causing Igneel great distress. She wasn't sure if dragons could cry… but in that moment it seriously looked like Igneel was going to. Her heart went out to him - she didn't even know what his reasons were yet but she couldn't help it. Especially since she knew exactly how he must have felt. She was reminded once again of the time she'd been trapped in Azuma's tree roots watching her sister fight him. And Igneel had apparently been in that position for seven straight years!

It was an unbearable thought.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I… I didn't mean to upset you…"

"No. Your questions need to be asked. And they also need to be answered. And now that you have learned your new Dragon Soul… I feel I can entrust you with the truth."

"…Then you're the one who's been communicating with Kilgharrah. You're the one who told him all about us. You urged him to find me and teach me this power."

"Indeed. Grandine and Metalicana stretched out their minds to search for any intelligent dragons in this world as soon as they heard they were all supposed to be dumb beasts here. They were able to contact both Kilgharrah and Aithusa and have been communicating with them every so often ever since. I was pulled into the loop when Natsu finally unfroze from his Sphere. And I was watching at Gringotts. The fact you became a dragon… by merging your soul with its own… it got me thinking. I communicated with Metalicana and Grandine, discussed it over with them… and a wild plan began to form in our minds. One which you will play a crucial role. But for it to work, you would need to advance your magic and create a entirely new Take Over that could work on a dragon. So we reached out for Kilgharrah, imploring him to intervene and teach you in our stead."

"You're creating more questions than you're answering right now," Lisanna stated.

Igneel snorted with a puff of flame. "Sorry. Very well… I shall tell you what you need to know to understand. But in order for this story to make any sense, we will need to start four-hundred years ago."

"Four-hundred?" Lisanna asked. "Isn't that when Zeref was in power?"

"Yes. But I'm not here to talk to you about Zeref. I am here to talk to you about… Acnologia."

"…What about him?" The Take-Over Mage swallowed. The way Igneel said his name, with pure loathing… she could already tell that this story was not going to be a happy one.

"Kilgharrah's race of dragons was not the only one to go through a purge of sorts," Igneel said, his eyes shimmering as he looked up into nothingness, memories of a time long past welling up within his mind. And in Lisanna's. She could see an image of Igneel flying through the sky simply enjoying life, alongside a couple of other dragons, including one that appeared to be entirely made from fire from head to tail-tip.

"Once we were numerous, spread out right across Fiore and we were the rulers of all we surveyed. We did not live in peace with humanity as Kilgharrah's race did. To many of us they were food, to many others nothing but pests but we were far more powerful than they. There was nothing they could do to stop or even wound a single one of us. But eventually… one of our kind got to know humans on a more personal level and he proposed the radical idea that perhaps we really could co-exist with them. It sparked much controversy amongst our race. There were many who thought it ludicrous, but many other who looked into his suggestions and discovered humans were more like us than we'd thought. But the arguments raged back and forth, growing ever more heated until finally… war broke out."

Lisanna gasped as her mind was suddenly filled with images of destruction the likes of which she'd never imagine before. Entire countries burning as the dragons battled in the skies above, tearing the ground below to pieces with every wave of their mighty breath attacks, crashing their bodies together, tearing with claw and tooth, clubbing tails and beating wings.

It was carnage!

"This is horrible!" she whispered.

"And I'm showing you one of the nicer battles," Igneel snorted. "But we were at a stalemate - no clear victor in sight. Until finally we, the side in favour of joining forces with humans… chose to do just that. We began to teach Dragon Slayer magic to many humans to involve them in the war."

"… So… that's how the first Dragon Slayers came to be… of course, that makes sense… I could never work out why dragons would ever teach humans magic that would allow them to kill dragons but a war… now it all adds up."

"Yes… but it would have been better for us if we had not done so. We did not understand as much about humans as we thought. The Dragon Slayers grew to become the most powerful humans in the world in a very short space of time and the tide began to turn in our favour. But… we never stopped to think what the humans might decide to do with that power once they got it. We just assumed we would remain allies. But the humans… had other ideas."

"No…"

"To this day I do not know exactly why they turned on us. Perhaps they got drunk on the new power we had given them or perhaps it literally drove overwhelmed their minds and drove them mad. But the Dragon Slayers began to massacre all dragons on both sides of the war, strengthening constantly by bathing in the blood of those they killed. And they even began to turn upon each other until eventually… only one Dragon Slayer remained. But he was a man of immense power and he wouldn't stop. He hunted down dragon after dragon, killing them and bathing in their blood once they'd died, and in a matter of years my kind found themselves on the run from him."

And Lisanna could see him in her mind's eye. A tall, well built man with dark skin and dark blue hair that was even longer and wilder than Gajeel's, wearing a long black cloak with what looked like dragon's teeth around his neck. He had sharp eyes, which were rimmed with black, and his face and arms were adorned with long, curved markings that were light blue in colour… and which looked eerily familiar to Lisanna.

"I'll give you three guesses as to who that is," Igneel said wryly.

But Lisanna only needed one. Even though she was only seeing a vision she could practically feel this man's power. And it didn't take her long to place where she'd seen those markings before.

"Acnologia… he was originally human?!"

"As human as you are. But as he grew in power his body slowly began to change. He became more and more draconic until eventually… he had changed completely into a dragon. A dragon you have seen before. And he continued to hunt down and destroy all other dragons until eventually… they were gone. As far as I know… only the five of us that now reside within the bodies of the Dragon Slayers remain. All other dragons through our world… are gone. Just like Kilgharrah's. And in a strange way, the demise of both our races was brought about by men who were once our kin."

"I can't believe it…" Lisanna sat down on the stone slab, her breathing rapid and her brain feeling like it was about to burst. "Such a mighty race all torn down by one madman? Why? Why would he do that to those that gave him his power?"

"That I cannot answer… Acnologia's motives are unfathomable. He has the power to rule over the entire world if he so chose but for some reason he has kept to the shadows over the last four-hundred years. And so did we. We remained in hiding, communicating with each other from a distance and staying away from everyone. We all hoped for an opportunity to attack and defeat Acnologia but that opportunity never presented itself. And after almost four hundred years… our time was beginning to run out."

"Time?" Lisanna frowned. "What do you mean?"

"More or less exactly what you think it means," Igneel sighed.

"You're… dying?" Lisanna's hands flew to her mouth, her pulse quickening in absolute horror. "No! No, you can't die! Natsu… Gajeel… Wendy… they need you guys. They've spent so long hoping to reunite with you, you can't just die and leave them alone."

"We were already dying long before we even began their training."

"How? Aren't dragons from our world supposed to be immortal, just like Kilgharrah?"

"We are indeed immortal. Unless we are killed."

"…What?"

"Let me explain something else before I get to that. Because our time was running out and we still hadn't found the chance to kill Acnologia, the greatest shame of our race, we knew we needed to take drastic action. Which was why we each found… a lost human child… and began to raise them as Dragon Slayers once more. Considering the disaster of the Dragon Slayers from four-hundred years ago we had been lucky to try this again until now. But this time we were more conservative - we taught them slowly, more methodically, and we didn't teach them everything before we left. We figured if they were allowed to discover their power on their own amongst other people, many of which were stronger than them and could keep them from getting overly arrogant with their power, they could keep a better head than the previous Dragon Slayers."

"…From what I know that almost went wrong with Gajeel…" Lisanna sweatdropped.

Igneel snorted. "Indeed, but he came around. And my boy Natsu helped see to that. That battle was so strange to me, because I was talking to Metalicana all the way through it and we were both rooting for Natsu. Gajeel really needed some sense beaten into him at that point in his life."

"No kidding. So… is that why you taught them Dragon Slayer magic? You were hoping they would one day be able to defeat Acnologia?"

"Yes, but there is another reason. And it is that reason that will bring me to answer two more of your questions - why have we never revealed ourselves… and why did we teach you Dragon Soul."

Lisanna wet her lips with her tongue slightly. "Go on."

Igneel stretched his wings out, taking a deep breath that seemed to suck a lot of the air out of Lisanna's own lungs. She could tell he was about to unburden himself with things he'd clearly been wishing to tell people for far too long. And she was on tenterhooks waiting for him to begin.

"Firstly, we didn't want our foster children to turn out like Acnologia physically as well as mentally. We didn't want them to transform into dragons over time, as they surely would have done eventually. Grandine analysed humans from afar and thanks to experimenting with her Sky Magic she figured out a way for us to create a special antibody that would stop the dragonifying process in a human… but only in large enough quantities.

"All this time we have been inside them we have been creating those antibodies and injecting them from our pocket dimensions directly into the bodies of our hosts. And we are still doing that now. We are close to reaching the threshold that Grandine believes will probably be enough to stop them from becoming dragons ever. Weisslogia and Skiadrum have probably already reached that threshold within their own hosts since they were never put in suspended animation.

"Grandine was also the one who devised the method of allowing us to enter the bodies of the Dragon Slayers. But… it is a one time thing. The antibodies we are creating have become a double-edged Iron Dragon Sword. If we were to leave now and then we tried to re-enter their bodies later, they would reject us and force us to stay out. The only reason they haven't done that while we've been in here is because they currently associate us as being part of their bodies already, whereas we would be draconic intruders if we tried to force our way back in. So we cannot leave until we have finished the job or all our work will have been for nothing. And the process of creating the antibodies has been a slow one as we have been trying to conserve our magic for the right time. That was why, although Acnologia finally presented himself to us on Tenroujima, we could not intervene."

Suddenly Lisanna's guilt at being helpless to assist her sister… didn't seem quite as bad.

"That must… have been tearing you apart inside…" she whispered. She could only imagine how Igneel must have felt, watching from the sidelines as Acnologia threatened to not only kill his son but tear down almost everything that he held dear with him. At least with her situation, Mirajane had been putting up a good fight against Azuma and Lisanna had had the hope Mira would triumph throughout. But Acnologia had been trouncing them. Igneel must have had no hope at all, sinking into despair until Mavis had brought about the miracle that saved all their lives.

"It was not pleasant," Igneel growly grimly. "But that brings me to my final point. The final reason we decided to enter the bodies of the Dragon Slayers was to prolong our own lives."

"Because you're dying?"

"Yes. And that is why we have elected to help you learn Dragon Soul."

"…I still don't understand."

Igneel chuckled wryly. "Perhaps this will help. Try to use your newfound power on me now. Try and perform a Take-Over on me."

Lisanna's inhaled sharply. "Are you sure?"

"Of course. Go on - try."

"…Okay…" Lisanna swallowed, closing her eyes and stretching out her magic as she'd done many times before. Sure enough, she could feel Igneel's explosive power simmering before her like a bomb that was about to go off… but as she stretched deeper…

…nothing!

Lisanna's eyes shot open, her head snapping up to look Igneel dead in the eye. The dragon did nothing but smile sadly as Lisanna groped around with her magic like a blind person poking their hand into a crevice to try and feel what was inside but… there was nothing.

"Your soul…" she whispered in unmitigated horror. "You don't… have a soul."

"Correct."

"How can you not have a soul!? Everything alive has a soul… your soul is what makes you who you are! It gives your you personality, your feelings, your emotions… everything…! I've seen your emotions, I've seen how much you love Natsu… how can you possibly do that without a soul?"

"Oh, I do have a soul. It's just not inside my body anymore."

"Any… anymore?" Lisanna felt a chill creeping over her - her skin running cold even amongst this sweltering landscape. "What… happened to it?"

"Acnologia happened," Igneel growled darkly. "One of the many reasons that Acnologia became so proficient a Dragon Slayer was that he learned how to reap the souls of dragons, tearing them right out of their bodies. Much like the… Dementors… from this world can do with that Kiss technique of theirs, except Acnologia used his claws. As you probably know, if a human loses their soul then they become entirely disconnected from it. Their bodies become hollow - still alive but entirely empty of self… I believe humans describe people in this state as 'vegetables.' An odd phrase I've always found.

"But Dragons are different. When we lose our souls we are still vaguely connected to it, enough for our bodies to function without it inside them. And while a human can live without a soul until dying from the body's natural causes, a Dragon is left weakened and in a half-dead state. And as time passes, our bodies slowly die. And we were growing close to our breaking point by the time we entered the Dragon Slayers."

"…And… being in here… slows down the dying process?" Lisanna questioned.

"As a matter of fact it stops it entirely. In here, we are connected to the souls of the Dragon Slayers themselves. They can sustain us for as long as we remain here. But as soon as we leave we will be forced to detach from their souls and begin dying again. And we estimate we will have less than a day before our time finally comes if we were to do that."

Nothing more was said for a minute as Lisanna allowed all that to sink in. It truly seemed like a dead-end situation. As long as Igneel stayed in here, Natsu's heart would ache to see him. But if he left, Natsu's heart would break because he'd be forced to watch his father die.

"Can you not just… talk to Natsu from in here? Let him know what's really going on?"

"I cannot. If Natsu found out about this then his body would stop thinking of me as part of it. The antibodies would turn on me and eject me and then I would be doomed. That is why we left without telling the Dragon Slayers what we were going to do. It was crucial for their sake and our own that they didn't know where we were. And that is why, even though I am revealing all this to you, you must not tell Natsu about any of this. Not under any circumstances."

"…It's… that's… already the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I want to rush out there now and… and… tell him everything. He deserves to know all of this. They all do."

"But you understand why you must keep this secret from him?"

Lisanna nodded, tears now leaking down her face as her heart burned for both the dragon and the Dragon Slayer. It hadn't ached this much since she'd found herself in Edolas and had been forced to pretend she was the Edolas Lisanna to keep from breaking Edo-Mira and Elfman's hearts. And now, she had a whole new secret to keep. One she would ache to tell every time she so much as thought about any of the Dragon Slayers.

"However," Igneel smiled, his tone of voice changing and Lisanna looked up to see his kind smile was back in place. "There may be hope on the horizon. As I said, the main reason we trained the Dragon Slayers was that we hoped that they could carry on our legacy and one day defeat Acnologia in our stead if we failed. But… perhaps there is a way that it will not come to that. And that way… is you."

"…Me?" Lisanna's pupils shrank to the size of full stops.

"Indeed. After all, though are bodies are dying our souls are still out there, back in our own world somewhere. It was thanks to that that we were able to enter the bodies of our children. You see, our bodies and our souls, while separated, both possess a degree of magic. Neither has as much as we would have if we were whole, but both still have a high amount and the technique we used to lock ourselves in here was a technique called the Dragon Soul Seal that Grandine invented - essentially we used our soul's magic to lock our bodies away and when we emerge to kill Acnologia at last we will be using the magic from our bodies to complete that task. But once Acnologia ripped our souls from our bodies, they could not move. They are stuck in the exact same spot as they were when Acnologia attacked tore them loose. That is why we left our children on their own rather than bringing them together before we sealed ourselves away - we needed to be in the vicinity of our souls when the time came to perform the spell.

"We wish this had not been the case. We all spent quite some time searching for an alternative, trying everything that we could think of to draw our souls back into our bodies before we died but nothing any of us tried was successful. It is just not within the capabilities of Dragon magic. But it might be within yours."

"So…" everything clicked into place in Lisanna's mind. "That's why you had Kilgharrah teach me Dragon Soul!"

"Take-Over is a very interesting magic," Igneel nodded. "Humans that utilise it merge their soul with that of their target and in doing so they can also merge their bodies together. And now, you have the power to do that with dragons. I am not sure if it will work… but theoretically if you were to return home to our world, find the exact spot where we raised each of our Dragon Slayer children, where our souls should still be, and absorb them into your body…"

"…I could potentially use it to merge with your body too and… reunite them!" Lisanna finished.

"Exactly. The complete opposite to what Acnologia does. As I said, this is all theoretical but you… Lisanna Strauss… you might just have the potential within you to save our lives! And more than that… to save our race!"

Of all the bombshells Igneel had dropped on her during the conversation, this one was probably the biggest. Most likely because it was the most personal to her. But Lisanna found herself literally incapable of speech for almost a minute straight. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, her throat constricting so tightly that she could barely breathe. The sheer magnitude of what Igneel was saying… saving dragonkind from extinction at the hands of Acnologia… that alone was enormous. But now… it was something that only she had the power to do…

"Do you… really think… I can?" she said eventually, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"You're a Fairy Tail mage, aren't you?" Igneel snorted. "Based on my experiences within the guild, there's very little you guys cannot do when you put your mind to something. I believe that you definitely have the willpower to pull this off. Whether the magic will work… that remains to be seen. But to be frank, Lisanna, you're our only hope to live past the day our children finally find out where we are. A huge responsibility it may be… but it is yours. And if it can be done, I have faith you will see it through."

Images whirled through Lisanna's mind. Images of Igneel rising up out of her body - tall and proud and announcing his effective resurrection to the world with his mightiest of roars. Although she didn't know what the other dragons looked like she could see vague images of what they might look like doing the same. She felt her chest expanding, her emotions soaring at the thought that she might be able to pull that off. Yet at the same time she felt a huge weight on her shoulders as if Igneel was now literally stepping on her. If it didn't work… if she failed… she didn't think she'd ever be able to look Natsu in the eye again. It would feel like the loss of his father was just as much her own fault as it was Acnologia's.

But if she succeeded…

If she could give new life to a dynasty of magnificent creatures…

If she could properly reunite Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy with their foster parents… the joy that they would feel… it would be beyond measure. She couldn't stop picturing their faces, especially Natsu's, wearing a grin so wide it looked like it would never fade away as he hugged Igneel's enormous nose, tears of joy spilling down his cheeks…

If there was even a chance she could make that happen…

"Are you willing to give it a shot?" Igneel asked courteously.

"…Yes," Lisanna nodded, fists clenched and jaw set as she rose to her feet, eyes rising to meet Igneel's and filled with a deep, flaming determination. "Of course I will."

How could she not? She could never in good conscience turn Igneel down, and the thought of doing so never even crossed her mind. Her path had practically been set from the moment Igneel greeted her.

"I swear I will do everything in my power to save your souls… and your lives with them! As long as we both still live, I will do whatever it takes. You have my word."

Igneel stared at her for a moment, before chuckling. "That face," he said. "You remind me of Natsu when he was getting into his training. Such fiery passion and resolve… you've clearly taken a lot from him… though thankfully not his complete bullheadedness," he chuckled. "Of course he probably gets that from me… or so Grandine says… but anyway… we put our fate in your hands now Lisanna. Just do your best. That is all we will ever ask of you."

"You don't even have to ask. Because that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"…You know, Natsu's very lucky to have a girl like you by his side," Igneel suddenly chortled. "And now you're set to become the guardian of dragons from our world - something akin to a Dragonlord from this one. A Dragon Slayer and a Dragonlord… or Dragonlady. It has a nice ring to it, I think."

"W…what?" The flames from Lisanna's eyes seemed to pass into her cheeks. "What are you… talking about…?"

"Don't play dumb, child," Igneel laughed. "I can see just as well as your friend Gildarts could back when you were growing up. Natsu may not have realised it but I'm not as blind as he. You quite clearly have strong feelings for him."

"…Um… well… well, I just… it's…" Lisanna stammered, but her blustering only seemed to amuse the Fire Dragon still further.

"I know it originated as something of a childhood crush. And to a certain extent that might still be what it is. But you can't honestly tell me that its not there."

"Well… I… um…"

"Oh, go on… you liiiiiiike him."

"…DID YOU JUST COPY HAPPY?!" Lisanna gaped incredulously, staring up at the mercilessly grinning Dragon in disbelief. "DID YOU ACTUALLY JUST COPY HAPPY?!"

"Maybe… but seriously, you can't deny you have feelings for my son. There's another human saying that I've become familiar with… 'absence makes the heart grow fonder,' I believe it is. And if I were to hazard a guess, that was definitely the case from your two year holiday to Edolas."

"…I… just…" Lisanna scrambled for an answer but… she could find none. Igneel was just gazing at her knowingly and she found her protests dying in her throat. "…Yes," she said. "Alright… yes, I… might… like him. But as you said it's probably… just a childhood crush. And besides… in the two years I was away, he met Lucy. Next to Happy, she's his best friend now. Not… not me."

"I'm not going to pretend to know much about human romance," Igneel rumbled. "But I do know this. Lucy might have filled a space that you once occupied in Natsu's life but she can never replace all the time that the two of you spent together in your youth and all the memories that come with it. And Lucy may be his best friend… but there's always room in someone's life for a best friend and… someone else special."

"…What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that we don't know what the future will hold for Natsu or for you. I am pretty sure Natsu doesn't even know what romance really is. He certainly knows what love for his friends is, but romantic love… yeah, he still needs to figure that one out. And when he does, he may settle with Lucy. Or he may go for someone else… anyone else… and based on what I've seen of your friendship with Natsu, you would have my full blessing to be with him if the person he chose happened to be you."

Lisanna's hand slowly found its way to her heart, listening and feeling it pulse within her chest for a moment. If she was totally honest with herself… she had imagined a future with Natsu. Maybe not to the exact same extent as Juvia with Gray - but Juvia had an extremely vivid imagination by all accounts - but she'd definitely imagined it. That time she'd asked Natsu if she could be his wife when they were kids really had just been a joke… but it was a joke that stuck with her over the years and she found herself envisioning a lot what it would be like if she settled down with Natsu. Despite his idiocy, his gluttony and his very quick temper… he was also sweet, committed and furiously protective. Any woman would be lucky to have him… provided they were prepared to clean up the mess he usually left behind him.

Which Lisanna was quite sure she would be prepared to do.

"Thank you," she eventually whispered.

"And then I really would be the grandpa."

"IGNEEL!"

The Fire Dragon belted out laughing. "Hey, I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he said.

Trying to cool the blush across her face, Lisanna exhaled sharply and said, "Still… who knows what the future holds, right?"

"Who indeed. But hopefully, if all goes well, Natsu's future will involve me. When you find a way back to our world… it's going to be up to you."

"Do you know how we'll find our way back?"

"Not a clue. The dragon who sent you here was certainly not one I'm familiar with. There was no dragon from our time with the ability to open rifts between dimensions. But considering that power, its likely he and the other two that were fighting that day come from an entirely different reality that's neither this one nor our own."

"That's what I figured… how many universes do you think there are?"

"Oh, an infinite amount probably. But when we go home… that's when your job begins. We're counting on you, Lisanna. But… to coin another human phrase… no pressure."

Lisanna laughed. "Majorly disagree - there is a lot of pressure. But… I'll do what I can. And I won't tell anyone about this… it'll be our secret until the time is right."

"Good," Igneel smiled. "I feel like my life is in good hands. Now I think we've spoken long enough. You need to get back to London - doubtless your Fairy Tail friends are very worried about you. And if you ever need some advice, you can always talk to myself, Grandine or Metalicana."

"Okay, I will. Goodbye for now then, Igneel. Despite everything I've learned today… it was amazing to meet you at last."

"And a pleasure to finally speak with you face to face. Farewell, Lisanna Strauss. And good luck."

The vision of the lava landscape slowly faded away, and the last thing Lisanna saw was Igneel's kind smile radiating back at her before suddenly she was staring into Natsu's blank face again, back on the mountainside and with another Dragon watching her levelly. The Dragon Soul Mage stepped back and became aware of a dampness on her face, reaching up to feel that at some point during that conversation she'd cried a little… perhaps during the part where Igneel had described the dragon massacre or when she'd envisioned their reunion with the Dragon Slayers.

"Now you are aware of what you must do," Kilgharrah stated.

"…Yes. Yes, I am," Lisanna breathed deeply, straightening her back and feeling the urge to punch her own palm just like Natsu did. "I know it's going to be some time before I can even start this mission but… I can safely say… I'm all fired up."

Kilgharrah nodded and blew his breath across Natsu, who snapped out of his trance and instantly fell backwards with a heavy thump onto his butt, looking around him in complete bewilderment.

"Huh?" he asked, blinking like an astonishing owl. "What… what just happened?"

Every cell in Lisanna's body screamed at her to spill everything she'd just learned, to tell Natsu that his father was right here with him on this mountainside and had never abandoned him at all… but she knew she couldn't… so she swallowed the words threatening to spill out of her mouth and said, "Nothing. I just… I know what I have to do."

"What?" Natsu blinked. "What was the other reason he gave you this Dragon Soul?"

Lisanna scrambled for an answer, but Kilgarrah interrupted anything she could come up with by saying, "I believe it is time for wizard kind to find out about me once again. When the time is right, I have asked Lisanna to be my… ambassador… to introduce me to the right people for me to rejoin the wizarding world."

"Oh… cool," Natsu grinned, instantly accepting that answer. "So you're coming with us then?"

"Not for now," Kilgharrah replied. "It is not the right time. And besides, it would not be wise for me to get so close to such a busy human city, even if I can avoid being seen when I wish to. So for now… I shall be leaving you. But I am certain that our paths will cross again. Someday."

"Thank you," Lisanna smiled, putting all the heart she could into her words. "For everything."

"Your gratitude is not necessary…"

"But it is given," Lisanna said earnestly.

"Fiiiish," Happy murmured as he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Hmm… what time is it?"

"Time to get back to the others," Natsu said as he got up.

"Indeed," Kilgharrah nodded, unravelling a wing and pointing it in a south-easterly direction. "Head in a straight line that way and you'll eventually arrive straight back in London. Go forth, Fairy Tail. I look forward to our reunion."

"Thanks big guy!" Natsu waved as Happy gripped the back of his shirt and Lisanna spread her wings, ready to fly. "See ya soon!" And as one they pushed off and winged their way upwards and away, skirting the bottoms of the clouds as they flew side by side in the direction Kilgharrah had pointed. Lisanna glanced sideways at the grinning Dragon Slayer out of the corner of her eye. He truly had no idea that the dragon he'd been searching for for so long was so close to him. Lisanna had always told him Igneel would always been in his heart… but she'd been a lot more accurate than even she'd realised.

_Don__'__t worry, Natsu__… __Igneel__… __I__'__ll let you meet again. I swear._

And as they became little dots on the horizon, even to Kilgharrah's incredibly sharp senses, the dragon spread his wings and launched himself up into the air with great powerful flaps that sent cascades of dust down the mountainside below him. He swooped low across the cliffsides, flying in the opposite direction to the departing mages and soaring low for a couple of miles before he alighted on the ground at the foot of another mountain.

Waiting for him was a man. An ancient-looking man garbed in long, red robes, with a long bushy beard that would make even Dumbledore envious and almost equally long white hair, leaning on a staff with a large, azure gemstone at the tip.

It was the same man who had been in the Forest of Dean, watching from the shadows as Evergreen took on the former leader of the Sidhe Fairies. The one who had surreptitiously used his own magic to cut her bonds and let her fight.

"It went well, didn't it?" he croaked. "I felt a change in the world… like a breath of fresh air… not too long ago. The Old Religion… it's gotten a little stronger all of a sudden."

"I felt it too," Kilgharrah agreed. "The moment young Lisanna Strauss accessed her Dragon Soul for the first time."

"That's great! And did you send them in the right direction?"

"Of course. The Old Religion is adamant that all the Fairy Tail members be reunited. Even if it is not yet time for us to directly intervene in the affairs of the wizarding world, we can still do its share to fulfil its will, as we always have."

"I hope it is not too much longer before we can start doing things again. I hate sitting on the sidelines like this."

"Patience. The time will come when you can reveal yourself once more and when that time comes, you will know about it."

The old man sighed and looked out across the horizon in the direction that the three mages had gone.

"Regardless… these offworlders… there magic is more powerful than anything I've sensed in centuries. One might think that with all their potential, they could just walk all over Voldemort and any other threat that this world might potentially throw at them. And yet… my gut is telling me that that… is not the case."

"Listen to your gut," Kilgharrah agreed. "After all… when great power rises… another great power will always rise to oppose it. Even Fairy Tail… are going to be in for a tough time, young warlock."

"I'm now half your age, Kilgharrah. You really can stop calling me 'young warlock.'"

"Call it a term of endearment. After all, Merlin… you will always be young in comparison to me."

* * *

Yes, yes, I know - you all want to know what's going to happen to Erza, Cana, Sirius, Mirajane and Elfman… but this chapter needed to happen and Lisanna's meeting with Igneel ended up being a lot longer than I expected… so I decided to cut the ending of the chapter here. The groundwork has been laid for the future and all the various events of the present will be coming to light in the next chapter.

Until then, bye for now.


	34. Three Prisons

Hello everyone. I know that most of you who didn't read the last chapter due to my warning about it containing spoilers probably aren't going to be reading this anytime soon, but this chapter is Fairy Tail spoiler free so if you would like to keep reading then by all means do so, and I will let you know when I feel its safe for you to go back and read Chapter 33 without spoilers.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 34:- Three Prisons**

* * *

"Nnngghhh…" Cana groaned as she came to, her eyes fluttering open and her head pounding as if she was experiencing one of the the worst hangovers ever… and Cana had had a lot of hangovers so she knew what that meant. She found that she was trembling, her skin crawling as if were covered with a thousand spiders made of ice and she couldn't seem to be able to stop herself from shaking.

"Where… where am…?" she moaned as she lifted her head up to glance around blearily. Dank stone walls, a faintly dripping ceiling, a thick wooden door at one end of the small room and not much else… she was in another cell.

Of course, she'd been captured! But her clarity of mind had returned to her for the first time since those… those… things… had appeared!

"Hey!" she shouted, attempting to push herself to her feet only to realise that her limbs weren't quite obeying her properly. Suddenly she realised the feeling of metal around her wrists wasn't her usual bracelets - her hands had been manacled behind her back, each cuff attached to a long chain that linked her to the back wall of the cell. Her ankles were in a similar condition, the only difference being that they weren't attached together, meaning she could still kick them about separately.

Swearing loudly, Cana fought against her bonds to push herself awkwardly to her feet - not the easiest of tasks with her hands bound but she still managed it. Stumbling forwards towards the door, she jerked on her chains until they snapped taut behind her, juddering and sending vibrations through her arms as she leaned forwards and pulled with all her strength.

"Gggghhhgggnn…" she snarled, thrashing her body from side to side like a fish stranded on a riverbank, grinding her teeth and her eyes blazing as she flexed her fingers madly, trying to narrow her hands as if hoping her wrists would somehow slide out through the cuffs, but that certainly wasn't happening - they were clamped too tightly around her. "You… little… get… off…" she grunted, pulling on them spasmodically, as if hoping she could alternatively yank the chains right out of the wall. But as every muscle in her body strained against the metal it quickly became clear that she'd end up pulling her arms out of her sockets before breaking free like this.

Eventually she fell back, panting for breath and her body shining with sweat. "Damn it… if I just had my cards," she growled. But of course they had been confiscated along with her bag… and the bottles of alcohol she kept inside it. Like Lucy she used a Holder-type magic, and like Lucy if she was separated from the objects she required to use her main magic, there really wasn't much else in her arsenal she could turn to instead.

But as her fingers wandered over the manacles, searching for any sign of a weakness or a flaw she could utilise, a distant scream rent the air from beyond the tiny barred window in the door. A heart-rending, anguished scream of despair that Cana recognised instantly.

"ERZA!?" she shouted, thrusting forwards to yank at the chains all over again in a bid to reach the door and try to see through the window, but the chains kept her at least two feet away from it. "ERZA, CAN YOU HEAR ME!? ERZA!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" was the only response, long and echoing. Cana could tell that it was coming from quite a distance away, so if she could hear it with such clarity… just how loudly was Erza screaming?

"DAMN YOU!" she roared at whoever her jailers were. "GIVE ME BACK MY FRIEND! WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING TO HER, STOP IT!"

"They won't stop!" a sneering voice filtered faintly through the glass. "The Dementors don't ever stop. You're in Azkaban now, little Princess. What were you expecting it to be like - picnics in the park and sunny beaches?"

"Azkaban? What the hell is an Azkaban?"

"You don't know?" the voice cackled. "Who the hell doesn't know about…? Unless…? Oh, now this is interesting. Are you one of those Fairy Tail mages we've been hearing so much about recently?"

"Why don't you tell me who you are first?" Cana shouted, flinching as more of Erza's screams rose up in the distance.

"Why I'm your new next door neighbour of course! My name is Bellatrix Lestrange, the most devout follower of the Dark Lord that the world has ever seen!"

"Well I'm Cana. And yeah, I'm one of those Fairy Tail mages. So what? Why the hell did they lock me up in this… Azka-thingie. What the hell did I do to deserve this?"

"Oh we've been hearing all kinds of things about you lot," Bellatrix snickered. "How you're a menace to society and all that. Some even say that you lot are trying to become the next Death Eaters. As if you could ever replace us, especially with a ridiculous name like Fairy Tail. How in any world is that supposed to be intimidating?"

"It's not meant to be intimidating at all! And we're not twisted, delusional gits like you obviously are."

"Well don't you know how to make an impression. But they must think you're dangerous if you've been locked up in chains in the high security section like me so I suppose that's something."

"Who care about that!? What are they doing to my friend?"

"Why they're feeding off her of course. Dementors enjoy seeing people in torment so they suck all the happy memories out of people. Your new friends obviously been through hell and back if they're paying this much attention to her. They're all probably gathering around her cell just to enjoy feeling her pain, otherwise they'd be patrolling past our corridors and we wouldn't be in such a lucid state to talk to each other."

"THOSE %&amp;&amp;&amp;! THOSE **$&amp;££ &amp;^!" Cana raged. "LET ERZA GO, YOU MONSTERS! LET US BOTH GO!"

"As I suspected," Bellatrix snorted. "You're far too soppy to be dark mages. Those morons at the Ministry are completely wrong about you. They're terrified of their own shadows these days, I hear. And rightly so. The Dark Lord will rise again and when he does the Ministry will crumble around him. And he'll make sure you Fairy Tail mages are either sent back to your own world or six feet beneath the ground."

Cana didn't respond. Bellatrix continued to rant about the wonder and glory that was the Dark Lord in the background, but she was no longer listening - her mind solely focused on Erza's horrendous screams. From what she knew, Erza had indeed been through hell and back. And now… locked up in this prison… she might as well be right back in the Tower of Heaven as a slave once more.

"We've gotta get out of here," she muttered to herself, going back to feeling the chains in a bid to find a weak link within them anywhere. "And what the hell happened to Sirius?"

* * *

"You can't be serious, Dumbledore," Fudge said incredulously, staring at the Headmaster of Hogwarts standing before his desk like he had finally gone stark raving mad!

"I am very serious, Minister," Dumbledore replied politely. "I tried to talk him out of it myself but I am rather afraid he is insisting. And you know as well as I that it is well within his right considering the… personal nature of this case."

"Be that is it may… its just not done, Dumbledore! We can't just allow an underage Hogwarts student to skip his lessons for the day to come and witness an execution. Especially not one who… who… seems to be making a clamour for attention everywhere he goes with all his balderdash about You-Know-Who returning."

"Mr. Potter saw the news article this morning and came straight to me," Dumbledore explained calmly for the third time. "He was very insistent, and while I could order him to return to class I would rather not. He would not be able to focus on his studies today anyway I fear. Sirius Black has caused him so much personal grievance throughout his life… he wishes to see justice done."

"Does he now? And may I remind you, Dumbledore, how he was insisting yet more rubbish less than two years ago, proclaiming that Mr. Black was in reality an innocent man?"

"You know as well as I he was Confunded into thinking so at the time. Mr. Potter himself knows that now too, and that is yet another list of reasons why he wishes to be present when the Dementor's Kiss is initiated. That, along with the fact Mr. Black told Lord Voldemort where his parents were and killed one of his family's best friends and supposedly broke into Hogwarts in an effort to kill him more than once last year… gives him a fairly large repertoire of reasons."

"But… but I cannot just…"

"I am aware that you think of Harry as little more than a troublesome child seeking the spotlight, but put yourself in his shoes Minister. If all of that had happened to you, would you not want to see the perpetrator pay his dues?"

Cornelius pursed and shifted his mouth seemingly at random, a good long pause stretching out through the office as he twiddled his bowler hat in indecision.

"If I were allow him to witness the execution," Fudge said. "Would he finally pack all this… mad rambling about You-Know-Who's return… to rest?"

"That is something that I cannot answer. Only Mr. Potter himself can give one to that question."

Fudge sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment before saying, "Oh very well then… very well. Have him in the Duelling Chamber of the Auror office by noon. That's where the execution is scheduled to take place."

"Much obliged, Cornelius," Dumbledore bowed his head. "You are making the right decision."

"I had better be," Fudge declared. "If Harry makes another scene at this execution…"

"I assure you that Harry will be perfectly well behaved," Dumbledore replied as he left the room without another word.

* * *

"So we're sure about this?" Harry asked. "We definitely think its going to work?"

"It's better than anything else we currently have planned," said Mr. Weasley, who was in the process of exporting him towards the phone booth that made up the visitor's centre just like he had several months ago when he had been called in for his disciplinary hearing. "And don't worry Harry. You can trust the Fairy Tail mages to play their part. I know you don't exactly know them very well and to be honest, neither do I. There's still a lot of things about them that completely mystify me. But then again, you could say the same about Muggles," he chuckled, before his face quickly turned more serious. "But if anyone can help us get your godfather out of the heart of the Ministry, it would be them."

Harry grimaced but nodded. He hated walked slowly like this. He wanted to charge straight into the Ministry, cursing anyone that got in his way and break Sirius out by any means necessary. He knew Fairy Tail had done something like that before already.

But things were different now - security had been greatly tightened to try and keep them from getting back in. And even if they did, the only thing that they would accomplish would be spreading even more fear of them through the populace.

This time… they were going to have to be more subtle. Which was a word that Harry was coming to understand didn't really apply to the vast majority of them.

Still…

…could they really pull this off?

Well there was no going back now at any rate. He clambered into the booth and watched Mr. Weasley dial in a totally different set of numbers to last time. He had been told that this telephone booth had been the way that Fairy Tail had got in before, with Gajeel tearing it to shreds before they descended down into the atrium below. Naturally the Ministry had worked overtime to re-install the entrance, but they had added a ton of extra security measures down beneath it.

And when Harry got down to the bottom, his eyes widened slightly.

The Atrium was even busier than the last time he'd been down here, but with more than just the usual hustle and bustle of wizards and witches going about there day. Now there were checkpoints set up at literally every entrance, including every one of the various Floo fireplaces lining the walls and of course, right in front of the gate of the descending booth. Each one was heavily fortified by multiple Aurors or and various people from other security departments.

But that wasn't all. There were also the huge, hulking forms of at least ten security trolls, even bigger than the ones that had been called into Hogwarts to guard the portrait of the Fat Lady during his third year. They lounged around, fingering their clubs or picking their noses while every human gave them at least a ten foot radius to keep not only out of their reach but also in a futile effort to avoid the bad smell.

"Well, at least there are no Dementors," Harry murmured.

"Ah, but there are," said Arthur, pointing vaguely at a man Harry could barely see at the far side of the room, sitting on a chair next to a big lever in the wall. "If he pulls that lever then holes will open in the ceiling to allow several Dementors to come rushing in."

"Right… so priority one is avoiding that guy," Harry murmured.

"Exactly," Mr. Weasley nodded, before the lift came to a stop and they stepped out and up to the desk. "Ah, evening Jones," he addressed the wizard sitting at it brightly. "You've got the easy desk have you?"

"The dangerous desk they call it," the balding man sitting at it shivered. "Nobody wants to sit at this one because this is where those… Fairy Tail mages… came through last time," he shivered fearfully. "Can you imagine if they came through here now? I wouldn't stand a chance."

"Oh, I'm sure there's little reason for you to worry about them," Arthur waved his hand nonchalantly. "If they've heard the news that some of them have been captured they might want to lay low for a while I expect. Anyway, here's my wand as per."

"Thanks," Jones nodded, turning over the wand, inspecting it and conjuring up what looked like records to make sure that it was definitely the wand that belonged to Arthur Weasley. He then went through a great series of checks, including a magical breath analyser that was designed to test whether someone was using Polyjuice Potion and he used a Probity Probe to make sure he wasn't carrying any other dangerous magical artefacts. He then proceeded to do the exact same thing with Harry.

"Well, you're clean," Jones nodded with visible relief. "You can head through."

"Thank you very much," Mr. Weasley nodded, wrapping his arm around Harry's shoulders to guide him through the checkpoint. They hurried quickly across the Atrium in the direction of the Auror office and just as they were reaching it, they almost ran slap-bang into Kingsley as they emerged from the other side.

"Ah, hello Arthur," Kingsley said just in case anyone was listening. "Pleasant day for an execution, isn't it?"

"No day is a pleasant day for an execution," Mr. Weasley said grimly. "But congratulations on finally capturing him."

"I'm just glad that the manhunt is over," Kingsley shrugged. "But I see you've brought Harry Potter… if you head through there then Scrimgeour will sort you out."

"Of course," Arthur said, guiding Harry through the door. Kingsley watched them go for a moment before hurrying off, making his way towards the Floo fireplaces on the other side of the fountain. While the security checked everyone coming in, they weren't quite so concerned about people going out. He made it through with no fuss and once he was outside, he quickly Apparated to the alleyway of the visitor's entrance.

"Are you guys there?" Kingsley whispered into the shadows.

"Yeah, we're here," a voice said, and suddenly a blond head of hair poked its way out of nothingness. Lucy offered them an anxious smile and said, "Did they get in?"

"They seem to have had no problems," Kingsley confirmed.

"About time you two got here," said another voice as Evergreen pushed up the edge of Harry's Invisibility Cloak, both the Fairy Tail girls wearing traditional Auror robes rather than their usual outfits. "It's pretty cramped under there when you've got three full-sized people under here. Especially when two of them have chests as big as ours."

"I shall try very hard not to take offence to that," Tonks muttered as she pushed herself out the rest of the way. "Though I could have a rack like either of yours if I so wanted. I just don't. Anyway… are we all set to go then?"

"Indeed," Kingsley said. "Do you have your potions?"

"Right here," Lucy nodded as she and Evergreen produced two little flasks from their pockets. "But… do we really have to drink something with hair in it? I mean I want to help but isn't there another way that's less… gross?"

"Not unless you're a Metamorphmagus like me," Tonks said cheerfully. "Or you can do this Transformation Magic I've heard about which neither of you can. Come on then, let's get this show on the road."

"Alright," Lucy nodded.

"Down the hatch," Evergreen appeared no less enthused, but the two of them were quick to drain the bottles. Instantly they gagged and choked, looking like they were about to be physically ill as they forced themselves to swallow. "Ugh!" the Fairy Mage cried. "That was like… like…" she blinked at she felt her skin beginning to crawl and shift, her body beginning to grow and her skin beginning to change colour. All the hair on her head shrivelled away into nothingness and in the space of about ten seconds she was Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Well it's good to know even a piece of arm hair will work in a Polyjuice Potion," Kingsley said wryly as he stared at his duplicate, before glancing across at Lucy who had morphed into Tonks. But her hair was brown instead of pink. Polyjuice Potion did not give the user the abilities of those they turned into after all so Lucy had Tonks' natural hair colour instead, until a quick flick of Kingsley's wand changed that and she had hair even pinker than Natsu's.

"Whoa… this is surreal…" Lucy whispered as she looked over herself. "I wonder if this is anyway comparable to how Mirajane felt when she turned into me that time."

"Well, Mira's used to turning into other people. She gets a kick out of teasing people with it," Evergreen replied.

"Well, are you ready to go?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah… I think so," Lucy nodded, stashing the cloak in her robes. "We'll do everything we can to save Sirius. And in return… please… rescue Erza and Cana for us."

"We will not come back without them," Kingsley assured them, before both he and Tonks vanished with a CRACK! The two Fairy Tail girls were left alone in the street, disguised as other people and prepping themselves for what was to come.

"We better get moving then," Evergreen said.

"Yeah… is this at all weird for you?" Lucy asked. "You and me… partnered together?"

"Oh its extremely weird, especially when we look like this - I still think its unfair how a simple coin toss ended up with me being disguised as the man. But hey, we've got a job to do. So let's overcome the weirdness and just do it."

"Right," Lucy nodded, lifting up one of her keys from within her Auror robes. "Open, Gate of the Twins… Gemini!"

POOF!

"Piri piri!" the two floating Spirits said automatically as they appeared out of the cloud of pink smoke that billowed into existence before them, waving their stubby limbs erratically. They looked like weird floating bobbleheads… or perhaps embryos with abnormally round heads.

"That's quite odd, seeing our owner as the one in disguise for a change," Gemi noted.

"If we couldn't sense our link to you we would not recognise you," Mini agreed.

"Good, that's what we're going for. You remember the plan?"

"Yep," the Twins chorused, floating up together and touching stubby arms until with another POOF of smoke they took on a brand new shape. Suddenly Remus Lupin was standing in the alleyway as well, the Twins having acquired his form that morning for this very mission.

"Let's get on with it," said Gemini-Lupin, and all three of them filed into the booth together. Evergreen punched in the Code they'd been taught and they waited with bated breath as they descended. Neither of them had been into the Ministry before and while the sight of the atrium impressed them, they had to make a conscious effort not to fidget about.

"Oh, hello Auror Shacklebolt. Auror Tonks," Jones said as they entered. "It's not like you to go through this entrance."

"Um… yes, good morning," Evergreen coughed, Kingsley's rich voice flowing from her mouth sounded so weird to her. "We're just here… escorting Mr. Lupin here to witness… Black's execution. He's a former friend of Black's and was granted permission to be present."

"Not an easy decision to make," Gemini-Lupin shook his head sadly, heaving a great sigh just as Lupin would do. "But… I feel I owe it to my other old friends, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, to see this through. Now, I need to give you my wand, yes?"

"Indeed, and then just a few other checks," Jones nodded. Gemini produced the wand - they could recreate a person in every way, including any items they had on their person at the time, so even though this was not Lupin's wand, it was more than enough to fool Jones.

But Evergreen and Lucy knew that they too would be asked to go through the checks even if they were disguised as Aurors. And if they happened, they would be found out. And they could practically feel the eyes of the nearby Aurors watching them carefully as they watched everyone.

"Well, everything seems to be in order," Jones said as he handed Gemini-Lupin back their wand. But before he could do anything else, one of the security trolls bellowed and surged forwards, hopping about on one leg almost comically and flailing is club around so wildly that it almost slammed the golden wizard statue in the fountain over. Instantly witches and wizards scattered and other security converged on the troll to get it back under control.

And… just as everyone was distracted by the sudden ruckus…

"Confundus," Gemini-Lupin said quietly, flicking their wand at Jones. It had an immediate effect - Jones' eyes glazing over for a moment before they refocused and he looked oddly confused as he turned back to Evergreen and Lucy.

"Um… your wands please…"

"But you've already checked us," Lucy said, crossing her fingers behind her back that it would work.

Jones blinked several times before murmuring, "Oh yeah… yeah, I have checked you. Okay then… go straight through."

Evergreen and Lucy breathed a sigh of relief and hurried past the desk, falling in step on either side of Gemini-Lupin. As they walked across the atrium, the troll was being guided back to its post and a small man in a mauve top hat was apologising profusely to one of the Aurors.

"I'm so sorry, I just… I just tripped over my own shoelaces. I really should learn the spell to tie them properly or at least learn to do them on my own but it's just so fiddly and difficult you know? And before I knew it I was falling and the cauldron was flying out of control… don't worry though, that potion was harmless, or at least its effects are when applied to the skin, it was just very hot is all. I do hope the troll recovers…"

Evergreen and Lucy quickly looked away from the man but couldn't really hold back smirks of amusement. Neither knew this Dedalus Diggle guy well, but he'd provided his planned distraction right on time. So far, the plan was working.

"Okay," Lucy said under her breath. "Tonks said that the Auror office was on the second floor. Let's get there quickly."

* * *

Harry shifted about slightly in the chair he'd been in for the past ten minutes. He just couldn't keep still, anxiously awaiting for something to happen and expecting at any minute to hear the blaring alarms from the Atrium signalling they'd got intruders.

But it never came and he blinked when he saw Remus, Tonks and Kingsley all walking in at last. If he hadn't known Lupin wasn't going to be coming anywhere near the Ministry today he would have thought they were all the real articles.

"Ah, Shacklebolt," the gruff voice of Scrimgeour said. "I see you've brought in Mr. Lupin as requested."

"Er…" 'Kingsley' floundered but Gemini-Lupin quickly came to the rescue.

"Yes… I… I am sorry to be an inconvenience, Mr. Scrimgeour. To be honest, I am really not sure whether I should even be here. Sirius Black was once a trusted friend of mine and… well, let's just say that once he's gone, I'll be the only one of my circle of school friends remaining."

"I see… I can't imagine how hard this must be for you," Scrimgeour's lips tightened over his teeth awkwardly. "But… if I'm honest with you, Mr. Lupin… if you've never seen a Dementor's Kiss then you might want to turn around now. It's an experience I'd rather never see again, not even on my most hated enemy. Let alone an old friend."

"But… but I feel I should… stay…" Gemini-Lupin murmured.

"If you want to stay, you can stay. Just note… I won't be cleaning up your vomit."

Gemini-Lupin seemed to think hard for several moments before sighing and running his fingers over his eyes. "I think… this may have been a mistake," he said, his face creasing into a rictus of grief and pain that looked extremely convincing - no doubt Gemini was pulling real memories from Lupin's head to add to the effect. "…Yes…. yes, I've changed my mind. I would rather not witness this after all… and try to preserve the memories of who Sirius used to be rather than what… he became. Or will become."

"Don't worry, I'll escort you out," Lucy-Tonks placed a hand on their shoulder kindly.

"I'm sorry I wasted your time," Gemini-Lupin murmured as they allowed Lucy to guide them slowly out of the room. Scrimgeour watched them go before turning to Harry.

"What about you, Potter? Are you still sure you want to see this? It's not going to be pretty."

"I'm sure," Harry nodded resolutely. "This man… betrayed my parents. He's the reason they were killed by Voldemort. I think I owe it to them to see it through."

"Very well, but I hope it doesn't give you nightmares," the Head of the Auror Office replied before turning and walking away.

"No more than I already have you mean," Harry muttered.

* * *

As soon as Gemini-Lupin and Lucy-Tonks found a secluded area they ducked into it and with another poof of smoke, Gemini dissolved back into their usual form.

"Thanks guys," Lucy said as she pulled Harry's Invisibility Cloak back out from her robes and prepared to don it. "You were great."

"You need to rescue that man," Gemi said earnestly.

"He's a really good person from what we've seen," Mini agreed, referring to the many memories that Lupin had hidden away in his mind.

"We're on it," Lucy nodded firmly as the Cloak pooled around her body and she vanished from sight, as did Gemini because with a final POOF they returned to the Spirit World. Sucking in a deep breath, Lucy stole out of the room and crept her way back towards the Auror Office. She weaved quickly in and out of bypassing personnel, reflecting that there were so many times she could think of where Invisibility would have been a massively useful thing to have, particularly when they'd tried to infiltrate the Tower of Heaven or the castle in Edolas.

But she managed to sneak her way back without incident and when she did, she tapped Kingsley-Evergreen on the shoulder. Evergreen immediately responded by rubbing her arm - the designated signal that let Harry and Mr. Weasley know that Lucy had returned.

Now was the time to put the final stage of their plan into motion.

* * *

As the clock crept up to five minutes to noon, Scrimgeour entered the room where they were keeping Sirius. He was sitting in a chair with golden chains keeping his arms pinned down, staring levelly at the two Aurors who had been interrogating him for the past hour.

"Have you been able to get him to talk?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Oh he's been talking plenty," said one of the Aurors. "But it seems pretty clear to me that none of what he's been saying makes any sense. He keeps trying to convince us he's innocent of murdering all those people."

"Perhaps if I had had a proper trial back when I was initially arrested all those years ago, you wouldn't be in this situation right now," Sirius replied calmly. "I'm telling you, the one responsible for killing all those Muggles was Peter Pettigrew, not me."

"The same Peter Pettigrew that blew up?" Scrimgeour asked with a raised brow. "What… was he a suicide bomber?"

"No, he is still alive. He's an unregistered Animagus. He cut off his own finger and transformed into a rat to escape. It was a stroke of cunning I never expected from him but I am telling you I was framed. And no matter how much you don't believe me, I'm not going to change my story."

"See?" the second Auror shook his head. "There's no way we'd believe a story like that, Black. But that's not even why we're here. Tell us about your association with Fairy Tail. What are they planning to do?"

"I only met those two girls that evening. But they didn't seem like terrorists to me. They just seemed polite, sincere and confused at what had happened to them. I don't know anything about Fairy Tail's goals, but I imagine their biggest one is simply finding a way to get home."

Scrimgeour's brow deepened slightly, and just as the Aurors were about to restart interrogating him, he suddenly said, "That's enough. Leave. I want to talk to Mr. Black alone."

The other two didn't protest and hurriedly left the room, allowing Scrimgeour to walk over to the table in front of Sirius' chair and lean himself against it. "You know Mr. Black… I like to think of myself as pretty intuitive. And I believe that you know more about Fairy Tail than you're letting on."

"What do you know about Fairy Tail?" Sirius asked with a smirk. "What do you think of them, Scrimgeour? I don't you very well except by reputation, but I've always heard you were a pretty fair man in the grand scheme of things. And I've been reading about the Aurors' numerous altercations with Fairy Tail mages… do you believe the hype? Are you one of the thousands who are quaking in their boots and believe them to be alien invaders bent on taking over? Because I can tell you, Scrimgeour, those two girls you've sent to Azkaban are far from deserving of such a fate. They were two of the kindest people I've ever had the fortune of meeting."

"…In all honesty, Mr. Black," Scrimgeour said after a moment of silent analysis. "I'm not sure what I believe. I'm getting some very mixed messages here. I agree their personality does not match those of a terrorist but then I see them associating with mass murderers like you. They leave destruction wherever they go and yet when their presence is confirmed their underlying objective doesn't seem so nefarious. And yet we've got a town that's been entirely destroyed in a manner that seems like it could have been done by them and no real evidence to prove it."

"And I don't believe they were responsible for it," Sirius said. "It just doesn't seem like the kind of that people those girls would associate with would do."

Scrimgeour wrinkled his nose. "I see…" he said. "It's unfortunate that the word of a convicted mass murderer will not carry more weight or we would pursue this further. But now… I'm afraid the time has come."

"Ah yes, the long-awaited kiss of a Dementor," Sirius muttered as Scrimgeour summoned the other two Aurors back into the room and they began to unchain him from the chair and re-secured his hands behind his back. "I've been eagerly awaiting this moment to come for years."

But his humour was stretched thin by his white face and the look of pure terror in his eyes as the Aurors took hold of his arms to hold him firmly still.

"There's really not much I can do to put off your sentence, much as I would like to," Scrimgeour replied. "Now… let's get moving."

"You'll regret this, Scrimgeour," Sirius said as he was marched past the Head of the Auror Office. "One day you'll learn that you sentence an innocent man to having his soul removed! And I hope for your sake that the Ministry will realise the truth about Fairy Tail before you have one of their souls removed."

Scrimgeour stood alone for a moment after Sirius had left. He was so confused now. One the one hand, he believed Sirius was a mass murderer and whoever had attacked Chagford was one too - just the kind of person Black should be associating with. But Black was defending Fairy Tail and his expressed view on them seemed to match Scrimgeour's. It honestly made no sense to him at all.

Which one was the truth?

"I really hope he's wrong," he muttered as he moved to follow him to the execution room. "I really hope that we will not end up regretting this."

* * *

Voldemort inhaled deeply as he stepped around the prone forms of the Fairy Tail mages before him. He had been expecting them to emerge from the Sphere for some time now but now that he saw them… he was mildly surprised. He hadn't seen any images of them thus far, but he'd assumed that they would look a little different. Not quite human like himself perhaps. But now that he saw these two… they looked pretty normal to him. Granted it was unusual for people their age to have such white hair but in every other aspect they appeared to be two, young, ordinary people.

But that certainly didn't fool him. He could feel the magical potential within them - he could tell that they both had considerable strength.

And considering the stories that he had heard of how one of their comrades had managed to stop an avalanche by himself… he was not about to underestimate them.

"Which one do you think is the more powerful?" asked a particularly large Death Eater with blond hair - after hearing the news that one of the Spheres had lowered, a great many of his forces that had not gone off on their own mission with Lucius Malfoy had gathered in the room to take a look. "I'm betting on the guy. Look at those muscles he's got. He's got to be a stronger one."

"Oh you think so, do you, Thorfinn Rowle?" Voldemort suddenly turned to look up at him. "You believe that musclepower determines the strength of someone's magic? Well then, perhaps you should be the Dark Lord in place of I, for clearly you are stronger than me. Is that correct?"

Rowle instantly went as white as the hair of the mages, pressing himself back against the wall and shaking his head vehemently. "No… no, of course not! I apologise, my Lord, I just…"

"Crucio!" Voldemort hissed remorselessly and instantly Rowle twisted around to land on his back on the floor, almost bowling over two other Death Eaters as he screamed and thrashed like ten-thousand volts of electricity were passing through his body. The other Death Eaters stared with wide eyes, each one trying to make themselves as small as possible under Voldemort's sneering stare until he finally relented, allowing Rowle to heave for breath and lie prone as he tried to recover from the insidious torture.

"We are not Muggles. We are not so crude and primitive as to decide who is strongest by how many pounds they can lift with their arms. You would do well to remember that… GET UP!" he suddenly snapped, and Rowle was back on his feet as if he'd been fired from a catapult.

"As it happens, I am sensing a greater aptitude for magic coming from the woman," Voldemort said as he stepped around them once more. He flicked his wand and suddenly the unconscious Mirajane rose off the floor, delicately hovering with her legs and arms obeying gravity to hang down beneath her like a puppet who's strings had been cut.

"I will be having a little talk with her," Voldemort said as he swept out of the room, Mirajane's body floating along behind him and the Death Eaters parting like the sea before Moses to let them through. "Prep the male as instructed, but do not let him wake up until I give the word! If he does then I'll be holding you personally responsible, Rowle!"

"Yes, my Lord," Rowle gasped as the Death Eaters scurried to obey.

* * *

When Mirajane woke up, she did so quite quickly. Her lolling head lifted its way to an upright position and almost lolled straight back down again before she caught herself and looked up, her eyes opening wide and struggling to focus on whatever it was that lay before her.

"Mmmghhh…" she muttered, blinking a couple of times to try and adjust her sight to the dim lighting…

…and then she realised that there was an enormous snake's face inches away from her nose, a forked tongue slipping out and dancing up and down to almost lick her as the serpent inspected her like a piece of meat.

"WHAT…!?" Mirajane started, jerking backwards before her arms were met with resistance. She gasped - her arms were stretched up and out to either side of her, a rope around each of wrists securing her between two pillars! Her ankles were unbound but it took a mere few tugs on her arms to know that with the strength of an ordinary human she wouldn't be going anywhere.

Fortunately her sudden movement seemed to have startled the snake too, for it jerked backwards and away from her. It appeared to be mostly coiled around a thick ceiling beam but after hissing at her indignantly it unravelled itself enough to lower itself to the floor, most of its body falling with a heavy thump but leaving it looking no worse for wear as it slithered across the room away from her. And towards the man who was standing across from her with an amused smile on his face…

His distinctly inhuman face.

Straight away at the sight of him, Mirajane's senses began tingling a warning at her. For a moment she thought he might be a demon, but it didn't take long for her magic to assure her that that was not the case. This guy was human, but he looked to be the closest a human could come to resembling a demon without transforming into one, thanks to his greyish skin, red eyes and distinctive lack of a proper nose. The slitted nostrils running down the middle of his face were just plain creepy.

"Where am I?" Mirajane said, pulling on the ropes warily and gripping them with her hands. "Who are you? And… where… Elfman? Lisanna? Where are my friends? What happened to Acnologia?"

"All good questions, I'm sure," Voldemort said as he strode towards her, closing the gap between them by half. "But not all ones that I can answer I'm afraid. What might your name be, my lady?"

Mirajane grunted as she tried to step away from him, the ropes pulling her up short again. She was pretty sure she could break out of them any time she wanted but only if she transformed into her Satan Soul form. But for the moment she wanted to hold off on doing that. At least until she had some answers.

Obviously she didn't trust the man, but not because of the way he looked. She knew from experience that judging people based on the way they looked was unfair and cruel - the people of her village had judged her the first time she'd used Take-Over on a demon by accident. It wasn't even because he'd tied her up, there were several potentially unmalicious reasons why someone would do that.

But Mirajane counted herself as a pretty good judge of character… and this man… he reeked of evil.

"My name's… Mirajane Strauss…" she replied slowly. "Who are you?"

"Oh… most people do not wish to call me by my name," the Dark Wizard replied with a smile that sent chills down Mirajane's spine. "But I do not condemn those who do. If you wish to know my name then I shall tell you… I am Lord Voldemort. But from this day henceforth, you will address me as 'My Lord.'"

"Will I now?" Mirajane raised a brow. "Forgive me for saying so your Lordship, but you're certainly not my Lord."

"But I am," Voldemort smirked. "The time will come when I am Lord over all that I survey. I am the most powerful wizard in this world, which makes that my right, and even offworlders like you should bow before me."

"Offworlders?" Mira frowned. "What do you mean?"

Voldemort offered her a knowing sneer as the snake raised its head up to allow him to run his fingers over the scales of its head. "Correct me if I am wrong," he said. "But the last thing that you remember before you awoke in this room is standing in a circle with your fellow mages and waiting for a gigantic black dragon to rain death upon you all with its breath attack."

Mirajane's eyes widened and Voldemort's sneer widened with it. He'd been told as such by Lucius, who had been present at the interrogation of Levy McGarden by the Ministry.

"Well… I'm afraid, my dear, that you've fallen into a different universe. But I can tell you that all of your comrades, as far as I know are alive and well," Voldemort said, to which Mira's immediate reaction was to slump slightly in her bonds, an expression of pure relief welling up over her face as she gripped the ropes just to hold herself up. "But… whether that stays the case after today is entirely dependent on you."

"…Eh?" Mira's eyes snapped open, a suddenly dangerous look flashing in them but Voldemort had already pointed his wand at her before she could react and said, "Imperio!"

Mira blinked and suddenly… every muscle in her body became totally relaxed… all the tension easing out of them like water trickling down a pipe until she was just standing there with her arms held out and a semi-glazed look in her eye. She felt… unburdened… as if nothing really mattered at that moment in the whole world. There was nothing to worry about or fear… there was nothing that she particularly needed to do… she had absolutely no problems at all.

"From this day forward, I am your new Master. You will call me 'My Lord,'" Voldemort repeated emphatically at the vaguely smiling Mira. "Just do it. Call me 'My Lord.'"

Yes… that made sense, Mira thought. It made absolute perfect sense that she should be this man's servant. Why would she ever question it?

… No wait… hold on. She already had a Master. Yes, it was a different context but there was only one person that she would ever refer to as Master and that was whoever was in charge of Fairy Tail. Master Makarov. He was her leader, not this man.

"Just call 'My Lord.' Do it, it won't hurt you. Be a good girl and submit yourself into my service."

Sure, why not? No… Yes… No, this wasn't right. This man was evil and she would never consent to serving an evil man…

"All you have to do is say it…"

He made such strong arguments… no he didn't he was just insisting… and hadn't he made a threat against her comrades… but what did that matter really if they were going to serve him to… NO! There was nothing more important to her than her friends, and most especially her brother and sister. What would they think if they saw her calling someone so obviously vile her Master…?

"Are you going to submit? Are you going to become one of my followers?"

"…Sorry…" Mirajane snapped as her clarity returned with a snap, her eyes re-focusing as she concentrated her magic, an almost feral smile appearing on her face. "But I can't accept being taken over. After all, I'm the one who Takes Over demons like yourself."

She flashed yellow and in an instant she had transformed. The ropes around her wrists shredded into pieces as her wrists bulked out, becoming scaly as her lower arms sprouted fin-like projections and her hands reformed into long claws that slashed through her bonds. Her tattered dress was replaced by a tight, dark red one-piece that revealed her back, belly and cleavage with a high-spiked collar that was tied together before her with a pink cravat and her legs were suddenly garbed in red thigh-high high-heeled boots with black markings that looked like jagged blades at the top. Her hair became much longer and wilder, and flowed out above her as if it no longer obeyed gravity, the short front-ponytail elongating greatly. Her ears became large and pointed, and black zig-zag markings appeared over her legs and the right hand side of her face, running over the top of her eye. Not to mention the huge scaly dark tail that sprouted out behind her, waving ominously.

"Begone!" Mirajane Satan Soul growled, her black wings shooting out of her back as she blasted in towards Voldemort like a human-sized bullet.

"Impressive," Voldemort said even as he seized the snake and span around to vanish with a CRACK that left Mirajane punching empty air. He re-appeared at the other side of the room but suddenly Mira was already in front of him again, her eyes wild as her fist powered towards where his nose was supposed to be.

Voldemort was momentarily surprised at her speed but he still reacted instantly and vanished a second time, causing Mira to slam her scaly fist right through the wall… which then exploded inwards right at her as Voldemort hit it with a Blasting Hex from the other side. Mira was flung backwards onto her back and bombarded with rubble, but she battered some of it aside with her tail and flipped back onto her feet, just in time to see a flaming whip come cracking towards her from out the tip of Voldemort's wand. It curled around her wrists and slammed them together in front of her, Voldemort heaving her off the ground and sending her crashing straight into another wall.

But even as she hit it she tore her hands free with brute strength and seized the whip to heave on it and drag Voldemort forwards. He almost fell over and was able to dispel the whip before he lost his balance but Mirajane had already dropped to the ground and kicked a desk into the air, seizing it by one leg and throwing it at Voldemort. With a lash of his wand he stopped it in its tracks a mere second before Mira exploded her way straight through it to take another swipe at him. This time he was ready with a Shield Charm but her fist still slammed its way straight through it to halt inches before his face.

"Very impressive indeed," Voldemort cackled, Disapparating again and slashing his wand to generate several steel blades that went spinning through the air towards her like enormous boomerangs. Mira sprang forward in response to slam several of them aside with her tail and seize two more in claws, which promptly turned into a pair of live boa constrictors that lunged for her and began wrapping around her, trying to pin her arms to her sides with their powerful coils.

**"EVIL SPARK!"** Mirajane roared, her body flaring with electricity that made the boas hiss and fall away, vanishing into smoke before they could hit the floor. Mirajane flung herself forwards again but Voldemort stabbed his wand out sideways to uproot one of the pillars that Mirajane had been tied to and sending it crashing into her from the side, only for Mirajane to seize in in her arms and spin around with it in her grip, coming straight back at him to use it as a giant club and smash it down on the spot he'd been standing in moments before he Disapparated again with enough force to shatter the pillar into pieces and punch a hold straight through the wooden floor.

As Voldemort appeared in the corner again, he smirked as Mirajane whirled around to face him with claws and wings splayed, ready for more. "Clearly you are a tough adversary. Had I been most anyone else you would have crushed me by now," he said. "But I am not most anyone else. I am Lord Voldemort."

"That means nothing to me," Mira replied harshly. "I still don't fully understand what's happening but I understand enough to know that you need to be dealt with."

"Perhaps. But it shall not be by you. For you are going to become my servant, as I said."

"Your little hypnosis trick failed. Was that not enough to make you give up?"

"There is very little that can, my dear," Voldemort replied with a confident smirk. He swished his wand so that a large mirror suddenly appeared on the wall next to Mirajane. "And there's something that I think you should see."

Suddenly the reflection in the mirror changed, until it was displaying something completely different like the screen of a television. Mira stepped back, listening carefully for any movement from the dark lord as she examined the screen.

It featured another dimly lit room much like the one she was in, except larger, with numerous support pillars dotted throughout its length. It was full of people in black robes, each one wearing a mask in a way that was eerily reminiscent of the grunts of Grimoire Heart except these ones all looked like skulls.

And in the centre of the image:-

"Elfman!" Mira gasped, dashing to the mirror and staring at her brother in horror. He had been secured to one of the pillars with several chains around his bare midsection, holding him upright and pinning his arms to his sides, but his head was bowed forwards and he was quite clearly either asleep or unconscious.

"Where is he?" Mira rounded on Voldemort, his claws carving a deep line in the wall beneath the mirror as she did.

"He is safe," Voldemort smirked. "But only for as long as you choose to let him be. This mirror is connected to a second mirror and the two are displaying images of what's on the other side right now, which means that my followers in the masks on the other side can see and hear us. Watch, I will prove it. Rowle!"

"Yes, my Lord," said a masked man who could have matched Elfman himself for size.

"Awaken him as ordered!" Voldemort instructed, and Mirajane watched as he pointed a wand at Elfman and twirled it in an intricate pattern. A pulse of white light shot out and washed over Elfman, who grunted slightly, shifting against the pillar and groaning.

"Huuhhh… what happened…?" he muttered, his head raising up dully as he tried to clear the fog from his mind. "Ugggh… this is… a real manly headache…"

"Elfman!" Mira cried. "Elfman, can you hear me?"

"Nee-chan?" Elfman looked up, his eyes filling with much more clarity as he realised his situation. "What the hell is this!? Who are you people?"

"Elfman, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Mira shouted imploringly through the mirror.

"I'm fine! But… it's extremely unmanly to hold a Man captive like this!" he growled, flexing his arms in the chains. "Nee-chan, where are you? I'm going to…"

"STUN HIM!" barked Voldemort, and several of the Death Eaters yelled, "STUPEFY" all at once. Mira gasped as about five beams of red light slammed into Elfman's chest. His head lurched back to thunk hard against the pillar before he lolled forward again. Mira's clawed hands lashed up to the side of the mirror, almost breaking it as she stared in horror at what had just happened before whirling around to fix Voldemort with a death glare so powerful that it might have given some people a heart attack.

"Release him! Now!"

"I'm afraid that would be rather detrimental to me."

"If you do anything to him I swear that I'll tear you limb from limb!"

"And I won't do anything to him… if you comply with my demands," Voldemort replied. "But… if you don't…"

A jab of his wand turned a nearby vase into a parrot, which promptly squawked and flung itself into the air with a flutter of its wings. Mirajane blinked in momentary confusion, but Voldemort's motive became clear when he took aim at the parrot and yelled, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A flash of green light, a heart-rending squawk and the parrot dropped to the floor, limp as a rag doll. Mira hurried over to inspect it but she could already tell that it was dead.

"You killed it…" she whispered. "With one spell…"

"Not commonplace in your world?" Voldemort cackled. "Well, anyone from my world with enough conviction can use the Killing Curse. And I currently have over a dozen Death Eaters with their wands levelled at your brother, all ready to cast that same Curse upon him on my word."

"No!" Mira surged to her feet, her wings flared and her eyes wide. "Don't! Don't kill him!"

"They won't. Not if you behave yourself. And you should know they also have orders to do it if you either attack me or break that mirror now. You're fast, girl - you've already proven that. But I doubt that you can find him, get to where he is and take out all of my forces to save him in the space of a single second. So… are you going to submit to me?"

Mirajane glared at him, grinding her teeth so hard that she was practically blunting her fangs… before she closed her eyes in defeat. A small flash of light and she reverted out of her Satan Soul back into her usual form.

She just couldn't do it… she couldn't let her brother die… no matter what…

"What… do you want…?"

"Do as I command. Kneel before me and call me 'My Lord.'"

It felt like every muscle in Mirajane's body was trying to lock up, begging her not to go through with it. But she did it anyway, her knee thudding against the ground as she bowed her head before him and whispered just loud enough for him to hear… "Yes… my lord."

"That's better," Voldemort strode forwards until he was standing right in front of her, reaching down with his wand to slip it beneath her chin and lift her head up until they could see eye to eye. He could see the deep burning anger in her gaze and chuckled with amusement.

"As I suspected," he said. "You may bow to me now, but I know your type. The threat of your brother's death will not keep you in line forever - you will constantly be looking for ways to escape. And besides, I would rather have the both of you in my thrall rather than just you. But you've proven yourself resistant to the Imperius Curse as I also predicted. Fortunately though… there are other means to… ensure your permanent compliance."

"What means?" Mira asked, her heart pounding with pent-up rage and no small amount of fear.

To look at Voldemort's look of triumph, you'd think he'd just bested Dumbledore himself in a duel as he said:- "You… Mirajane Strauss… are going to swear your eternal service to me. You are going to make… an Unbreakable Vow."

The silence in the room that followed was broken only by the sound of the giant snake beginning to eat the dead parrot.


	35. The Godfather

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 35:- The Godfather**

* * *

Sirius knew that most people would probably have been thrashing about like mad at this point, bodily throwing themselves in every direction they could in a bid to throw their captors off and escape. And he was currently feeling an extremely strong urge to do just that. Though, considering what lay ahead, who could blame him?

Alternatively, he could just turn into a dog and bolt. But if he did, then he'd give away his only disguise and word travelled fast through the Ministry. They'd be put on high alert for a large black dog almost instantly. He'd never make it out.

Resisting would do him no good. Even if he was to somehow acquire the wands of one of the Aurors, he couldn't just Apparate out.

It seemed… there was no way out.

So he strode forwards, held in the grip of two burly Aurors but with his head held high. 'If I'm exiting the game,' he thought to himself. 'Then I'm not going to go out pleading for mercy. I'm not going to run. I'm not going to scream or beg or snarl. I'm going to face my personal end bravely… just like James did… I wish I could say I'll see your soon, buddy. But even I don't know what they do with a body after its been Kissed. Maybe there's a special ward in St. Mungos already with my name on it.'

Even so, it was a battle to stop his legs from trembling. For twelve years he'd festered under the watchful blind eyes of the Dementors and every day for those twelve years he'd lived in constant fear that they'd somehow remove his soul simply by sucking out his happy memories too hard. Or at the very least that they'd remove his sanity. And on joining the Order, he'd finally allowed himself to hope. Hope that maybe a different future might lie before him. One that didn't involve him either dying on the run from the law or facing perhaps the worst fate it was possible for any human being to face.

But perhaps… this was always going to be the way he'd go out. And if so, when they came to read his will and they realised he'd left everything to Harry Potter, maybe that at least would shock them into giving the Peter Pettigrew story a little more credibility.

Unbeknownst to him, Scrimgeour was watching his every move from a little way behind. The Ministry didn't make a habit out of subjecting people to the Kiss but he'd been present at most of the times it had happened. And he too was taking note that Black was acting very differently to most.

'We're doing the right thing…' he thought. 'We have to be doing the right thing. That Pettigrew story was the last attempt of a desperate man to get off the hook… although… he doesn't exactly look that desperate."

He shook his head violently. Even if this was the wrong thing, there was no way to stop what was about to happen now. He could only pray that they really had gotten the wrong guy.

When they emerged into the Duelling area where the execution was to take place, Sirius tried to ignore the horribly familiar wash of coldness that spread through his system like the world's fastest frostbite. There was the Dementor at the far side of the room. It was currently being held back by a Patronus in the shape of a fruit bat, beating its silvery wings back and forth as it flew in circles around the Dementor to keep it in the same spot and to try and dull its effects to the rest of the people in the room. And there were quite a few of them. Several Aurors, he noticed, but a good many of the Wizengamot were present and of course who could miss Minister himself, standing there alongside that kid of Arthur's… Percy… who was drawing himself up and trying to make himself look at important as possible.

And there was Arthur himself, not too far away, standing next to Kingsley. They watched dourly as Sirius was marched into the centre of the room and… when Sirius saw who was standing between his fellow Order members, his heart dropped into an abyss.

'No… no, no, no, no, why did they bring Harry?' he screamed in his head, sunken eyes locking onto the young man beside Arthur, the Weasley father's hand resting on his shoulder consolingly. 'He can't see this! He mustn't! He's got enough to deal with, he can't see his godfather be subjected to this!?"

Instinct drove him to resist a little at this point, trying to send messages to Kingsley and Arthur with his eyes alone to get Harry the heck out of there! But the Aurors held him securely and wrestled him forwards into the middle of the room, holding him still as Fudge cleared his throat.

"Sirius Black!" he declared. "It took us a long time to track you down, but the day of your comeuppance has finally come. You are sentenced to receive the Dementor's Kiss at precisely midday on Tuesday October 10th, under the following charges:- Mass Murder, Attempted Murder, Association with the former Dark Lord, Escape from Azkaban, Breaking and Entering Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and most recently, associating with the wanted criminals known as Fairy Tail. Do you have anything more to say before your sentence is carried out?"

Sirius grunted as he locked eyes with the Minister. "Oh, there's a lot of things I could say right now, Fudge. But none of its what you're going to want to hear. Things like, I'm telling you I didn't commit those murders. That you've got the wrong man. That I think you're probably the most incompetent Minister that this country has ever had the misfortune of electing and that we'd all be a lot better off if you were given the boot. But I don't think any of that's going to really make a difference is it?"

Fudge puffed out his chest, his ears going a little red and the majority of the rest of the room watching him a little warily.

"Very well," he coughed indignantly. "Then let us not waste another second. Cancel the Patronus!"

The flood of cold was felt by everyone in the room as the bat dissipated into thin air, and the Dementor lurched forwards almost as if it had been pressed up against an invisible wall that had suddenly vanished. Sirius tried to jump backwards himself, gasping rawly as the scabby hands of the loathsome creature began to reach out, clawing the air as it closed the distance steadily between them, tilting its head from side to side as if sniffing out its intended target.

His breathing quickened, his pulse raced, he began to sweat even despite the cold. Voices welled up inside him… saying things that he'd long tried to suppress.

He could hear himself asking, "What… what happened? Where are they? What happened to James and Lily?"

And he could hear the tearful voice of Hagrid replying, "They're dead, Sirius… You-Know-Who… 'e got through the Fidelius some'ow… I'm sorry, Sirius. They're dead!"

He gritted his teeth, the Dementor's hands now inches from him. He couldn't think about that! He mustn't! He would not go out snivelling, he would go out facing his tormentor head on!

"Well? What are you waiting for?" he hissed at the Dementor. "Do it already!"

And as he felt the Dementor's clammy hand grasping as his shirt, saw the other one rear its way backwards to pull off its hood and reveal its hideous practically mummified face and gaping hole of a mouth, he tilted his head away to look right at Harry. He knew he probably shouldn't, but he couldn't help it. His eyes met Harry's and he tried to put as many apologies, don't worry's and wordless inspirational speeches into his gaze as he possibly could right as the Dementor leaned in towards him.

Yet Harry's expression remained hard… firm… in fact, he was glaring at Sirius with an expression that of morbid satisfaction! And as the Dementor's finger clasped at its face, its rattling breath washing over Sirius' face as it leaned in… Harry pulled his glasses down his nose and fixed Sirius' gaze over the top of them…

…and they glowed yellow.

Microseconds later and the Dementor reeled backwards, screeching in what could only be described as shock! And he wasn't the only one. Both the Aurors on either side of Sirius flinched back, and the room was filled with startled cries and a even couple of screams!

Because Sirius Black had been turned to stone!

"What!? What's happening!?" Fudge cried, the Dementor hissing as it swung around the room, trying to sniff out its intended quarry and yet unable to sense his presence. "What's happened to him!"

"I don't know," cried one of the Aurors. "It just happened all of a sudden! He's just… rock!" He whipped out his wand to tap Sirius' face with no reaction at all from the petrified prisoner. "Pure stone!"

"How could this have happened?" Madame Bones called sharply. "Someone must have cast a spell! Did anyone see anyone using any magic!?"

"There was nothing, no sign!" piped up another Wizengamot member.

"It just happened."

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Fudge wheeled around, gasping as he tried to figure it out, his jaw flapping as he looked from the frozen Sirius to the people, most of which were looking either nervous and on the verge of panic or tense and searching around for action. He could put a name to every single face in the room so who could have…

It clicked.

"They're here…" he whispered, before repeating much louder, "They're here! They have to be here! There are some Fairy Tail mages within the Ministry."

"So quick to jump to conclusions," a voice rose above the ensuing din before it could get too loud and as an orb of light appeared off to Fudge's left, hovering a few feet above the ground before suddenly expanding out rapidly to take on… a much more humanoid shape. Out of thin air, a man appeared. A man with straw-coloured, slightly wild hair, two large tufts of which took the distinctive shape of cat-like ears, wearing a black suit equipped with red tie and sporting a pair of faint sunglasses on his distinctly handsome face.

"After all, its not like the Fairy Tail universe is the only other dimension out there, you know," Loke chuckled. "I'll have you know this man has caught the attention of the Celestial Spirits."

* * *

Twenty minutes ago…

Harry had excused himself to go to the bathroom and Kingsley, or rather Evergreen in disguise, had volunteered to guide him to where it was. And of course Arthur had to accompany him as his guardian so they all hurried off together, which was good because Evergreen in truth had no idea where she was going but Arthur was familiar enough with the Auror office to lead the way. Under her Invisibility Cloak, Lucy darted after them, keeping close on their heels so she wouldn't have to dodge all the passing Aurors too much.

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm entering a men's room," Evergreen muttered in Kingsley's voice as they all ducked into the room. Arthur made sure it was empty before locking the door with a quick spell, allowing Lucy to appear from beneath the Cloak, still disguised as Tonks and producing three small bottles from within her robes.

"This is going pretty well so far," she said.

"Yeah, but we have to make this quick," Arthur nodded. "We need to be in and out of this room as quickly as possible. Harry, give me one of your hairs."

Harry didn't hesitate for a second as he yanked out one of the unruly black hairs from the top of his head, passing it to Arthur who also took one of the bottles from Lucy and quickly began unscrewing the lid.

"Are we sure this going to work?" Harry asked. "If it doesn't and Sirius is kissed…"

"He won't be," Arthur said. "If we know Sirius he's not going to be able to resist looking at you in his final moments if he knows you're there. That's what we're counting on?"

"And if he doesn't? If he refuses to look?"

"We'll interrupt in another way, but don't worry, Harry," Lucy promised, passing another bottle to Evergreen. "We're not living here without your godfather and his soul will be in his body when we do."

"Is Loke in position?" Evergreen asked as she downed the liquid within the bottle and almost immediately her dark skin began to lighten and hair grew rapidly out of her head as she returned to her original shape - the potion having been an antidote for Polyjuice potion.

"I hope so…" Lucy nodded. "Even he wouldn't go out on a date with a girl when I asked him to be ready… I think…"

"You think?" Harry cried.

"He'll be there!" Lucy stated firmly, passing the final bottle to Harry as Arthur passed his to Evergreen. "Now quick, get in the stalls and we'll help you swap clothes for your transformations."

"Quite right," Evergreen said, offering Harry as smirk as she headed to one of the stalls. "Sorry to disappoint you if you were hoping to see me in my birthday suit, boy. It's not going to happen."

"I… I wasn't!" Harry blustered but hurried into his own stall. Five minutes later and the four of them were back in the office, ready for the execution to begin. Only now Harry was masquerading as Kingsley and Evergreen was Harry while Lucy was still under the cloak and Mr. Weasley was still Mr. Weasley.

All set for the execution to begin.

* * *

It had worked like a charm. The Dementor couldn't perform a Kiss upon a statue. It couldn't even sense that Sirius was still there

And Loke had taken his cue. He'd been watching what was going on around Lucy from the Spirit World (which was something he could theoretically do any time he wanted but was kept from doing so unless it was urgent by Virgo). But as Lucy had summoned him that morning to tell him the plan, he'd been ready to jump in.

He stood with his hands in his pockets, his hair wafting slightly with the slight gust of wind that had come with him from the Spirit World upon his entry, apparently unconcerned by the Aurors who quickly fanned out across the room to point their wands at him.

"Who are you?" Scrimgeour asked gruffly, stepping past the stone Sirius and joining the others.

"Just an emissary," Loke chuckled casually. "From the world of the Celestial Spirits."

"A third universe?" Fudge scoffed.

"How many different realities exist out there?" Madame Bones asked.

"Oh, far too many to count. But we from the Celestial Spirit World - we can see into many of them. We've been watching what's been going on in this one ever since Fairy Tail arrived in it. You could say… it caught our interest. And whether you choose to believe me or not… the man you were just about to effectively kill is quite innocent. He did not commit those murders you accuse him of."

"And how would you even know that?" Scrimgeour queried. "Those murders were committed long before Fairy Tail arrived. You can't have been watching him for all that time."

"We've been watching for long enough. We can see pretty far. And I can tell you now that he was telling the truth back there in that interrogation room. Peter Pettigrew is still alive."

Scrimgeour blinked, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully as he scrutinised the smirking Loke. What possible reason would a man from another universe have for coming through to defend a man marked for death? It couldn't be to recruit him - what use could he be to them without a wand? Unless it really was just to defend him…

"Scrimgeour, good god man, why are you just standing around!" Fudge cried. "He's trying to free Black. Apprehend this man at once!"

All the Aurors tensed but Loke just offered Scrimgeour a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry you have to take orders from this halfwit. I know from experience that its no picnic. And I know that my words aren't going to make much of a difference to this. But I want everyone in this room to consider the following words… Sirius Black is innocent. Fairy Tail are not your enemies - you are wasting time and energy trying to apprehend them that you don't need. Oh, and this Voldemort guy I've been hearing about… yeah, he's still alive. So… have a good hard think about that after we're gone."

"…After we're…?" Scrimgeour blinked, but Loke abruptly lifted one fist into the air and cried:-

"O Regulus… grant me your strength! **SHISHIKOYO!"**

The flash of bright light that radiated out of his body was so intense it almost seemed like a miniature sun had a appeared in the chamber. Everyone in the room was sent reeling backwards, yelling and clutching at their eyes under the glare, seeing such big spots that they could barely make out anything and their retinas almost seeming to burn! But Loke was already in motion and swung himself into the line of Aurors, his fists cloaked in light as he thudded straight into to of them to send them flying out to the sides. One Auror twisted about to try and utter a stunning spell but Loke's following roundhouse kick blasted him off his feet before the foot could even make contact and sent him cannoning back straight into another.

"GET HIM! GET HIIIIM!" Fudge cried as he stumbled backwards towards the door, stumbling over people as he went. "He's with Fairy Tail! He must be! Somebody stop him!"

Harry ran forwards, a little better off than other people as he had been prepared for Loke's attack. Under his guise of Kingsley he drew his wand and fired a Stunner in Loke's direction. Loke was just swinging another Auror around by his arm and the Stunner narrowly missed him to strike another Auror in the side and send her crumpling to the floor.

The room descended into chaos in a few seconds, Wizengamot members scrambling blindly to try and find an exit while more Aurors and security guards tried to fight their way through to get in. Lucy flattened herself against the wall, narrowly avoiding a collision with a guy's arm as he swept it out wildly. She watched as a Stunning Spell lanced in right towards Loke but his hand was cloaked in the light of Regulus and he literally backhanded the spell right back at its caster, with twice the force - enough to shatter the Auror's hastily erected Shield Charm and knock him backwards across the room.

Lucy knew the Lion Spirit could take care of himself but he was just one person. And if their plan was to work, they were going to need to draw people's attention away from Sirius. And for that, they'd need more. Much more chaos.

She gripped the key chain underneath the cloak. It was time to get a little nuts.

"Open, Gate of the Archer!" she said as loud as she dared. "Sagittarius!"

The familiar chiming sound of an opening Gate echoed through the room and a man wearing what appeared to be a huge cowl that was shaped like a horse's head sprang into existence in front of her. Fortunately this time he didn't need to be told what to do. Loke and Gemini had gotten all of the Spirits ready for what they had to do when they were summoned and Sagittarius quickly spun around, stringing his bow and firing an arrow with pinpoint accuracy straight into Fudge's bowler hat, sending it zipping into a wall in front of him.

"Glad to be of service, moshimoshi! It seems we have a miniature war zone going on here," he said as he turned about to see more Aurors streaming in closer, three of them firing simultaneous Stunning spells at him. Sagittarius strung three arrows instantly and fired them with astonishing precision, the Spells shattering the arrows but the arrows cancelling out all three spells at once. Sagittarius vaulted sideways and spun around to fire another shot that knocked the wands out of two witch's hands at the same time and moments later a body was thrown across the room via Loke.

"Standard training isn't going to cut it!" Scrimgeour shouted about the din. "Remember what we talked about! Use any spell you can think of! Expelliarmus!" he jabbed his wand at Sagittarius and his bow instantly flew out of his hand seconds after he'd fired another arrow that slipped through the robe of another wizard to pin their arm back against the wall. Sagittarius turned to look at Scrimgeour balefully but then he just faded into thin air.

Moments later…

"Excuse me," a hand tapped Scrimgeour shoulder politely and when he turned around a white-furred hand swept in to karate chop him right in the side of the neck. He was immediately stunned and crumpled to the floor, and Capricorn the goat was dusting off his hands over his body.

"Apologies," he said in his usual deep baritone. "I am just carrying out meh duty." And he pounded across the room to slam his elbow into another Auror's chest, flooring him before springing into a cartwheel that turned into an upside-down sweep kick as soon as he was on his hands that sent a further two men flying.

Loke twisted around to watch as Capricorn went into a mad barrel roll in mid-air, spells flying above and below him as he tucked his hands into his chest and sailed straight over an Auror's head, landing neatly next to him and his tufted tail swatting the wand from his hand before he whirled around to knee him in the gut. When it came to hand-to-hand combat skills, there really was no Spirit better than the goat.

But abruptly he gasped and clutched at his face, a wave of cold washing over him as if he'd been subjected to one of Gray's Ice Geyser attacks. And… a voice… a voice that sprang up in his mind… an oddly androgynous one…

"She took on a job recklessly without my permission. She must have been horribly impatient not being able to work for three months."

"KAAAARREEEEENNNNN!"

"Guhg…" he choked, the words of Master Bob from the day he'd been banished from the Spirit World ringing in his ears. The cold in his back became more pronounced and he spun around to see that the Dementor was almost on top of him… clammy fingers snagging at his coat, its breath a deep suction trying to slurp up every ounce of what made Loke who he was.

These creatures… they were abominations of nature… Loke clenched his teeth angrily. They had no right to exist on this, or any, plane!

None at all!

"**REGULUS IMPACT!" **he bellowing, his fist shining with a brilliance that made the Dementor reel backwards before Loke drove his fist into its stomach, a massive lion-shaped plume of light roaring out from his clenched fingers to engulf the wretched wraith. Like a Patronus of pure energy it slammed the Dementor away, a blast of light shooting across the room like a meteor to pummel it straight into the wall, right through it and through several others before the attack petered out.

The Dementor didn't get back up.

Harry's jaw dropped. He'd seen this mages do some impressive things since he'd met them, but that was probably the first true display of the raw power that Fairy Tail could wield and he was certain that if Kingsley had had hair, it would have been standing up at that point… and it had all come from his fist, not even a wand!

His mind felt like it had been blown to smithereens

But he saw another Auror firing a spell at the ceiling above Loke - a hex that splintered the stonework without the Lion noticing and the falling rubble crashing down towards Loke's head. He reacted instinctively, firing a Depulsion Hex that caught the startled Loke in the sight and knocked sent him skidding backwards several feet, but the spell also caught the rubble to send that flying too, forcing the Auror in question to dodge aside to avoid his own attack.

Loke sent Harry a quick grin before running back to the battle and Harry dodged quickly into the crowd, looking around for an opportunity to contribute to the fight with making it obvious that he was on the side of the Spirits. He saw two Aurors preparing what looked like fire spells to throw at Capricorn as the goat swung another one around by his ankle like a flail, but a quick flick of Harry's wand and suddenly the two of them were disarmed and a well placed Reductor Curse smashed into the ground between them, tossing them sideways and sending them rolling.

It was at that point that Capricorn suddenly vanished into thin-air. Moments later he was replaced by Scorpio, who whipped his tail around to clobber another Auror upside the head.

"We are!" he yelled with a wide grin. "Been waiting to cut loose! **SAND BUSTER!" **The blast fired from his tail-tip engulfed four more Aurors and washed them away in the spray of particles. Scorpio whirled round and round in circles without stopping the attack, whipping up a veritable sandstorm tornado that either knocked the enemy back or blinded them still further.

Harry shielded his eyes, he knew that the sand guy appearing was his cue to get to Sirius, who was still standing as a statue in the exact same place. Loke and Scorpio worked the room between them, aiming blasts of sand or flashes of light in the direction of anyone they saw, forcing most everyone to get down and shield their eyes. Nobody was looking at Sirius now, which was exactly what they were gunning for!

Dodging through the attacks and holding, Harry hurried to Sirius' side. It pained him to see his godfather's expression frozen like that but much better this than going soulless. He arrived at the same time as Arthur and Evergreen, who had spent most of the chaos stood up against the wall with Arthur shielding Evergreen with his arm - after all it was imperative that Harry not be seen participating in the battle in any way. Moments later he felt a hand on his arm and even though he knew it was Lucy he still jumped.

"Are you ready?" Lucy whispered urgently in his ear in Tonks' voice.

"You guys are nuts!"

"…Yeah, I kinda know that," Lucy said, gripping the key for Scorpio in her hand and wordlessly forcing his gate closed. Scorpio vanished but the spray of his sand remained long enough for Lucy to summon her next Spirit.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden. Virgo!"

A pink-haired woman wearing a French Maid outfit and with a pair of shackles with dangling chains around her wrists… for some reason… appearing in mid-air above them with her attack already charged. Her hands were together over her head, palm to palm and glowing yellow, but she slammed them downwards - her the yellow light expanding to crash into the ground around the clustered group.

"**SPICA HOLE!"** Virgo cried, and suddenly the floor fractured beneath their feet. Harry almost yelped as he plunged down through the hole that opened up below him, dropping into free fall alongside his petrified godfather and the invisible blonde. But the attack carried them down through several floors of the Ministry building and, halfway through the fall, Sirius suddenly revitalised - the stone seeming to fracture of him and leaving his gasping for breath as Evergreen released her spell!

"WAAAHH! WHAT THE…!" he flailed his legs wildly as they plummeted, the ground rushing towards them like a tidal wave from below. But suddenly a chain lashed around his waist while another wrapped around Harry's, the both of them being drawn towards Virgo as the Maiden Spirit dropped down with them, hooking each of them under her arms and bracing for impact. Fairy-like wings had sprouted from Evergreen's back and she'd grabbed Arthur beneath the arms to slow his descent, and at the last second Loke plunged down next to them to seize what looked like thin air in his arms.

The two Spirits crashed into the ground feet-first, knees bending to absorb the shock of impact. Harry and Sirius gasped as Virgo successfully kept them both from hitting the floor - she possessed a strength that belied her slight frame and was able to hold them both easily at the same time.

"What's happening?" Sirius looked around in complete bewilderment, scrambling out of Virgo's grip and starting when he saw Evergreen gently placing Arthur down. Harry was stunned to… after all, he was seeing a carbon copy of himself with fairy-wings sprouting out of his back.

"Much obliged, Evergreen," Arthur coughed as his carrier alighted down next to him. "That would have been a rather unpleasant experience."

"The sooner we get out of here the better," Evergreen said as her wings folded away once more. "No offence, kid, but I'd rather not be in your body for too much longer."

"No, I'm totally with you there," Harry said. "That is too weird."

"And thank you, Loke," Lucy said as she was placed down and she pulled the Invisibility Cloak off. "But how did you know where I was?"

"Well…" Loke immediately slung an arm around her shoulder and pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Clearly our love was so strong that it physically drew me to you like a magnet. Or perhaps I just have a sixth sense when it comes to…"

"Okay, okay… you could sense where your key was, couldn't you?" Lucy coughed, her cheeks slightly red as she brushed Loke's arm away.

"Can somebody please explain to me what's happening?" Sirius asked as Virgo gripped the chains around his arms and ripped them away like they were made of paper.

"Princess, the task is complete," the Maid said, looking around to her owner hopefully. "Is it time for punishment?"

"…You know, one of these days, I'm going to get used to you asking me for that," Lucy muttered. "But we can't afford to stick around here."

"Agreed. They'll be trying to seal the atrium as we speak!" Arthur nodded, gripping Harry's (the real Harry's) shoulder and guiding him forwards down the corridor. "Let's get out of here!"

"Sirius, put this on!" Lucy threw him the Cloak. "Loke, Virgo… thanks for your help, but you can return to the Spirit World now."

The two of them nodded in understanding and began to fade before their eyes. "Punishment next time, I hope," Virgo said.

"Feel free to call on me anytime you need me," Loke smirked. "And not just for a battle."

Lucy sighed as the Lion and the Maiden disappeared, but quickly fell into line alongside the others as they hurried through the corridors. She was panting a little, having exerted herself by summoning four Spirits in a relatively short space of time. It would be so much easier if she could summon two at once, but she still hadn't reached that stage yet.

Harry and Lucy took point, the former with his wand drawn and pointing it ahead of them warily, while the latter kept an eye Arthur and Evergreen along, Mr. Weasley keeping close to Ever at all times. They were creating the illusion that Kingsley and Tonks had come across Harry and Arthur in the chaos and were trying to shepherd them to safety and all the while Sirius followed on behind beneath the Cloak, veering with them whenever they encountered another person as they made for the Elevator.

"Shacklebolt!" a voice cried as another Auror that Sirius recognised as Savage dashed towards them from up ahead, flanked by several more Aurors. "Have you seen Black?"

"No, I haven't!" Harry replied urgently. "He… He's still on the loose somewhere in the building. Watch your back while we get H… Mister Potter to safety!"

"Yes, sir!" Savage nodded, the Aurors hurrying away and charging straight past the hidden Sirius, who grinned to himself beneath the Cloak. He'd come closer than he ever had before to a fate worse than death today, but he was still okay, still free. Was it possible that this could work after all?

But a brief elevator ride later, and Sirius' hopes dropped considerably.

The Atrium was a mess. It was filled with dozens and dozens of security personnel, along with several ordinary witches and wizards that were trying their hardest to look brave but were actually all extremely jumpy as if expecting a mass murderer to leap out at them at any moment. The security trolls were all up on their feet, bashing their clubs into the palms of their hands and squinting about brutally for any sign of the fugitive and the man standing beside the lever to open the ceiling hatches that would release Dementors into the room was on stand-by.

Not to mention all of the exits had been sealed. All of the fireplaces and even the visitors entrance had been magically closed off with thick wooden boards. And with the Anti-Apparition wards still up, there was no way out.

Before they could be noticed though, Lucy quickly ducked her way back under the cloak, squashing up against Sirius slightly and the two of them crouching low as they followed the other three carefully into the room. Not far away was a very flustered looking Fudge, poking his finger through the hole in his hat left by Sagittarius' arrow and surrounded by several Aurors and Harry made a beeline straight for him.

"Ah, Shacklebolt," Fudge coughed. "I… I see you found Mr. Potter… yes, yes, very good… yes… Any sign of Black?"

"None that I have seen… Minister," Harry said, trying to think on his feet and emulate Kingsley as best he could. He didn't know the man that well yet but he always seemed pretty calm and collected so he drew himself up and tried to still his own rapidly pounding heart. "But I'm requesting permission to open up one of the exits… to allow Mr. Potter to leave… immediately. We wouldn't want Black to… get too close to him. I mean, you know as well as I that he's a target."

"Yes, Shacklebolt, I am aware, but we can't let anyone out right now. We're putting the entire Ministry on total lockdown - nobody enters and nobody leaves until Black has been found."

"… I see… then we'll… just have to guard him, I suppose," Harry turned to look back at the others, eyes wide with urgency. What were they going to do now? This hadn't been part of the plan, had it?

Arthur tried hard not to look worried himself but he kept finding his gaze being drawn towards Percy, who was sitting crouched not far away and clutching his arm, which had clearly been injured in the chaos somehow. Percy took several moments to notice his father was staring at him, but when he did he held his gaze for only two seconds before looking away again frostily.

Mr. Weasley felt a little bitterness of his own inside. Percy was now the only member of his family who wasn't aware of the existence of the Order of the Phoenix and had never spoken one on one with a member of Fairy Tail. It was a split that had affected much of the family more deeply than they cared to admit. To an extent, Percy had never gotten on with most of his brothers nearly as well as the rest of them did with each other. He'd always been like something like the loner of the family.

But still… without him… they just weren't whole.

For now though he had other things to focus on, drawing Evergreen by the shoulder towards the wall and Harry hurrying over to join him. They knew that at best they only had about fifteen minutes before the Polyjuice potion wore off and if they were still here then… well, it didn't really need explaining.

"What now?" Harry whispered under his breath.

"Okay… time for the last ditch effort," Evergreen replied in a low voice. "Lucy, you ready for this?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"You've summoned quite a few Spirits in rapid succession today. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I've got enough juice for one more, don't worry. Just give us a few minutes to get into position," the invisible blond replied, before moving off out into the room. Sirius shuffled to keep up with her, his shoulder wedged up against hers as they slunk forwards beneath the Cloak, weaving their way around a few Aurors turning in slow circles with their eyes peeled for the fugitive and looking straight through them as they crept slowly by. It made Sirius smile, remembering fondly his days at Hogwarts where he'd done this thousands of times with James, but still, he hadn't a clue why he was doing it now.

"Where are we going?" he asked as quietly as he could, but Lucy just shushed him as they made their way closer to the middle of the room.

Meanwhile at the other side, Evergreen was trying to surreptitiously prepare her own part of what was to come. Harry and Arthur stood in front of her, forming a barrier with their bodies to keep most people from seeing what she was doing as she swept her palms out in slow, rhythmic motions, opening her fist every so often to dispense a dollop of Fairy dust into the air. The dust seemed to multiply as it whooshed away from her, twinkling faintly but the particles too small to be noticed because even as they grew in number they spread out across the room instead of clustering together and giving the ceiling an ever-so-slightly golden glow, so minor that nobody noticed the subtle change.

After five minutes of spreading the dust around, she deemed herself ready. Stepping up next to Harry, she scratched her hair and gave a meaningful nod in the place where she knew Lucy should be.

Beside the fountain.

Lucy caught the signal and gripped Sirius' arm tightly.

"Hold on," she whispered, poking one golden key out of the folds of the cloak and dipping it into the water of the fountain right next to the centaur. "Open… Gate of the Water Bearer… Aquarius!"

FWOOSH!

A sudden burst of water out of the fountain that engulfed the five golden statues within instantly grabbed the attention of everyone in the room just in time for them to see the beautiful blue-haired mermaid that burst out from within. Her long hair streamed out behind her and her tail twisted up until the fins were level with her shoulders.

The room had been on tenterhooks but the emergence of such a stunning Spirit managed to startle half the room into just gaping. The other half though immediately opened fire with Stunning Spells, Impediment Jinxes and all manner of jinxes and curses upon her.

But like all the Spirits before her, this time Aquarius had been ready for action straight away.

"At least you didn't interrupt a date this time," she muttered as she swept her arm out and the water in the fountain exploded up around her, forming a twisting helix of water that acted as a shield to bat most of the spells aside. Gripping the urn that she always carried in her hands, Aquarius rose up, gathering energy and liquid within it as her face twisted into a snarl.

"Attack first, ask questions later, is it?" she growled to the room at large. "I have to admit, there's a part of me that approves of that!" she raised her urn up above her head. "But you just chose the wrong Spirit to try that on!"

"Please don't sweep me away, please don't sweep me away, please don't sweep me away…" Lucy whispered.

Aquarius didn't hear her but as she swiped her urn to the side with one terrific swing, she made sure the deluge of water that poured out from within missed the area around the fountain where she knew Lucy to be standing. And it was torrent! An entire river's worth of water came blasting out, sweeping across the floor and curling out in all directions like an instant flash-flood. Wizards and witches screamed as they were engulfed in the rush, swept off the floor and sent tumbling over and over, scrambling to find the surface. The water crashed against the walls like waves hitting a cliff, sweeping down the corridors and pouring into the elevator system to carry people around helplessly like jellyfish in a current.

Not even the Minister was spared. Fudge yelled as the water reared up over him and crashed down upon him and all his Auror vanguard, drenching them and plucking them from the ground like weeds to send them swirling away in the maelstrom! And Aquarius kept spinning round in circles, the blasting water forming a literal whirlpool that ripped the statues of the goblin and the house elf from their moorings to whisk them away!

Percy gasped and scrambled back against the wall as the water shot in towards him, his glasses falling from his nose as he tried to scrabble to his feet and flee. But suddenly someone jumped in front of him and raised up a Shield Charm, as strong as he could muster, which repelled the water pulse and sent it crashing out to either side instead. Percy stared up at his father, jaw flapping in disbelief, but Arthur didn't look back at him, focusing only on keeping his son out of potential harm's way. And the water seemed to be diverting around Harry and Evergreen, but they still took shelter behind a suit of armour just in case.

Not all were affected though. The security trolls throughout the room roared and powered their way through the flood towards the fountain, lifting their clubs high above the waves as they battled their way through the pounding current. And right before the water hit him, the man at the lever had managed to yank it down which meant that even as he was washed away the panels in the high ceiling opened and several Dementors streaked downwards like fallen angels.

"They're mine," Evergreen whispered, raising her hand and sweeping it downwards in one rapid thrust. The dust that filled the air above the surface streaked into clusters under her control, gathering around the trolls and the Dementors like swarms of mosquitoes.

"**Yōsei Bakudan: Gremlin!"**

BANG!

BOOM!

BOOM!

CRASH!

BANG!

Dementors screeched as they were consumed in the explosions of hundreds of detonating particles, flung sideways in every direction though looking comparatively unhurt as they veered for control.

The same could not be same for the trolls. Their spectacular bellows of pain crashed about the room as they were bombarded by the attack, detonations going off all around them and blackening their tough skin as they veered about wildly. Two lost their footing and vanished beneath the water. One smacked himself in the face with his own club. Another two stumbled into each other and began fighting.

But now the way was clear!

Harry looked to Mr. Weasley earnestly, but when Arthur noticed his gaze he nodded pointedly back at the hyperventilating Percy pressed against the wall behind him. Harry got the message and fired a quick Stunner that washed over Percy and knocked him clean out, before he whispered, "Let's go!" to Evergreen and they both hurried forwards towards the water flow. Aquarius spotted them and focused her power, dividing the water flow to divert it around Harry and Evergreen as they bolted forwards, a pathway opening up before them, like the Red Sea before Moses, but the water only split a couple of feet ahead of them and closed back in again a couple of feet behind them, like they had a forcefield around them that repelled the water as they ran.

They reached the fountain and were quickly joined by Lucy and Sirius, all four of them pounding their way across the room, splashing through the puddles the water left behind as it curved about them.

Aquarius watched them go, opening a path before them to one of the boarded up fireplaces. She allowed herself a little smirk as she imagined suddenly letting the water wash over them to sweep Lucy away again… but she knew that it wasn't the time or place. Not right now.

"You owe me for this one, Lucy," she muttered to herself as she began to fade back to the Spirit World. "You owe me big time."

Harry pointed his wand at the fireplace and hit the boards with a Reductor Curse to blow them in. Sirius threw the cloak off and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from within. He knew the Ministry could track where people transported themselves to from Ministry fireplaces so he couldn't go back to Grimmauld Place straight away. Which was why he twisted about and hissed, "The Burrow!" as he threw the Powder onto the fire.

A whoosh of green flame… and they were gone. Aquarius allowed herself a smile of mild satisfaction before she too disappeared. Her water vanished with her moments later, leaving the room entirely dry - even the clothes of the people lying in sodden heaps all over the place, groaning and spitting out water. Arthur Weasley was the only one still standing, and he lowered his Shield Charm with a deep sigh of relief.

They'd done it… they'd rescued Sirius Black from the heart of the Ministry.

Albus Dumbledore and Mavis Vermilion's plan… it had gone… amazingly well. Just one of them alone was a genius it seemed but the two of them together… they made an astonishing strategic team.

He paused just long enough to check that Percy was okay before hurrying over to a nearby Auror and helping him to his feet.

* * *

"GWAAH! OOFF! HHHAA! OOW!"

Four figures spilled out into the middle of the floor of the Weasley's deserted living room space, landing in a heap and a tangle of limbs that they fought to extract themselves from. A task that required a great deal of twisting and more than a little cursing before they managed it.

But as soon as they did…

"Sirius!" Harry shouted as he seized his godfather and pulled him into a fierce hug. Sirius gasped as his godson's arms tightened around him enough to crush some of the air out of his lungs.

"Hoooo… okay…" he gasped, clapping his hand against Harry's back. "Okay… okay there, I can't breathe… er… I'm going to assume you're Harry and not Kingsley. I'm guessing Mad-Eye provided you with some of his private stock of Polyjuice, huh?"

"Yeah. Yeah, he did," Harry said, as he pulled back and looked his godfather in the face as if to make sure it was really him. "Sirius… bloody hell, Sirius, what the hell happened!? When I saw you get grabbed in the fire like that… I really don't think anything has ever freaked me out as much as that, not even when I saw Voldemort sticking out the back of Quirrell's head. I was going nuts worrying about you and when… when I heard you'd been captured… I thought… I thought…"

"Hey, hey, kiddo," Sirius placed his hand on Harry's shoulder consolingly, stopping the flow of words from the distraught godson. "You've got nothing to worry about. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here now aren't you?"

"Yeah but… but it was such a close thing! And if it hadn't been for Fairy Tail… Hermione's right, we're too reckless, Sirius! We shouldn't have been communicating through the fireplace at all! If something had happened to you because you were trying to talk to me…"

"But nothing did happen," Sirius interrupted. "And I promise you… it never will… I guess from now on I'm going to have to be more careful. And we'll have to come up with another way of communicating since owl and fire aren't really options anymore… but I promise you one thing, Harry. When all this is over… when we defeat Voldemort for good… I'm still going to be here for you. I'm gonna make sure of it. And… thanks for coming to rescue me."

Harry swallowed, an action which took him a great deal of effort before he pulled Sirius into a hug again. Godson and godfather held each other close, until Sirius eventually said, "You know, this would be a lot more heartwarming if you didn't actually look like Kingsley right now."

This time Harry couldn't stop himself from snorting in amusement. "Yeah, I guess…"

"Aww," Lucy said as she wiped her eye slightly, her hair beginning to lighten as the effects of the Polyjuice Potion began to fade. "It must be nice to have a godfather."

"In a way, you do," Evergreen noted. "Master Makarov's something of a godfather to us all."

"Yeah… yeah, I suppose he is. Um… nice work in there. We made a pretty good combination."

"A surprisingly good one," Ever nodded. "I have to admit I thought things were going to go a lot less smoothly… you're alright, Lucy."

"Thanks…" Lucy said, now fully converted back to herself and glancing at the clock. "Your time's almost up though. You want to find a bathroom so you're ready to change away from prying eyes?"

"Absolutely. I could really do with a long hot bath now…"

"I don't think I could yet," Lucy grimaced as she looked out the window. "We've rescued Sirius… but I don't think I can relax until Erza and Cana are brought back safely too…"

* * *

The dull roar of the choppy sea was a constant backdrop at the prison of Azkaban. The rugged, ugly rock it stood upon was pounded more or less constantly by the waves, and the triangular fortress that stood upon covered so much of the space and was so ancient looking that you'd probably think the sea should have eroded the island away enough by now so that it toppled over into the sea. But the island was magically sustained against the elements by countless wards, ensuring that one of the most feared places in the world was kept standing to house the horrendous people it contained within.

Security at this place was taken very seriously indeed, but there were very few human staff members here. People who had the option of leaving usually couldn't last more than a couple of days here and there were constant shifts. Being a human guard of Azkaban was almost as bad as being one of the inmates!

Currently there were only two men on staff, and they were busy working the front desk, trying to keep as far away from the Dementors as possible. They weren't allowed to enter this room, but that didn't stop the coldness and the shivers that they brought with them from seeping through into it from the rest of the prison. And they were thankful for the pounding noise of the sea… it drowned out the screams of the prisoners within.

The island was also unplottable. Only those who had been there before could take people to the prison and even then only if they knew exactly where it would be on a map if it could have been plottable.

And Lucius Malfoy, thanks to his influences within the Ministry, was one of those people.

So when he swept in through the front door of Azkaban, he took both of the guards by surprise.

"Mr. Malfoy?" one of them stood up hastily. "We… we weren't expecting you today… you don't have a scheduled visit…"

"Oh, but I do," Lucius replied haughtily. "My schedule just doesn't run in accordance with yours, unfortunately…" he whipped out his wand and immediately stunned one of the men, his body falling to the ground like a crumpled paper ball. The other yelled and reached for his wand but abruptly the door to the rest of the prison burst open and a Dementor rushed out, whirling around the corner to seize the guard by the throat and slam him up against the wall. The guard hacked and gasped for breath, his wand clattering to the floor as the hoodless Dementor leaned in towards him.

"Ah, ah, ah… not yet…" Lucius replied, sending out a quick patronus that took on the shape of a hog-nosed snake. The wispy serpent whooshed between the Dementor and the guard, causing the Dementor to retreat quickly. Lucius stunned him as well, and immediately cast a couple of memory charms to remove the memories of the attack from their minds.

"It wouldn't do well for any of the guards to have had their souls removed after today," Lucius shook his head as over a dozen more Death Eaters, wearing their traditional skull masks and dark cloaks, filed in behind him and three more Dementors wafted their way through the door. "If that were to happen, the Ministry would know for sure that you participated in today's escape. And we like to keep that oaf, Fudge, in the dark as much as possible."

The two sides lined up to face each other across the room. Most of the Death Eaters shifted about extremely uncomfortably and even Lucius looked more than a little uncomfortable in the presence of the hellish creatures before them, resisting the urge to flinch at the clattering breath of the foremost one.

But he had a mission. So, he ploughed on.

"You understand… that I am here with a proposition for you then?" he asked.

The nearest Dementor nodded, which was about as close to communicating with people that a Dementor could actually do.

Lucius smirked. He and his followers had sent several Patronuses into the building before even entering, except these ones had carried spoken messages to the Dementors rather than repelled them, even though they still didn't like them. But the fact they were here meant they were interested in listening and had not alerted the Ministry to an attack as they were technically supposed to.

"Good, good," Lucius smirked. "I do indeed bring a message, from the Dark Lord himself. He says its time that you were allowed a great deal more freedom. Your days of aimlessly wondering these halls, leaching happiness from people who were drained of it all a long time ago, they can all be over. All you have to do, is join the Dark Lord."

* * *

As with the Ministry, Apparition was impossible throughout most of Azkaban. None of the inmates had their wands of course but they didn't want to take chances. There was only one place on the island where apparition was possible - a stone circle that lay at the other end of a winding path to the entrance hall just beyond the wards.

And with faint pops and loud cracks, several people appeared in a cluster on that spot. Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt were two more people who knew how to get to the prison. And they'd brought with them two people each via Side-Along Apparition.

With Kingsley was Tonks and Lupin.

With Moody was Emmeline Vance… and Gildarts.

As soon as the hulking Crash Mage regained his balance he stepped forwards to the edge of the circle, his gaze travelling up the ugly fortress towering before him and a faint aura of fury pulsing through him at the sight.

"So… this is it?" he whispered. "This is the place where my daughter's being held."

"If the paper is to be believed," Lupin stood up next to him as Kingsley vanished again. "And this is the place where my friend was holed up for twelve years… well… I can certainly see now why he chose to leave."

"Yeah… and my dear old auntie's in there too," Tonks nodded sourly. "I never knew her but… yeah… the stories my mother told me… I bet she won't be that pleased to see me there."

"This place… it looks like hell on earth," Gildarts whispered, his fist clenching and his cloak begin to billow out around him. "You call this a prison? No true law enforcement from our world would ever keep someone in a place as barbaric as this. And they sent Cana here?"

"It ain't never been pretty," Moody replied gruffly. "I'll be honest, even I don't like the idea and most of the scum in there have done as much as anyone to deserve such a fate. But the Ministry of ancient times decided to use Dementors as guards to keep them from terrorising innocents on the mainland. It's worked pretty solidly. Until Black, nobody ever escaped this place.

"Yeah? Well there are going to be at least two more escapes today," Gildarts growled. The circle was beginning to tremble a little now and Lupin quickly put a hand on Gildart's shoulder to calm him down.

"She won't be in there much longer if we have any say in the matter," he assured him as Kingsley returned again, bringing with him Hestia Jones, the final member of their raiding party.

"Alright, we're all here," he nodded sagely. "Are we ready?"

"One thing," Emmeline raised a hand. "Are we really sure that we're going to leave Sturgis in there?"

Gildarts wrinkled his nose. He'd heard about this guy, Sturgis Podmore, who had been arrested when caught trying to break into the Prophecy Room that he himself had destroyed in the Ministry of Magic. A room he was meant to be guarding so the Order suspected the Imperius Curse had been involved.

"Sturgis is in no danger," Moody replied tersely. "They'll treat him according to the law. The Fairy Tail girls, who knows what Fudge will pull with them? He could send an order for the Dementors to Kiss them at any moment and if we break him out, that might look oddly suspicious. So yes. For now, we leave him in there. We'll free him when we can do it through legal means."

"Alright," Emmeline nodded. "I don't like it, but alright."

"Now, Gildarts, remember, we want this place to stay standing by the time we're finished here," Kingsley said. "Are you sure you won't be tempted to come rushing in after us?"

"…Every part of me wants to tear this building down stone by stone," Gildarts growled. "This place… it just isn't… humane. But as Master Mavis said, we need to work with you guys so I'll listen. Just bring my daughter and Erza back safely."

"Of course," Kingsley nodded. "Alright then, everyone. Let's move out."


	36. My Daughter

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 36:- My Daughter**

* * *

Far from the chaos reigning through the Ministry of Magic, three Ministry Aurors trudged their way through the seemingly endless rolling slopes of the Dartmoor National Park. They were grateful for the sun that beat down upon them but they'd already cast protective charms upon their feet that would keep them from receiving blisters from the constant walking.

"Why are we even out here anyway?" one of them - a short man with sandy hair - asked, keeping a tight hold of his broomstick as he hopped over a stream that ran its meandering way through the slopes of the moorland. "It seems pretty obvious to me that whoever did… that… to Chagford is long gone by now. He would have whisked himself or herself away right after causing the damage I'm sure. Scrimgeour has us trawling through this hills for days and days for nothing."

"That may be," said the leader - a man of mid-height with long black hair by the name of Gawain Robards. "But did you see what happened back there? Did you see the state of destruction that that village was in? There was nothing left, Nick! Not a single building through the entire town was left standing. Maybe whoever did that left pretty quickly but if we can find any clue out here as to who it might have been and why… do we even need to be Aurors to be obligated to find it?"

"No… that's true," Nick shrugged his shoulders, shivering as he remembered well his walk through the ruins of Chagford, where bits of rubble were still falling from some of the few walls that had still bee upright, bits of glass littered the streets, smoke billowed up high into the air and the bodies… oh god… the bodies… they'd been all over the place and they'd been slammed about as if smacked with the club of a giant.

It was certainly a thing that a giant would have been able to pull off.

But a giant would have left clues, signals that indicated it was a giant attack such as massive footprints or something, but there had been none. And it would have been almost impossible for a giant to suddenly vanish without any warning whatsoever without some kind of magical back-up so unless it had been acting with an extremely clever group of wizards who had meticulously wiped up all the evidence before whisking the perpetrator away, a giant could be ruled out.

Most of the Auror force had been re-tasked to other places in a bid to track down said perp, and most of them were absolutely convinced that it had been done by a rogue Fairy Tail mage.

"You reckon the Muggles are buying it?" the third Auror - a woman who was also reasonably tall with long brown hair asked. "The story that it was a freak tornado that caused all that destruction?"

"In my experience, Veda, Muggles can be extremely gullible," Gawain sniffed. "They bought all kind of things like that during the First Wizarding War but even then the destruction wasn't so total… and we were getting dangerously close to being unveiled to them before the Potter boy put a stop to You-Know-Who. Still… I never liked lying to them about that. I know why we do it, but the families of those poor people do deserve to know what happened."

"As do we," Nick said. "Do you really think it was Fairy Tail who did it?"

"I don't know what I think, but I don't know of anyone else who could potentially do something like that in such a short space of time," Gawain replied. "We'll find out when we find out."

Just then, with a hooting noise, an owl came swooping silently out of the sky and dropped a newspaper at the feet of the woman before soaring off again without a backwards look. The woman quickly bent down and thrashed it out, before her eyes widened in amazement.

"Perhaps we'll find out soon," she said. "Look at this. Apparently two of them have been sent to Azkaban, look!" She turned the page around to brandish the opening title and photograph in the faces of the other two. There were two pictures actually, one depicting Sirius Black and the other showing Cana and Erza thrashing about upon the page, their heads shaking in silent screams as they were held in the grip of their Dementor bodyguards."

"Whoa…" Nick breathed. "They did it? They actually did it?"

"Maybe they know something," Gawain grinned with no small amount of triumph. "If they can be made to talk, maybe we can stop traipsing around these moors with no significant leads in sight and track down who was really responsible for destroying that village!"

"Should we head back to the Ministry?" Veda asked.

"Not until we receive the message to give up the search," Gawain replied. "But perhaps that call-back will be soon. In the meantime, we keep on looking." He turned around with a slight whirl of his robes and whispered, "Homenum revelio," as they hurried their way over the rocks towards a distant treeline, Veda trying to snatch glimpses at the newspaper as she walked.

But when they reached the trees, Gawain suddenly blinked. "Hold on," he said. "The spell's detecting someone in the distance."

"Another hiker?" Nick asked - they'd come across several so far after all.

"I don't know. I can't even tell what gender it is. But all the same, keep on your guard. You can never be too careful."

The three of them forged on ahead, stepping into the trees as stealthily as any human being could possibly manage, placing silencing charms on their feet to make sure their footfalls didn't make the slightest noise even when they accidentally trod on twigs.

And eventually, up ahead, they could make out a single figure bathed in shadow and walking his way towards them. He strode purposefully… with confidence… and he came to a stop when he caught sight of them.

"Identify yourself," Gawain instructed, three wands extending forward to home in on the man's chest, for they could definitely tell he was male. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

The man didn't respond. He simply stared. None of them could see his face but they could practically feel his eyes boring into them like piercing hexes and it made them all shift uneasily, feeling a sudden and very strong urge to run in the other direction.

"I demand once again that you identify yourself or we will be forced to take you into custody," Gawain steeled his nerve enough to say.

"More weakness," the man suddenly spoke in a gravelly voice. "You are mere children standing before a lion. Is there nobody around here that can raise me up still higher?"

"Who are you?" Gawain demanded, all three of them on high alert now. "Are you with Fairy Tail?"

The sudden silence throughout the woods was ear-shattering… and all three of the Aurors became painfully aware that the birds had stopped singing. Then the man slowly stepped out into the light, his eyes blazing as the ground around him started to tremble, rocks floating into the air around him and the trees quivering like terrified children about him.

"What do you know of Fairy Tail?"

KA-BLAM!

Gawain had a stunning spell on his lips when he was suddenly sent thundering backwards as if struck by an invisible train! Nick and Veda were sent flying along with him, all three of their wands sent flying out of their hands as they crashed to the ground, finding themselves literally unable to get up because all four limbs and their head pinned back against the floor. The trees were really shaking now and as the strange man strode towards them the ground beneath both Nick and Veda began to sink! Literally, a jagged hole seemed to cut its way out of the rock and plunge straight down to form two pits with perfectly vertical walls, each one about ten feet in diameter.

"What… what are you doing?" gasped Gawain, forcing himself to look up which was perhaps the hardest thing he'd ever had to do in his life! And his eyes widened when the man's lifted his hand up to shoulder height and two huge trees were pulled out from the ground to hover up on either side of him. But they weren't uprooted - the entire ground around them lifted up as well.

And Gawain could only watch as the trees were levitated slowly forwards… towards the holes where his fellow Aurors were lying.

"I only need one to talk," the man said.

"NO! NO STOP! DON'T!" Gawain screamed, thrashing about madly as the trees hovered over the pits… but there was no response. The trees plunged down into the holes with a pair of sickening crunches that made Gawain's heart stop. But he didn't have a chance to recover before he suddenly shot off the ground and was catapulted towards the man, his neck thudding into his palm. He was suddenly dangling off the ground, spasming and gasping for breath as the man held him in a close chokehold with just one hand. There was no doubt now. This was definitely the man that had destroyed Chagford!

"Now tell me… what do you know about Fairy Tail?" the man growled, his grip tightening. "Or I'll crush every square inch of your throat to a pulp!"

Gawain gasped and hacked for breath, staring into the intense, unmerciful glare of the strange man. But then… something momentarily distracted him. He'd caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked down to see… Veda's newspaper. He stared at it for a moment before suddenly summoning it into his other hand and staring right at the picture of the two Fairy Tail mages.

"…Her!"

* * *

The six Order members were practically holding their breath as they strode down the causeway towards the foreboding prison. On their own they almost seemed like an extremely meagre force to be taking on such a well fortified structure so riddled with Dementors. Some of them were wondering if it had been a good idea to let Gildarts come with them.

"I can safely say that I never saw myself doing this," Tonks murmured, licking her dry lips nervously as she tried not to trip on the hem of her robes. "When I signed on to be a member of this Order I was expecting to battle Death Eaters, not invade our own prison."

"You might have to do both today, Nymphadora," Moody growled, stumping along on his wooden leg just that little bit faster, his blue eye locked upon the entrance doors to the prison.

"What do you mean?" Hestia asked warily.

"It seems we were not the only ones interested in the prison today. I'm seeing Lucius Malfoy in the entrance hall… surrounded by fifteen more Death Eaters. Two of them are guarding the doors under Disillusionment Charms… they'll see us at any second."

"What do we do?" Lupin asked.

"Act casual," Kingsley replied. "Mad-Eye… warn us if they make a move. But for the moment, we're just an ordinary group sent to escort a new prisoner. Remus, you willing to play?"

"If I must…" Remus nodded, shuffling into the centre of the group and putting his hands behind his back as if they were cuffed. He felt hands around his arms and glanced back to see that Tonks had taken hold of him to march him forwards and make the illusion seem more real.

"Don't worry. I've got your back," she said, grinning slightly but Remus could tell she was doing it for her own confidence levels as well as his.

"Much appreciated," Remus replied stoically as they made their way forwards as if they had nothing to hide.

* * *

"It's not really fair is it?" Lucius tutted as he strode across the room before the three Dementors. They spoke no language that he could understand but they could certainly understand English and he was using that to the full effect.

"You may technically be the guards of all these prisoners but in reality you're prisoners here too, aren't you? Banished to this island so that you can be kept away from feasting on the happiness of people on the mainland. Forced to gorge yourselves on meals that have long gone stale, with a fresh new treat only being thrown in once or twice a month, if that. The Ministry seeks to control you… but I assure you that if you were to join the Dark Lord, he would do no such thing. Yes, certainly you would have to obey his commands and fight for him as and when he wishes you to… but other than that, you would be free. Free to feast upon anyone you choose bar the Dark Lord and his most… loyal of supporters. Ask yourselves… isn't that the life you would truly wish to lead."

The Dementors were getting excited, demonstrating as such by twitching and groping the air with their disgusting fingers. Lucius smirked. He'd known this wouldn't be hard right from the bat. He wasn't even putting close to his all into persuading them. Voldemort had been right - the Dementors discontent with their position in the Ministry was obvious beyond belief.

They were not the kind of creature that liked to be regulated. They were not the kind of creature that liked order. They were the kind of creature that liked chaos.

And Lucius was offering the chance to cause it to them on a silver platter.

"All you have to do is agree to the Dark Lord's terms by freeing all of his supporters from their cells in this prison and turning over those two most recent additions, the Fairy Tail mages, to us so that we can bring them back with us. And then, once the Dark Lord makes his move, side with him over the Ministry. I guarantee you… it will be just as you've always… dreamed…"

The Dementors hissed in excitement, their cloaks billowing as a wind seemed to pick up around them. And the tallest one - the one in the middle - pulled down his hood. The coldness throughout the room immediately intensified, but the Dementor made it worth that in Lucius' book because it nodded its head.

Lucius' mouth twisted into a slight smirk. That had been ridiculously easy but then again, he'd never expected it to go down in any other way.

"In that case," he said. "Spread the word to your colleagues. As of this moment, you are free to act as you please against the world. And as your new ally, I request that you release our Death Eater brethren as asked immediately."

The Dementors immediately swung about and began to go through the various small drawers about the room, drawing several out of the walls and placing them on the desk with their scabbed hands. They contained the personal belongings of each of the prisoners, including in this case… their wands. Once they'd gathered a full complement of ten, they made for the door to the back of the prison…

…when…

BOOM!

The doors were blown in, shattering right off their hinges and flying forwards to plough four Death Eaters to the ground. Lucius' instincts saved him from being struck with the spinning edge of one of them, diving to the side and whirling around in time to see the crumpled bodies of the two guards he'd posted and Kingsley Shacklebolt charging through the door with wand already glowing with his next spell!

"It's the Order!" one Death Eater cried needlessly but that individual was immediately struck in the face by a Stunning spell and sent crashing backwards. The room became a sudden whirlwind of action as the Order members spilled into the room while the Death Eaters drew their wands, fanning out and as the air promptly began alive with spells springing back and forth between the two sides.

The Dementors turned around, hissing and advancing instantly to join the fray, but Lucius dashed up to them and cried, "No, not yet. Gather your comrades! We must free our brethren before the Ministry descends upon us."

The nearest Dementor hissed, evidently unhappy that it had been given an order so soon after the bargain was struck, but they consented and whooshed through the door, with Lucius dodging in behind them and slamming it shut, tapping the lock and actually melting it, thus rendering a key or even an Alohomora spell useless, before hurrying off after the Dementors.

The other side of the door was a blaze of light as spell after spell ricocheted about the tight space. Tonks twisted past a jet of blue light and flicked her wand rapidly to either side of her to deflect two red jets with quick shield charms before ducking under a third and slamming a full powered Impediment Jinx under the guard of one of the Death Eaters to freeze him in position. A potted plant, of all things, then came hurting towards her from the side, but Tonks dived past it and flicked her wand over her shoulder to pluck it magically out of the air, sending it zinging past her to crash into another Death Eater, who just managed to raise a shield charm in time to deflect but who didn't count on Tonk's next spell transforming the plant into what appeared to be an angry honey badger.

"AAHHHH!" he screamed as the furious mustelid launched itself at him and Tonks turned away from the gnashing teeth to block another spell rapidly.

Kingsley and Remus were back to back, twisting each other rapidly to defend one another from attacks from all sides with rapid shield teams. One would think they'd worked together many times before but they were just acting on instinct. Lupin sent a shower of sparks flying over two of the Death Eaters, which caught their black robes on fire and made them easy prey for the follow-up Stunning spells as they lashed about wildly in an an attempt to put them out.

Another Death Eater dodged in from the side and slashed his wand through the air to send a blade of purple flame launching through the air and them but Lupin grabbed Kingsley's shoulder and pulled them both into a spinning duck - the flaming projectile slashing down the side of another Death Eater instead. He screamed and fell while Kingsley used a Summoning Charm to bring the first Death Eater hurtling towards him with arms flailing, yelling as Kingsley's fist connected solidly with his face and knocked him out.

"Nice right hook!" Lupin shouted.

"Sometimes it pays to know how to fight like a Muggle. They don't usually see that coming!" Kingsley said as he twisted away from Lupin so a jet of green light could shoot between them, disarming the Death Eater who had fired the Killing Curse and conjuring up a cloak out of thin air that wrapped around his head and sent him swinging about blindly and into the path of a Depulsion Jinx from Mad-Eye.

Moody was keeping an eye on everything at once, calling out across the battlefield whenever he saw something untoward. "Hestia!" he yelled. "To your left!"

"Thanks!" Hestia cried as she pressed herself against the wall to avoid two jets of light - one red and one green - from another pair of Death Eaters. She flicked her wand and suddenly a bunch of the drawers in the walls came cascading out like an avalanche, pummelling at the Death Eaters and making them yell and scream as they batted at them with their arms blindly, allowing Hestia enough time to recuperate as she jumped forward and launched an Incarcerous spell at them.

The ropes that flew from her wand rapidly ensnared them both and sent them crashing to the ground in madly wriggling heaps. Hestia turned to see another had summoned numerous serpents that were slithering across the floor towards Tonks. She responded by turning a fallen piece of rubble into a mongoose, which spat and fell upon the snakes like a hurricane as the Death Eater who summoned them was himself transfigured into what appeared to be a hedgehog be Emmeline.

Emmeline turned around to see no less than three Death Eaters converging on her, firing spell after spell at her in the hopes of mowing her down. Emmeline threw up the most powerful Shield Charm she could muster in response, and she wasn't the only one - Moody had done the same thing to doubly reinforce it and send spells ricocheting all over the place! Emmeline bit her lip and thrust her wand out to the side to turn a piece of the wall into a mirror, firing a Stunning spell at it that bounced off it, shooting around her shield to impact one of the Death Eaters in the side. A second Stunning spell caught a second Death Eater in the same manner and Emmeline took the opportunity to lower her shield and dodge sideways to avoid a Killing Curse from the third. She fired a jet of water from her wand right into his face, sending him stumbling backwards and into the path several flying chunks of rubble from Tonks.

Mad-Eye twisted himself around in time to see a Death Eater firing a cutting hex at his leg, evidently intending to chop off the other one with it. Mad-Eye growled as he blocked it. It was Walden Macnair - he could see through his mask. Moody stumped forwards to send a flurry of Stunning spells his way but Macnair twisted aside to dodge them all and brought his wand high above his head to bringing it swinging down like an executioner's axe. And sure enough, a giant axe formed with the swing, thundering down straight at the top of Moody's head.

Moody was forced to lurch himself awkwardly to the side, crashing to the floor as the axe embedded itself in the stonework where he'd just been. "Ha! I've got you now!" Macnair cried triumphantly as he charged forwards, twirling his wand in preparation to unleash an explosive curse that would consume Moody. But the grizzled Auror flailed his clawed wooden leg up and flicked his wand, sending his fake leg shooting straight out like an arrow. The claws buried themselves through Macnair's mask to rake at his forehead, sending him reeling away with a yell of pain. Which gave Moody more than enough opportunity to sit up properly and hit him with a Stunning spell so powerful he was almost flung through the wall.

The Order members gathered in the centre of the room, looking around at the groaning or totally still Death Eaters littering the place - every one of them had been downed.

"Wow…" said Hestia. "That was a lot easier than I was expecting."

"It shouldn't have been," Moody growled as he reattached his leg magically and was helped to his feet by Lupin. "This lot were mostly small fry. The majority of them were probably new recruits who've never been in a proper duel in their lives. The real threats… Death Eater Elites… are the ones locked up in this very prison and now they're set to be released. Let's get moving!" he stumped towards the door hurriedly.

"Wait, before we go!" Tonks hurried over to the fallen boxes and rummaged through them, shifting through them rapidly with her wand until she found the one she was looking for. "Got them," she grinned, picking up a deck of cards and stowing them within her robes and hurrying over to join the others as Moody blasted the door off its hinges and they flooded through into the prison.

Almost immediately they were confronted by a surge of Dementors that wafted down the corridor towards them at high speed, like something out of a nightmare! They looked almost like Inferi in that moment, clawing at the air as they filled the passageway from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, a blast of cold washing over the Order members like a blizzard without the snow. It was enough to make them all stumble backwards, but the three front-runners - Moody, Lupin and Kingsley, raised their wands and roared at the same time:-

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A huge silver bear erupted out of Moody's wand and thundered in towards the oncoming wraiths in the great lumbering, but surprisingly fast, gait of a real bear. It was joined by Lupin's wolf and Kingsley's lynx, the three of them ploughing their way in side by side like the world's strangest hunting party. The Dementors screeched and fell back before them, the waves of silver spilling off the animals repelling them like magnets and they seemed to waft through each other in a bid to escape them.

The Order dashed along behind their Patronus bodyguards, rushing up a flight of steps until they reached the main branch of the prison - where the corridor split into several different passageways. The Patronuses herded the Dementors away down them but several of them tried to press forwards to bypass them or even attack them. Their casters had to hold their wands out the entire time to keep them raised as the Dementors battered themselves against them one by one before being repelled, and more Dementors swept their way down a fourth corridor.

Tonks ran forwards to pick up the slack and her silver chameleon rippled its way out of her wand. Though small it scuttled rapidly around the air much faster than a regular chameleon could ever go, its silver tongue lashing out to bop Dementors in the head and almost blast them backwards like it was using a bullwhip!

"Do we have any idea where they might be keeping Cana or Erza!?" Emmeline shouted.

"Most likely in the maximum security part of the prison - dead in the middle!" Kingsley replied.

"Hang on!" Moody's eye swivelled around in his head, probing the walls before he cried, "Yep, I see 'em! Cana's up three flights and in Cell… 287! Erza's a few corridors away in Cell 264! And I see Lucius! He's almost upon them! They'll start freeing the prisoners soon!"

"This way!" Kingsley shouted - he'd been to Azkaban enough times to know his way around. He took point, his lynx rushing ahead of him to claw the Dementors aside. Lupin's wolf and Tonks' chameleon rushed in past the running Order members to join them as they ran past the cell doors of bemused and terrified prisoners within, while Moody's bear brought up the rear. The Dementors swarming in pursuit, prompting the bear to turn around several times to push them backwards with mighty swings of its see-through paws but there were so many Dementors swarming all over the place that their negative effects were seeping past the Patronuses, battering at the minds of each and every member.

Tonks found herself suddenly remembering the time when her grandfather had died, while Lupin almost keeled over for a moment as he was bombarded with a mental image, just for half a second, of a terrifying lycanthropic beast - Fenrir Greyback - launching himself at him. But even as the wolf and the chameleon rippled slightly from their wielders loss of concentration, two more Patronuses exploded into life. A beaver shot out of Emmeline's wand and a donkey out of Hestia's, both of them rushing over to join Moody's bear, filling the passageways with silver mist from the beaver, which seemed to raise a wall before it like a dam while the donkey reared up and flailed its legs to beat them back. You could almost hear it braying!

The Order members made quick progress but Tonks was forced to call back her chameleon as they bypassed other corridors with more Dementors coming in from the side, beating them back until they'd passed and they could join the throng of Dementors coming from behind. But the Dementors were rapidly learning and as their numbers continued to grow, the Patronuses found it ever harder to maintain themselves.

Eventually the group had almost ground to a halt and in the worst possible place - another junction of several corridors and a couple of staircases. The Dementors surged at them from at least five directions at once, forcing each Patronus to continuously charge and whirl around to block one corridor except for Lupin's wolf which dashed around between them.

"We've… got to get them… off our backs!" Emmeline gasped, sweat running down her back as her beaver fought valiantly on. "We can't have them pressing down on us like this the whole time."

"We're gonna be overrun," Tonks agreed. "I'm really beginning to understand why this place is a hellhole!"

"Yeah, but I got a plan that should throw them off for a while!" Moody said. "Lupin, cover my corridor!" And he relinquished the Patronus so the bear fizzled out of existence. The Dementors started forwards until the wolf ran in to block their way and Moody stuck his wand forward to fire a powerful Reductor Curse through the wolf and Dementors both, slamming it into the stone of a nearby wall and blasting it to gravel which went spraying outwards to the sea below.

It was one of the outside walls of the prison! They were specially warded to prevent people from blasting their way through from the outside, but from the inside… that was fair game.

"Push them out!" Moody roared. "Push them out!"

Lupin didn't need telling twice and directed his wolf to pelt forwards like it was aiming to bring down a caribou. They fell back before its onslaught and were pushed backwards through the hole out into the open air. The Order ran down the corridor and past the hole, their Patronuses following them and the Dementors sweeping in to bring up the rear. But once the Dementors reached the hole the Patronuses turned back and drove a few more of them out.

At the same time Moody fired a streak of silver from his wand that shot through the crowd of Dementors and reformed into the bear on the other side of the throng. The Dementors at the back shrieked as the bear attacked them from behind, shoving them forwards into their comrades. Emmeline and Tonks were quick to get the idea and relinquished their own Patronuses, firing them through to reform and join Moody's bear in driving the Dementors forwards.

Trapped between two opposing forces, the Dementors had nowhere else to go but through the hole. They were herded into the outside, spilling through like water from a tap. The Patronuses barrelled out after them, scattering them through the sky before all six wizards and witches worked together to repair the damage to the wall, trapping them out above the sea.

Many of the group turned to look at Moody with a newfound respect in their eyes. Now they could see part of the reason he was such a renowned former Auror. As he reminded everyone often, he was constantly vigilant, and very quick to come up with a plan.

Of the people they knew from their own world, only Dumbledore would have made a better leader for the invasion of the prison.

"That won't hold 'em out forever," Moody growled. "They'll find other ways back in. Come on!"

* * *

Lucius could hear the sounds of combat coming from the lower levels and knew he would have to hurry. The Dementor vanguard before him was splitting off now, taking with them the keys and the drawers from the lobby. Lucius was quick to follow the biggest of the Dementors, watching as it inserted the key into the first of the doors it came across and unlocked it.

"Gah!" the Death Eater within cried out, covering his face with a clinking of chains as the Dementor wafted inside. "What the hell do you want!? I didn't do anything this time!"

"Relax Antonin" Lucius smirked as he stepped up to the door and the Dementor leaned over to begin unchaining the surprised black-haired man.

"Malfoy," Antonin Dolohov growled. "You cowardly weasel… what are you doing here?"

"Such vile language against a man here to break you out," Lucius shook his head. "Perhaps I should leave you here to rot. But no, I have my orders. Its been a long time in coming, but your rescue is finally here."

"Rescue?" Dolohov blinked, before his grin turned abruptly savage. "So then it was true. When we felt the Dark Mark burn… it really was the return of the Dark Lord…"

"Indeed. But there is no time for… pleasantries," Lucius said as Dolohov pushed himself to his feet. The blonde-haired man presented his fellow Death Eater with his wand, which he snatched up and clutched close in delight at finally having it back. "The Ministry may be acting imbecilic in their denial of his return but the Order of the Phoenix has still formed again. And several of its members are already within the prison, seeking to stop our escape."

"Then bring them on! I've been itching to kill something for years!"

"I expected nothing less. But we have also been tasked with taking the two Fairy Tail mages back to the Dark Lord. We must not disappoint him."

"I've heard about that lot. What's their deal anyway? They really from another universe?"

"Explanations must wait too. Come. Let us free our brethren."

Dolohov nodded as the two of them spilled out of the cell, the Dementor swishing past them to make for another. The maximum security prison was filled with the sounds of chains clanking uselessly to the floor as Death Eaters spilled out into the hallways, revelling in having their wands back and pulling up their ragged sleeves to inspect the writhing Dark Marks on their arms with delight. So many familiar faces to Lucius… Jugson, Travers, Rookwood, Mulciber… and soon the two brothers - Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange.

"Ah, I see that Azkaban hasn't agreed with you two," Lucius noted.

"It wouldn't have agreed with you either if you'd had the guts to take it on like we did," Rodolphus sneered at him.

"And yet if I had I would not have gained the influence over the Ministry that is now so helpful to the Dark Lord's designs. Where's your wife?"

"Not far. I hear her screeching most every day."

"Then let's…" Lucius started but it was right at that moment that Kingsley burst his way through a nearby door and launched a Stunning spell right at the clustered group. And despite how haggard they were after fifteen years behind bars, their instincts were still as sharp as ever. The Death Eaters sprang aside and Rodolphus instantly fired a killing curse at Kingsley, who turned around to seize Emmeline who was right behind him and rolled them both out of the way so it hit a wall behind them.

"Split up!" Lucius cried, swishing his wand in to fired a Blasting hex that sent bits of rubble falling from the ceiling above them. "Procure the mages or stay and fight! Pick your side now!" he yelled before he was forced to throw himself into a cell to dodge two rapid spells from Moody. The Death Eaters worked like a well-oiled machine, several of them splitting off to accompany the Dementors deeper into the facility while others fanned out through the corridors with intent to come from other directions.

"They're going for Cana and Erza!" Moody shouted, blocked a spell from Mulciber and sending one back that shattered the stonework to his right, his eye watching Travers, Jugson and Rookwood dashing off into the distance.

Tonks instantly dodged into a side-corridor. "We won't let them!" she yelled, dashing off in a whirl of robes and followed closely by Lupin and Hestia. Another Death Eater, Selwyn, rushed out of the corridor ahead of them and brandished his wand but both Lupin and Hestia fired Reductor Curses at the same time that made him dive right back down the hall he'd come from as the floor fractured with the blast.

Hestia wheeled to a stop before him and lashed out with two rapid Stunners, the first of which he blocked and the second of which he dodged. "I've got him! Go on ahead!" she yelled as the two began exchanged a fierce frenzy of flashing lights, their wand hands becoming blurs as they dodged madly from side to side.

Not far away, Kingsley was duelling three Death Eaters at once, taking fire from Dolohov, Lucius and Mulciber all at the same time and swishing his wand around to form constant shield charms and ducking behind a wall while each of them were taking cover behind a cell door, arching around it to send Killing Curses rocketing his way. Kingsley fired a spell at Mulciber's door that ripped it off its hinges and sent it crashing down on top of him, knocking him out, but then Dolohov's cutting curse tore its way across his arm before he could duck away again. He grunted and stumbled sideways in pain but he pushed himself back up to fight on.

Emmeline and Moody were advancing down another corridor, facing both the Lestrange brothers at the same time in a two-on-two. Moody, who couldn't dodge as fast in the tight space of the corridor, was holding up a Shield Charm, but a special one that blocked spells from only one direction and allowing Emmeline to rattle off spell after spell that peppered the corridor or the quick shields of the other two. At one point, another Death Eater named Gibbon appeared in the distance and ran forwards towards the action but Rabastan deflected one of Emmeline's Stunners to send it crashing straight into Gibbon, knocking him out instantly and sending him crumpling to the floor.

But then two Killing Curses streaked forwards towards Moody, and Emmeline dove sideways to impact his side and carry the both of them to the floor, the curses streaking just overhead. But even as Mad-Eye fell he fired an Impediment Jinx that struck Rabastan, while at the same time Rodolphus fired another spell that at first seemed to do nothing… until Emmeline seized Moody's neck and started trying to choke him! Moody gasped, recognisingg the glazed look of the Imperius Curse in Emmeline's eyes and roaring, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Emmeline's limbs snapped into her sides as she fell to the floor, squirming madly, and Moody clawed himself up the wall, blocking another spell from Rodolphus and returning fire with a blast of smoke from his wand that engulfed the corridor, blinding Rodolphus as Moody hauled Emmeline into the nearest cell and began muttering the counter-curse for the Imperius under his breath.

They were being heavily reminded as to why this lot were the elite among Death Eaters.

And the most elite of them all had yet to join the fight. But as Moody worked, he heard the cackling in the distance that let him know the horrible truth.

Bellatrix Lestrange was free.

* * *

Seizing her wand gleefully from Rookwood, Bellatrix danced out of her cell and screeched with laughter, sending spells shooting all over the place just because she could to splinter stone and pockmark her old wooden door. "At last! At last!" she squealed delightedly. "I knew he would come for me! I knew he would return for his loyal supporters!"

She ran over to the nearby cell door and looked in through the tiny window for a moment before using a spell to rip it open at the wall without waiting for the key. "What about you, Fairy Tail girl, huh?" she crowed to the shivering brunette within. "Your friends going to come for you?"

Cana shivered and thrashed from side to side, her cold sweat more powerful than ever. The nearby Dementor was focusing all its feeding attentions on her instead of its newfound Death Eater allies and she gasped and yanked on the reinforced chains in an agony of self-anguish.

Those thoughts… those same thoughts of inadequacy were bombarding her again! 'I'll never be worthy of him,' 'I'm just leftovers,' 'I can't even become S-Class…' All things she'd thought but stronger than they'd ever been. It was like they were a physical weight on her mind and shoulders both, pushing her down to the ground as a state of deep depression filled her up from within once more.

"Got nothing to say?" Bellatrix snarled. "I asked you a question, bitch! Answer me! Crucio!"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Cana screeched, lurching back in the chains to fall on her side and thrash about in agony - it was like a thousand red-hot needles were stabbing into her all over… through her entire body. Even her bones seemed to be searing with pain as she flailed wildly about. Bellatrix cackled delightedly, revelling in the torment she hadn't been able to deliver in a long time and watching as Cana's writhing caused one of the chains to wrap around her neck slightly, cutting off her air.

But then a scream behind her cut off her enjoyment and she whirled around to see Rookwood get blasted backwards by a powerful Stunning spell. Bolting out of the door, Bellatrix saw another rocketing in towards her and she sprang backwards and aside, only to see another shooting for her face. This one she blocked with a quick slash of her wand and she snarled at the young woman racing in towards her with one arm outstretched.

"Who the hell are you!?"

"What's the matter, Auntie Bella? Don't recognise your own niece?" Tonks growled, dashing forward to rattle off spell after spell that forced Bellatrix to erect a shield that spanned the entire corridor to take them all.

"Niece?" she hissed. "Cissy has no daughter. Then…" her eyes widened. "Andromeda! You're Andromeda's brat!"

Tonks' hair turned blood red as she thrust her wand outwards to generate a sudden blizzard from the tip - snow rushing out down the passageway to batter against Bellatrix's shield. Bella waved her wand to redirect the snow around herself and retaliated with a swift duo of Killing Curses, forcing Tonks to drop and roll as they skewed past her shoulder, coming out of the roll to cast a Summoning Charm on the door behind Bellatrix, ripping it from the wall and sending it thundering towards her back.

Bellatrix heard it coming and leapt into a spinning duck, catching the door with her magic and sending it spinning over her head to rocket towards Tonks. She blasted it to wooden shards with a Reductor Curse but another Killing Curse came rocketing through it straight afterwards. Tonks dodged aside again, the green light narrowly missing her hand and Tonks suddenly found the door shards firing right at her as well like spears. Throwing up a Shield Charm, she was able to send them clattering to the floor instead but a swinging Cutting Spell from Bellatrix put a crack in the hasty shield.

"Tonks!" Lupin cried as he ran up behind her.

"I'm fine! Leave her to me!" Tonks growled, but suddenly her legs buckled and she fell to the floor, Lupin stumbling as well as the Dementor homed in on them, sending shivers down their spines as it opened its arms wide, as if seeking to pull them into its soul-sucking embrace. Tonks coughed and struggled back to her feet, but a silver wolf streaked past her shoulder and pounced on the Dementor shoving it backwards and away with a screech before carrying on to throw itself at Bellatrix, who slashed her wand and send it into a smoky silver explosion.

"I said leave her to me!" Tonks gritted her teeth. "You go help Cana!" she said before reinforcing her Shield Charm and banishing it right down the corridor, slamming Bellatrix backwards with it like it was a giant invisible fist. But Bellatrix quickly recovered with a roll and growled as Tonks ran forwards past Cana's door towards her. The two engaged in a rapid fire blur of spell upon spell, dancing from side to side as the air between them filled with so many projectiles that Lupin couldn't keep track of what was happening.

Lupin had always known Tonks was capable, but he'd never realised how much so. Especially since she was currently the youngest Auror in the entire Ministry. She was a spectacular fighter, not anything like the clumsy, joking young woman he'd come to know at Grimmauld Place.

But Bellatrix seemed to be giving just as good as she was getting and at the moment he couldn't tell who was better!

However he did as Tonks bid, running to the door of Cana's cell and rushing through the door to where she was almost choking herself as she shivered and sobbed. "Relashio!" he shouted and the chains spilt open, ripping out of the wall to collapse in a heap on the ground. Cana didn't react to her sudden freedom until Lupin knelt down beside her to unwind the chain from her neck, casting it aside.

"Who… who are…?"

"It's alright… it's alright, Cana. My name is Remus Lupin and I'm a friend of Sirius'. I'm here to get you to safety. To get you back to your father."

"My… father…?"

"Yes, your father. Gildarts Clive. He's waiting for you."

"…I'm not worthy…" Cana whimpered, sagging to the ground and staring hollowly at a piece of the wall. "He doesn't deserve me for a daughter… I'm just… I'm just… a failure."

"Don't say that. Of course you're not a failure."

"All I do is fail…" Cana sniffed, her eyes beginning to water. "I failed to become S-Class four times… I abandoned my friend on a battlefield so I could get there… I couldn't beat someone even with Fairy Glitter… fail, fail, fail…"

Remus ground his teeth. This was far from what he'd been told about Cana - he'd been told she was usually extremely cheerful, exuberant, bold… the life of the party at almost all times. He had a feeling that he knew what was happening though. Her past failures were among the worst memories she had been forced to constantly relive by the Dementors and even though there was no one beside her, being in their presence for so long had forced her to focus on them and thrust into an uncharacteristic depression. Not to mention the fact it often took a while for the effects of a Dementor's presence to vanish anyway.

But considering their situation, they couldn't afford for her to be depressed right now!

So he opted for the next part of the plan and reached into his shabby robes, pulling out a small handheld mirror. It was Sirius' mirror - one of two in his possession which the Marauders had used at Hogwarts many a time to help co-ordinate their next prank.

And the other mirror was currently being held by…

"Gildarts."

Immediately Gildarts' face appeared in the mirror, practically shoved right up against it. "What's happening? What's going on in there?"

"We've got Cana," Lupin replied. "She's okay but… I think you need to talk to her. Now."

"…Father…?" Cana looked up, blinking at the sound of Gildarts' voice. Lupin pressed the mirror into her hand and Cana blinked when she saw who she was looking at.

"Cana… are you hurt? Did they harm you in any way? If they did then I swear I'll blast every last one of them into atoms."

"…You wouldn't have been captured…" Cana moaned, sagging down against the floor once more.

"Huh?" Gildarts blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"You wouldn't have been caught by those things. You would have just powered through every last one of them and left nothing standing behind you. You're… you're far more powerful than I could ever hope to be. You deserve so much better than me, Father. You deserve Erza or Mirajane or Juvia for a daughter… and instead you got the dregs. I'm sorry… I'm… I'm so sorry that I'm so useless."

Gildarts was momentarily stunned. She'd actually felt that? Those things… had been in Cana's mind all the years he'd known her? He'd had no idea! When Cana had revealed that he was her father to him she hadn't mentioned any of this - she'd only mentioned that she hadn't been able to bring herself to tell him. She'd never actually said why. And then of course Acnologia had struck the island mere minutes afterwards so he'd had no time to find out.

He felt a sudden rush of affection for the girl swoop through his body, as well as a surge of sorrow that he'd never been there for her. Of course he hadn't known they were related but still… he felt he probably should have figured it out somewhere down the line.

"Every time you looked at me…" he said. "Is that what you thought? Did you really feel that way for all the time you've known me?"

"…Yes…" Cana hiccoughed. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm not good enough for you."

"No!" Gildarts said emphatically, gripping the handle of the mirror so hard that for a moment he was in danger of shattering it, even without his Crash Magic. "Don't you say that. Don't you dare say or think that ever again, Cana. You're more than good enough for me. In fact… if anything, I'm not good enough for you."

"Huh?" Cana looked up, eyes wide. "What… what do you mean?"

Gildarts' lip curled into a warm but sad smile. "I was never around. It's not in my nature to stay still for too long. And because of that I neglected your mother, even though I loved her dearly. I just kept swanning off into the distance and didn't come back for months on end. I was such a terrible husband that I didn't even know I had a daughter. I could have found out easily. You were alive for six whole years after your mother left me. But I never wrote to her. I never asked how she was doing. I didn't even know Cornelia had died until months after it had actually happened. Yeah, sure… I'm strong. But what good is strength if it leads you to neglect your duties as a man?

"But you, Cana… when your friends need you, you're there. You support people, you help them to have fun, you keep them close. And that's infinitely more important than strength."

Cana blinked, her eyes pricking with tears that were threatening to spill their way down her cheeks.

"Regardless of that, you are far stronger than you've given yourself credit for," Gildarts went on. "Perhaps you've just had some bad match-ups now and then but you're far from weak. And even if you were, you carry the true spirit of Fairy Tail. Anyone who Mavis is willing to bestow Fairy Glitter upon is the worthiest person I can think of to be my child."

"…Father…" Cana sniffed, the tears finally spilling over.

"And just so you know, Cana… I would give up every ounce of my power in an instant if I had to, just to see you smile. I asked you, back on Tenroujuma, for the right to love you. And I meant that… the right! You think I would ask you for permission if I didn't think you were worthy of me? I accept you as my daughter fully! It is I you asks you to accept me as a father. And I swear to you, I will try my utmost to be a better father to you than I ever was a husband to your mother."

Cana screwed up her eyes, trying hard not to sob as a wave of happiness she hadn't felt since the island swelled up inside her chest. And Lupin couldn't stop himself from smiling as he watched. He could practically see the effects of the Dementors washing away from her beneath Gildarts words.

"So… I ask you one more time, Cana… can I have the right… the privilege… to call you my daughter!"

"Yes!" Cana shouted, all but hugging the mirror. "Yes, absolutely yes. I'm sorry, father… I'm sorry."

"You never have to apologise to me. Never again, you understand?" Gildarts said, wishing with all his heart that he could reach into the mirror and hug her once more. "Now listen… I know that I've only just started to fill my fatherly shoes but… the facility you're in… Erza is in there to."

"Erza…" Cana breathed, wiping up her tears.

"Yes. And she needs you. She needs a friend in there to help her through what those Dementors are doing to her. She needs someone with the true Spirit of Fairy Tail. So… as your father… I ask you now to stand. Rise up… and use all the power at your disposal to bring Erza to safety! And to come back to me!"

"…Yes…" Cana nodded, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "Yes… you're right…"

Gildarts smiled. "You ready to due your duty, Cana?"

"HELL YEAH!" Cana surged to her feet, her eyes blazing and her fists clenching. "Watch me Father. I gave you the right to love me… now I'm gonna make you proud of me!"

"That's my girl."

Lupin smiled as he took the mirror off Cana and said, "Hold tight, Gildarts. We'll be out soon," before stashing the mirror away in his robes. He turned to Cana and added, "If those Dementors come at you again, think to the happiest memory you have. Really focus on it. Anchor it into yourself and don't let it go. It'll make it harder for them to affect you."

"Got it!" Cana nodded. "But… I don't have my cards…"

"Tonks has got them. We just have to…"

"AAAHH!"

The scream came from outside and both Cana and Lupin immediately bolted through the door in time to see Tonks clutching a bloodied hand. The corridor beneath her had been turned into some kind of bog which she was wedged knee deep into and Bellatrix was cackling as the raised her wand to strike the final blow.

Lupin acted instantly and yelled, "Accio Cards!" The entire deck erupted out of Tonk's robes and flew through the air towards Cana in a mad jumble, but Cana bolted forwards and stretched out her hand, summoning every one of them into it like they were magnetised, pulling two of them out of the deck to yell:-

"**BAKUEN!"**

She flung three cards down the corridor like throwing knives, all of them transforming into huge fireballs as they went. The middle of these intercepted Bellatrix's Avada Kedavra spell and cancelled it out while the other to blitzed in towards her, forcing her to raise a shield but the blowback from the fireballs impacting on it still throwing her back into the wall. Lupin quickly took the opportunity to levitate Tonks out of the mud with a wet squelch.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Tonks nodded. "Least she didn't hit my wand hand."

"You…" Bellatrix snarled as she vaulted to her feet, a crazed look in her eyes that made her look almost rabid. "DIE!" she screamed as she launched a veritable flurry of green curses down the corridor in a constant bombardment. Cana lifted up three more cards - she didn't know what those spells did but she knew she probably didn't want to find out.

"**RAKURAI NO UNMEI!" **she shouted as she swept her hands out, instantly triggering a violent lightning storm to blast its way down the corridor, the electricity bolts impacting the green lights and fizzling them out as the rest of it surged its way in towards Bellatrix. She gasped and uttered a spell to transform her wand into a lighting rod, absorbing the attack with visible effort as she was sent skidding back down the passageway.

"NNNGNGH!" she gritted her teeth as she bore the attack through to the end, before spinning around to fling a hurricane force wind down the passageway. Cana, Remus and Tonks were all scooped right off their feet and tossed back like rag dolls, but Cana swept her hand forwards to shout, **"WIND EDGE!"** to create a similar blast of wind that rushed against Bellatrix's spell and strained against it, the two attacks pushing hard against each other's before Cana's suddenly won through, overpowering Bellatrix's own and forcing her to dive into her own old cell to avoid being swept away. She immediately surged out to find five cards zinging towards her like shurikens. Mad flicks of her wand allowed her to repel them all but Cana was already running in towards her, Lupin and Tonks flanking her as they charged.

As a last ditch effort, Bellatrix thrust her wand straight into the ground and generated a wave of what appeared to be mud or sludge that surged down the corridor like a slow-motion (but still reasonably fast) tidal wave. Cana pulled to a halt but Tonks and Lupin ran past her, casting a combined shield charm that barricaded the entire passage so the sludge washed up against it, piling up and seeking to break its way through. Which was all the time Cana needed to slap one card down upon the ground and shout:- **"INORIKO NO FUNSUI!"**

The Prayer's Fountain water attacked surged its way forward like it was fired from a cannon, crashing into the back of the shield charm which was promptly lowered to allow it to splurge into the sludge, ripping it apart and sending a backlash of liquid directly at Bellatrix. This time she was unprepared for it and the blast caught her full in the stomach, launching her back down the corridor and sending her rolling, winded and gasping for breath. She was quick to push herself back up to a kneeling position but only a quick dive saved her from the Stunners that were sent her way as the attacking trio converged on her again.

But then suddenly four Dementors whooshed their way out of a side passage between them, twisting around to converge on Cana and the Order members. Cana immediately stumbled in her step, almost falling to the ground at the wash of cold but this time she threw up a barrier in her mind even as she stepped back. She forcibly replayed her father's words from just now in her head and the suddenly felt the effects of the foul creatures dull.

However, he still didn't know how to beat them. Most of her attacks in her previous encounter with them in the streets hadn't had the slightest affect on them.

But the wolf and chameleon that bolted past her helped to answer her question. Her eyes widened as they fell back under the onslaught of the silver animals, turning to look at Tonks and Lupin who's faces were set in concentration as the Dementors were routed backwards.

"How are you doing that?" she asked.

"Patronuses are a positive force that can repel a Dementor!" Lupin explained. "They don't have a soul or feelings so a Dementor cannot affect them. They're the only things that really do."

"…Really?" Cana mused, then her eyes widened when she saw another Dementor approaching from behind them, rattling as it converged on Tonk's back without her realising. But Cana dodged back between them, keeping her father's words in her mind to beat back the Dementors effects as she threw four cards out that landed right before the Dementor with a smoky poof.

"**SEKUSHI ONEESAN KADO!"** Cana grinned. And suddenly… there were four women in bikinis surrounding the Dementor - all with different coloured hair and all with different coloured swimsuits. And they all launched themselves at the Dementor to glomp it from all sides, seizing its body, its arms, and one even wrapping her hands around its neck! The Dementor looked about as shocked as was possible for a faceless creature to look, screeching as it reeled back, flailing its limbs in a bid to get the women off, but they just pressed themselves in against it, pulling at it like they were having a tug of war with one another and eventually falling over, bearing it to the ground where they pinned it down beneath their combined weight.

"Er… what?" Lupin blinked.

"Hey, whatever works, right?" Cana tossed her hair slightly with a mildly embarrassed grin. "Those women aren't real so they aren't affected by it either. At least that was what I was banking on. Let's just… leave it there and move on before the spell wears off."

"Oooookay…" Tonks murmured, turning back to where Bellatrix had been and finding that she'd vanished. She'd probably taken advantage of the Dementor's distraction to rush off and recuperate. "Still, that was something. That woman is You-Know-Who's top general, easily one of his best fighters, and you were matching her… overpowering her even."

"No time for that now, we have to find Erza. Where is she?"

A sudden scream in the distance answered that question for Cana. "ERZA!" she yelled and dashed forwards, Tonks and Lupin hard on her heels leaving the confused Dementor behind.

* * *

Gildarts clenched his fist and gritted his teeth as he looked up at the prison. Dementors were swirling their way around it to find their way back in after they'd been pushed out, and every so often he could hear a distant explosion. His feet were itching to move, to rush forwards and get in there… to do something… but he knew better not to. There were a lot of people in there who he could potentially injure if he went in, including his own daughter. This wasn't a situation where he could just bring the building down and have done with it.

So he waited… on tenterhooks… waiting for something to happen… any sign that his daughter and Erza were okay.

CRACK!

Gildarts spun around - that was the sound of someone Apparating into existence right behind him. And sure enough, suddenly there were two men standing on the platform beside him.

One was Gawain Robards…

And the other man, who was holding him by the neck with one hand and the wrist in the other so that he could hold Gawain's wand hand out of the way but still allow Apparition said, "This is where that girl is?" right before he spotted Gildarts.

"YOU!" Gildarts snarled at the exact same time as the man. For the man was dressed in a blue and black robe with a red sash around his waist, had a slightly hooked nose an immensely long black hair tied back in a ponytail with dark green cloth that ran down almost its entire length.

The man was Bluenote Stinger. The self-same man from Grimoire Heart that Gildarts had faced off against on Tenroujima. The man who had been about to kill his daughter before he'd stepped into the fight.

"Gildarts!" Bluenote growled, flinging Gawain aside so his head impacted against a boulder, knocking him out. "I was led straight to you?"

"What are you doing here?" Gildarts asked with wide eyes searing. "You shouldn't be here! This doesn't make any sense! How can you possibly be in this world too?"

"Why am I here?" Bluenote grinned as he cracked his knuckles eagerly. "I am not sure where here is… but this is surely a fated rematch indeed. This time I shall fly… and you shall be the one sent flying away!"

Gildarts had no time to asking any further questions before Bluenote hurled himself forwards with a heavy fist swinging straight for his face!


	37. Azkaban Descends

Okay so… a huuuuuge apology for the delay to this chapter. Suffice to say real life got in the way and whenever I got a chance to sit down and do a bit of writing something else would call me away again very quickly until it became hard to motivate myself to write at all. But no matter what happens or how slow I end up being, I will not stop this story - you have my word on that. Still, I'm hoping things will speed up again soon nevertheless and I hope that this chapter is worth the wait.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 37:- Azkaban Descends**

* * *

"Wow, we really flew a long way, didn't we?" Natsu marvelled as he gazed out across the distant landscape below. "I was so focused on following your scent on the way up here, Lisanna, that I didn't really notice it."

"At least on the way up with you didn't almost get into a fight with a gigantic metal bird thing," Happy sweatdropped slightly. "What did they call it… a plane?"

"It came out of nowhere at us!" Natsu grunted, folding his arms and glowering like a petulant child. "How was I supposed to know it was just transportation in the air!"

"It's a good thing your motion sickness can tell the difference between an animal and a machine or those people inside it would have been in serious trouble."

"Animals aren't transportation. They're friends, right Lisanna?" Natsu turned to look at his aerial companion, only to find her with a distant look in her eye, staring straight ahead but not particularly looking at anything. Natsu frowned. Clearly she hadn't been taking in a word that they'd been saying and this was the third time on the journey back to London that he'd seen that expression on her face. Whatever had happened during the period that Natsu and Happy had been unconscious back there, it was clearly something big. And it was really weighing on Lisanna's mind.

"Lisanna?" he prompted, causing her to start out of her reverie.

"Huh? Did you say something?" she blinked.

"Are you okay?" Natsu's face became much more serious. "Is there something bothering you?"

"Yes and no…" Lisanna shook her head. "It's just… no, it's not that important really."

"You know you can talk to me about anything right? If there's something on your mind, I'll listen to it… I might not get it, but I'll listen."

Lisanna smiled gratefully. 'You're wrong, Natsu,' she thought. 'This is the one thing I can't talk to you about… not yet anyway.'

"I appreciate that, but don't worry about me," Lisanna said. "It's nothing to worry about, really. I guess I'm just… stunned at what's happened to me," she looked down at herself and the armour casing covering her chest, waist and arms, her clawed feet and her whipping tail. "Let's just concentrate on getting back. The others are probably really worried."

Natsu nodded. He could tell there was a little more to it than that, but he decided not to push it. The two of them flew on side by side in silence for a few more minutes… before Natsu suddenly frowned and lifted his head, his nostrils twitching slightly.

"Lisanna…" he said slowly. "Do you smell that?"

* * *

Gildarts barely had time to raise his hand up and catch the incoming punch, still reeling in shock at the fact that Bluenote Stinger was even here in this universe at all. Surely he had not come here under the protection of a Fairy Sphere like the rest of them so how had he managed to get here.

But questions would have to wait and his arm shot up so Bluenote's punch slammed straight into the palm of his hand, a colossal gravity wave surging up around the ace of Grimoire Heart's fist to pulse Gildarts backwards like a tennis ball from a racquet. He was sent flying up the causeway towards the main gates but even in mid-air he managed to twist around and dig the fingers of his fake arm into the ground, arresting his trajectory and allowing him to plant his feet down and square off against his newfound opponent.

"What's the matter Gildarts?" Bluenote taunted as he swept his arms up to uproot two stone sections of the causeway beneath his opponent's feet, splitting them away from the rest of the rock and slamming them up around Gildarts like a pair of crocodile jaws slamming shut. "Have you lost your nerve since last we fought!?"

Reacting on instinct, Gildarts jumped back against one of the closing jaws and shattered it with his Crash Magic, using the momentum of the blast to power him straight through the other one with a cascade of gravel and swing his fist in towards Bluenote's face like an oncoming meteor. Bluenote instantly redirected his gravity to send Gildarts crashing to the ground, but Gildarts was able to slam his hand down first and swing out foot out wide in an upside-down roundhouse kick that cannoned into Bluenote's jaw.

"GWWAAHH!" Bluenote roared as he was sent flinging to the side. And given they were on such a small island he was sent shooting out over the ocean!

"Oh look, you're flying," Gildarts observed dryly.

But before Bluenote could crash into the water, he swung himself around and suddenly reversed trajectory entirely, coming shooting back straight towards Gildarts without even touching anything - he had altered the flow of gravity around him to the side so he was essentially falling in the wrong direction. Thundering back in towards Gildarts he tucked his arms in to his sides and aimed himself down headfirst!

Gildarts prepared to summon his Crash Magic, but hesitated, glancing back at the unconscious Auror off to the side. He knew he could parry Bluenote's attack but if he did so he would shatter the small piece of land they were currently standing on and fling him out into the ocean!

"Crap!" Gildarts grunted, crossing his arms and taking the blow head-on. Another huge gravity pulse rocketed out of Bluenote as his head collided with Gildarts' wrists and sent him blasting back and out to sea himself. But at the last possible second before he was sent shooting away, Gildarts seized Bluenote's long ponytail in one hand and dragged him out to sea with him with a roar of pain. The both of them tumbled over one another, each swinging a fist in that collided with the others' and pulsed them apart, crashing into the waves and submerging them both in a shower of spray.

Gildarts spun around beneath the water, spotting Bluenote in the distance twisting himself upright. The both of them looked down and could see absolutely nothing but darkness - Azkaban was situated on top of a sea-mount with an incredibly steep slope. And Bluenote grinned viciously as he thrust his hands out towards Gildarts. Gravity instantly intensified around him, overcoming his body's natural buoyancy to send him shooting straight down into the depths.

"MMGHH!" Gildarts gasped bubbles as he plummeted straight downwards, his ears practically bursting as they struggled to equalise the pressure. Bluenote was rapidly lost to sight as darkness enveloped him and it didn't take long before his body started to feel the weight of the water on top of him, intensified by the gravity manipulation. If he kept going down like this it wouldn't long before he'd end up being crushed like a coke can.

What could he do? Water was not something his Crash magic would be that effective on, at least not when he was actually inside such a vast amount, as it would quickly reform around him if he tried to disintegrate it.

But no… there was something. Gathering his hands together even as his lungs were being crushed beneath the weight of the ocean, he thrust them downwards with all his strength, his magic searing to the surface and shooting out his palms to generate a colossal explosion of Crash energy! A gigantic spherical waterless hole appeared underneath the ocean, expanding rapidly in size and creating something akin to an underwater tidal wave that slammed into Gildarts from below and sent him shooting straight back upwards like an arrow from a bow.

Bluenote had breached the surface by this point when he heard the blast beneath him. He plunged his head down to take a look and his eyes widened at the sight of Gildarts thundering in towards him with fist raised back. Bluenote had no time to react before the Fairy Tail ace's knuckles rammed into his jaw, the both of them blasting up through the surface in a single geyser of water that sent a few Dementors up above scattering to either side.

But despite the blow, Bluenote was able to avoid being sent flying by grabbing hold of Gildart's cloak. The two grappled and punched at each other as they plummeted back to the ground until Gildarts managed to hammer Bluenote in the top of the head, tearing him free and sending him crashing down into the rocky causeway below with enough force to put a crater in it.

"NNNGHH!" Bluenote gasped in pain, gritting his teeth furiously but pushing him back up to his feet. It had been a blow that would have shattered every bone in the body of an average person to dust, but aside from a few bruises Bluenote was no worse for wear. He watched as Gildarts landed on the other side of the large gap they'd created in the causeway, staring each other down across it.

"This is the point where I would usually break out my Black Hole spell," Bluenote acknowledged. "But you've already proven that you are a match for it. I will not make the same mistake again."

"Let me ask you something," Gildarts glowered. "From your perspective… how long has it been since you and I last fought?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just answer the question."

"Only a few weeks. It's serendipitous that we could encounter each other again so quickly."

"…So not six years for you then?"

"What?" Bluenote frowned. "Why the hell would it have been six years?"

"Because apparently that's how long it really has been. My guild members were frozen in time within a protective magical shield. But if you had been within that shield, the First Master would surely have noticed and told us that you were here too. So why are you in this world?"

"You're talking nonsense, Gildarts," Bluenote growled. "Nonsense I do not have time for!" And he swept his arm up to uproot the entire miniature island that Gildarts was standing on, flipping it upside down in the air. Gildarts spun around in time to see the unconscious body of Gawain being flung away and he cursed as he blasted the ground beneath his feet, sending him shooting downwards to see the Auror around the waist with one arm, flipping over Bluenote's head to land on the causeway behind him.

Bluenote directed the flying piece of island to send it crashing down towards Gildarts like a meteor. Dropping Gawain unceremoniously to the ground, Gildarts hammered his fist up to strike the massive projectile head-on, shattering it into a hundred pieces that were sent flying at Bluenote, who instantly re-directed them back again. Gildarts lashed his hands out to create a lattice of white lines in the air that sliced through the rocks, reducing them to pebbles that bombarded him, but he swept them aside and thundered in towards Bluenote once more, brimming with such a large amount of Crash Magic that he was taking large chunks out of the causeway wherever he put his feet down!

The Grimoire Heart ace rushed in to meet him, and the mighty crashing sound that came from their heads ramming together made the stonework of Azkaban itself judder!

* * *

Travers and Jugson stumbled to the side as the floor rocked beneath them a little, the two Death Eaters almost dropping their wands as they spun around wildly, expecting whoever had made the floor judder to come charging around a corner at any moment, but there was nothing.

"What the hell is going on our there?" Jugson rasped as he pushed himself back off the wall. "This place is becoming even more of a madhouse than it already was!"

"Never mind that now - we have to get those… mages," Travers replied. "If that's the Dark Lord's command then that's what we're going to do. Damn, I wish I knew where I was going in here."

"It's not like we were ever given a map," Jugson muttered, the two of them hurrying forward until their bodies were suddenly flooded with that horrible wave of cold that they'd become so familiar with over the course of their imprisonment here. Two Dementors drifted down the stairs up ahead, dragging between them a woman with long hair so red that it would have made poppies turn green with envy. She was almost comatose except for the fact her eyes were open, staring at nothing and gasping for breath, muttering over and over…

"Rob-ojiichan… No… no, please… don't… get out of the way… Simon, why! Why… Nng… Mother… Father… please, come back…"

"Is this one of them?" Travers asked as he hurried over to the ghostly guards. "One of those… Fairy Tail women?"

The closest Dementor nodded soundlessly, but for its terrifying breathing.

"Heh, she doesn't look so tough. Look at her whimpering like that," Jugson crowed, sneering down at Erza and gripping the top of her head to pull her up a little and look her in the eye. Erza seemed to look right through him, not even registering his presence as she whimpered and cried for an end to her torment.

"The Dark Lord wants to get hold of someone as pathetic as this?" the Death Eater snorted derisively.

"Don't be a fool. You know as well as I do that its your past experiences that determine how a Dementor affects you, not how strong you are," Travers scolded his companion. "Hurry, we have to take her back and find a way out of here!"

The two Death Eaters hurried pell-mell through the corridors, the Dementors dragging Erza along behind them like she was a piece of meat, delighting in sucking all the joy out of her to leave her with nothing but the death and misery of her past. It wasn't long before the sounds of combat up ahead began ringing in their ears, raucous shouts and the sounds of spells ricocheting off the walls indicating they were getting close to where their companions were battling against the Order.

But…

"ERZA!" a voice echoed from the doorway behind them and both the Death Eaters whipped around to see a brunette woman come charging down towards them like a hound on a scent. Blasts of silver erupted on either side of her and an incorporeal wolf and chameleon swam through the air on either side of her to hurl themselves at the Dementors. The insidious creatures squealed and released their grip on Erza's arms, the redhead falling to the ground with an unceremonious crash to her front, while Travers and Jugson were forced to dodge to either side to avoid the Dementors slamming right into them as the Patronuses drove them away down the corridor.

"Get her!" Travers yelled, dodging forwards and flinging a pair of Blasting Hexes right at the incoming Cana. Whipping two cards from her pouch, Cana swerved aside to avoid the first as it blew a chunk out of the corridor behind them but then she lashed out at the other one with the card in her left hand and yelled, **"MAHO HANSHA!"** The Blasting Hex vanished into the card and then shot straight out of the other one, reflecting back down the corridor to send Travers diving for cover as it took a chunk out of the wall next to him.

Jugson stepped in and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" The invisible spell struck Cana head-on but in the moment before it did so, she had already flung four more cards down the hallway like shurikens. As her arms snapped to her sides and her legs sprang together, the cards pasted themselves over the walls on either side of the two Death Eaters and blasts of lightning rippled out, sparking between all four cards to light up the corridor with their voltage.

Both Travers and Jugson roared in pain as the electricity poured through their bodies, in high enough quantities to actually shatter Jugson's wand. Travers' only remained intact because he'd dropped it when he dove for cover, but the lightning attack caused both to keel over into unconsciousness, breaking the paralysis spell over Cana just as she was keeling over, so she could spin over and catch land on all fours instead of flat on her back.

"Well you certainly don't mess around, that's for sure," Lupin observed as he and Tonks hurried to catch up. "That's certainly seems to be a common trait of Fairy Tail mages that I've observed."

Cana didn't respond - instead opting to run over to Erza and kneel down beside her, gripping her shoulders and rolling her onto her back. "Erza! Erza, can you hear me!? Are you okay!?

"No… no, please… don't… kill me instead! Kill me, not them!" Erza wailed, thrashing from side to side feebly in Cana's arms and tears streaking down her face.

"Erza, snap out of it!" Cana cried, shaking her slightly as Lupin and Tonks caught up with her, the former kneeling down on Erza's other side to examine her closely. "What's wrong with you! The Dementors are gone now!"

"Yes, but the stronger the effect they have, the longer it takes for it to wear off," Lupin said, as Tonks gripped Travers' feet and dragged him towards an empty cell nearby. "And if the effect is particularly bad for too long… sometimes people never recover from it."

"…What are you saying?" Cana breathed hoarsely. "That she could be like this… forever?"

"I don't believe so - normally it takes weeks for someone to lose their minds to the effects of a Dementor… but this is a particularly strong case. I'm amazed that she's still conscious. But… I would steel yourself for the possibility that she could be mentally scarred for life after this."

"No, not Erza. Never Erza," Cana shook her head. "No matter what kind of crap gets thrown at her, she always manages to bounce back eventually. She just needs time, that's all."

"I hope you're right," Lupin nodded. "Let's get her out of here and give her some chocolate - that's usually helpful in repelling the effects of the Dementors."

"Right," Cana nodded, and scooped Erza up in her arms, easily throwing her over one shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Don't worry, Erza, I'm going to get you out of here."

"No… no, please… we have to fight… we have to free Jellal…" was Erza's only response. By this point Tonks had dragged Jugson through as well with a little help from a levitation spell and locked the door behind them to keep them in there.

"Looks like things are going pretty well so far," she observed. "They'd be going better if dear old Auntie Bella hadn't given us the slip but we've got both of the Fairy Tail mages who were imprisoned in here. Let's get out of here and get you back to the others."

"It would still be better if we can stop as many Death Eaters as possible from escaping," Lupin observed.

"Point me to the enemies and I'll show them what Fairy Tail mages are really capable of," Cana growled.

* * *

Flashing lights filled the corridor as thick as a swarm of bees as Death Eaters and Order members rained fire down upon each other, in some cases literally as Dolohov was making a habit of launching flaming projectiles across at his opponents. Kingsley lashed his wand across in a wide arc, generating a spray of water to put the fireballs out with an explosion of steam, but still the lights flew through it even though nobody had any idea what they were aiming at.

One of the Death Eaters had already been downed - Selwyn was lying on the floor clutching a broken leg courtesy of Moody, but the others were beginning to push the Order members back. Moody growled and ducked underneath a killing curse from Rabastan, his magical eye rotating around to watch him as he ducked back behind cover once more. Focusing through the doorway Rabastan was hiding behind, Moody watched him carefully, breath bated and waiting for just the right moment… and he was in motion the moment Rabastan started moving out from cover once more, a bolt of red light zapping from his wand to nail Rabastan in the chest and knock him backwards into unconsciousness.

But even as he smirked triumphantly, a scream rent the air. Spinning around, Moody saw Hestia collapse to the ground, a bloody gash torn across the front of her robes as she clutched her stomach, gasping for breath. Cursing, Moody lurched his way over to her - Emmeline taking his place and forcing Rodolphus to dodge into a cell to avoid a flurry of curses from the enraged woman's wand.

"What's the damage, Moody!" Kingsley yelled as he twirled his wand and morphed a couple of bits of rubble into porcupines and sent them flying tail first into where Rodolphus was hiding, a roar of pain renting the passageway as the porcupines turned back into rocks, leaving several quills embedded in the Death Eater's side.

"It's bad but its not untreatable," Moody growled, covering his head as another cutting curse from Lucius sliced through the rock inches from his side, forcing him to drag Hestia under cover as he performed a rudimentary healing spell to stop the bleeding. "But we're outmanned. Think we can hold out much longer!?"

Kingsley was about to reply when he caught sight of something that halted his answer in its tracks. Bellatrix Lestrange was had appeared at the end of the passageway and was dashing down it, cackling like a madwoman as she sent a flurry of Bludgeoning Curses down towards him.

Diving to one side, Kingsley threw up a powerful Shield Charm to block a couple of them and launched back a succession of three rapid Stunners in retaliation but Bellatrix weaved her way around them with surprising agility and the two of them became engaged in a fierce duel. Both of them were blurs of motion, zipping left and right and creating a flurry of lights that seemed to supercharge the air between them. More than one of those lights was green, and if it hadn't been for Kingsley's excellent wits he would have been toast - it was impossible to block the Killing Curse with a Shield Charm but he was able to pick out the deadly spells among the phalanx of others so he knew which he could dodge and which he could block.

But it wasn't enough. Already tired from the constant fighting and the previous prolonged use of the Patronus Charm, Kingsley quickly began to flag a little, and that was all the opportunity Bellatrix needed. As Kingsley dodged another Killing Curse, another spell came swooping in for his chest and detonated right in front of him. A cry was rent from Kingsley's lips as he was tossed backwards against the nearby wall, the wind driven from his lungs as he crashed to the floor, heaving for breath.

"This is what passes for Auror's now!?" Bellatrix laughed with the intensity of a madwoman. "Crouch really let things go after we were put away!" She bore down on the group of four, and the other Death Eaters, emboldened, did the same. Moody fired spell after spell but with Kingsley and Hestia downed it was now just the two of them against a group of seven, and it only took a few seconds before Emmeline was struck in the shoulder by a Leg-locker curse and went tumbling to the ground, forcing herself to roll to one side to avoid the Reductor Curse that pounded the floor where she'd just been.

"Hey, Moody," Dolohov smirked as he raised his wand. "Say hi to Rosier for us will ya!" And he slashed his wand down to generate a streak of purplish fire through the air that lanced down the corridor towards Moody like a blade. Moody saw it coming through the side of his head, but even as he twisted his body around he knew that he wouldn't be able to dodge it in time!

And that was when the floor collapsed beneath him.

"WHHAAA!" he cried as the entire floor one which he, Kingsley, Hestia and Emmeline stood splintered and fell inwards, sending all four of them plummeting down to the level below… where they bounced lightly on the stone work thanks to the cushioning charms that Lupin and Tonks had set out for them. Cana smirked, her cards having caused the sudden cave-in, before saying. "I think we've worn out our welcome here, don't you?"

Throwing another card onto the ground, she summoned another Prayer's Fountain attack, creating a blast of expanding water that burst through the hole in the floor like it was a giant blowhole, knocking both Bellatrix and Lucius backwards a little as they tried to look down it to see what had happened.

"What the…" Kingsley gasped, as Lupin hurried over to heave him to his feet while Tonks unlocked the curse upon Emmeline's legs. "How did you know exactly where we were from down here?"

"She just aimed and told us to trust in the cards," Lupin replied.

"It helps to be a little skilled at fortune telling sometimes," Cana replied, hefting Erza a little more comfortably onto her shoulder. "Now let's get out of here."

"We can't," Moody growled. "We can't just let those Death Eaters walk out of here."

"No, we should retreat," Kingsley shook his head. "We're drained, Mad-Eye. We cannot be expected to fight against them in our current condition. The effort of repelling so many Dementors took its toll on all of us before we even got to the Death Eaters. We should get outside and find an alternate way of keeping them out."

Mad-Eye grunted irritably but nodded in agreement. "Quickest way to the exit is this way," he said, hobbling forwards as quickly as he could as the others hurried after him.

The going was much slower than they would have liked - Mad-Eye's wooden leg had been partially damaged and both Kingsley and Hestia were having to lean on Lupin and Emmeline respectively for support. Tonks was taking point and Mad-Eye's roving eye picked out where the threats were coming from so she could handle them.

"Mulciber and Gibbon are coming up on the corridor to the right," he warned, and Tonks darted forwards to shoot a huge jet of snow out of her wand that swamped down the corridor and engulfed both the surprised Death Eaters, forcing them to stumble back long enough for Mad-Eye to catch up and cave in the ceiling with a Reductor Curse, creating a physical barrier to slow them down as the group hurried on towards the next flight of stairs.

"How's the path to the front doors looking, Mad-Eye?" Kingsley gasped.

"Not good," Moody snarled. "The Dementors are filtering their way back through into the prison from the front door. There are already dozens of them down below and they're heading back up again. We're going to have to fight our way through them once more if we want to get beyond the wards."

"They just had to make those bloody things the guards of this place, didn't they?" Tonks panted as she helped Mad-Eye down the stairs.

"And the Death Eaters are hard on our heels," Moody added. "If we're not careful we're going to end up caught in between them."

"It's almost starting to feel like we're the escaping prisoners," Lupin grunted, hefting Kingsley's arm a little better onto his shoulder.

At that moment a distant explosion rocked the castle again, dust pouring down from the ceiling and sending all of them stumbling or even falling flat onto their faces. Cana was no exception, losing her footing and crashing onto her backside but hefting Erza up enough to make sure the redhead didn't smack her head at the last second. Erza gasped at the sudden jolt to her stomach, looking up wearily and trying to focus on something through blurry eyes and a rigorously pounding head.

"What's going on out there?" Emmeline asked. "Is that Gildarts doing that?"

"You think one man would really be powerful enough to shake an entire fortress?" Hestia put in.

"Clearly you haven't seen my old man in action before," Cana said.

"Save the conversations for when this jailbreak's over and done with! The Death Eaters are right behind us!"

"Jail… break…" Erza croaked blearily, struggling to think. "What… where…?"

"Erza… you're awake!" Cana gasped as they got to their feet and ran on once more. "Are you okay?"

"Who… what's… happening…?"

"Long story short, we're busting out of the jail those government idiots put us in. We're being rescued. 'Cept we've got those horrible ghoul-like guards to deal with and we're being pursued by people who are apparently minions of this world's evil maniac or something… I dunno… don't worry, we'll get you out of here. I won't let those Dementeds get to you again, you hear me? I won't let them torment your mind any further!"

"…Rescued…" Erza whispered, fighting with her mind as it sought to pull her back into the past. She was finding it hard to tell what was real and what was just a memory. She hung slack in Cana's arms, barely conscious and the pounding footsteps of her companions ringing in her ears.

"They're coming up ahead!" Moody yelled. "A swarm of them! Get your Patronuses ready!"

"Don't let them anywhere near Erza," Cana cried, falling to the back protectively - she recognised that these wizards and witches were far more equipped to deal with those creatures than she was. She pulled to a halt as the group barrelled to the end of a T-junction, gritting her teeth as a blast of cold hit her once again, rattling hands approaching them from either direction and the Dementors speeding up with delighted shrieks as they sensed the presence of their prey.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" roared six voices at once, but only four Patronuses lanced their way out of wand-tips to charge at the oncoming hoards. Hestia's sputtered out as vapour, its caster unable to summon the strength for one at the moment, while Kingsley's disintegrated only a few feet away from the wand. Kingsley gritted his teeth and tightened his grip, jabbing his wand forwards to cast the spell a second time with more force and this time the silver lynx shot out properly to join the hoard. But it was visibly not as strong as it had been before, as was Moody's bear and Emmeline's beaver. Only the wolf and chameleon looked as strong as ever, but the Dementors seemed to be able to tell that their prey was weakened. They pushed forwards harder, and though they were repelled by the Patronuses time and time again, it didn't take long for them to surge back for more.

Through the fighting, as the silver animals tried to break a path through for their casters to get to the entrance, Erza's eyes began to focus with greater clarity. She looked up slightly and locked onto the Dementors, her eyes widening as her imagination replaced the hooded cloaks and scabbed hands with the emaciated skin, broken teeth and masks… of the magic troops back at the Tower of Heaven. The same ones that had killed Old Rob and damaged Simon's eye.

"No… no… get back…" she croaked, suddenly feeling like the scared little girl with the eyepatch and wrist cuffs that she could so vividly remember being. "Stay away…"

"They just keep coming!" Lupin growled, and even as he said it more Dementors appeared in the corridor that they'd just run down to reach the T-junction, pouring in like a crowd of zombies towards the escapees.

Cana cursed and yelled, "Oi, Eye Guy! Is there anything beyond the wall ahead!?"

"There's a cell with an occupant in it but…" Moody replied, but Cana didn't wait for him to finish. She bulldozed ahead and flung several cards at the wall, which plastered themselves against it in a circle and exploded, demolishing a neat ring of stonework that allowed Cana to barrel straight through it, Erza on her shoulder. The man inside the cell cried out and hid in the corner but Cana ignored him as she charged her way for the door and smashed straight through it with a powerful kick.

"This way!" she shouted, and the Order members didn't think twice, piling through the space Cana had created and leaving the Patronuses to guard it as they rushed off through another corridor. But suddenly there were more Dementors up ahead, forcing them to twist around and run the other way as fast as they could, a tide of ghostly spectres crowding in behind them and steadily catching up.

"Down those stairs!" Mad-Eye cried, now fully leaning on Tonks for support in a bid to go faster. The group thundered down the steps and across several more turns, but suddenly Rodolphus and Rabastan appeared in the corridor ahead of them and fired several Reductor Curses into the ceiling. Tonk and Moody skidded to a halt, the entire group almost crashing into them as a rockslide of stone and mortar crashed down into the corridor ahead of them, cutting off their escape route.

"You're reaching the end of your road," a voice cackled behind them, and they turned to see Bellatrix, Lucius and Dolohov advancing towards them, flanked by Travers and Jugson who had apparently been rescued from the cell Tonks had locked them in. It was Bellatrix who was speaking, and she licked her lips while aiming her wand directly at Cana. "You're never going to escape from this place. Your life or your soul - one of them is eventually going to be taken from you if you don't surrender to us."

"I do wish it was not under such destructive circumstances that I could make the acquaintance of a Fairy Tail mage for the first time," Lucius said. "But I would strongly advise you to do yourself a favour and come with us. Join the side of the Dark Lord and I personally guarantee that no Dementor will ever touch you or your red-haired friend again."

"And then what?" Cana snorted. "You expect me to essentially join the side of butchers and murderers. Sorry pal - I would rather lose my soul than sell it out. In any case, I can tell you outright that your Dark Lord friend… he's going to lose. I dunno what's been going on in this world since we got here but after today he's definitely made an enemy out of Fairy Tail if he hadn't already. And anyone who makes an enemy out of us eventually finds themselves kicked to the curb. And when he does, I'm going to be there so I can grind his face into it with my foot!"

"You dare think yourself above the Dark Lord!" Bellatrix screeched. "You dare to believe that you have a chance of victory over his might! He has risen from the darkness once more and he will lead us to a new dawn. A dawn where scum like you will know their place, where magic will reign supreme! And any offworlder who stands against him will be put into the ground!"

"Really?" Cana sneered. "This is the same man who got his ass kicked by a one-year-old boy? Oh, I bet that must have stung when you heard that's what happened to your precious Master. Even if he conquers the world, in my view, he'll always be the man who lost to a baby."

"WHY YOU…!" Bellatrix practically frothed at the mouth.

"And there's no way that I'd join him even if that weren't the case," Cana grinned, clapping a hand down upon her black Fairy Tail mark. "Cos I already know that the rest of my friends are rallying against him. And a Fairy Tail mage always stands with their friends. No matter what gets thrown our way… no matter how much we're beaten down… we always strive to get back up and protect our own. That's just who we are."

As she spoke, Erza's eyes widened slightly. "Fairy… Tail…" she whispered.

Bellatrix screamed like a banshee, lashing her wand out high. "THE KILLING CURSE IS TOO GOOD FOR YOU, BITCH!"

"BELLATRIX, NO! THE DARK LORD WANTS…!" Lucius shouted, but it was too late. A gigantic gout of flame erupted from Bellatrix's wand, blasting its way from wall to wall like a nuclear explosion within the corridor. It was like the gates of hell had opened as it surged forwards towards the small group, taking on strange shapes like serpents and hellhounds and great eagles.

"BURN! BURN BURN BURN!" Bellatrix cackled, constantly flicking her wand. "TURN TO ASHES WITHIN MY FIENDFYRE! LET'S SEE IF YOUR PRECIOUS FRIENDS WILL EVER FIND OUT WHAT EVEN HAPPENED TO YOU!"

The other Death Eaters were shielding their eyes and faces from the intense light and heat… but Lucius was the first to notice it. The flames seemed to be splitting… dividing down the middle to flood up against each of the walls instead of pushing forwards… as if something was… ploughing its way straight through it.

Bellatrix blinked when she noticed it too and relinquished her attack… just in time to see a redheaded woman come surging out of the fire right in front of her - her body encased in a dark red, flame-patterened armour with clawed gauntlets and greaves reminiscent of dragon's feet, her hair tied into two long pigtails on either side. In one hand she held a long dark red sword the the flames seemed to be coiling around and in the other she held a semi-circular spiked silver shield of some metal that she couldn't identify! She held the shield before her to plough straight through the Fiendfyre and spun around to draw it in around her sword.

"HHHHAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Erza roared as she cleaved her sword through the air, the Fiendfyre reshaping into a huge fiery blade that pulsed down the corridor. All five Death Eaters hurriedly raised a shield but though they were able to block the attack between them it still cracked their magic and sent all five of them pulsing back down the corridor in a heap. They looked up in shock at the armoured woman before them, standing tall and proud and the fierce glint in her eyes restored once more.

The Order were similarly stunned. Erza had just leapt off Cana's shoulder and barrelled forward to repel the attack, petering it out before it could reach them. And Tonks summed up what all of them were thinking with a single word… "Whoa…"

"I told you she always bounces back," Cana snickered. "You alright, Erza?"

"I'm fine," Erza replied, looking back of her shoulder with a tight smile. "A prison on an island…ghostly guards… a dark wizard reborn… there are too many familiar things here for my liking. But this is not the past… this is the present… the present where I am Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail. Those Dementors tried to trap me in the Tower of Heaven once more. But you, Cana… your words brought me home. And I promise you now… I will not let the Tower get the better of me again. Not now, not ever."

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Bellatrix screamed as she surged back to her feet, the other Death Eaters clambering up around her. Erza spun around and raised her Adamantine shield to catch the blow and send it ricocheting off to the side.

"As to you lot…" she said, her body glowing as the armour she wore faded away and was replaced with another set - a set with metallic wings and a long, silver dress… her Heaven's Wheel armour. The Death Eaters gasped as close to forty swords materialised out of thin air around her, every one of them poised and ready to fire at them with a mental command. "…Don't you have cells to get back to?"

Cana burst out laughing. "You Death Eaters can follow your Dark Lord Voldemort to kingdom come for all I care. But me… I'd much rather follow my Fairy Queen Titania."

* * *

Gawain Robards groaned as he slowly lifted his head, spitting dirt out of his mouth and seizing the spot just above his right ear where Bluenote had thrown him aside. He could feel blood beneath his fingers and his robes were a tattered mess, but somehow he was still alive.

But a colossal banging noise from not far away put paid to his relief, turning round to see Gildarts and Bluenote swinging around each other and hammering each other with their fists. Every time one of them struck the other a miniature shockwave fired out in all directions and the ground they were standing on was now practically gravel in the wake of their powerful attacks.

Bluenote abruptly struck out and his hand hammered into Gildarts beneath his chin. Gildarts was lifted clean off the ground and sent sailing backwards towards Gawain, coming to a skidding crash onto his back. He was quick to push himself up again, looking only a little worse for wear, but Bluenote was now frowning in bewilderment.

"What's the matter with you, Gildarts?" he scowled. "You are not fighting with the strength that you used back on Tenroujima."

"Heh," Gildarts snorted, spitting out a little blood. "What difference does that make? Perhaps I do not need that amount of strength to take you down."

"Do you really think that?" Bluenote's flat eyes slowly drifted over to Gawain… and then up to the looming fortress of Azkaban itself behind the powerful Fairy Tail mage. "Or… is it because this time we are not alone?"

Gildarts froze, but that was more than enough to let Bluenote know he was right. "That's it, isn't it?" he crowed. "You're afraid of using your full power for fear of potentially wounding innocent people. That man there… and those other two Fairy Tail mages… and everyone else that are supposed to be imprisoned here. You're trying to limit the amount of collateral damage you do."

A slow… cruel… smirk passed its way over Bluenote's pointed face.

"Fortunately though I am not bound by such restraints. That man there… all the others in there… they are nothing to me."

Snapping his fingers, a magic circle appeared above Gawain and slammed him into the ground with a sudden sharp increase of gravity. Gawain cried out in agony as his body was compressed, his vital organs crushing down as it felt like he was going to be completely flattening by the weight of his own body.

"NO!" Gildarts shouted, sweeping his hand up to seize the magic circle with his own and splinter it to pieces, relieving Gawain of his attack before swinging around to send a titanic blast of white energy out of his hands that enveloped the causeway and blasted out to sea, splitting the water and vaporising the rock. But Bluenote was able to dodge by decreasing the gravity around him and springing high into the air, right over the blast, before increasing it to fall like a meteor down once more. But he was aiming not for Gildarts, but for Gawain.

Cursing aloud, Gildarts thundered forwards to seize Gawain as the defenceless Auror struggled to his feet, diving aside and pulling the man with him as Bluenote cannoned into the causeway with enough force to fracture it, but he'd already sprang forwards before it could crumble into the sea beneath him and brought both fists hammering down towards Gildarts.

Gildarts' response was to swing himself up onto his shoulders and smash one boot into Blunote's chest, a blast of Crash Magic that could have engulfed have a Quidditch pitch blasting out of the bottom of his foot to send Bluenote skimming out across the water with eight separate bounces before vanishing underneath.

Pushing himself to his feet, Gildarts didn't waste any time looking to see where he'd gone - he was well aware that that would not have finished Bluenote off by a long shot. He turned to Gawain and said, "You… you're in danger here. Get under cover as fast as you can - you'll be safer in that prison than out here."

"But you… you're Fairy Tail, right?" Gawain blustered. "You're the one that destroyed our Hall of Prophecy and many other Ministry rooms. Why are you helping me?"

"Back then you were tormenting one of my comrades," Gildarts replied sternly. "Now you're the one that's in danger. And if your Ministry bosses would calm down and think past their fear of our power, they'd see that we just help those who need it. Now go."

Gawain's jaw flapped for a moment but he knew better than to argue. He turned and hurried off down what remained of the causeway towards the main doors of the prison and sure enough, a few seconds later, Bluenote thundered out of the water not far from Gildarts with a spinning roundhouse kick. Gildarts seized him by the ankle in mid-flight and spun him around, slamming him down upon the causeway belly first, but a quick wrench saw Bluenote pulling free and rolling back onto his feet once more.

"Let's make this a little more interesting, shall we?" Bluenote sneered, stepping back a couple of paces and spreading his arms wide. **"BLACK HOLE!"** he roared… and suddenly the whole island began to shake. Gildarts spread his arms out to help him keep his balance as he looked around for any sign of the same dark sphere that Bluenote had summoned last time, only to see nothing but the vibrating stonework and the steadily rising water level which…

Wait a minute…

The ocean levels around the island were rising!

No… wait… it was the opposite! The island was sinking! The entire island of Azkaban was slowly beginning to descend towards the surface of the ocean!

"What… what did you do?" he shouted.

"I've activated a Black Hole spell inside the sea mount. It's sucking everything in, from both directions… crushing the mountain from the inside," Bluenote sneered. "It's time for us to play a little game, Gildarts. A competition if you will. If the Black Hole is not stopped, either the mountain will continue to lower until its entirely underwater or it will eventually snap the mountain enough that the top half tips over into the sea. Can you defeat me before everyone on this island drowns?"

"WHY YOU…!?" Gildarts's eyes were suddenly blazing, knotted veins appearing on his forehead as his fists clenched so hard they could have shattered diamonds, even without magic.

"That's it, Gildarts. Will this get you to really unleash you UUWAAHH!" Bluenote's taunting was suddenly cut off when Gildarts exploded forwards with a blast of Crash Magic that obliterated everything behind him, his fist hammering into Bluenote's gut as they shot across the stonework straight towards the front doors of the prison. They smashed their way into the entrance hall moments after Gawain had dashed out of it and up the stairs into the rest of the prison. Bluenote's crashed hard into the far wall and was forced to duck beneath another incoming blow that reduced the wall to fragments the moment Gildarts' fist made contact.

"TURN OFF THE BLACK HOLE!" Gildarts bellowed.

"Shan't," Bluenote sneered. "And this time you can't get to it without disintegrating the mountain yourself! The only way to stop it is to beat me!"

"Bastard!" Gildarts seethed, preparing to punch him again before realising… now they were inside the prison. If they continued to fight with their full strength in here, especially on the ground floor, the whole thing would probably start coming down anyway!

Not something that appeared to worry Bluenote, because he charged forwards to slam his shoulder into Gildarts hard, a gravitational blast carrying them both through two more walls until they crashed back into the outside, slamming into the ground together and skidding through several gravestones, obliterating them as they went. They were now in the small cemetery at the back of the prison where the Dementors buried dead prisoners. A fact that made Gildarts grit his teeth as he pushed himself to his feet and squared off against his opponent once more.

'Sorry…' he thought to any of the departed who's resting places might be destroyed. 'But if I don't take this guy out now there'll be a lot more dead here today.'

* * *

The blasts and explosions rocking the bottom floor of Azkaban were felt all throughout the building, including the corridor where Erza was aiming her swords at the Death Eaters. The entire place seemed to judder, throwing almost all of them off their feet all over again.

"What the… what's going on out…" Erza blinked, and Bellatrix instantly took advantage of her distraction to fire a blinding light from the end of her wand. Erza gasped as she was momentarily blinded, but in an instant she had changed her armour into her full Adamantine set, slamming her shields together in front of her to generate a much large magical shield that took the flurry of Killing Curses that flew from Bellatrix's wand next.

Lupin hurried over to a nearby window - a rarity in the prison, and gasped when he saw Gildarts and Bluenote out below, punching each other like wrecking balls from hell. But his eyes widened still further when he realised the water level was a lot higher up the island than it had been before.

"Something's going on out there! The entire island is sinking!" he cried.

"What!?"

"How!"

"There's another man out there, fighting against Gildarts toe to toe… whatever's happening… Azkaban's going down."

"That guy…" Cana breathed as she ran over to have a look. "That man's from Grimoire Heart! He has massively powerful magic designed to manipulate gravity! What the hell's he doing in this world?"

Erza cursed, lowering her shield slightly to look down over the top of it and see that the corridor in front of her was now empty - the Death Eaters had scarpered. But she had no time to think about them now. Instead, she turned around and said, "Did you say this place was a prison?"

"Yeah, its the main Wizarding prison of Britain. Anyone who commits a major felony ends up in here," Tonks nodded. "From murder to simple theft."

"Well no matter what crime they've committed, they're now all in terrible danger," Erza replied. "We have to save as many of them as we can and get them to higher ground until Gildarts can stop him. Let's go!"

* * *

Far from the ongoing chaos of Azkaban, Mirajane sat on a heavy oak chair, her wrists secured down to its handles by thick steel cuffs that Voldemort had conjured out of thin air. If she wanted to, she could transform again and break out of those any time she wanted, but she didn't dare. Not right now. Voldemort had placed the chair so it was facing the screen depicting her unconscious brother, surrounded by men in dark cloaks all with their wands still zeroed on his chest.

She weighed her options, calculated the risks… if she could just get to Elfman somehow then she could stop this - she could blast all of those… Death Eaters… at once and free him. And she would too… if she had any idea where he was! He could be miles away for all she knew. And it would only take a single second of her showing resistance for just one of those wands to end her brother's life.

It was a risk she just wasn't prepared to take. And to make it worse her heart was panging with worry for Lisanna. Where was she? Had these people already killed her without her even knowing it? No! The thought was too terrible to bear.

And this… Unbreakable Vow… she was apparently going to be put through… it didn't sound good by any stretch of the imagination.

"Apologies for the wait," Voldemort eventually said as he stood up from his chair at the back of the room, striding forwards towards the window and looking out into the grounds with clear impatience written all over his serpentine features. "I had hoped that Lucius and his party would be back from Azkaban by now. I wanted Bellatrix to be the one to act as the Bonder for this spell - I figured it would be a fitting first act for me on her return… and she is one of the few I would trust with such a task."

"You know, most of that went completely over my head," Mira replied sourly. "Does the fact that I will kill you if you do anything to harm my brother go over yours."

Voldemort chuckled with genuine amusement at Mirajane's defiant glare before he suddenly marched towards her. "I will not wait any longer," he declared. "If all goes to plan, Bellatrix will have other mages from your beloved guild to bind into my service. Narcissa! Get in here!"

A few moments later and a woman with long blonde hair hurried into the room. "Yes, my lord," she breathed reverently. "What is it you require of me."

"You are Bellatrix's blood so you will do in her place," Voldemort said, swinging his wand and commanding the cuffs around Mira's wrists to open abruptly. "I trust you know not to try anything."

"…Loud and clear…" Mira glowered as she slowly rose to her feet. "But what do you intend to do with my brother… in the long term? How do I know that you will not just kill him when I have done what you wish?"

"Why ever would I kill him then?" Voldemort leered. "He's so much more useful to me alive, just as you are. Do not worry. As long as you cooperate your brother will not be harmed. Now… take my hand…" he stretched it out before him, as if for a handshake. Mira looked at it as if it was one of the most repulsive things she'd ever seen in her life. But she had little alternative but to prize her hand away from her side and nestle her palm against his. She was almost disappointed that it wasn't clammy, it felt like a regular human hand. But she still squeezed it unnecessarily tight.

"What will this… Vow… do exactly?" she asked.

"It is simple," Voldemort smirked. "The magic of the Bonder will momentarily link itself to both of our life forces. Once you have made your vow to serve me… the magic will permanently attach itself to yours and should you disobey whatever vow you take… in any way… you will die. It doesn't matter who you are - wizard, Muggle, centaur, Fairy Tail mage… the result is the same. And I warn you one last time, if you try anything to turn this to your advantage… your brother will die."

"You will die first," Mira declared.

"I won't," Voldemort smirked, lowering himself down into a kneeling position and dragging Mira down with him. "I have long since mastered death. Now… Narcissa… the spell if you please."

Narcissa flinched slightly, but nodded, resting her wand upon the conjoined hands before her. Under Voldemort's scrutinising gaze, probing her actions for any sign of a mistake, Narcissa closed her eyes and began muttering under her breath for a moment before Mira felt a slight tingling in her hand… she could feel the magic working. Her heart beat against her ribs like a paddle ball searching desperately for any way out of this that didn't involve her brother's death… but there was nothing! She could see no light at the end of this tunnel!

Voldemort could practically smell her desperation and sneering derisively, before he uttered the words:-

"Will you, Mirajane Strauss, swear your loyalty to me… promise to fulfil every command that I give you to the best of your ability… no matter what it is… for as long as you remain alive?"

The silence was so thick that anybody who walked in wouldn't be able to get through the door. Mira's eyes roved up one last time to the monitor, locking onto his unconscious face and gritting her teeth with self-loathing. She would do anything for her family… but for it to come to this… would Elfman ever be able to look at her again?

Was this really the best option? Or would it really be better to let him die and then join him in the next life rather than fall to the whims of a madman?

"I'm waiting," Voldemort growled, gripping Mirajane's hand a little tighter. "If you don't give your answer in five seconds I will have my followers kill him."

Mirajane's heart wrenched. She couldn't do it. She couldn't let him die, could she?

"…I…"

**KA-BLAM!**

Mirajane, Voldemort and Narcissa all sat bolt upright, their attention rocketing to the screen where the sound had just come from. The Death Eaters that were visible on the edges screamed as stonework showered in on top of them, and something came shooting in from the side, rounding the pillar that Elfman was chained to and roaring:-

"**KARYUU NO… YOKUGEKI!"**

"Natsu!" Mirajane gasped in astonishment as fire burst out of Natsu's arms, lashing out like a pair of gigantic flaming wings to smash through the Death Eaters and send them flying like ninepins, blasting across the darkness with Happy at his back to break their ranks in a single instant, those that were not struck by his Wing Attack diving for cover.

"What's going on!?" Voldemort yelled. "Who is…?!"

**CRASH!**

Something came tearing through the window behind the three kneeling people, a shower of glass scattering across the floor as a humanoid figure pounded its reptilian wings to fire across the room in an instant flat. Narcissa had no time to react as she was struck in the side with a sledgehammer blow from a scaly tail that sent her crashing against the far wall, breaking the connection between Voldemort and Mirajane. Voldemort himself had just enough time to Disapparate before a fist smashed down on the floor where he'd just been, re-materialising at the other end of the room and staring furiously at the girl who gripped Mirajane's arm and guided her stunned sister to her feet.

"Stay the hell away from my family," Lisanna snarled.


	38. Old and New Magic

This chapter took a lot longer than I'd hoped but hey, December's always a slow month. It contains my birthday and Christmas after all I usually get quite a lot of distractions, and a few personal things came up that made finding the time and motivation to write was quite tricky. But nevertheless I'm pulling through. And just for the record, whoever it is that kept posting an anonymous review that said nothing but the word 'Next' - that will not get me writing any faster so please don't do it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter everybody.

Also, one more thing - in light of some recent revelations from the manga, I have gone back and made a few edits to the content of Chapter 33. The end result is still the same, I just altered some important explanations along the way.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 38:- Old and New Magic**

* * *

Mirajane couldn't believe her eyes and her mouth seemed determined to prove it by hanging open in disbelief. It was nothing new for Lisanna to gain another form she had not seen before but this… this was off the Richter Scale. The bat-like wings, the scaly feet and armour, the horns projecting up from her hair… there was only one thing that this could have come from as far as she could imagine.

"Lisanna…" she whispered, as her sister stood boldly beside her, glaring down the livid tyrant at the other end of the room. "You used your Take-Over… on a dragon? Is that… even possible?"

"It's possible when the dragon helps you to do it, Mira-nee," Lisanna gave her a smile out the corner of her eye. "But that's not important. What's important is that you're okay. I was so worried about you and Elf-niichan… I didn't know what to do with myself these past few weeks."

"Weeks!?" Mira blinked in alarm. "But… we… how…"

"I'll explain later," Lisanna said, returning her glare to Voldemort. "You… what were you trying to do to my sister!?"

Voldemort's slitted nostrils flared, his red eyes blazing with anger beyond comprehension. "It doesn't matter now," he snarled. "You interrupted the ceremony before it could be completed. You Fairy Tail members have done more than enough interfering in my world. If I cannot have you join me then I will wipe you from the face of existence. You will not exist in any world by the time I am finished with you."

"We won't go down without a fight," Lisanna declared. "In fact, we won't go down at all. Fairy Tail has faced worse than you and come out on top. We will do so again. And I won't ever forgive you for trying to turn my sister against us. Never!"

Without another word she launched herself forwards, the claws of her feet cutting grooves in the floor as she shot across the room at incredible speed, wings flared and fist reared back to strike. Voldemort reacted instantly by conjuring several wooden spikes out of the wall around him, curving in towards Lisanna like a giant, pointed ribcage. Lisanna veered to the side, tucking one wing in to barrel-roll and avoid the strikes but moments later she'd punched her way through the side of the wooden barrier and brought her fist swinging in for Voldemort's chin.

It was met with an invisible force as Voldemort raised a Shield Charm and the Dark Lord cackled as he lashed out his wand like a sword. The moment it touched Lisanna's stomach she was sent blasting backwards like she was fired from a cannon to crash into the wall beneath a large deer's head, wings slapping back against the wall around her.

Voldemort followed up with a powerful Killing Curse that zapped its way across the room towards her, but Lisanna acted quickly and spun around, crashing her way through the damaged wall shoulder-first and spreading her wings to shoot upwards and crash through the ceiling, the Killing Curse whipping underneath her to crash into a distant wall. Lisanna curved her way over in the room above to slam through the floor directly above Voldemort, spinning down to aim her tail down towards his head. But he Disapparated and the tail smashed the floorboards in while Voldemort appeared a short distance away and suddenly the nearby fireplace exploded. A torrent of flames washed out and hurtled across the room to engulf Lisanna and swallow her up in its blaze.

"Lisanna!" Mirajane cried - having been watching the fight in stunned amazement until this point. Voldemort leered in anticipation, expecting to here Lisanna's screams of agony at any moment.

What happened instead was Lisanna's wings flared out to either side, a current of air billowing out all around her to pulse the flames backwards as she rose above the fire entirely unscathed. And she could feel a warmth rising in her chest, tickling its way up her throat to fill her mouth with heat that should have been searing, but which felt… soothing… natural in this form.

"Two can play at that game," she said, sucking in as much air as her lungs could contain and blasting out a flood of flames from the back of her throat, setting half the room ablaze as it spread out before her like a tide from floor to ceiling! She could feel the power, Kilgharrah's power, radiating through her body as she roared. And this was a mere fraction of what Kilgharrah himself could do!

Voldemort pulled back as the flames converged on him with all the strength of Fiendfyre. He had no time to throw up a shield charm that would hold an attack of that magnitude so he conjured a physical shield instead - a huge metal construct that caught the attack as he crouched behind it, flames charing the ground on either side of him and setting the walls themselves alight. Voldemort grimaced as he swung his wand and banished the shield from him, sending it catapulting back through the flames to cannon straight towards Lisanna, following it up with a blast of water that carried the shield at even higher speed and fought back the flames to either side of it.

"GYAAH!" Lisanna cried as the shield struck her head on, jarring her body and flattening her against the wall as a deluge of water put out the flames around her. Moments later and Voldemort blew up the shield - he literally had it spontaneously combust even as it was pressed against Lisanna's body, ripping another scream out of her throat as she was flung backwards into the next room, her body lightly smoking as she ploughed across the floor. Gritting her teeth, she started push herself back up only for Voldemort to suddenly appear on top of her, his foot slamming down on her chest armour to push her back down against the floor, his wand raised in triumph!

"AVADA… GYAAAHH!"

His red eyes bulged, his voice grew much more high-pitched and he wheezed in sudden pain, stumbling backwards and crouching over in agony.

Because Lisanna's tail had instinctively swung up between his legs and hammered him straight in the nether regions.

"Huh… good to know that still works on evil overlords," Lisanna noted before backwards rolling and pulling in her wings to help flip herself back onto her feet. Instinct took over and she thrust a hand out and screamed a word she'd never heard before in her life:- "Ástríce!" Voldemort was promptly scooped off the ground and flung backwards like he'd been clobbered with a massive golf club to smash against the wall. However, even as he was flying backwards he roared and lashed out his wand to launch a flurry of chains across the room. Lisanna gasped as she lashed around her body, pinning her arms to her side and enshrouding her wings, carrying her backwards to embed themselves into the wall and pin her there.

Even as she struggled, Voldemort pushed himself back to his feet, wincing in pain as he tried to act like his crotch didn't hurt. Lisanna thrashed and bucked against the chains, kicking her clawed legs wildly through the air but Voldemort raised his wand and said, "This is the end of the road for you, dragon girl!" before launching a gigantic cutting curse across the room. It looked like a transparent blade of air, expanding in size to slice through the walls on either side as it homed in on Lisanna's stomach.

That was when something came streaking in, claws slashing to slice clean through Lisanna's chains, grabbing the girl and yanking her down to the ground so the cutting curse cleaved straight through the wall behind her but left her unharmed. Moments later and Mirajane was on her feet, body morphed into full Satan Soul as she glared at Voldemort with eyes that could melt a basilisk! She didn't say a word, she simply thrust forwards with her clawed hands and an enormous blast of dark energy erupted from her palms, streaking across the room and forcing Voldemort to Disapparate before the blast consumed the corner he'd been standing in and reduced it to rubble.

"Are you okay, Lisanna?" Mirajane asked as Lisanna pushed herself upwards again.

"Yeah, I think so," Lisanna replied. "You saved me again."

"Call it returning the favour," Mirajane offered her a smile, even as she scanned the room for any sign of their opponent. "Sorry it took me so long to join the fight… I was just so stunned watching you. The power you've gained since I last saw you… it's incredible."

"It is something," Lisanna conceded. "But… I was rather hoping that… now I have it… I wouldn't have to rely on you saving me again. Not after… last time…" she flinched, her mind flashing back to Mira's fight with Azuma once again.

"When did you get this magic, Lisanna? This… Dragon Soul?"

"…Earlier today. Why?"

Mirajane chuckled. "This is a brand new form of magic for you, Lisanna. I'm guessing you haven't had a lot of time to practice it yet. It would be like me suddenly gaining the ability to use Erza's Requip magic. I might be strong but I'd still have to hone my abilities with it before I could be remotely as good as her. Power is useless without skill. You have one. Now you need the other. And I know you, Lisanna, with your perseverance and your dedication, I know you will get it."

Lisanna blinked, but smiled gratefully. Mirajane was right - it was stupid to think she could just jump into this magic and be an expert right away. This wasn't just a power-up of the same kind of magic she normally used, it was a whole new magical style. And she'd picked a hell of an opponent to try it out on for the first time.

Suddenly Voldemort re-appeared, having caught his breath a couple of floors down and fired what looked like dozens of Killing Curses at the two sisters. Both of them reacted instantly, shooting in opposite directions. Voldemort screamed in frustration, spinning around and lashing curse after curse at them as they folded their wings to dodge and weave under his fire.

"DON'T LET THE GREEN ONES HIT YOU!" Mira shouted. "THEY'LL…"

"KILL ME, I KNOW!" Lisanna shouted back. "COME ON, MIRA-NEE! LET'S TAKE HIM TOGETHER!"

"AGREED!" Mirajane shouted and kicked off from the ground, slamming her way through the ceiling above and the ceiling above that to burst out through a rooftop and into the open sky. For the first time she realised that she'd been imprisoned inside a giant manor, but for the moment that didn't matter. She gathered her energy in her claws and thrust it downwards, roaring, **"EVIL EXPLOSION!"**

Lisanna heard the shout and dove through an open doorway as the roof caved in, torn aside in a spectacular burst of power that send shockwaves and debris pouring in on top of Voldemort. The Dark Lord thrust his arms out and re-directed much of it to either side but he was still forced to dodge aside as a large chunk of mortar almost landed on him. Mirajane bolted downwards, spinning about in front of him to slam her tail into his side and send him flying. Moments later and Lisanna charged out to crash her own tail into him and send him rolling the other way. When he pushed himself up it was to see Mirajane thundering down on top of him with both clawed fists raised above her head.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted, Disapparating again and re-appearing in the middle of the room while Mira's fists pummelled the floor where he'd been. Whirling his wand arm above his head, Voldemort screamed aloud as the winds picked up around him, a gigantic tornado forming in the centre of what remained of the room and whooshing down upon the two siblings. Their wings were instantly turned against them as they were caught in the windstorm, swirling round and round it several times before they were slammed into the opposite wall. Voldemort's eyes burned with intensity as he poured all his strength he had into the attack, the wind scooping up debris from around the room and sending it hurtling in towards the sisters, who both struggled to move in the furious maelstrom!

"NOBODY BESTS ME!" he shrieked. "I WILL NOT BE OUTDONE BY TWO ALIEN WOMEN! NOT NOW! NOT EVER!"

Lisanna gritted her teeth, thrusting her hand out before her and delving deep into the dragon within her. She might not have experience yet, but one perk of a Take-Over was that you always knew what abilities your forms had when you needed to know them. Summoning her power she intoned words foreign to her own ear:-

"Fordrifan miswider æt nānwiht!"

And just like that… the wind stopped. It didn't peter out, it didn't lessen off. It just completely stopped. Voldemort stumbled back in astonishment when he realised Lisanna had literally just cancelled out his spell. And as the two sisters dropped smoothly to the floor, Lisanna swung an arm up and shouted, "LIGFYR!"

Fire exploded from the ground beneath Voldemort's feet in a huge wall that spread across the room. Voldemort bellowed as his robes caught fire and he blasted a spell downwards to send him shooting off the ground and into the air above the flames, but as he looked down Mirajane had swept into the air again and bellowed, **"DARKNESS STREAM!"**

Huge clawed hands composed of dark energy whooshed out of the magic circle that formed beneath Mira's scaly palms and Voldemort hissed as he fanned his robes out and swooped down like a bat, tendrils of smoke streaming off him as he dodged from left to right, able to feel the breeze of the claws as they skimmed past his flightpath until one smashed him in the side and sent him reeling, while the others all closed in.

He spun around to bring his wand lancing upwards and suddenly a massive shockwave exploded out from the tip, pummelling in all directions to disintegrate the claws and catch Mirajane in the front, sending her somersaulting backwards. But she landed smoothly on a nearby wall and sprang off it at startling speed, her fist sinking straight into Voldemort's gut with enough force to send him cannoning backwards, all the wind driven out of his lungs. But Lisanna was there to meet him as he fell and a hammer blow to the side with her tail and as Voldemort was flung back down towards the grounds of the mansion, both Strauss sisters converged on him like falling arrows.

"**DEMON BLAST!" **Mira shouted, while Lisanna sucked in another breath and blasted it out as another flaming projectile between her teeth. The two attacks pulsed in from different directions and Voldemort only managed to avoid them with a rapid Disapparition. But even as he apparated back into existence a short distance away the two attacks collided with a colossal explosion that blasted him backwards with the shockwave alone and he skidded across the lawn until he came to a tumbling stop.

"It would make it easier on all of us if you would just surrender," Lisanna suggested.

But Voldemort got to his feet, his red eyes burning so intensely they were practically on fire. "You are strong," he conceded. "But you have yet to see me at my full potential. I am the most powerful sorcerer in this world. You will see that for yourselves soon enough… !"

* * *

Death Eaters screamed and scattered as Natsu fell amongst them, his arms blazing and his scarf whipping out behind him as he thundered pell-mell through the throng of black-cloaked minions. His flames tossed them into the walls, into the ceilings, singing their outfits and sending those that were lucky enough to avoid being hit scurrying for cover. Except for one - Thorfinn Rowle actually charged straight at Natsu, raising his wand high and with the Killing Curse on his lips. Natsu whirled around to face him and responded to the challenge with a will, his body enshrouding in flames and blasting forwards before Rowle could get a word in edgeways.

"**KARYUU NO… KENKAKU!"**

The Sword Horn attack's aim was immaculate and Rowle eyes practically bulged out of his face as Natsu's crashed into him headfirst, a blast of flames combining with the strike from the top of Natsu's skull to shoot him backwards with enough force to bowl a couple of other Death Eaters over, rendering Rowle unconscious.

"WAY TO GO, NATSU!" Happy cheered from where he was perched on Elfman's shoulder, dancing from side to side as the Death Eaters scrambled for cover. Natsu grinned, thumbing his nose cheerfully. He was in the basement of a house a mere few streets away from where Lisanna had gone to get Mirajane. He'd been astonished when he'd caught Mira and Elfman's scent on the course back to London, but he'd known that they were in trouble the moment he'd smelt another familiar odour - that of those two Death Eaters that had been on top of the mountain in the Cairngorms.

That was why the two of them had instantly gone in guns blazing without any further questions. Though Natsu had no idea just how well-timed their interruption had been.

Nevertheless he knew it would not take long for the enemy force to rally, and he had an unconscious Elfman to deal with.

"Elfman, wake up!" Happy was saying, his small paws gripping Elfman's cheek as he pulled backwards, trying to rouse the slumbering Strauss brother but Elfman only seemed to snore momentarily as his lip was stretched to one side. If it hadn't been for the rising and falling of his barrel chest he would have looked completely dead. Natsu gripped the chains holding him haphazardly to the post and ignited his hands, rapidly melting the metal in his grip and yanking the chains free. But this only caused Elfman to slide down to the ground, his head lolling and his thick arms lax against his side.

"What should we do?" Happy asked, wheeling round the column a couple of times. "They must have hit him with some kind of strange spell… I think I can carry him though he might be the heaviest person I've ever lifted… except for Lucy of course."

"No need for that. We just have to wake him up."

"Won't we need a counter curse or something?"

"I got a counter curse right here," Natsu grinned. And Happy balked as he reared his fist back and brought it swinging in to pummel Elfman straight in the side of the face!

"WAKE UP, ELFMAN!"

"GAAAH!" Elfman's eyes shot open even as he fell sideways and he spun around to bring his arm swinging up on instinct alone, cannoning his fist straight into Natsu's chest and belting him backwards across the room. Elfman shot to his feet, fists raised, and blinked when he realised exactly who he had hit.

"NATSU! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR DEAL!?" he roared. "YOU DON'T SUCKER PUNCH A MAN LIKE THAT WHEN HE'S GOT HIS GUARD DOWN! THAT'S THE OPPOSITE OF MANLINESS RIGHT THERE!"

"Hehe," Natsu rubbed his ribs as he pushed himself back upwards. "That frigging hurt, ya bastard. It's good to see you again."

Elfman frowned in bemusement - from his perspective he'd last seen Natsu just a few minutes ago. But then he looked around at the basement and blinked again. "What the hell… where are we?" he asked. "This isn't on Tenroujima is it? And what… what happened with…"

"There's no time to really explain," Happy said, hovering up to Elfman's considerable height. "You just need to know that everyone survived Acnologia's attack and that you were being held prisoner by some bad people that were keeping you unconscious until Natsu woke you up by… punching you."

"Bad people…?" Elfman started, but then gasped as the memory of what had happened during his brief moment of lucidity before he'd been stunned. "NEE-CHAN! Where's nee-chan! I… I think they've got her too."

"Not for long they haven't," Natsu said. "She should be being rescued right now. Come on, we'll take you over to where she is. It's not far."

"Damn, I'm not even awake for a minute and I'm already on a mission," Elfman murmured, cracking his neck and flexing his arms. "Can't be helped I guess, but I want a full explanation later. And Natsu… thanks." He offered the Dragon Slayer a wry smile. "Being held captive… it ain't very manly of me. But it takes a real man to come storming to the rescue like that. I owe you one."

Natsu grinned. "Let's get you back to your family," he said. But then his nose twitched and he looked towards the small doorway, where they could hear clattering their way down stairs towards them. "Looks like they've regrouped though. We'll have to fight our way out."

Elfman's fist pounded into his palm with an smacking noise that echoed around the cellar. "Well I dunno who these guys are, but I suppose I should repay them for their hospitality. That's the real manly thing to do. As is taking point!"

And without another word he surged forwards past Natsu, thundering towards the doorway just as the first Death Eater appeared in the gap. All he had time to see was Elfman glowing yellow and bellowing, **"TAKE OVER: BEAST SOUL!" **before he literally wet himself at the sight of the monstrous creature that took his place.

A colossal brute over twice Elfman's original size and with a body covered with reddish fur except for its bare muscled chest and neck, revealing the green skin that lay beneath. His feet were like those of huge bird's, his massive arms ended with hands tipped with ferociously big claws, and a giant yellow spike protruded from each shoulder. His bestial face came with a white beard and thick white hair that almost looked like a mane, long pointy green ears and two gigantic horns protruding up from his forehead. The only thing vaguely human-like that remained were his trousers, which were thankfully still intact.

And with a furious roar he descended on the hapless Death Eater, who screamed and tried to backpedal, crashing into the others that were coming down behind him. The door and the stairwell beyond, but the Beast didn't even slow down. He tore through the gap with a shower of bricks and plaster and ripped his way up the stairs, rending the walls and the ceiling asunder as he passed and pushing up or trampling over all the Death Eaters in his path.

He exploded out into the wide hallway beyond with a mighty bellow that shook the walls around him, seizing one startled Death Eater by the top of his robes and heaving him around as if he weighed as much as a shuttlecock, bowling him into several others.

"STUN HIM! SOMEBODY STUN HIM!" one of the Death Eaters screamed, under the assumption that they still needed him as a bargaining chip for his sister. A pair of Death Eaters scrambled up and fired red beams at Elfman's back, but he spun around and charged through them like a runaway freight train, completely ignoring the spells and backhanding the first Death Eater to send him spinning into a wall hard enough to dent it before scooping up the second by his leg, using him as a flail to smash the third backwards and heaving him around to sweep the feet out of from underneath two more.

Most of the Death Eaters were shooting off in all directions now, many Disapparating in blind panic to get away from the terrifying monster that had fallen upon them. Two of the only ones to stand their ground were Crabbe and Goyle Senior, who both took it upon themselves to end the fight quickly, jabbing their wands forward even as Elfman slammed another man to the side so hard he crashed straight through a wooden door.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" They screamed at the same time. But even as the tips of their wands began to glow green, Natsu burst out of the stairway in front of them with Happy at his shoulders and a foot cloaked in flames. With a furious bellow he swept his leg out in a spectacular roundhouse kick, his Fire Dragon's Claw attack vaporising their wands right before their spells could go off and blasting the two away, firing them back down the corridor and right into the front door of the house, sending it toppling over and skidding out into the outside world.

"Elfman! Watch out for the green spells! They'll kill you if they touch you!" Natsu shouted back over his shoulder.

"What!? Like the kind of magic that guy did on Tenroujima…? Like Zeref? Magic that can kill instantly… that's about as unmanly as its possible to get! It's so cowardly!"

"Follow us! We'll take you to Mira and Lisanna," Happy said as he swished out of the door, scooping Natsu up into the sky above the house, which was in what looked like a perfectly ordinary… and very Muggle… suburb. The crashes and noise had gotten the attention of most of the street at this point and Muggle neighbours gasped as Natsu swept up into the air above them, one of them who had been calling the police dropping the phone in disbelief even as he peered through the window.

But suddenly a flash of green caught Natsu's eye and he heaved his body up and over, dragging the startled Happy sideways just as a Killing Curse streaked past his leg. Looking up, he saw a phalanx of four Death Eaters that had managed to get onto broomsticks homing in on his side, green curses filling the sky as they approached. Happy took the initiative and dived downwards, levelling off moments before they hit the floor and streaking along the top of the road.

"They're coming in behind us, Natsu!" he yelled.

"Up and over, Happy! We can take 'em!"

"Aye sir!" The blue cat flipped over and streaked back in towards the oncoming attackers, his back facing the ground and heaving Natsu above him as the Dragon Slayer reared back his fire clenched fist. The lead Death Eater had no time to react as Natsu's knuckles pummelled into his face, an explosion of fire ripping his broomstick to cinders and sending him crashing to the ground. The other Death Eaters veered off and Happy rapidly flipped Natsu back around to pursue, leading to a helter-skelter chase through the sky.

"COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME HEAD ON!" Natsu shouted, blasting flame from his mouth at two of the Death Eaters but they veered off to either side, the blast blowing a hole in the tarmac over which they'd been flying. Happy spun around as a Killing Curse blitzed past his wing and dove upon another Death Eater, but again he avoided Natsu's next Iron Fist attack and Natsu ended up demolishing a stone wall in its place.

"Cheh… these guys are fast in the air…" Natsu growled, looking up to see the three grouping together for another pass. "We'll have to outmanoeuvre them!"

"Going up!" Happy shouted and exploded into the sky with a burst of Aera. But even as the Death Eaters veered up to follow him, the plucky cat span himself and Natsu around several times and flung Natsu downwards towards them. Natsu grinned wildly, his feet igniting to thrust him forwards as if he were wearing rocket boots.

**"KARYUU NO… ENCHUU!"** he shouted, his elbow igniting with fiery power. The Death Eater he was for tried to swing away and did manage to stop Natsu from hitting him in the chest as was Natsu's intention. But the Flaming Elbow still caught him in the arm and ripped him off the broom, sending him spinning through the air to the floor below. Natsu landed on the broomstick himself and spun around to yell, "ALRIGHT! WHO'S NEPPWWEERG!"

His hand clapped to his mouth and his face went blue, his cheeks puffing out as he collapsed onto his front upon the broom, looking like he was about to hurl at any moment. Evidently broomsticks… were definitely transportation.

"NATSU!" Happy cried, diving in towards him, but already the two remaining Death Eaters had fired their Killing Curses, the green spells diving upon the retching Natsu like falcons descending on their prey.

That was when a car… an entire car… came hurtling over Natsu's head from below to intercept the spells and plough straight into the Death Eaters with two horrible crunches, their unconscious bodies tumbling unconscious to the ground with shattered brooms as the car smashed down headfirst into a rooftop! Happy scooped Natsu off the broom two seconds later and looked down to see Elfman leaping over to another driveway in a single bound and heaving a second car into the air with what seemed like very little effort, hurling it like a gigantic shot-put into the front door of the house where he'd been held prisoner. Two Death Eaters that ran out through that door immediately back-pedalled and charged back in, screaming as the car demolished the doorway and caved its way through the walls a short distance into hallway, forcing Death Eaters to scramble to safety until it came to a stop in the kitchen.

"Nnghhh…" Natsu grinned blearily as he rapidly lost his motion sickness. "Thanks for the save, Elfman."

"Repaying debts is a Man," Elfman thumped his chest. "And I guess this makes us even now."

"Yeah. Come on, the others aren't far," the Dragon Slayer said as he and Happy winged their way over another house, Elfman following on by taking a spectacular leap and scrambling easily up the wall and bounding from roof to roof after him, leaving behind a street full of bewildered and terrified Muggles and many, many unconscious Death Eaters.

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy groaned as she regained consciousness and followed up with a momentary panic attack when she realised that she was half buried in bits of rubble and shattered wood. The fuel of adrenaline that came with it propelled her to her feet, shouldering her way out from beneath the dusty debris and swaying unsteadily for a moment…

But a raucous screamed ripped its way free of her lips when she took a look around her… at the devastation that surrounded her. It was a miracle that she'd come through it with only a few scrapes, for what looked like the entire top two floors of the manor had been wrecked! Family heirlooms, centuries old, along with countless precious artefacts destroyed. Damage that would require far, far more than a simple Reparo spell to fix.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" she screeched to the air. "MY HOME! IT'S ALL BUT GONE!"

A nearby flash of light and an angry roar caught her attention. Fear flickering at her stomach, she nonetheless hurried towards it, snatching up her wand from the ground as she went. But when she saw the battle unfolding in the air above she skidded to a stunned halt so fast she nearly skidded over.

It was a veritable brawl. Lord Voldemort, his cloak flared out wide like wings and trailing what looked like tendrils of darkness behind him, swerved aside to avoid another blast of fire from the draconic Lisanna's lips only for Mirajane to come pounding in towards him at high speed. He lashed his wand to the side and produced a flurry of Cutting Curses that sought to slice into the demon girl but she somehow managed to dodge her way straight through the barrage with ridiculously rapid movements and slam her palm into Voldemort's chest, electrical power lancing from her hands to pulse him backwards with a furious hiss and a smoking cloak.

Swinging back down towards the ground, Voldemort arced low with the two sisters in rapid pursuit, but as they neared the manor garden the Dark Wizard wheeled around and muttered something under his breath. Instantly the ground around him began to fire up rocks and chunks of earth that bombarded the two girls like a flurry of cannonballs, smashing into their wings and flinging them out of the air.

Lisanna vaulted herself over and slammed her hand into the ground the moment she landed, yelling out, "Dōn se hrūse wiell!" And suddenly the earth beneath Voldemort exploded upwards like a gigantic geyser, engulfing him and sending him pulsing up into the air, choking on mud and gravel that entered his mouth. Spitting and screaming he forced himself free with a charm that sent the earth blasting out in all directions, but even as he wheeled around to aim his next hex, Mirajane was suddenly in his face, her hand smashing over the top of his nose as she seized his head in her claws and slammed him down towards the ground, intending to pile-drive his head into the stone driveway that led to the mansion.

Voldemort screamed and Disapparated, taking Mirajane with him to a point higher in the air. The horrible effect of Side-Along Apparition threw Mira off balance and she recoiled away from him, giving him time to slash his wand and hit her with the Cruciatus Curse. Mira screeched, her body racking with intense pain as if thousands of hot needles were being plunged into her skin, but even through that she was able to slam her hands together and launch an Evil Explosion that practically blasted a hole in the air itself around her. If Voldemort had not Disapparated again a split second before it could go off, he would have taken some serious damage.

"Mira-nee! Are you okay?" Lisanna asked as she rose up beside her heavily breathing sister.

"I'm fine," she said stoically - the effect of the Curse having broken as soon as Voldemort vanished. "That hurt but I'm okay… no injuries. More importantly, where did he go?"

* * *

The answer to that question was that Voldemort had appeared in the mansion again, screened from the view of the two airborne siblings and gasping for breath. This was ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! He was the Dark Lord! The man everyone feared in this entire world, even Dumbledore. And here he was locked in combat with two young girls and not only were they matching him blow for blow… he could only say that he was coming off worse in this fight! How was this possible! How could these Fairy Tail mages be so strong as to challenge him at such a young age! This wasn't a case of an ancient protection spell as was on Harry Potter! This was solely a case of power. And they were winning out!

"No…" he hissed to himself, gripping his wand so tightly his knuckles went as white as bone. "No… I am far from beaten. Not yet."

"My Lord," Narcissa hissed when she spotted him, hurrying over quickly. "My Lord, we… should we not retreat?"

Voldemort instantly turned and lashed out with his wand, and Narcissa barely contained a scream when a line of blood appeared on her cheek and some of her hair fell away. Voldemort eyes burned as he glared at her furiously. "I will not withdraw now! I am still waiting for your money-grabbing husband to return with my most loyal supporters from Azkaban! He will come back here and if I am not here to meet them, this will all have been for nothing… but I will nonetheless take precautions," he added as an afterthought. "These Fairy Tail mages… they do not yet know we have a second of those Spheres here. Go downstairs and transport it away. Take it to McNair's place and await my instructions there. Now!"

"Y… yes, my Lord," Narcissa stammered as she bolted away down the stairs. Voldemort grimaced as he stepped back towards the hole in the wall and glowered up at the two sisters. At the very least he had to keep them busy… but if he retreated now… he was certain he would never live it down. When the world finally learned he had returned, he would not allow them to believe he had been bested by these offworlders. He simply wouldn't allow it!

"Let's see if your firepower can stand up to this, girls," he hissed, raising his wand high above his head. And with a wild flourish of his hand, fire burst forth from the tip of his wand. Flame that spewed upwards above the mansion and moulded itself into the shape of a colossal serpent, dwarfing even a basilisk in size and striking out for the two startled mages with all the speed of a real snake. The two separated instantly as the flames clashed down where they'd just been and Lisanna steeped into a dive as the snake pursued her, eyes locking on its tail end to spot Voldemort down below. Ignoring the giant flaming coils beside he she folded her wings in and plummeted towards him… but as she got close… suddenly another snake appeared out of nowhere and lunged at her, fangs aiming straight for her arm!

Nagini!

Lisanna rapidly broke off her attack and flipped over, barely avoiding the sudden snakebite and skidding to a halt on what remained of the mansion's roof. She whirled about to see Nagini slithering rapidly towards her, slitted eyes alight with the thrill of the hunt. But Lisanna wasn't worried - her mind rapidly focused upon the snake, drawing up her Animal Soul magic and commanding her to stop.

…But Nagini ignored her… and kept coming!

Lisanna gasped and recoiled sharply. The snake hadn't just ignored her command… it was her magic had been physically repelled somehow. She'd never come across an animal in all her life that hadn't at least responded in some way to her magic… but this snake… there was something… wrong with it!

Such was her shock that Nagini had time to bunch her coils and spring forth with a furious hiss. Lisanna threw up her arm and Nagini's fangs closed around her scaly gauntlet, failing to pierce the armour plating, but her body was still quick to lash around Lisanna's own, pinning her wings to her side. Lisanna's hands flew to Nagini's neck, struggling to hold her back as she tried to strike again for her neck and gasping as her attacker's teeth stopped inches from her neck, flecks of venom spattering over her skin.

"What… what are you?" she whispered as she thrashed to free herself from Nagini's ever-tightening embrace.

Voldemort's attention now was entirely focused on Mirajane, and she was dodging nimbly from left to right with the flaming snake tracing her movements and snapping at her heels. Voldemort sneered and flicked his wand again, and suddenly two gargoyles on the side of the mansion sprang to life and threw themselves into the air, ignoring the fact they were made of stone and should have fallen to the ground as such and instead swooped up towards Mirajane with claws and teeth slashing in like knives. Mira's eyes narrowed and she blitzed in towards them with a shout of **"DARKNESS STREAM!"**

Two huge hands of dark energy blazed out of thin air to seize the gargoyles in mid flight and smash them together, shattering them into chunks of debris which were then sent streaming down towards Voldemort himself. He dodged backwards with a sweep of his cloak but was not fast enough to dodge away from Mirajane's powerful punch, her claws cloaked in demonic energy as she came sweeping in and smashed him backwards hard enough to punch him straight through a wall… and then another wall. Gasping and wheezing for breath, Voldemort tried to bring his fiery serpent descending down on his attacker… but his eyes widened when he saw it was being drawn away into the air… and into the mouth of the same pink-haired boy that had attacked the guards holding Elfman!

"No… this can't be happening!" he cried, and he Disapparated moments before Mirajane's fist could impact with his chin. He stumbled into existence again on the lawn just in time to see Natsu swallow the last of what used to be his magic serpent, while Lisanna locked eyes with Nagini and whispered:-

"Ic ābannan mīn bāncofa hyt tō hlifan!"

Suddenly her skin became searing hot to the touch and Nagini hissed sharply, letting go with her scales lightly cooked as Lisanna threw her away by the neck. The snake hissed and slithered away, but Lisanna let her go. She hated killing animals for any reason except for food and though she could tell there was something very wrong with that snake, she didn't have the heart to go after it. Instead she rose up into the air to join Natsu and Mirajane, the three of them hovering together over the blazing mad Voldemort.

"This is getting interesting," Natsu smirked. "And now that I've eaten I'm all revved up!"

* * *

Bluenote roared as Gildarts slammed him into the floor, the Fairy Tail ace's hand planted firmly on Bluenote's chest to crush him against the ground, a huge crater erupting in the middle of the graveyard as Gildarts' magic blasted it to pieces. Bluenote's eyes bulged as he felt his ribs only just keep from breaking under the impact - any normal person would have been obliterated by such a strike. But he was quickly able to get Gildarts off him by altering the gravity around him to send them both catapulting straight upwards.

The two of them rose high over the sinking Azkaban and Bluenote's fist caught Gildarts a glancing blow in the chin just as they reached their peak. Gildarts flipped over and kicked Bluenote in the nose, which was met with a strike right to the stomach from Bluenote's own foot. The two of them dropped like rocks, fists pounding into the other's face and chest until Bluenote was able to push himself away from Gildarts and bring his hands together.

"**BLACK HOLE!"** he bellowed, and this time the dark gravity-sucking sphere appeared right between his palms, rapidly growing and drawing in intense pressure rapidly. Rubble from the building below came soaring in towards it, as did Gildarts, and Bluenote was hoping that being in the air wouldn't give Gildarts enough purchase to resist it long enough to break it with his Crash Magic.

But Gildarts instead actually angled himself towards it and punched it head on, his fist not only shattering the attack but detonating it as well, sending all the gravity it had been sucking in blasting back outwards like a colossal shockwave that sent Bluenote barrelling back down towards the ground. Only a quick altering of his own gravity caused him to fall at a diagonal slant that allowed him to land in the ocean rather than impact back upon the island. He rose gasping for breath, his clothing ripped and his body battered, but still able to pull himself out of the water until he was literally standing on the surface. He looked up, clutching his chest, as Gildarts landed in a crouch on the shoreline just before him.

The shoreline which was now mere inches above the water. Much more and Azkaban would start to flood!

"Shut off your attack!" Gildarts demanded.

"Not a chance," Bluenote smirked even as he wiped some blood from the side of this mouth. "It's rare I get to cut loose as much as this. But there are only two ways that this island will stop sinking now. Either you'll have to kill me, or at least knock me out… or you'll have to kneel before me and let me kill you. The choice is yours."

Gildarts wrinkled his nose and growled. "Fairy Tail won't surrender to anyone unless there is no other choice. You haven't limited the options enough for that to happen yet. What do you even hope to accomplish here? You and I, we're not even in our own universe anymore. Is beating me your only purpose now?"

"I will find a new purpose," Bluenote replied. "My long-standing goal has always been to fly… to obtain strength that no other can match. It's a little disappointing that I'm no longer in Earthland, but if that is the case, I could be closer to that goal now than I ever was before."

"And what will you do with that power once you have it? Have you given any thought at all to how you will live once you are the strongest? What the point of being so even is? I am the strongest in my guild, but my strength does not define me. There is so much more to my life than power. And there could be for yours too if only you had the foresight to see it."

"Tick tock, Gildarts," the Grimoire Heart ace sneered as the island dipped still further down. "You're running out of time."

"Then I'll just have to make this quick won't I?" Gildarts muttered, his fist raising high into the air before he slammed it down upon the soil before him with the force of a charging rhinoceros. A colossal explosion of Crash energy ripped into the rock and send a massive rockslide spewing out towards Bluenote, but he was quick to redirect it to either side of him with an outward sweep of his arms. He clenched his teeth and responded by clapping his hands together and suddenly Gildarts found himself pushed to the ground by what felt like an intense wall of gravity pushing at him not only from the top but from the sides as well. He grunted and gasped, trying to lift his arm to throw another spell but the force of the gravity was so intense that he couldn't!

"Let's see if you can survive this one," Bluenote gritted his teeth, piling on more pressure than he'd ever applied to a single person. Gildarts gasped and cried out as he felt the metal of his arm began to buckle, his bones shaking and his blood stopping in his veins as Bluenote piled it on. His own cloak was pinning him to the floor under its weight and it was growing heavier by the second… in a few seconds if this kept up he would end up crushed under his own weight, like a beached whale.

But he was far from done!

"No matter how intense… the gravity… it can be overcome… with enough lift!" he grinned, and suddenly Crash magic exploded out of his hands and feet with enough force to vaporise the entire graveyard and the wall behind it, rocking the island and propelling Gildarts forward at high speed. He couldn't move his limbs in mid-flight but he'd angled his trajectory so his head struck Bluenote square in the nose and Bluenote howled as it fractured under the impact, reeling backwards and losing control of his powers so both he and Gildarts plunged into the water below.

Instantly Bluenote tried to make his way back to the surface but Gildarts' hand closed around his long ponytail and yanked him back down. Bluenote rolled over to hammer Gildarts in the chin with his fist, and Gildarts responded in kind, the two hammering each other blow for blow as they rolled beneath the surface, Gildarts making sure to keep a firm grip on Bluenote at all time so he couldn't try and send him plunging down into the depths again.

But he got a moment to look up for a split second and cursed through the water as he saw that the surface had welled up over the top of the shoreline.

Water was now entering Azkaban!

* * *

"We have to move quickly," Cana shouted another explosion rocked the building, everyone in the company staggering to stay on their feet. "We have to get as many to safety as we can!"

"But how? The anti-appraition wards aren't tied to this building!" Kingsley shook his head, raising his voice above the sounds of outside conflict. "Even if the whole thing is destroyed, nobody would be able to apparate away unless we got outside the wards and with the causeway destroyed they'd have to swim! And we can't release all these people out into the world anyway! Many of them aren't as bad as the demons but they're all criminals nonetheless! Or at least most of them are!"

"I put half of these people in here," Moody agreed. "I'll be damned if I let 'em all escape on my watch."

"At the very least we cannot let them drown," Erza said stiffly, her body glowing until she was dressed in an armour that came with a single shoulder-guard, vambrace and knee-guard all down her left side and all with cheetah-spot patterns that were also present on her top and the cat-like ears suddenly sticking out of her red hair. "We get them all to the roof… and hope that Gildarts can pull through before we're all underwater."

"What about the Death Eaters?" Tonks asked. "We can't just let them escape!"

"Too late," Mad-Eye growled, looking through the nearby wall. "They've already gone. They've conjured a raft between them and are using Propulsion Charms to get themselves to safety. It won't be long before they're out of range of the wards and then they can Disapparate."

Tonks hurried to the window, Remus right behind her, to see for themselves. Mad-Eye was not mistaken - a crammed raft was indeed making its way off from the island, three different Death Eaters at the back with their wands in the water making it go. Tonks could see a dishevelled Bellatrix standing in the middle and she shouted in frustration at the sight of her deranged aunt making a getaway, hurling down a Stunning Spell at the fleeing raft. Despite the distance it was extremely accurate, but Bellatrix saw it coming and slashed her wand to block it with a quick Shield Charm. The two locked eyes with each other for a moment, before Bellatrix drew her wand across her own neck. A clear sign that the next time they met, she would make sure Tonks was dead meat.

"Dammit," Tonks whispered, but she felt Remus' hand on her shoulder consolingly. The shabby werewolf stuck his own wand out of the window and fired off a silvery wisp - a Patronus - that zinged its way low over the waves and shot off into the distance, overtaking the raft and whooshing off towards the distance horizon.

"What was that for?" Tonks asked.

"You'll see… but for now we have to let them go. Erza and Cana are right. We can't let anyone in here drown when we could save them - criminal or not."

"Make your way up the stairs," Erza nodded. "Get everyone out that you can!" And without another word she shot off down the corridor at blinding speed, her sword flashing through the air to cleave one of the doors in two, wrenching one half down and yelling at the stunned occupant within. "The prison is flooding! Get to the roof, now!" before darting off to another cell and doing the same. Cana split off and went another direction, one of her cards pasting itself over another cell door and melting the handle off to a similar effect!

"You heard them, you lot!" Moody growled as he hobbled forwards as best he could despite the shaking building. "Let's get these bastards to safety!"

* * *

It took a mere few minutes for the inside of Azkaban to become a veritable helter-skelter of people, all rushing upwards. Erza rushed from door to door at top speed, her Flight Armour giving wings to her step as she slashed through the bolts holding the prisoners in their cells, leaving the others to try and rally the confused and terrified mass of convicts. None of them knew what was going on but they'd all felt the building shaking, all heard the explosions ripping the air asunder from outside.

Some tried to make a break downwards for the exit in a bid to get their wands and escape, but they were quickly put paid to by the Order and Cana as they fanned out to drive the rabble up the steps, like sheepdogs with their herds.

"Get to the roof, you dolts!" Moody roared over the din. "Unless you want to feed some giant squid tonight get your asses to the roof!"

Most obeyed and those that decided to push their luck were Stunned and instantly re-animated just do the order could get their point across. And when the word spread amongst the inmates that their prison was flooding from the ground up they bolted, pushing one another out the way in a mad scramble to reach the top floor. Every shake of the building tripped many of them up but they pushed themselves up, clambering over each other in the rush to escape a watery grave.

"Hestia!" a voice in the crowd yelled, attracting the attention of the young Auror witch as she sent a warning shot arching into the wall close to a pair of middle-aged men who had been advancing on her with the aim of wrestling her wand away until she made them think twice. "Hestia, is that you!?"

"Sturgis!" Hestia replied, smiling in relief as her fellow Order member pushed his way through the crowd towards her. "Thank goodness you're okay. We hadn't heard anything about you after you were thrown in here without trial."

"Sorry… I was put under the Imperius Curse by someone… they tried to make me break into the Prophecy room."

"It's okay now - the Prophecy has been destroyed."

"Destroyed? But I thought that…"

"Dumbledore wanted it intact. Yeah, he did. But that's not important right now. Help us get these people to safety!"

"What is going on out there!?" Sturgis shouted as another loud crash seemed to rock the entire floor and the sound of crumbling stonework outside pushed the people to run upstairs all the faster.

"That's something I really, really don't have time to explain," Hestia said, leading the way upwards to usher a young man and woman along before her.

A few corridors away and Kingsley was managing as best he could despite his wounded back, his Lynx Patronus beating back a couple of Dementors that had managed to slip back into the facility from somewhere, probably through a hole in the wall. But he was quite taken aback when a bedraggled looking man appeared out of the passageway just ahead of him, wild-eyed and gasping for breath and quite astonished at the sight of him.

"Shacklebolt!" he gasped.

"Robards!" Kingsley blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Gawain said as he hurried forwards to join him. "I was forced to come here… one of those men out there… he made me Apparate him to the prison. He killed two of my operatives, Shacklebolt. Nick and Veda… they're both gone… crushed to death! And he threatened to do the same to me if I did not bring him to Azkaban!"

Kingsley paused, grimacing at the news of the death of two good Aurors, but shrugging off his shock for the time being in the face of peril. "But why would he want to come here?"

"He was after one of the two Fairy Tail women, sir. And the strangest thing… the other man out there - the one that destroyed the Prophecy Room - he protected me, sir! He saved my life!"

"Did he now?" Kingsley said. "Well you just make sure you remember that when you tell Scrimgeour and the Minister about this later. Come on, help me get these people to safety."

"But, wait… sir… why are you here?"

"Can't explain now. We have to move. Come on!"

Gawain blinked, but nodded, falling into step behind Kingsley to join the rush. Up at the top of sinking prison Erza blasted her way out onto the flat, triangular rooftop - literally blasting her way up through the ceiling in her Black Wing armour rather than taking the stairs. Rushing over to the edge as the first of the prisoners began to filter out into open air, her teeth tightened at the sight of what lay before her.

The ocean was churning around the island and the first four floors of the prison had already been swallowed up by the waves, which were churning and frothing in a veritable whirlpool down below. She could faintly see Gildarts and Bluenote at the centre of the vortex, plunging up and over each other as they punched each other with unimaginable force. She saw Bluenote hammer his fist into Gildarts chin with enough strength to tear the Fairy Tail ace away from him, but Gildarts was able to seize Bluenote's ankle with his other hand just as Bluenote used his gravity to make him heavier, jerking the both of them underneath the waves. With the island beneath the prison swallowed up the two of them had literally nothing to stand on but the sea itself and their watery battlefield was proving a hindrance to both of them.

But that wasn't all. A hideous sensation of cold rushed through Erza's body when she looked up and beheld them… Dementors - hundreds of them swirling in a wide circle several hundred feet above the prison. They made no move towards the escaping prisoners but Erza got the sense they were waiting to see how the battle between Gildarts and Bluenote played out before they entered the fray again. And there were so many of them.

"Jeez, this really doesn't look good does it?" Cana said as she stepped up next to Erza.

"Not at all," Erza said grimly. "When those Dementor things descend on us… I very much doubt my conviction will be enough to fend off their effects."

"And all the Order members with us are worn out," Cana agreed. "They won't be able to ward away such a big hoard all at once."

"We'll have to worry about that when we come to it… for now we need to stop that man while we still have something solid left to stand on."

* * *

Bluenote tried to tug his foot loose from Gildart's grip but Gildarts clung on grimly - his metal hand gripping his opponent's ankle even tighter than a vice. Wrenching downwards, Gildarts was able to deliver a pile-driving punch to Bluenote's chest that knocked the wind out of him but Bluenote was able to counter by altering gravity to the side and sending the both of them shooting straight back towards Azkaban. Gildarts coughed bubbles as his back slammed against the stonework and smashed straight through it into the first floor corridor which was completely flooded by this point.

The two tumbled over and over each other, their lungs beginning to burn but Bluenote's face suddenly split into a sinister grin as he raised his hand, channelling his magic into his fingertips and he prepared to bring the ceiling collapsing in on top of Gildarts. The Crash Mage's eyes widened, knowing that if he succeeded in doing that he could bring down the whole prison and crush dozens of people upstairs so he did the first thing he could think of, which was to channel his Crash Magic into the water itself, splintering it into squares and blowing it out of holes in either side of the prison, temporarily rendering the corridor free of water.

A surprised Bluenote dropped to the ground and landed on his face, but Gildarts landed much more smoothly and charged towards him even as the water began rushing straight back in on either side, ramming him with his shoulder even as he tried to get up. A blast of magic from his feet disintegrated the floor of the entire corridor and sent the two of them crashing through the oncoming flood and back out into the open ocean.

Both were short on breath at this point and hurriedly kicked their way to the surface. But Bluenote got there first and just as Gildarts breached the water for a quick gulp of air he was sent plunging back downwards beneath a sudden intense pulse of gravity. He shot vertically down until he crashed straight into the wrecked graveyard several dozen feet down and was pinned there by the gravity, retching for air as what little he had left was forced straight out of his chest by the pressure.

Bluenote, who was now standing on the water, leered down through the surface at his submerged adversary. "What's wrong, Gildarts? Not going to use your magic to get you back up again? Or are you concerned that if you damage the island any more than its already been damaged you'll bring this building tumbling down?"

Gildarts didn't hear him but he'd come to the same conclusion. Everything outside the prison tower had already been demolished except what remained of the graveyard, and with Bluenote's Black Hole eating away at it from below… he could feel the whole thing trembling. He knew then and there that the amount of Crash Magic it would take to get him back to the surface alone would be dangerous for the stability of the prison, and that amount wouldn't be enough to end the fight with the Gravity Mage.

'Damn…' he thought as his throat convulsed, forcing back the instinctive need to draw another breath. 'Why did we have to meet on such a small island. If we were back on Tenroujima I'd have kicked his ass by now! There's… there's got to be something I can do… I can't let… him… win…'

And then… quite suddenly… he could breathe. The water around him vanished and before he could figure out why he'd already sucked in a breath, his lungs heaving in great quantities of life-giving oxygen. He looked up and saw Bluenote standing there above him on the edge of a waterfall… because the sea had opened up - the water literally receding outwards in a wide semi-circle around the side of the prison to leave the graveyard open to the air.

"What…?" Bluenote gasped, looking about wildly for an explanation. But Gildarts could already see one. Far above on the top of the prison - a lone, distant figure clad in green and whirling a sword in wide circles over her head and red hair streaming out behind her.

Erza in her Sea Empress Armour. She was manipulating the water as best she could from so high up to give Gildarts some literal breathing space. Gildarts grinned. That armour didn't give her as much control of water as someone like Juvia, but it was good enough for the task.

"That's it!" Bluenote bellowed, bringing his arms to bear and the entire prison suddenly shaking as the walls began to crack. "If I cannot drown you then I will bury you, Gildarts! I will crush you under the remains of the building you're trying so hard to protect!"

But even as massive fractures ran across the walls and the whole thing began to splinter, something else came zinging down from above. Three cards, two of which swept into Bluenote's face, taking him by surprise and suddenly exploding with intense light right before his eyes.

"YYAAAAGGHHH!" Bluenote reeled backwards, clutching at his face as his eyes practically felt like they were smoking. His magic faltered and Gildarts found the gravity pinning him down had vanished. He pushed himself to his feet instantly, just as the third of Cana's projectiles pasted itself on the ground right before him. He blinked as he looked down at it, but then grinned knowingly. He didn't know much about Card Magic, but he knew what the watery-looking face depicted on this card meant.

"Attagirl," he whispered as he jumped into the air right as the card began to glow.

Far above, Cana raised her arm and shouted, "Inoriko no Funsui!"

The Prayer's Fountain spell burst into life with an intense geyser of water pulsing out of the tiny card to impact with Gildarts feet-first and blasted him straight upwards past the watery wall that Erza was holding in place. Gildarts was shooting towards the reeling Bluenote like a circus clown fired out of a cannon and he knew full well this would be the all or nothing shot. He reeled back his right arm, channelling all his power into his fist and roaring loud enough for the crowd on the rooftop to hear him:-

"**HAJA KENSEI… ITTEN!"**

Bluenote gasped - those were the same words Gildarts had cried back on Tenroujima right before the final blow. He spun around and raised his hands, but it was too late! Gildarts pounded in towards him and hammered his fist at full power straight into Bluenote's gut, and a massive blast of Crash Magic rent the air around them, pulsing back the water, shaking the tower of Azkaban like a rattle, a spectacular column of white magic bursting skyward and carrying Bluenote with it. He screamed as his body was once again consumed by the blast, his body fired up to such a height that the swirling Dementors had to dodge aside to avoid him and he disappeared among the clouds, sweeping away from the tower in one long, spectacular arcing flight.

Gildarts himself rose high enough to bypass the roof of the prison and quickly angled himself down towards it, coming in for a landing right next to Erza and Cana. As he stood up, panting for breath but smiling roguishly, he looked up into the staring faces of the crowd, including the six Order members he was familiar with - all of them slack-jawed and staring openly in disbelief.

"What're you looking at?" he asked. But he didn't wait for an answer - instead he turned to look back out across the waves, spotting Bluenote's body in the far distance as he came plunging back down about a mile away, so far off that they didn't hear the splash when he finally impacted with the surface again.

"Do you think he's dead?" Erza asked.

"I doubt it," Gildarts replied. "That guy seems to be something of a survivor."

* * *

"UNGH!" Bluenote rasped for breath as he finally breached the surface again. His body was bruised and drained of energy, and he could barely muster the strength to tread water - if it hadn't been for his remaining magical reserves reducing his weight and boosting him up to the surface he probably would have sank.

"Damn…" he hissed, glowering at the far distant prison even as it continued to plunge below the waves. "I was close… if those other two hadn't interfered I would have had him… I know it. I would have really been able to fly today."

"Are you in need of assistance?" a silky smooth voice hailed him from not that far away, and Bluenote turned around to see a raft approaching him, one manned by various men and a single woman all dressed in black. The speaker was a blond-haired man at the front of the raft and was smirking down at him with no small amount of triumph.

"Who are you?" Bluenote growled.

"I? Why, I am the one who can help take you out of here," Lucius Malfoy replied. "You are an enemy of Fairy Tail, are you not? So are we. Perhaps you would be willing to come with us and we'll take you to meet with our Lord and Master. I am sure that he would love to form an alliance with a man of your… calibre. Perhaps together we can find a way to put an end to Fairy Tail and its allies once and for all. Or alternatively we can leave you out here, where you will either drown or be forced back to Azkaban where they are waiting for you. It's entirely your call."

"We don't need him!" Bellatrix sneered. "We are more than enough to fulfil any wish the Dark Lord demands of us!"

"Then you have a bigger head than I thought, Bellatrix. As you may recall, the Dark Lord tasked us with bringing back those two Fairy Tail girls and we just failed at that. But perhaps if we bring him back with us, he will not be quite so angry at that failure. And you, my friend, your options are limited. Why not take this one and I am certain you will not regret our assistance."

Bluenote eyed them irritably, knowing that even with his magic greatly depleted he could easily sink the raft and everyone on it. But they were right - he did not have many options. So, he quickly rose himself out of the water, stepping forward until he slumped to one knee upon the raft, panting for breath and turning baleful eyes up towards Lucius.

"Get me out of here," he said. "One day I shall fly… and when that day comes, Gildarts will be the first to know."

"Just the attitude we wanted to hear," Lucius nodded knowingly. "We're beyond the range of the wards now, so we can get out of here."

He quickly took hold of Bluenote's arm and twisted on the spot, Disapparating with a whoosh of air that scooped him and Bluenote up into nothingness. The other Death Eaters were quick to follow, cracking out of existence one after another until Bellatrix was the only one left. She glared back in the direction of the castle and whispered, "I'm coming for you, dear niece. And your new friends too - just you wait and see."

Then she too vanished with a whirl of her robes, leaving the raft floating empty in the currents. But as soon as Bluenote had vanished, the Black Hole spell buried deep within the sea mount fizzled out of existence too - no longer sustained by its caster. The mountain came to a stand-still at last with half of Azkaban still protruding from the frothing waves.

* * *

"What happened?" Tonks asked when the building finally stopped shaking.

"Looks like the spell Bluenote was using to sink the place has gone," Gildarts said. "Which can mean several different things. Either he's unconscious, dead, could no longer sustain the spell or willingly cancelled it out. Whatever it is… I don't think he'll be troubling us again today at the very least."

"But what was he doing here?" Cana mused. "He can't have come through in the Fairy Spheres with us so how in the world is he even here?"

"I don't know. But you've just reminded me of something," Gildarts said.

"What?"

"CANA!" Gildarts cried and instantly glomped his startled daughter, pulling her in close and rocking her from side to side slightly. "I'm so glad you're safe. I spent the last two weeks fretting over you - I thought I'd lost you so soon after finding out who you really were!"

"Gaahh! Pops, you're all wet!" Cana struggled and spluttered to get out of Gildarts' suffocating grasp. "If you're gonna hug me at least wait until you've dried off, will ya?"

"I can't help it, I just want to show everyone how much you mean to me," Gildarts purred, actually lifting her off the ground for a moment before depositing her back down. "But thanks for the assist down there. You did good, my girl. You did good."

"Jeez," Cana rolled her eyes as she rubbed flecks of water off her arms. "Who'd have thought you'd end up being so soppy after learning you had a daughter? But… thanks…" she said, her mouth tweaking into a small smile as she punched him lightly in the chest. "Thank you… for coming for me."

"Anytime you need me and I'll be there."

Erza and the Order Members couldn't help but smile at the little family reunion. But the scene was promptly interrupted by the loud voice of Gawain Robards saying, "Is anyone going to tell me exactly what's going on here?"

"No," Moody said bluntly. "And more importantly… that lot look like they're gearing up for a fight."

He was right - the convicts massing the roof did appear to be steeling themselves, eyeing the wands in the hands of the Order members and mentally daring themselves to try and take one. The Order quickly formed a semi-circle in readiness for battle but before anything could start two things happened in rapid succession.

Firstly the building suddenly rattled, and Gildarts had to grab a surprised Cana as she was almost thrown back off the side of the prison. Deep splintering cracks could be heard coming from below, and everyone quickly grabbed at something as they felt everything they were standing on jerk.

"What's happening?" Lupin shouted.

"The mountain… it must be ruptured!" Gildarts yelled. "DAMNIT! I was too late! Bluenote's spell took a huge chunk out of the inside of the mountain and now it can no longer support the weight of its own summit! We're all going down!"

The second thing that happened was an inrush of cold that sparked everyone present to look up. The Dementors had finally decided to get their act in gear and were gathering together, floating steadily down towards them - wary but hungry - and forming a massive swarm. Almost instantly Erza gasped and began shaking, the death of her friend Simon replaying itself on the back of her eyes.

"No!" she cried, shaking her head and trying to block out the image. "Mustn't… think… that…"

"Try thinking of something happy, Erza! It helps a little!" Tonks shouted, even as Erza stumbled and clutched at her head.

"Dementors above and the sea below… we've got nowhere to go!" Emmeline despaired, her own knees shaking as the Dementors sent a wave of hopelessness rushing through them all, closing in for a feast of despondency - like the humans were a literal buffet.

But Lupin, on the other hand, smiled. "We've still got some hope though," he said. "Look!"

He pointed out to sea with his wand, and everyone turned to follow the direction of the tip - squinting as they caught sight of something approaching at high speed.

"What is that?" Hestia queried.

"It's the cavalry," Lupin chuckled.

For down below, his wolf Patronus was bounding smoothly over the waves towards the prison, and just behind that was a large rowing boat, moving at unnatural speed. Standing at the helm with her long blonde hair blowing in the wind was Mavis. And behind her, bunched together but gearing themselves for a fight, was Gray, Gajeel, Levy, Wendy and Juvia, the last of which was using her Water Magic to propel the boat in pursuit of the Patronus.

"Fairy Tail stands together!" Mavis cried, as they zoomed in towards the rapidly sinking prison.


	39. Dance of the Fairies

Been a while but now that I've managed to get myself a job I am getting back into the swing of things, so hopefully my updates will be a little bit more regular from now one. But phew, this chapter turned out to be a long one indeed. I do hope you enjoy the ride!

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 39:- Dance of the Fairies**

* * *

"How… how could this have happened?" Fudge shouted for the hundredth time that hour. "How could we have let him escape?"

"We've combed the entire Ministry from top to bottom, Minister," Scrimgeour said gruffly. "Black is nowhere to be found. Those… people… that kept appearing out of thin air helped him escape, of that there can be no doubt."

"How could this be happening?" Fudge looked on the verge of throwing his bowler hat against the wall and stamping on it. "A couple of months ago all we had to worry about besides Black himself were these jumped up stories about the return of You-Know-Who. Now we're being faced with not one by two new universes jumping down our throats. Once word of this gets out nobody will feel safe in their own beds! Those… things… managed to jump in and out of existence despite the fact all the Anti-Apparition Wards were still intact. They bypassed all our security to rescue a man inches away from receiving the Dementor's Kiss. Could this possibly get any worse?"

"What about their claim?" a grizzled member of the Wizengamot who was among the throng of important officials crammed into Fudge's office. "Their claims that Black is innocent. That Fairy Tail isn't the enemy?"

"Stuff and nonsense!" Fudge cried. "You all know what Black did all those years ago - murdering a street full of innocent Muggles and young Pettigrew in broad daylight with several dozen witnesses. There's no way he can be innocent. This is a ploy. It must be - a ploy to make us question ourselves instead of shoring up our defences against these people."

Scrimgeour hummed quietly to himself and once again his eye met with those of Amelia Bones across the room. He got the feeling they were thinking along the same lines. The notion that Sirius Black could be innocent was positively ludicrous to them but the idea that Fairy Tail might not be as villainous as Fudge and the majority of the Ministry and general public were keen to paint them as certainly didn't sound all that farfetched based on what he'd seen of them.

Had the Spirits been telling the truth about both them and Black? Or had they been lying? Or had they been telling the truth about one but lying about the other… and what possible reason would they have to do that if that was the case? No, that was silly - it had to be either a double truth or a double lie.

But which one?

But before they could deliberate any further, a young Auror came dashing into the room. "Minister! Head Auror!" he cried. "We just received an urgent Floo message from a wizard family in Wiltshire. There's something going on there - some kind of giant magical battle. There are Fairy Tail members attacking a wizarding household!"

"What!?" Scrimgeour rapped sharply. "Who's?"

"The Malfoy Manor, sir! They said its already been massively damaged in the assault!"

"Scrimgeour, go!" Fudge cried immediately. "Take all the best Aurors you can find and strike back. Stun anyone you see wielding a power that looks unnatural and bring them here."

"At once, Minister!" Scrimgeour nodded and dashed out of the room, grabbing the young Auror by the shoulder to steer him out with him.

* * *

"What the…" Tonks gaped, her jaw practically hitting the floor as the sea itself propelled the boat of mages towards the juddering walls of Azkaban. "The other guys from Fairy Tail! How did they get here!? Azkaban's Unplottable!"

"It is, you're right," Remus gave a wry smile. "But don't forget Sirius once escaped from Azkaban and swam to the mainland. He told me that the closest human settlement to the place he emerged on shore was a fishing village called Anstruther on the east coast of Scotland. We positioned those guys there with a commandeered boat before the mission started. And I sent my Patronus to act as guide - they don't need a map for that."

"…That's so devious," Tonks beamed.

"Well I can't claim credit. It was Mavis' idea. She consented to letting us bring only Gildarts but insisted the others wait on standby. And now, I'm very glad they did."

Mavis' hair billowed out behind her like a loose sail, the wings in her hair flapping wildly as she stood on the prow of the small speedboat - which was whooshing along faster and more smoothly than any speedboat naturally could under Juvia's influence. She took in the situation at a glance, eyes narrowing to analyse every detail. The uneven juddering of the sinking fortress indicated unstable foundations and the Dementors were circling downwards like they were trying to form a tornado out of their own bodies. Creatures she knew could potentially cripple several of her team if they just got close enough considering the traumas many of them had been through. Gray in particular was at risk from them considering his past with Deliora.

But she'd need Gray up top. He was going to be necessary here.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do!" she called. "Gajeel and Wendy - I'm going to need the two of you to get down there and stabilise the island as best you can. Slow down its descent into the water until we can get everybody off it. Juvia - give them some air for while they're down there."

If the Fairy Tail members were surprised at how well Mavis gave out orders they didn't show it. Nor did they question that she was unequivocally in charge. Instead, Juvia cried, "Yes, First Master," and raised her hands, generating two large watery air bubbles that immediately plopped in over Gajeel and Wendy's heads.

"We'll do our best," Wendy nodded.

"Gonna be counting on your support here, kid," Gajeel shouted, planting his feet on the sight and bounding into the air, Wendy right behind him. The small Sky Dragon Slayer flung her arms out even as they dropped towards the water, her hands glowing green as she cried, **"VERNIER!" **A bright glow instantly began to blaze around both the Dragon Slayers as they splashed down into the sea and shot through the water with the blazing speed of striking tuna, heading straight for the submerged bowels of the prison as the speedboat whooshed along above them.

"Gajeel-san, what are we going to do down there?" Wendy asked as they swam around towards one of the holes that Gildarts had blown into the side of the structure during his fight with Bluenote.

"Geehee! Watch and learn!" Gajeel smirked, sweeping in through the hole until he found himself floating in what had once been the stony lobby - boxes of personal possessions and wands strewn about the place. The Iron Dragon Slayer gathered his power into his hands and upended himself, diving straight for the floor and bellowing, **"TESTURYUUKON!"**

His fists slammed into the stonework the very moment they transformed into clubs, crashing through the ground and punching their way deep, deep, deep into the rock. But as they penetrated further and further down they began to branch off, smaller clubs shooting sideways out of the main branch in all directions, forcing their way through the rock to create an ever more intricate lattice. And as Gajeel gritted his teeth and poured all his power into the effort, he called, "Could really use a boost right now, Sky-girl!"

"Right!" Wendy nodded, raising her hands again. "O strength of arm to cleave the heavens! Offensive strengthing… **ARMS!"**

Gajeel grinned as he felt a surge of strength igniting through his body and his clubs thrust deeper and deeper into the rock below. He ended up swinging his legs down and slamming them into the floor, turning them into clubs as well to continue the process - all four limbs now contributing to the growing lattice below.

"MORE!" he shouted. "GIVE ME A LITTLE MORE!"

"Another Arms spell… are you sure?" Wendy asked. "I've never cast it on a person more than once so quickly."

"We're Dragon Slayers, kid! We're made of stern stuff! Lay it on me!"

"Okay then! **ARMS!"**

"YEAH, THAT'S IT!" Gajeel bellowed - he almost felt his actual muscles growing from the surge of magical power that filled him to the brim. His clubs extended further than he'd ever sent them at once until they found the empty void where Bluenote's Black Hole spell had been. They branched out every which way until they punched into the main body of the mountain and out to the sides on all points of the compass… and then they stayed there. The fortress stopped shaking so violently… the iron forming a metal framework and lending sturdy strength to the mountain that its own crumbling stone could no longer provide - like a support structure.

Gajeel was literally holding the entire fortress of Azkaban up. Something he could never have done without Wendy's enhancements.

"And now I hold it for as long as I can or until Juvia comes to get us," he growled. "Stay alert. I'm gonna need you to get me out of here if the place starts caving in on us from above."

"Okay, Gajeel-san. Do your best!"

* * *

"Gray, give us a route to the top of the prison," Mavis instructed as the boat pulled to a halt a short distance from the craggy walls of the ruined jailhouse.

"On it!" Gray smashed his hands together and roared:- "ICE MAKE: STAIRS!"

Instantly a diagonal plume of ice blossomed out of the sea and shot upwards towards the roof of the prison while the rest of the sea around the boat for several feet down froze over to give the stairs a solid mooring, anchoring the boat in place. The ice moulding itself into thick steps as it went and by the time it struck the edge of the prison just short of its rooftop it had formed a perfect staircase. Mavis was already on her way up, levitating as if she was running on air next to the stairs while Juvia and Levy sprang out of the boat onto the ice. Levy almost slipped over but Juvia seized her hand to haul her back upright and they dashed upwards, Gray bringing up the rear.

"It's them!" Erza grinned as she watched them coming up. "Gray, Juvia and Levy."

"Yeah, but who's that blond girl zipping about with them?" Cana frowned.

"Ah, now," Gildarts chuckled, placing a hand on his daughters head and ruffling her hair. "That would be the one who helped save us from Acnologia. That would be Mavis Vermillion herself."

"Eh?!" Cana gasped. "That's the founder of our guild!?"

"But how can she…" Erza stammered in equal disbelief.

"Save the questions for when we don't have Dementors pouring out of the sky towards us," Gildarts advised.

Indeed the Dementors were closing in, momentarily startled by the sudden appearance of new players to the battlefield but rapidly regaining their confidence and whooshing downwards with renewed energy. Many of the inmates screamed and covered their heads, dropping to their knees and wailing as the terribly familiar effects of their guards closed in. Erza bit her lip and shook her head to try and blot out their effects while on the stairs Gray suddenly stumbled, and almost fell right off the edge of his own creation. He only just managed to catch himself and force himself on, fighting to ignore the terrible roars he'd known would start playing through his head.

Mavis crested the top of the prison first and alighted in front of Cana and Erza. "Hello you two," she said brightly, but gravely at the same time. "I wish we could have met in a situation that wasn't so dire but I need you to listen to me so we can hold the Dementors at bay."

Ever the warrior, Erza immediately cast all questions aside nodded, "Understood. What would you have us do, First Master?"

"Anyone who can still produce a Patronuses use it now," Mavis said just as Levy and Juvia were reaching the top. Instantly Lupin swung his wand up into the air and his wolf charged up to snap at the figurative heels of two Dementors. Tonks, Kingsley and Emmeline all joined him, sending their respective chameleon, bear and beaver back into the fray one last time as Hestia tried to help Mad-Eye stay on his feet. The four Patronuses charged into the Dementors, but they were so thick in number that it looked like the sky was falling atop them. The Patronuses were practically snuffed out under the wave of negative emotions they sent roiling down upon them, but they valiantly held their ground, the wizards and witches conjuring them fighting to keep them in existence.

"Erza," Gray croaked as he crested the top of the stairs and placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder, forcing a smile even as the slavering mouth of Deliora tried to gnash at him from the back of his mind. "Damn it's good to see you."

"Likewise," Erza smiled, grabbing Gray and pulling him into a hug that ended up thunking his forehead against her chest plate quite hard. "Where's Natsu and Lucy?"

"Busy," was all Gray said, pulling back and shaking his head slightly before turning his gaze up to the oncoming tide. The Dementors were splitting up now, making their way around the desperately fighting Patronuses in the same way a shoal of fish curves around a shark swimming through their midst. "But first we've got to take care of these guys."

Mavis was quickly analysing the situation and said, "Gray, Juvia, Erza. These Dementors cannot pass through solids or liquids. Don't let them come in from the sides. Think happy thoughts and hold them back!"

Juvia was shivering a little, unbidden memories welling up inside her like rainwater in a pothole. Memories of being bullied by the other children at the orphanage for always making it rain, all the harsh words people had said to her growing up, intentionally or otherwise, for always making it rain and the rejection from the her first boyfriend once again for always making it rain.

Drip, drip, drop.

"It's so gloomy."

Drip, drip, drop.

"I hate the rain."

'Happy thoughts,' she thought, trying to tug her head out of the rainclouds and focusing on the time where she'd first seen the clear blue sky, the sunshine, courtesy of the man she loved opening her heart at last. On Cana telling her that she was a wonderful guild member so soon after joining and standing beside Gray on the Fantasia podium like a king with his queen.

Instantly her strength returned and she glowered up at the Dementors. The sea around the prison churned and began to rise up with explosive force. But it was not just her powers - Erza had changed back into her Sea Empress outfit once again and her sword was raised high.

"With me, Juvia!" she shouted.

"Right!" Juvia nodded, and… **BOOOOM!** The sea powered up around the entire prison like they had suddenly found themselves in the middle of a hollow geyser blast. Juvia bounded along the wall, inmates dodging her as she swung her arms out, sending huge waves of water broiling at the Dementors like liquid cannon blasts that sent knocked dozens of the spinning.

"Juvia is of the sea," she cried out, transforming into a liquid state and shooting upwards to spin in rapid circles, firing watery plumes from her arms at any Dementor that came anywhere near her, sending it spinning away with an unearthly screech. "This is Juvia's domain, not yours!"

Erza was doing much the same thing, dancing across the rooftops with webbed sword flashing through the air over her head like a windmill. The seawater seemed to rush towards her and whirl around her blade, sweeping outwards with each each swipe to batter Dementors aside with each stroke.

"You will not get near us!" Erza growled. "I refuse to let myself fall under your wretched spell again."

The onlookers looked on in awe as Juvia and Erza worked their magic, literally. Juvia swept in a wide arc around the prison like a circling rocket, sweeping her arms out wide to send massive waves of water rushing out like giant mouths to close around a score of Dementors at a time and engulfed them in pounding liquid, sending them plunging uncontrollably towards the sea below while Erza sliced her blade through the air like a bullwhip to create huge watery whips that pummelled Dementors away. And as they two of them spun round and round they were churning up the water into a veritable cyclone, pulsing outwards to scoop any Dementor foolish enough to get too close out of the air and catapult them away as if they'd been fired from a trebuchet!

That was when Gray made his move. As the Dementors closed their way in he had been the worst hit, his vision blurring and being replaced by the flames and crumbling stonework of his old village, the looming figure of Deliora stomping his way through the wreckage and destroying everything before him. He was seeing out of his younger self's eyes, could feel the tears streaming from them as he stared down at his father's body, a huge bloody gash cleaving his forehead from hairline down towards his left ear, barely missing his eye. His mother, fair-haired and beautiful in life, lying half-buried in the rubble of a fallen building nearby - her last act to push him to safety before her lower body was crushed.

But, just as the vision of Ul's body splintering to icy pieces in order to form the ice to keep Deliora at bay began to play from the back of his mind, he forced himself to step forwards.

"Deliora isn't here," he whispered to himself. "He's not just dead, he's not even in this universe. I'm sure he'll haunt my nightmares forever, but that's all he'll ever be now. Nightmares… and you won't make me succumb to that!"

He charged towards the centre of the roof, shouldering terrified inmates aside and seizing his shirt as he ran, ripping it off and sending it crumpling into the face of one unfortunate man. But as soon as he reached the middle he slammed his hands down onto the ground. Ice formed beneath him and whooshed upwards, growing into a pillar that carried him upwards amidst the swirling maelstrom of water all around him, and once he judged he was high enough he thrust his arms out to either side, drawing on his power and focusing on his happiest memories.

It was safe to say nothing really stood out to him as his absolute best memories, so he focused on as many others as he could. Memories of the happy days he'd spent with his parents, the exhilaration he'd felt at the many victories he'd obtained defeating the likes of Fukurou and Racer. All those times he'd come home to the guild… when he'd watched Lisanna reuniting with her brother and sister after two years… Juvia's wide smile when she'd first joined their guild…"

With his mind clearing he roared, **"ICE MAKE… SHOTGUN!"**

Huge chunks of water swirling all around him solidified into ice and exploded outwards in all directions at the same moment like a spray of bullets the size of armchairs. Gray swept his arms out in all directions, snarling as he pelted Dementor after Dementor with his frozen projectiles, sending them crashing backwards towards the sea as they were slammed into by the solid objects. A phalanx of the cloaked monsters tried to press in from a gap in the defences but Gray directed his magic over to it, raising an icy wall and then blasting it outwards in massive chunks, raining an avalanche down upon the former guards.

The three of them worked in unison, water and ice merging and conforming to create a barrier that the Dementors couldn't hope to penetrate. Now there was only one way from them to reach the rooftop - from directly above through the eye of the watery storm. And that was precisely what they were trying to do now, bunching together en masse and pressing forwards.

The Patronuses battled it out but they were now being pushed back by the sheer weight of hopelessness the Dementors were pressing down. Lupin's wolf flickered, tired from its long journey and struggling to keep up while Emmeline's beaver finally died away. Several Dementors immediately took advantage of the gap and swept downwards beneath the other Patronuses, a wave of cold sweeping over everyone present.

Only Gray didn't start shivering. Instead he clashed his hands together and yelled, "You like bringing coldness to people, huh? Let me show you how its really done!" As he spoke he formed what looked like a wide bow in one hand, drawing back an ice string so fine it was practically real string, and bellowing as an icy arrow so large it might as well have been a spear formed in the middle.

"**SUPER FREEZE ARROW!" **he yelled, releasing with a flourish. The jagged projectile lanced upwards to puncture the middle Dementor. It didn't slow it down in the slightest but then the arrow expanded outwards rapidly, freezing all the Dementors into a block of ice. They dropped straight downwards, whereupon a watery tendril extended out from the storm to slam them away like the world's largest cricket ball. Both Juvia and Erza grinned before getting back to work.

For all the efforts of the three of them combined, they weren't really hurting the Dementors at all. Beating them back certainly but those who were slammed by water or ice inevitably rose back up again shortly afterwards to try again. They were certainly holding back the horde, but they wouldn't hold forever, and now they were really pushing back at the Patronuses.

"Levy, give them a hand!" Mavis ordered. "I'll need more time to implement the plan."

"Are you sure about this?" Levy shivered, hugging herself as harsh laughter played on the back of her ears. "You think I can do it?"

"Solid Script can create any substance that doesn't require a specific shape," Mavis nodded. "In theory, you should be able to produce it. I have faith in you, Levy. Just focus on your happiest memory and do it."

Levy nodded, but flinched as she saw the viciously sneering face of Gajeel rush to the fore of her mind. 'Not again!' she gripped her head tightly, shaking it as if trying to jar the images loose but unable to prevent herself from watching him beat Jet and Droy into the ground. For weeks now she'd been haunted by her first encounter with Dementors and the memories they'd unearthed, telling herself over and over again that Gajeel had changed, but it never seemed to make any difference. It was like a little piece of a Dementor had gotten inside her that day and stayed there, bringing the memory back up every time she saw Gajeel's face.

"Happiest memory," she whispered. "Happiest… happiest…"

There were so many to choose from… which one… which one should she…?

'It's tough findin' someone small like you… so don't leave my side.'

She gasped, her eyes opening wide. That voice - Gajeel's voice - playing in the back of her ear. Suddenly the memory changed. Gajeel was still in front of her, and again he was facing two opponents, but now they were those two Grimoire Heart minions - Yomazu and Kawazu back on Tenroujima. Without Gajeel's interference, she would have been cut down instantly by Yomazu's sword but he'd leapt in to protect her even after she'd smacked him in the face with her handbag and run off, annoyed that he hadn't been taking her S-Class trial seriously.

And she remembered, at that moment, the sheer elation she'd felt when he'd told her without words that he was there to protect her. That he was going to try and make sure that nobody ever harmed her… in the same way he had once done.

Was that her happiest memory, that moment when he'd sworn to protect her?

She didn't know but that was the one she chose to focus on and like Gray her vision seemed to sharpen. Her senses cleared and she stood a little taller. Just as Lupin's wolf finally gave up and dissipated into nothing, Levy focused on her magic and flung her hand out wide over her head:-

"**SOLID SCRIPT… PATRONUS!"**

Suddenly eight giant, glowing, silver letters appeared in the air above her and streaked upwards to join the fight. Several Dementors screeched and fell back, chased back upwards by a large N. A big R and S converged together on a second small group, herding them away, while three gigantic vowels swirled in a circle around the perimeter of water and ice, forming a whirlpool of their own. A P and a T joined the chameleon and the bear, physically beating against the Dementors as if they were giant hammers and seeking to pulse them back upwards, all eight letters working together like sheepdogs to corral the Dementors back upwards.

"What the…" Tonks blinked, looking at Levy in astonishment. "I thought… I thought that you guys couldn't use our magic!"

"We can't," grunted Levy, thrusting her hands up high as she could stretch them with the effort of co-ordinating her letter troops. "Those technically aren't Patronuses, they're just replicas. I read up on your Patronuses and it said they were an outpouring of their owner's positive energy force and and their good soul, which is why Dark Wizards are usually not able to cast them. Our magic, our Earthland magic, is an outpouring of our spirit combining with the spirit that flows through nature incarnated into physical form, so the principle is similar. They're not as powerful as your Patronuses, but they copy the effects of one. For as long as… I can hold them… up there."

"Just give us a bit more time, Levy," Mavis said, turning to complete the final stage of her plan.

Like Levy, Mavis had been reading up on this world as best she could with an incorporeal body, and as creatures which had already proven their effect upon her guild members, Dementors had been one of her top priorities. They were practically the very definition of dark creatures and Patronuses were one of the few things that could beat them into submission.

But she was certain there was something else what might be able to do the job. A light that would reject the darkness these creatures represented.

"Cana, come here, quick," she said, hurrying over to the Card Mage even as she scowled up at the sky. "There's something I need you to do for me."

"Your voice," Cana breathed, turning to look back at the diminutive First Master. "…I recognise it. I heard you speak to me… back at the grave. You really are Mavis Vermillion, aren't you?"

"I am. And speaking of the grave, you told me then that you loved this guild and that as long as you could keep them safe you wouldn't ever need anything else. I assume that is still the case, yes?"

"Absolutely," Cana nodded fiercely. "If there was something I could do to help now…"

"There is," Mavis said, holding out her hands and generating a glowing golden orb between her palms. It resembled a small fireball but it was not hot - it was only warm. Cana's breath was stolen, for it looked extremely familiar to her.

"That light… back at the grave…"

"Yes. I wish to give it to you once more. Fairy Glitter!"

Cana took a step backwards, shock rippling across her face. "But… but I can't. I can't take that," she gritted her teeth, remembering well her failure on Tenroujima when it came to using one of the three Great Magics. "I couldn't use it properly. I tried to use it on that Bluenote guy and he shrugged it off with barely a flinch. He told me… if the user is worthless…"

"You're not worthless, Cana. You know that by now," Mavis insisted. "Yes, the magic failed, but that is not your fault. You had the misfortune of going up against an opponent powerful enough to resist its effects long enough to knock you off balance. The spell did not have time to reach its full effect before he stopped you. Had he waited five more seconds he would have felt the true power of Fairy Glitter, and he knew it. He said what he said only to get in your head and prevent you from trying again while he tried to take if from you."

"…He… did…?"

"From what Lucy has told me, Cana… you have long thought yourself as leftovers compared to your more powerful companions. But that is simply not true. You have an incredibly high amount of magic at your disposal, something you definitely inherited from your father. Your problem is that The branch of Card Magic you use isn't one of the most powerful kinds of magic out there. It is designed more to provide versatility and support than the kind of destructive abilities many other Fairy Tail mages possess. In fact, the power you have shown with it is considerably higher than most Card users could ever achieve. You have so much untapped potential that is just a short stretch from your grasp. All you have to do… is reach out… and take it."

Cana's mouth ran dry, her heart pounding in her chest as she locked her gaze with the earnest First Master's eyes. Was that it? Was her major problem really just that… she hadn't chosen a magical type that made best use of her power?

That… actually made sense. Her father Gildarts had incredible strength, but he wielded it to its full because he'd chosen such a powerful branch of magic that even he struggled to contain it sometimes.

"You're… certain?" she whispered.

"I would not have given you the Fairy Glitter spell if I didn't know you could use it. Now… take it again. Your friends are strong but they cannot hold off that horde forever. They need you to strike the blow."

"…Isn't Fairy Glitter designed to work on just one opponent?"

"That is where your father will come in," Mavis said. "Now, one last time… Cana Alberona - are you willing to wield the power it takes to defend your guild!"

Cana's eyes hardened, her hand clenching into a fist. "Yes!" she roared, raising her hand and plunging it into the fire between Mavis' hands. "Yes, I am!"

Blinding light erupted around them, spurring everyone around them to fall back and shield their gaze from the intense glare. But Cana and Mavis just nodded to each other through the blaze as the flames spread over Cana's lower arm, weaving into an intricate pattern before slowly fading away, revealing a familiar red symbol spread across her skin. Cana stood tall, her hair billowing in the wind, and looked over to her father. Her self-esteem stored at the look of pride on Gildarts' face, and she smiled right back.

"I do not doubt myself anymore," she said, with a smirk. "How can I with my father's backing and the blessing of the First Master herself."

"That's my girl," Gildarts grinned, before turning around and raising his voice. "You see that everyone!? That right there, that's my girl!"

"Do it, Cana," Mavis nodded. "Bring the light right down the middle of the storm and be ready for the signal."

Cana was't sure what the signal was but she didn't question it. She charged across the rooftop until she was standing beside Gray's Ice Pillar. Without needing to be told, Gray raised her off the ground with a second pillar sprouting beneath her feet and the moment she was level with him she thrust her newly tattooed arm straight up into the air.

"Gather to me!" she bellowed above the sound of rushing water. "O River of Light led by the Fairies!"

She was promptly engulfed by light, emanating from the symbol on her hand and spreading out to envelop her and Gray in a colossal column of brightness that blasted straight up towards the sky, past the letter Patronuses still darting left and right and past the Dementors which fell back away from it with a screech as if it was physically burning them to touch it. The light seemed to punch the heavens itself, spreading a golden glow across the skies and before the eyes of the stunned crowd they could see the stars themselves searing intensely even in the light of the day.

"Shine down! To wipe out the fangs of evil!" Cana continued, and the light concentrated and congealed together, sweeping in a tight circle to form a gigantic golden ring of pure radiance.

"**FAAAAAAAAIIIRRRRRRYYYYYYY GLIIIIIIIITTTTTEEEEEEEEEEERRRRR!"**

The gleaming circlet rushed downwards, ploughing down from the stratosphere towards the top of Azkaban. The Dementors swooped away, scattering before the oncoming light as if it was physically pulsing them away, like it was the world's biggest Patronus. And in truth it was physically rejecting their presence, repelling their darkness in all directions and sending them scrambling as best a Dementor can scramble to get away.

However, it didn't banish them completely. They just formed a much wider perimeter around the prison, circling rapidly a considerably safe distance and waiting for the light to pass.

But just as it reached the exact centre of the Dementor swarm…

"NOW GILDARTS!" Mavis shouted.

Having already been instructed on what to do, Gildarts gathered his power. The prison began to tremble around him, white energy searing up all around him as he summoned all the reserves of Crash Magic he could muster. He almost vanished inside the swirl of his own magical strength, visible only as a silhouette to those backing away all around him as the floor started to fracture just from the sheer pressure it was undergoing.

But, just before he summoned enough to shatter it, Gildarts thrust his arms upwards and channelled his magic up into the air, shooting right past the water, past Cana and Gray, right into the middle of the descending Fairy Glitter sphere.

Cana was quick to realise that was the signal, as well as what Mavis was hoping for. She brought the ring to a halt and, summoning her strength she contracted it inwards until it melded with the humungous ball of Crash Magic swirling in the centre.

"A Unison Raid…" Gray breathed. "Between father and daughter!"

At the same moment, Cana and Gildarts released their magic:-

**BBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!**

The Crash Magic fused with the Fairy Glitter and blasted outwards towards all four points of the compass, pulsing the glowing ring across the sky with a bang so loud that Muggles on shore miles away thought that a nuclear bomb had just been detonated or a meteorite had struck.

The Dementors screeched and fell back but the ring washed over dozens, hundreds of them and any that it touched were instantly vaporised, their darkness consumed and burned away by the light with a dose of Crash ripping their bodies apart for good measure. The other Dementors fled, screeching in all directions but many more were struck down and those that word were flung spiralling away by the backlash of the blast. Dozens crashed into the sea, others were pushed back beyond the clouds, but at least half of the horde were completely and utterly obliterated.

That was more than enough for the survivors. When the blast finally petered out after forming a diameter of several miles the rest of the Dementors were quick to decide not to return for a second helping of that. They fled, clawing their way through the air and away, the remnants of their cloaks flapping around them in a mad panic to escape the island that had once been their home.

The remaining Patronuses faded away and the water column slowly dropped back down into the sea as Juvia settled back onto the rooftop. Even the jaws of the other Fairy Tail mages had dropped after that particular spectacle, with she, Erza, Gray and Levy all indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd. Nobody could speak, nobody could breathe, nobody could begin to fathom what they had just witnessed.

Nobody except Mavis that is, who just smiled and said, "And that's how Fairy Tail looks after their own."

Cana stumbled slightly and fell to one knee, panting for breath but smiling broadly. Gray wordlessly lowered the ice pillars back down to the roof and helped her to her feet. "Cana," he said. "When we get back to Fairy Tail… I'm forfeiting the S-Class exam. You deserve it. After that, there's no question of it."

"What, you were actually thinking about continuing it?" Cana snickered.

"Not anymore I'm not. I'll wait for the next one."

"That was amazing, Cana-san," Juvia exulted, so astonished she wasn't even mad that Gray was helping another woman to her feet.

"Indeed. I wholeheartedly agree with Gray's sentiment," Erza said. "You were fabulous today, Cana. And don't you forget."

Finally one of the Order members found their voices. "Are you… freaking… serious!" Tonks gaped. "What in the… just… just how ridiculously powerful are you guys? Every time I think I've got a lid on it you go and do something like that!"

"I have no words," Lupin agreed.

"Nobody in our Ministry could have any words," Kingsley murmured. A statement which Gawain Robards… the Auror who'd been forced to bring Bluenote here… wholeheartedly supported.

'The Minister is right to fear what these people can do,' he thought. 'They could bring the entire Ministry crashing down around our ears in a second if they wanted… and yet…' he glanced towards Gildarts. 'He… protected me. He fought to beat the man who killed my team. They all fought to protect these people from the Dementor horde… just how wrong has the Ministry gotten them?'

"…I… appear to have missed quite a lot since I've been here," Sturgis Podmore whispered to Hestia and Emmeline.

"I'd say you don't know the half of it," Hestia replied. "But… I almost get the feeling that we don't know the half of it either after watching that."

"We do have a lot to catch up on," Emmeline agreed. "But now we need to figure out…"

That was the exact moment where the prison shook and almost everyone fell over. The rumbling and rocking began again in earnest, but despite this Levy instantly ran to the edge and peered out towards the sea below, which was definitely beginning to come closer once again.

"Wendy," she whispered. "…Gajeel."

* * *

"Nnnghghhh…" Gajeel grunted as the floor shifted beneath him, gritting his teeth so hard that he could have bitten through titanium as he fought to hold the position. The air bubble around his head had decreased significantly inside but still he battled it out to keep anchor the ground in place.

But it was no good. The prison continued to rumble and fall.

"Dammit!" he growled. "I can't do any more. The ground's deteriorated so much that iron poles aren't going to hold is structure together anymore."

"What does that mean?" Wendy asked, though she had a feeling she knew the answer.

"There's a rockslide going on down there. And its taking the prison down with it," Gajeel grunted, retracting his iron clubs to rapidly disintegrate the complex structure that had been acting as a substitute mountain. As he went, the prison began to crumble around him, its descent picking up speed as it lost its remaining supports. The ceiling rushed down towards the two Dragon Slayers, but Gajeel withdrew his clubs just quickly enough to whip around in the water and carve a huge gash in the stonework with an Iron Dragon Sword, the hole plunging down on either side of them so they were suddenly a level higher than they were before.

"We have to get out of here!" Wendy shouted.

"I still got plenty of juice left from what you gave me, kid!" Gajeel grinned savagely, seizing her by the shoulders and slamming her in close to his side. "Hold tight!"

He immediately thrust his other arm upwards to create one last Iron Dragon Pole, battering a huge hole in the ceiling with it, then the one above that, then the one above that! BANG! BANG! BANG! He busted his way through level after level until his club had cleared the water and kept going right up to the roof, where it busted its way out a mere half a metre away from where Gray, Juvia and Cana were standing.

"WAAH!" All three of them immediately lost their footing in surprise, but Erza was quick to read the situation. She darted forwards and requipped into a bulky yellow armour with thick shoulder guards that curved upwards passed her head and which was particularly reinforced around her right arm - the Giant's Armour. She seized the Iron Dragon Club and wrenched upwards on it, heaving it skywards with an almighty upwards throw. Gajeel and Wendy were immediately brought surging upwards right through the centre of Azkaban, their air bubbles popping the moment they cleared the ocean. They sailed up through the gap in the roof but Erza lashed out to seize Gajeel by the ankle as he passed, arresting his ascent and hefting him rather unceremoniously onto the rooftop in front of her, Wendy held tightly in his spare arm.

"Are you alright?" she asked them.

"Yeah but we're going down. Ain't nothing going to change that now!"

"What do we do?" Wendy asked.

"We provide something else to stand on!" Mavis shouted. "Gray!"

"I'm on it!" Gray pushed himself back upwards and dashing to the edge. He swept his hands outwards towards the ocean and roared, **"ICE MAKE… ISLAND!"**

Instantly ice spread out across the surface of the water, forming a thick iceberg that extended several metres down into the water. Gray spread his arms out wide to mould out the jagged chinks of the waves, giving the iceberg a perfectly level and smooth top layer before creating a slide that led from the top of the falling prison to the new layer.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" he cried, panting for breath under the exertion of creating so much ice but a sudden boost from Wendy helping him to bear the load.

Nobody needed to be told twice, not even the inmates. The Order of the Phoenix took up positions on either side of the slide and ushering people down. They threw themselves haphazardly down it, sliding pell-mell into each other as they swept out across the slippery surface in their droves. Gray had to constantly change the angle of the slide to keep up with the descent of the prison and used a little extra ice to anchor his feet to the floor and keep himself from falling over.

The Fairy Tail members brought up the rear, leaping smoothly down the slide with the Order members right after them. Gray bound forward last, but at that point the slide had become a level platform and a mere two seconds after he leapt his way on board the iceberg… the roof of the prison disappeared beneath the surface, leaving no evidence it had ever been there at all except for churning waves lapping at the iceberg.

"Azkaban…" Kingsley breathed as he pushed himself to his feet. "It's just… gone…"

"No offence, mate," Cana said. "But I have to say good riddance to it."

"The important thing is we did it. We got everyone out safely, including our two members" Mavis said.

"But we were unable to stop the Death Eaters from escaping," Tonks muttered. "They're out there now… and it won't be long before they're joining up with You-Know-Who again. Including… dear old Aunt Bella," she growled, clenching her fist.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Lupin said with a hand on her shoulder. "For now…" he glanced back at the massive crowd of former prisoners who were giving the Order and Fairy Tail members a wide berth. "…what are we going to do with this lot?"

* * *

'This can't be happening!' Voldemort hissed in his mind as he whirled about, firing spell after spell in a blur of motion, so frenzied that even he could barely keep track of what he was doing. 'I am the most powerful sorcerer in the world! How can I be being pushed back like this… by three mere adolescents!'

But he wasn't just being pushed back. Though he refused to admit it… he was losing! Sweat trickled down his brow with the strain of continuing the fight, his breathing was becoming increasingly laboured but he fought on. Yet his three opponents not only showed very little signs of tiring, but they were also outmanoeuvring him at every turn!

He spun around to launch a massive flurry of icy shards at Mirajane but she simply charged straight into the midst of the attack, seizing two out of the air and using them as swords to batter the others aside, swift strikes from her thick tail doing the rest of the work for her as she zipped in towards Voldemort at blazing speed. He Disapparated only half a second before her fist could slam into his jaw but as he did he sent a Blasting Hex straight down at the floor which consumed Mirajane in blast of soil and heat, yet when he re-appeared she simply swept upwards as if the attack hadn't really bothered her in the slightest.

Not pausing for a second Voldemort spun around to see Natsu surging towards him, Happy clinging tightly to his back as Natsu readied his fists for a blazing, meteoric strike. Voldemort send three rapid-fire Killing Curses right at him but Natsu suddenly blasted fire out of his mouth, pummelling the floor and thrusting him upwards and into a forward flip that carried him right over the green lights. Voldemort rapidly Disapparated again right before Natsu's foot cannoned down into the ground where he'd just been, a fiery blast from his Fire Dragon's Claw blasting a huge crater in the grounds of the mansion!

"WILL YOU STAY STILL!?" Natsu shouted as he leapt out of the smoke to home in instantly on where Voldemort had re-appeared. "NOT WILLING TO FACE MY FIST, HUH!?"

"SHUT UP!" Voldemort screamed, his wand arching over his head and one of the brick walls surrounding the mansion exploding into individual bricks that all went flying right for Natsu. He pitched to the side to dodge the cascade of oblong blocks, but the bricks all abruptly changed course and came sweeping back towards him. He balked and had just enough time to see Lisanna with her hand outstretched and eyes glowing molten yellow to realise it was her doing before he flung up a dome-shaped shield to protect himself from the bombardment.

"Meddlesome girl," he hissed to himself, thrusting his wand into the ground at the edge of the shield. Suddenly a river of molten tar welled up into existence and rushed straight towards Lisanna. She unfurled her wings and took flight just as a massive geyser of the stuff exploded upwards in a fountain seeking to envelop her, but she thrust a hand out and yelled, "Aswipan!"

Instantly the tar was pulsed away from her, splattering over the lawn in massive molten chunks, at which point Lisanna held a fist up before her, locking eyes with the furious Voldemort and uttering:-

"Ætþringan hine lyft!"

There was no visible reaction to the spell until Voldemort suddenly bent over, clutching at his chest. The oxygen was being drained away inside his own shield charm, robbing him of air! He quickly dispelled it and Disapparated away once more, but as he tried to get his breath back…

"**KARYUU NO… SAIGA!"**

He spun around just in time to see Natsu sweeping in towards towards him and slashing his hand through the air like a mighty claw, blades of fire erupting from his fire to crash straight into him and send him shooting backwards, tumbling through air with a screech of pain. But he didn't get a chance to land. Instead, Mirajane streaked in and landed a terrific punch straight to his jaw, knocking a couple of his teeth right out of his mouth. She rapidly seized his cloak and swung him around in the air, releasing him as she gave him a terrific clout with her tail to send him cannoning down right into the lawn, skidding across it until he finally came to rest right outside the front door of the mansion.

Seething in pain and nursing what he was sure were a couple of broken bones, Voldemort stubbornly pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking up to see the three Fairy Tail mages coming in to land in a row in front of him.

"Looks like he still wants more," Natsu noted, punching his palm in readiness for another round.

"You deserve to be sent to the farthest reaches of hell for what you tried to do to me," Mirajane glowered at him, brandishing her claws warningly. "But if you surrender now…"

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

All three Fairy Tail mages started backwards at the sudden noises bursting into existence a short distance away. Men in bedraggled robes were bursting out of thin air off to their right… along with one woman. The Death Eaters that had escaped from Azkaban had just arrived on the scene.

Voldemort immediately surged to his feet before they could notice he was on the floor and let loose a flurry of green Killing Curses upon his opponents. All three of them shot skyward instantly, avoiding the attacks, but that was the sight to which Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters were greeted.

"MY LORD!" she shrieked in delight, dropping one knee with a deep bow of respect. "I knew you would return to us! I knew it!" Other Death Eaters followed suit but Voldemort rounded on them angrily.

"Don't bow in the middle of a battle, halfwits!" he yelled. "Attack! Attack those…" he stopped suddenly as Lucius Malfoy appeared with one last crack… and with him… a man Voldemort had never seen before.

Bluenote Stinger grunted and pushed himself away from Lucius - the effect of the long-distance Apparition making his stomach churn and still breathing heavily from his battle with Gildarts. He looked up quickly, taking in Voldemort with a glance before a whooshing sound overhead alerted him to the presence of the airborne attackers.

He locked eyes with Natsu the moment Natsu noticed he was there.

"YOU!" they both yelled at the exact same time.

"What's he doing here!?" Happy shouted.

"You know that guy?" Lisanna asked in surprise.

"That guy's a member of Grimoire Heart!" Happy explained. "He had a whole group of us at his mercy until Gildarts came along."

"What? But how can he be in this universe then?

"And why are you so beat up?" Natsu pointed at him accusingly, almost as if the fact he hadn't explained that already was an insult.

"I remember you," Bluenote scowled, pushing himself upright. "You are strong, yet compared to me you are still a mere gnat. And now you return to taunt me like one."

After his confrontation with Gildarts, Bluenote didn't have much magic left in him. But he still had some, which became instantly evident when he said, "Fall!"

"WAAHH!" Natsu, Happy, Lisanna and Mirajane all instantly plummeted downwards, crashing into the ground as if they'd been fired straight down into the ground by rockets. The ground buckled and sank beneath them under the sudden intense gravity pushing down on top of them, pinning them to the grass on their front. Bluenote packed in enough power to keep them from even being able to lift their heads, which meant that either had their faces or their chins pressed tightly to the turf.

"NNNGH.. DAMN YOU!" Natsu growled with a mouthful of dirt, straining himself to get back up.

"Can't… move…" Mira gasped, barely able to breathe, her wings covering her like the world's heaviest blanket.

"I will not give you an opportunity to escape again," Bluenote growled, increasing his power level still further. "I have no need of you to tell me anything this time around."

Voldemort watched in surprise and anger while the three that had been given him so much trouble were rendered helpless instantly. Part of him was immensely satisfied watching them yelling and screaming under the intense pressure, feeling like all their bones were going to snap into a thousand pieces at any second, but part of him was raging. Not only had he, the most powerful sorcerer in the world, been pushed back by three youths but now his followers had returned he was instantly being shown up by this newcomer, whoever he was! The power these offworlders held, it was absolutely ridiculous!

He could only be grateful that the assembled Death Eaters had not witnessed just how much trouble they'd been giving him. Most of them were staring with awe at what Bluenote was doing, except for Lucius who was staring up at the partially destroyed mansion and yelling, "My home! What happened to me home!?"

"If I cannot defeat Gildarts," Bluenote growled, stepping forwards closer to his victims until he was almost standing over them. "Then at the very least I will take away some of those who are precious to him. Farewell, Fairy Tail."

"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Bluenote barely had time to turn around as something crashed to ground behind him before he was blindsided by a twenty-foot stone pillar crashing into his side. The pillar was held in the grip of a colossal purple-furred horned beast with blazing eyes, tucked under one of its thick arms and swung like a baseball bat slash battering ram. Bluenote was belted around with bone-shattering force and sent thundering backwards into the wall of the mansion, several Death Eaters throwing themselves aside to avoid being struck by him as he passed.

"Elf-niichan!" Lisanna cried as the gravity attack dispelled instantly.

"You're alright!" Mira beamed but Elfman wasn't listening. He had already dropped the pillar that he'd torn from the upper floors of the Malfoy mansion and thundered across the gap with a colossal leap to seize the stunned Bluenote by the leg and heave him up into the air before he could recover, slamming him hard into the ground twice and then swinging around to charge into the ranks of the Death Eaters. They scattered before him but he was still able to send Travers and Mulciber flying with the use of his makeshift club and then bring it crashing down onto Rodolphus' head. Bluenote was then hefted up and released in mid-air before Elfman delivered a punch that could have busted straight through a reinforced steel door straight to his ribs.

After the damage that Bluenote had received from Gildarts, this proved to be too much for him. He crashed backwards and skidded across the lawn, taking Jugson's legs out from underneath him as he passed. Eventually he skidded to a halt, totally unconscious and out of the fight.

"Nobody threatens my family like that," Elfman snarled. "Whether they're my sisters or not!"

"You took your time!" Natsu grinned as he got back to his feet, nursing his ribs slightly. "I was wondering where you'd got to."

"A Man waits for the right time to join a fight," Elfman grinned. "And… I was a bit shocked at what Lisanna was doing so I just watched for a bit," he said, turning to his younger sister. "Where did you get that form?"

"I'll tell you later," Lisanna said. "For now… we're not out of the woods yet."

"KILL THEM!" Voldemort screamed, thus proving her point. "ELIMINATE THEM ALL!"

Everything transformed from there into an instant free-for-all, the ground of the Malfoy Mansion becoming an array of flashing lights zipping all over the place, pelting the lawn and knocking chunks out of the stonework on some occasions. The four Fairy Tail mages instantly split up, sweeping into action at top speed.

Natsu swept between four of the Death Eaters and blasted them sideways with his Fire Dragon's Wing Attack. One of them, Jugson, managed to fire some kind of fiery rope up him, hooking around his ankle and jerking Happy's flight to a halt but Natsu instantly seized the rope in one hand and yanked Jugson into the air, laying him out with a blow to the face with his fist.

Mirajane and Elfman targeted Voldemort himself, charging in for another attack. Elfman threw himself sideways to avoid a Killing Curse and came to a rolling stop by an ornate fountain which he tore out of the ground and lobbed it straight at the Dark Lord. Voldemort summoned a huge pulse of energy from the tip of his wand that blew the fountain away and even managed to lift the enormous Beast off his feet, but Mirajane swept in to grab him by the arm and instantly catch him in an astonishing display of inhuman strength, tossing him high into the air before streaking in towards Voldemort herself.

He instantly unleashed a cloud of poison into the air which Mirajane flew straight into, but in didn't affect her at all and she came inches away from dealing a hammer blow right between his eyes. But when he reappeared after Disapparating a shadow fell across him and he was forced to vanish once again moments before Elfman body-slammed the ground where he'd been.

"YOU WILL NOT BEST ME!" he screeched, ignoring the fact he was panting for breath a little as he reappeared and launched a storm of green lights at them both, forcing Mirajane to dodge and Elfman to rip a section of wall off the Malfoy mansion to use it as a shield.

And Lisanna was circling the battlefield, trying to think of a way to make herself useful. She was still trying to figure out the best uses of her newfound magic. So far she'd just been letting Kilgharrah's instincts drive her forwards, which was all well and good, but she could only use that to respond when someone else attacked her first. She needed to think of a way to get in the first strike.

But as she circled she suddenly noticed something out of the corner of her eye… something glowing yellow through the window of the mansion. She turned around high above the battlefield to look and her eyes widened when she saw it - another Fairy Sphere! That's right, they had been told that Voldemort had two in his possession. Mira and Elfman had come out of one and there was the second, nestled in one of the rooms that was still completely intact within the building.

And there was someone inside with it. Which instantly propelled Lisanna to hurtle forwards and crash straight through the window with a shower of glass. Narcissa Malfoy screeched and fell over backwards - the second time that day she'd had such a reaction to Lisanna's abrupt entrance to her home. She'd been setting up the third of four Portkeys that would be required to transport the Sphere before her interruption and she was promptly seized by the front of her robes.

"You're not taking that anywhere," Lisanna declared, flaring her wings and leaping back through the broken window, taking Narcissa with her kicking and screaming. When the Malfoy matriarch suddenly realised that she was outside several stories up however she gasped and instantly snapped her arms around Lisanna's waist.

"Don't drop me!" she cried hysterically. "Please don't drop me! I have a son! He… he needs me! Please… don't…"

"I'm not going to drop you," Lisanna said - she wouldn't have had the heart to do that to someone who couldn't fight back. Instead she swept down to the ground and tossed Narcissa away from her, sending her rolling into the dirt. The older woman was quick to scramble to her feet and dash off into the middle of the battlefield, waving frantically at her sister Bellatrix even as she belted hex after hex in Natsu's general direction. Lisanna watched her go, then looked up to the window where the Sphere was lying. How on earth was she supposed to transport that back to Grimmauld Place?

But before she could answer that question, another series of cracking noises rent the air not far away. Lisanna spun around, expecting more Death Eaters… but no. Instead, a group of Aurors and Ministry Security Wizards led by Rufus Scrimgeour suddenly charged through a gap in the shattered wall and into the grounds.

And almost instantly they froze, staring in abject shock at the battlefield playing out before them. Most of the Death Eaters hadn't even noticed the new arrivals, so busy were they in trying to blast Natsu and Mirajane out of the sky. But as he Disapparated to avoid a huge chunk of wall that Elfman had just thrown at him, Voldemort did.

He stared right at Scrimgeour, wide-eyed.

And Scrimgeour stared straight back, mouth agape, his arms falling numbly to their sides. "…It… can't be…" he choked, utterly stunned. He had seen Voldemort a couple of times from a distance during his first reign a decade and a half ago… he knew exactly who he was looking at. The other Aurors were similarly shocked - for though many of them had never seen him in person they'd all seen pictures.

It was the Dark Lord. In the flesh!

Three different thoughts flashed through three heads simultaneously.

'Dumbledore and Potter were telling the truth!' Scrimgeour gasped. 'All this time the Ministry's been denying them and they stuck to their story… because its real. He's back! I… I can't believe it! It's… impossible… and yet there he is…'

'Oh my gosh, yes!' Lisanna cheered internally. 'Ministry officials have finally been given proof! Wow, this could be an absolute gamechanger now!'

'NO!' Voldemort snarled. 'I will not allow you to report this back to the Ministry! If I cannot gain the allegiance of Fairy Tail mages I will leave you for dead so it looks like their doing!'

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" he screamed out loud, green light blasting out of his wand and streaking across the lawn right towards Scrimgeour.

Time seemed to slow. The swirling green energy of the spell fired straight and true but Scrimgeour made no attempt to move. He was too shocked, his brain still trying to catch up and process the fact he was looking right at Lord Voldemort in the flesh and therefore numbing his reactions. Most of the other Aurors were similarly frozen, only a few able to call out a warning but not close enough to intervene.

But Lisanna had already leapt into action. She'd seen that Scrimgeour was in a state of shock a fraction of a second before the spell was fired and reacted instinctively, without any forethought whatsoever. She launched herself forwards, wings splayed and streaking in towards Scrimgeour from another angle and racing the Killing Curse towards its destination.

"LISANNA!" Elfman shouted, his voice carrying over the battlefield and grinding it to a halt, Natsu and Mirajane whirling around to notice what was going on just as Lisanna reached Scrimgeour's side.

"LOOK OUT!" Lisanna shouted, seizing the Auror by the arm and shoving him sideways and out of the way a split second before the spell could hit him. But even as he fell through the air Lisanna was now in place where he'd just been… and the Killing Curse struck her right in the middle of her chest.

Screams of horror tore loose from all three of the other Fairy Tail mages and Happy, eyes widening as they watched Lisanna be blown back by the spell, crashing down onto her back with her wings buffeting several other Aurors over as she fell, her eyes screwing tight shut as she hit the ground shoulders first…

But instead of the Killing Curse dispelling the moment it hit her as they usually did, it bounced right off her breastplate, ricocheting and spiralling away like an out-of-control motorcycle. It hit a wall at the same moment Lisanna's shoulders impacted with the ground and fizzled out of existence as the rest of her slumped down upon the grass.

The entire battlefield was stock-still, everyone trying to figure out what had just happened. Natsu, Elfman, Mirajane and Happy all stared with abject dread. None of them had ever seen the Killing Curse implemented before and feared the worst. The rest of the people present on the field were shocked for a different reason. Not only had a Fairy Tail mage just thrown herself in front of a death sentence to protect one of the Ministry but not one of them had ever seen a Killing Curse act like that…

Except for one them. Voldemort had seen something very similar indeed when he'd tried to kill a baby boy fourteen years ago.

But that didn't prevent the shock he felt when Lisanna suddenly sat up, blinking and looking down at herself in utter bewilderment.

"…What… just happened…?" she asked.

"LISANNA!" Four simultaneous screams of relief erupted across the garden as the other four pelted towards her, swooping in around her with Mira and Elfman abandoning their Take-Over forms. Natsu got there first and pulled a stunned Lisanna to her feet before Mira seized her in a tight bearhug, pulling her close as Elfman grabbed both his sisters in such an embrace of relief that he momentarily lifted them both off the ground.

"By the gods, don't do that to me!" Mira cried, barely holding back tears. "For a moment there I thought… I thought…" She petered out but she didn't have to say anything - Lisanna was well aware of what she meant.

"Thank the founder you're okay," Elfman sighed as he put them down, releasing them from his grip. "But Lisanna, what were you thinking?"

"…I wasn't," Lisanna admitted as Mira also let her go. "I saw a life in danger and I just… reacted…"

"I thought you'd died!" Happy wailed, jumping off Natsu's back and flying straight into Lisanna's chest, sobbing in relief as he glomped her as best he could with such short arms. "Don't die, Lisanna! Don't ever die, please! We couldn't stand it if we lost you again. We could barely stand it the first time! Please, please don't leave us behind a second time."

Lisanna smiled and gently cradled the crying Exceed in her arms. "I'm not planning on it I promise you," she whispered.

"But you should be dead," Scrimgeour croaked in disbelief from where he was lying on the floor, his mind reeling at the double whammy of being saved by a member of Fairy Tail and her miraculous survival. "You were hit straight on by the Killing Curse… how could you have possibly survived that. That's only ever happened once before ever."

"I don't know," Lisanna whispered. "I have absolutely no idea."

_I do._

Lisanna blinked, the rumbling voice of Igneel suddenly filling her head. Nobody else reacted which meant he was speaking into her mind alone but she ended up turning to look Natsu right in the eye anyway.

_How?_ she asked him.

_It's your Dragon Soul. If that curse had hit you in your regular form or in any of your Animal Soul forms it would have killed you instantly. But much like my race of dragons, Kilgharrah's species is extremely resistant to magic and you have taken on that trait in your form. There's almost no offensive magic that can harm him in any way. Because you're in a partial Take-Over form, you don't have the same amount of magical resistance he does. But you have enough to stop that death spell it seems._

…_I'm immune to the Killing Curse in this form?_

_At least to being hit by them one at a time, yes. It's probably why your instinct spurred you to move like that - it knew you could take the hit. But I wouldn't push your luck when facing a storm of them. I imagine if you were hit by three, maybe two, at once the result would be quite different._

_Then I have more to thank Kilgharrah for than I originally knew._

She smiled… and at this point she realised she'd been staring Natsu right in the eye for that entire exchange. She blushed slightly and looked away, releasing Happy from her grip. But Natsu suddenly stepped forward and took her by surprise by gripping her shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug of his own. Lisanna stood there limply in his embrace, her eyes wide and her cheeks red, wondering if she should return the hug or not.

"I'd appreciate it if you could leave being reckless to me from now on," Natsu said sombrely over her shoulder. "If you get killed a second time, it will kill all of us too. Don't forget that."

Lisanna stared into space for a few moment, but then her arms found her way around Natsu's waist to return the hug with a light smile. "Just make sure none of you die either," she whispered.

"We won't. We're going to find a way home together. All of us, like we always do."

"…Good."

When the two of them split apart, Voldemort was finally recovering from the shock of seeing his Killing Curse fail to work. He was trembling with rage now, his wand shaking in his hand and his red eyes blazing.

"How dare you," he hissed. "How dare you! I shall erase you all from existence!"

Natsu spun around, his eyes so fierce that Voldemort found himself taking a step backwards. The Dragon Slayer's rage spiked, glaring so hard that the grass around him burnt to ash, literally because his body suddenly burst into flame so intense that everyone around him took several steps backwards from the extreme heat he was letting off, growling at the man who had come close to taking the life of his fellow guild member.

"I've had just about enough of you!" he snarled, the flames rising high all around him and then… something else… flashes of yellow interspersing with the flames, crackling seemingly at random around him but intensifying by the second.

"Lightning…?" Mirajane gasped.

"**MODO… RAIENRYUU!"**

Natsu bellowed as he awakened something within him and exploded into the Lightning-Flame Dragon Mode, electricity erupting into existence all around him and merging seamlessly with the flames into a full blown whirlwind of power. He burned with such ferocity that Voldemort ended up stumbling away from him even before the Dragon Slayer blasted his way forwards to bring a lightning/fire covered fist sweeping down on top of him.

Even though Voldemort Disapparated before the punch could connect he was not in time to stop a burst of lightning sparking forwards and zapping him so the moment he re-appeared across the lawn he flew backwards with several hundred volts coursing through him while Natsu slammed the ground with such an explosive burst of flame that he blasted a crater into the lawn with a radius that expanded for several metres.

But even as Voldemort struggled to his feet, Natsu hadn't slowed down for a second and channelled his magic into his fist, a blast of fire sending him shooting up and out of the crater feet-first. He flipped over in the air and blasted flame from his feet to take him higher even as he formed crackling balls of electrified conflagration in his hands and hurled them downwards, sending a volley of several dozen shooting towards Voldemort in rapid succession. Voldemort gasped and surged into the air, his cloak billowing like wings as he zig-zagged madly through the veritable meteor shower. But one smashed the ground right beneath him and exploded with searing force, setting his robes on fire and the electricity pulsing him sideways to crash through the front door of the mansion, knocking it straight of its hinges as he ploughed inside. Natsu landed in front of the door and formed another, larger ball of lightning flame between his hands and hurled it through the doorframe after him, disintegrating the wall and the ground all around it and blasting the hallway within to smithereens.

"MY LORD!" Bellatrix screamed.

"MY HOUSE!" Lucius agreed.

The stunned Death Eaters rallied and dashed towards Natsu with wands drawn to aid their Master but something else appeared in front of them. Mirajane's eyes glowed red with rage, back in her Satan Soul form and spinning around to roar,"You will not touch my family again! **DARKNESS STREAM!"**

Huge black hands erupted from the magic circle formed beneath her claws, sweeping through the air like missiles and slashing straight the ground to clobber the Death Eaters in all directions. A couple Disapparated, including Bellatrix, but the moment they reappeared there was a claw sweeping towards them again. Bellatrix was seized in one and tossed through the air before she could so much as scream, ploughing Rabastan and Mulciber into the dirt. Then Mirajane was amongst them herself, sweeping through the group like a horde of demons rather than just one. She delivered a mighty blow with her tail to Rodolphus' stomach, slammed her armoured fist into Gibbon's chest and seized Rookwood by the top of his head to hurl him into a wall all in the space of two seconds!

"What's with these people!?" Narcissa screamed, trying to run over to Lucius' side only for Mirajane to appear right next to them both with a spinning sweep kick that sending them both flying backwards to skid across the turf. Mirajane looked up with a snarl, but she saw more Death Eaters now streaming into the place - the ones that had been holding Elfman captive which had now finally recovered and hurried back to join the fight. But she was undeterred by the increased number and blasted forwards to slam her forehead straight into an unfortunate Thorfinn Rowle's own forehead, then grab him by the ankle and heave him into the air to pitch him straight towards Dolohov.

Meanwhile, Voldemort had managed to escape the blast in the hallway by the tiniest of fractions by the tiniest of margins and had appeared on the roof on the mansion, heaving for breath but still not ready to lay down his wand. He ran to the edge of the roof, glaring down at the sparking, blazing Natsu down below.

"That's it!" he bellowed, raising his wand high above his head. "I will not allow you to overturn my plans for the conquest of this world! We will suppress the Muggles and eliminate their Mudblood descendants who pretend to be true wizards and witches! And nobody will stop us! Not Dumbledore! Not Harry Potter! AND NOT FAIRY TAIL!"

"YOU CARE SO MUCH ABOUT POWER AND BLOODLINES!?" Natsu roared back up at him, the fire and lightning sweeping out all around him in a towering inferno. "WELL I DON'T GIVE A JACK ABOUT ANY OF THAT! IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOUR PARENTS ARE OR HOW STRONG YOU ARE, ALL THAT MATTERS IS WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE! BUT MY FATHER IS A DRAGON! AND I CHOOSE TO USE THE POWER HE TAUGHT ME TO STOP YOU!"

"JUST SHUT UP AND DIE!" Voldemort, lashing his wand down and conjuring up to forty huge boulders in mid-air which he sent plummeting down towards the grounds below. It was a massive barrage and if they landed they would not only bury Natsu but they would also bury any of the Ministry wizards who didn't get out of the way in time.

But Natsu vaulted backwards away from the manor with a burst of fire from his feet, landing right in the centre of where the boulders would land and sucking in a deep lungful of air, the fire and lightning around him rushing to the four and seeming to congregate around his mouth.

Nearby, Mirajane had pushed the Death Eaters back, her terrifyingly swift assault herding them away from the mansion. Now they were counter-attacking and throwing any jinx they could think of at her but she twisted and swept through them all until she was high above the group. She brought her scaly hands close together as what looked like a swirling vortex of dark energy appeared between her palms, a large magic circle flashing into existence before her before it was sucked straight into the dark orb as well.

"You people have done enough damage here today!" she growled.

Natsu and Mirajane let fly with their attacks at the exact same time.

"**RAIENRYUU NO… HOUKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"**

"**SOUL EXTINCTION!"**

**KAAABLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!**

The raging torrent of fire and lightning that detonated out of Natsu's mouth was so immense that it could be seen for miles, raging upwards through the sky and growing in width by the millisecond. All the Ministry wizards and Happy were blown off their feet by the shockwave it made, leaving only Elfman and Lisanna standing and even them only just. The attack burst through the oncoming rockslide, lightning streaking outwards in all directions to blast the rocks into pebble-sized chunks, tearing the boulders to pieces in practically the same instant. It was not as strong as the blast he had used against Master Hades back on Tenroujima… but it was still incredibly powerful.

Voldemort screamed and Disapparated a mere femtosecond before the blast engulfed practically the entire Malfoy Manor and immediately ripped it to shreds, fire and lightning blazing through the structure of the upper floors and streaming down to obliterate the lower floors too, fracturing the entire thing - the walls, the floors, the furniture, the antiques, everything - and blasting the pieces up into the sky in a great plume of splinters that were rapidly consumed by the fire and turned to ash. The attack streaked out into the over the roofs of the other nearby houses in a great, horizontal surge and when it finally petered out and dissipated there was nothing left of the once stately manor but the rubble of the ground floor and a single Fairy Sphere which dropped a couple of stories to land amongst the wreckage.

At the same time, a titanic blast of dark energy erupted out of Mirajane's hands and ruptured downwards towards the Death Eaters in a way that seemed to tear the air around it apart as it passed. The Death Eaters that would have been struck by the attack quickly Disapparated out of the way but the moment the attack it that ground it detonated in a rush of dark energy that flew in all directions, shredding across the lawn and tearing it to bits. All the Death Eaters were caught up in the rush and bombarded with dark energy, shredding their robes and not one of them escaping without at least one broken bone.

Mirajane swept the attack through their midst, arcing the blast through one long curve that left destruction in its wake, the cloud of dark power filling the air like the smoke of a nuclear blast. And when the demon relented, dropping to the ground on the edge of the blast zone she'd just created the ground was littered with the bodies of the Death Eaters. A wide number of them were totally unconscious and those that those that were still lucid were struggling to stand, all of them cradling some part of their body that was now hurting like hell.

"Why you…" Bellatrix coughed from where she was leaning against a stack of ground-up bricks.

A few moments later, Voldemort re-appeared on the other side of Mira's blast zone, his robes tattered and his skin quite clearly burnt and charred in a couple of places. He took in the veritable carnage the two Fairy Tail mages had just unleashed on house and human alike at a glance, and he had to agree with Bellatrix's sentiment.

His top lieutenants that he'd just had rescued from Azkaban had been defeated before he could even speak to them properly. The power these Fairy Tail mages wielded… it was just ridiculous! There was no other way of putting it.

The Ministry wizards were similarly blown away, gaping in utter disbelief at the remains of the Malfoy Manor. Many of them had seen Natsu holding back an avalanche on a mountainside before but in their minds he had just topped that right then and there. And they also realised that if the other Fairy Tail mages were close to being as strong as these two, they had been holding back during the battles they'd had with the Ministry every single time. If they'd wanted to, they could have unleashed so much more hell upon them.

"…Incredible…" Scrimgeour whispered, echoing the thoughts of the rest of his squadron. "Just… incredible…"

Lisanna and Elfman grinned at each other but gasped as Natsu suddenly keeled over, crashing onto his front. "Natsu!" Happy shouted and rushed over to his best friends side, the two younger Strauss siblings right behind him.

"Are you okay?" Elfman asked.

"Fine…" Natsu grunted. "Just… really tired all of a sudden."

"That attack must have taken a lot of you," Lisanna observed. "And when exactly did you get lightning powers?"

Natsu grinned. "Little gift from Laxus during our battle with Master Hades. Couldn't have beaten him without it."

Mirajane was still glowering across the battlefield at Voldemort. "So…" she said, flexing her claws. "Are you going to surrender this time?"

Her words sparked a reaction from Scrimgeour, who gasped and remembered himself. "Aurors!" he barked. "Move in! We're placing those Death Eaters under arrest!"

But just as the Ministry wizards followed his commands and hurried forwards, just as Voldemort was considering abandoning his followers and getting out of there, a shadow fell across Mirajane. She looked up and yelled, jumping backwards just in time to avoid the colossal fist that crashed into the ground where she'd been standing. The fist pulled out of the ground instantly and took a swipe at her, forcing Mira to cross her arms in front of her and block the blow, but it was still strong enough to send her spiralling backwards until she recovered her trajectory.

"What the…" she gasped, staring at the beast which had seemingly sprung up out of nowhere to attack her. Humanoid in shape but ten times the size of a human, with skin so dark red that it was almost purple and armoured metal bands around its biceps and wrists. It's legs appeared to be entirely made of metal with huge spikes jutting out of its knees and its face was also metallic, with two devil-like horns jutting out of its forehead.

"Where did that come from?" Lisanna cried.

"Wait! I know that thing!" Elfman pointed at it, wide-eyed. "That's… Belcusas the Thunderclap! Which means…"

"Indeed," said a voice from across the battlefield, and everyone's gaze instantly swung towards it, fixing on a tall man with long silver hair that jutted up above his head in a pompadour style, wearing a dark purple jacket with high fur-lined collar which his hands were currently stuffed in the pockets of and a pair of expensive looking silver designer glasses upon his face. "I am glad to see you haven't forgotten me, Elfman."

"Rustyrose!" Elfman glared at him.

"Another member of Grimoire Heart!" Lisanna cried. "Where did he come from?"

"Search me," Rustyrose shrugged. "I woke up about half an hour ago to find myself in the middle of a street in this strange city. But I saw the lights of the battle and decided to come and see what was happening. And lo and behold, some Fairy Tail wizards for me to pulverise. Belcusas… have some fun!"

"RAAAAWWWWWR!" the semi-metallic beast bellowed and took another swing at Mirajane only for her to grab its fingers and heave it up over her head and fling it towards the ground. But Belcusas twisted about to land on its feet and shoot up again instantly, slamming Mirajane in the stomach with a full uppercut!

"NEE-CHAN!" Elfman bellowed and thundered forwards, transforming back into the Beast and hurling himself bodily at the Belcusas as it descended, crashing into its stomach and knocking it skidding across the floor, raining punches on it as he did.

Voldemort immediately took advantage of the commotion and yelled to his Death Eaters. "We're evacuating! Now! Anyone who can still Apparate grab someone else and get out of here! I'll send you a signal through the Dark Marks on where we'll meet again!"

The Death Eaters responded instantly, crawling or Apparating over to their unconscious brethren before vanishing into thin air. Scrimgeour yelled and the Aurors surged forward to try and intercept but they were too late. The Death Eaters were gone before they could get close.

But one Death Eater in particular hurried out from where he had been hiding behind a wall and had therefore escaped uninjured during the battle to grab the arm of Antonin Dolohov. And though Scrimgeour only got a brief look at his face he gasped, recognising it instantly. He'd looked at Sirius Black's convict files enough times to pick out that face on sight.

"Peter Pettigrew…" he breathed, just as the man in question vanished. His mind flashed back to the conversation he'd had with Sirius in the Ministry cells that morning. Sirius had told him that Pettigrew was alive and that he was the one who'd committed the crime he'd been convicted for all those years ago. That he was innocent. Scrimgeour hadn't believed him at all but that had definitely been Pettigrew right there.

Was it true? Was Sirius Black really an innocent man after all?

How many things had the Ministry been wrong about!?

Just as Belcusas heaved himself upwards to knock Elfman away and turn around to block a punch from Mirajane with its hand, Voldemort transported himself over to the prone body of Bluenote. He quickly levitated him into the air, then whipped around and yelled, "You! Rustyrose!"

"What do you want?" Rustyrose turned to glower at him.

"You are a comrade of this man are you not?" Voldemort asked. "Come with me! I will take you both away from here to a place we can regroup!"

"Regroup? I have no need to regroup! I'll grind these Fairies into PWWARRGHH!"

Lisanna had just shot over towards him while he was distracted and kicked him in the chest, knocking him backwards. Rustyrose rolled away, but managed to kick himself back upright and skid to a halt on his feet, cupping his cheek and glaring.

"…You appear to have had an upgrade since I last saw you, girl," he said, wincing with pain.

"You won't find me so powerless against you this time," Lisanna declared.

"Perhaps not, but I shall still win," Rustyrose straightened up but he gasped and grabbed at his chest, one leg buckling beneath him as he fell to one knee. Lisanna blinked - she hadn't kicked him that hard so why was he…?

Then she noticed for the first time how battered he looked, his face covered in scuffs and bruises and his clothes equally frayed, and she realised the truth. "You still haven't fully recovered from our previous battle," she said, realising the spot on his chest he was nursing was the exact place where Freed had hit him with attack that finally defeated him before. He looked like it hadn't been a day for him since that battle had taken place.

"…You little…" Rustyrose growled but he got no further before Voldemort appeared behind him and gripped his shoulder, warping both him and Bluenote away with a loud crack that left the battlefield totally clear of Dark Wizards or Mages. The Belcusas instantly vanished in a flash of purple light when its master disappeared.

"Damn it!" Scrimgeour growled, hurrying over close to Lisanna's side. "They escaped! That man… who was he?"

"He was from a Dark Guild from our world known as Grimoire Heart," Lisanna told him. "Fairy Tail was involved in a war with them shortly before the disaster that led to us all being shut away inside the Fairy Spheres. We came out victorious but we had several close shaves. They are definitely enemies of your Ministry, no doubt about that."

"Dark Guild…?" Scrimgeour muttered, thinking back to the destruction he'd seen in Chagford. "Then… could they…?"

"Guys!" Happy said as he carried Natsu over to the others. "We should get out of here. There's people coming from all directions. The non-magic police and stuff."

"Well, can't we just explain it to them?" Mirajane asked.

"Not really. It doesn't work like that in this world," Happy replied.

"We'll explain on the way," Natsu said. "Let's get back to the others."

"But we can't leave that Fairy Sphere here," Lisanna pointed out. "One of our comrades could be in there."

"On it!" Elfman said, barrelling through the wreckage and wrapping his Beast arms around the sphere, hefting it upwards and off the ground. "Let's get out of here then!"

Mira swept over towards and Lisanna made to follow, but Scrimgeour interrupted her. "Wait!" he said. "You… saved my life. And I didn't say it before but… thank you."

"You're welcome," Lisanna smiled. "Do you still believe that Fairy Tail are bad people?"

Scrimgeour opened his mouth and left it open for several moments, weighing up all the evidence that had just been collected in his mind over the last day before finally saying, "…No."

"Good," Lisanna smiled. "But we're still wanted by your Ministry and we will not go anywhere where we'll be put under the watch of those Dementor-things. If you really want to thank me, do what you can to clear our names, okay?"

She didn't give Scrimgeour a chance to answer before she spread her wings and flew over to Elfman, gripping one of his arms in her own while Mira gripped the other, the two sisters working together to lift their much larger brother and the Fairy Sphere he was carrying into the air. Scrimgeour watched as Natsu and Happy led the way skyward, the Strauss family following close behind at high speed, and in less than half a minute they were completely lost to sight.

Then he gasped and turned around. "Savage," he called. "Start laying down the groundwork for covering this up and obliterating anyone who saw what happened here. The rest of you help him. Proudfoot, you come with me. I saw many Death Eaters here today that are supposed to be in Azkaban right now. Let's go and check in with the guards."

Proudfoot nodded and the two Aurors Disapparated…

* * *

…And reappeared in thin air. Both of them screamed as they dropped straight down to plunge into the ocean. They quickly kicked their way up to the surface, coughing and spluttering and wiping water from their eyes.

"What the…?" Scrimgeour spat out a little sea water and looked around. His jaw dropped. Azkaban was absolutely nowhere to be seen - the entire island had gone. And in its place… was a floating iceberg that was dotted with dozens and dozens of cages, mostly with bars made out of ice but some made out of iron, and each cage contained at least one person who had previously been locked in an Azkaban cell.

Standing on the edge of the iceberg though was another Auror, Gawain Robards, who waved them over. As soon as he got over his shock, Scrimgeour struck out for the flat-topped iceberg, Gawain helping him out of the sea and the two of them helping Proudfoot out together.

"Robards," Scrimgeour coughed. "What are you doing here? And… what happened here?"

"That… is a pretty long story, sir," Gawain grimaced. "But… maybe that will go some way towards explaining it." He pointed down towards the ice and Scrimgeour noticed a message had been carved into the surface of the icy platform they were standing on.

A message which read:-

'Sorry for the mess and that we failed to stop the Death Eaters escaping. But you should know by now that we'll always rescue our own. Fairy Tail.'

* * *

Just thought I'd add a footnote here.

So… yep. The Fairies are almost all reunited and Voldemort is most definitely on the run from them now. But if you think that means that means that he's out for the count you are sorely mistaken. Trust me, this story is far, far from over. And I just want to remind everyone that though Fairy Tail are radically stronger than the Potterverse characters are, as this chapter very much highlighted, this story will not always involve the Fairy Tail characters outshining them like this. There are big things ahead for the Potterverse lot. The introductory phase of this crossover is almost over and when it is, things are going to even out a lot more, believe me.


	40. Time and Space

An anonymous reviewer asked me why Igneel didn't explain to Lisanna about Zeref and how he knows Natsu. There are two reasons for that - firstly I didn't know the whole truth myself when I wrote that chapter because I wrote it before all the details were revealed. And secondly because Lisanna can't do anything about that and Igneel feels that Natsu should be the first to know about it.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 40:- Time and Space**

* * *

"You sure you've got a good grip on that, Elfman?" Mira asked as they swept above the clouds, gripping onto her bestial brother's arm tightly while Lisanna held onto the other. The Satan Soul form that Mira was using was strong enough to carry Elfman on his own, but whatever was inside that golden orb Elfman was carrying was pretty heavy so she was grateful to have her sister's assistance in carrying them both.

"Yeah, I've got it. This Sphere won't be escaping from this Man's hold, I can tell you that," came the reply. "Though I am beginning to think I should find a Beast Soul with wings. Flying under my own power would certainly make me feel like one hell of a Man indeed."

"Sometimes I think that too," Natsu commented, a wide grin on his face even through his obvious tiredness. He ignored Happy's protest as he glanced back across at Lisanna. "But do you realise what we just did back there?"

"I think I have an educated guess as to what lines you're thinking along, yes."

"Aye! That was Lord Voldemort we were fighting, who's supposed to be the most powerful Dark Wizard in this entire world, and possibly the most powerful of any wizard!" Happy chimed in. "And we totally kicked his butt!"

"Oh yeah!" Natsu punched the air. "Now all I've got to do is figure out a way to beat Erza, Laxus and Gildarts and I'll be the best in no time!"

"Don't forget the Nee-chan and the Master!" Elfman grinned savagely. "They're real Men indeed. And of course you'll have to get past me! Is the S-Class exam still going?"

"Yes, I'd rather like to know what's been happening as well," Mira said, ignoring the fact her brother had just called her a Man… again. "Everything's been such a whirl of confusion since you arrived, Lisanna - I just went along with it. But I have to thank you again for rescuing me. And then I'll have to demand an explanation."

"Yeah… you've been saying we're in a different universe all along," Elfman frowned. "How the heck did that happen?"

"Ah well…" Lisanna shrugged. "I'm still not entirely sure what happened exactly either - the only person who saw the full account was First Master Mavis and she said…"

"Wait… what?" Mira and Elfman both said at the same time. "First Master Mavis?"

"Best if we explain everything properly I think," Happy noted.

"Good idea," Lisanna agreed, and began. As soon as she'd finished, both of her siblings looked rather nonplussed. The concept of another universe was of course, not foreign to them. They'd taken a while to get their heads around the fact Lisanna had been stranded in one when they'd been reunited, but because of that they were a little better prepared this time.

But of course, Mirajane asked the question that everyone else had asked almost immediately:- "So, how do we get back?"

"We have… no idea," Lisanna replied. "I think we're all working under the assumption that we'll figure that out once everyone's emerged from their respective Fairy Spheres and we're all reunited. As far as I know the only ones left are the Master himself, Erza, Laxus, Freed, Bickslow and Cana. And some of them may be in the one you're holding, Elf-niichan."

"…Then I very much hope we put it down before it dissipates. It would be very unmanly of me to drop some of my comrades several thousand feet."

The other's all laughed, but Lisanna was quick to sober up. "I am… so relieved you two are safe. When I learned that Voldemort had two Fairy Spheres with him, I was absolutely terrified that you two might be in one of them… and you were. If we hadn't found you when we did…"

"But you did," Mira cut her off before she could start getting too morbid. "It wouldn't be wise to dwell on might-have-beens. We may have ended up being forced to serve Voldemort, yes. But we haven't been because you got there to save us."

"And I kept my promise, didn't I?" Natsu grinned. "I told you I'd do everything I could to bring your family back together again and I did."

"You did," Lisanna agreed, smiling lightly. "You always do, Natsu."

"Although it was really lucky that we happened to be flying over when we were," Happy said. "What an amazing coincidence that was, right?"

"It was no coincidence at all, blue cat!"

The loud voice coming from directly above them startled the entire group. Elfman yelled, digging his claws into the Sphere as best he could to keep it in his grip and Happy really did drop Natsu and had to quickly dive down and grab him before he could disappear into the clouds. But they all looked around at the same time to see the same thing - a humongous bronze dragon swooping through the sky several hundred metres above them.

"Kilgharrah!?" Lisanna gaped.

"How did you…!?" Natsu yelled accusingly. "I didn't smell you at all!"

"Who is…?" Mira started but then stopped, realising the similarities between that dragon and Lisanna's brand new Take Over form.

Kilgharrah chuckled and replied to Natsu. "I have ways of keeping myself concealed. I've needed to in order to continue traversing this world with its alarmingly expanding human population without being noticed. I just thought I would come by to see if the rescue mission I sent you on was a success."

"Rescue mission?" Natsu frowned. "You didn't send us on a rescue mission?"

"Didn't I?" Kilgharrah's golden eyes sparkled. "You may recall, young Dragon Slayer, that I pointed you very carefully which direction to go in and told you to make sure you flew in a straight line. I may have said that it would take you back to London but that wasn't strictly true. In fact you've already flown past London and missed it by about seventy-five kilometres."

"Then… you pointed us in the direction you needed to go to save Mira-nee and Elf-niichan?" Lisanna gasped.

"Correct."

"…Thank you, Kilgharrah! Thank you so much!" Lisanna beamed. "I owe you another debt of gratitude all over again! But why didn't you say so? Why didn't you just tell us that's where you were sending us or exactly where it was we needed to go? And why didn't you help us?"

"I am a creature of the Old Religion, Lisanna," Kilgharrah said cryptically. "It is not yet my time to intervene so directly in the affairs of the world. All I can do is give it little nudges in the right direction. Whether or not you found your family, whether or not you would succeed, that is not yet something I can directly control. But clearly it was part of your brother and sister's destinies to be rescued from Voldemort by you. Whether today or in several year's time, it would have happened eventually so why not steer things in a manner that allows it to potentially happen sooner rather than later?"

"…I don't really get that…" Natsu blinked.

"Me neither," Happy agreed.

"This sounds like a logic puzzle not meant for a Man's mind," Elfman frowned.

"Well… thank you anyway," Lisanna said. "Does this mean you know where our other friends are too?"

"Things will unfold they way they are meant to, for good or for ill," Kilgharrah replied, which was not really an answer at all. "You will find your comrades in time, but I cannot help you do so. What I can do is give you a new direction to head in which this time will take you back to London. Turn and head that way," he pointed one massive claw in a more north-easterly direction than their current heading. "And flying at your current speed you should be upon it within an hour. Farewell, Fairy Tail mages. I know that we will meet again."

And with a burst of his wings he rocketed into the sky, arcing away at speed that his great bulk didn't look as though it should be capable of producing and he was lost to sight within what felt like moments.

"This London place is where the rest of our friends who've emerged from the Spheres are, right?" Mira asked.

"Yeah. It's the capital city of this country, like Crocus is for ours," Lisanna agreed.

"Well, I for one would like a few more explanations," Elfman said. "Like who that dragon was and how you managed to pull off a Take-Over on something like that, Lisanna!"

"I'll tell you that one later," Lisanna smiled widely. "The others don't know about this new form yet either so it'll be better to explain it all in one go if I can."

* * *

And she was right.

Once they were over London it was quite easy for them to find their way back to Grimmauld Place - Natsu's nose remembering the scent of the general area and guiding them in towards it. But of course Elfman and Mirajane couldn't get in without being given the location directly from the Secret Keeper and even if they could, there was no way they'd be able to fit the Fairy Sphere through the front door.

So while Natsu went inside to try and get hold of a way to let the others in, the Strauss siblings took the Fairy Sphere a short distance away to try and find a place to hide it. They discovered a small inner-city nature reserve not too far from Grimmauld Place which was ideal because it had a large lake with a few extremely small islands poking up out the water. They laid the Fairy Sphere down in the middle of one of those islands where nobody was likely to stumble across it and covered it up with foliage and mud to make it look like a bush.

"You think it'll be alright to leave it here?" Mira asked.

"We should probably keep an eye on it," Lisanna said. "I don't know what's in there but its just as likely to be one of Tenroujima's wild animals as it is to be one of our friends. Last thing we need would be a rampage through the capital city because we weren't paying attention. But I think it'll be good for this evening at least."

Fortunately Dumbledore was already at Grimmauld Place when Natsu went in. And that was not only because he'd wanted to personally hear how the two rescue missions he'd been aware of had played out but also because Mira and Elfman were not the only new people he'd needed to allow into the building.

"Erza! Cana!" he beamed in delight when he saw them seated at the dining room table. "Where did you two come from?"

"It's good to see you, Natsu," Erza smiled as she got to her feet, seizing Natsu in her arms and pulling him into such a fierce bear hug that everyone in the room could swear that they could hear Natsu's spine creaking with the strain, even over Natsu's yell of, "BUUHHEEII!" as he struggled to breathe. "We missed you at the battle over that prison."

"Never mind that now," Lucy said from where she'd been sitting next to Erza. "Where's Lisanna? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Happy said as he landed on the table in the middle of the now extremely crowded dining room which was packed to bursting with Order and guild members. "Speaking of which, Professor, do you think you could go and grant her brother and sister entry to the base?"

"What!?" multiple voices chorused at the same time.

As soon as the Strauss siblings crossed the threshold, all of them having returned to their normal forms, there was a clamour as everyone tried to express their relief that they'd been found at the same time with much hugging from the girls (particularly Lucy who glomped Mira) and fist-bumping from the guys (though Gajeel ended up punching Elfman in the face and almost started another brawl). There were also a great many introductions as the four newly rescued offworlders were introduced to over a score of new people all at the same time, including Mavis - though thankfully Natsu and Lisanna's account of her blunted the shock Mira and Elfman had of actually meeting her.

When Lisanna realised that Sirius was sitting there with a wide grin on his face she jumped forward to hug him, an action which took him quite by surprise but which he certainly didn't object to. It wasn't the first hug he'd received that day when someone had learned that he'd been rescued safely. Tonks hadn't let him go for two whole minutes and then she'd proceeded to hit him over the head and yell at him for another three.

Stories were told one by one, everyone giving their account not just of the events of the day, but everything that they'd done since arriving in this universe for the benefit of those who had just arrived.

"Hey Erza," Evergreen threw the redhead a cocky smirk. "What would you say if I told you I really am a Fairy Queen now? The Titania's just a nickname for you but I? I've become a true leader of Fairy folk."

"Is that so?" Erza said back, looking only mildly surprised. "Well then congratulations are in order, Ever. But I hope you realise that still doesn't mean I'm going to be bowing before you any time soon."

"We shall see. We shall see." Ever chuckled, twirling her hair before abruptly her eyes locked with Elfman across the room. The two of them paused, staring at each other, before Evergreen slowly pushed her way through the crowd towards him… and kicked him in the shin.

"OW!" Elfman cried, almost flattening Dedalus Diggle as he stumbled backwards. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, EVER!?"

"That was for getting me all worried, you great lump!" Ever shouted back at him.

"I didn't ask you to worry about me! A Man can worry about himself!" Elfman glowered, before his face softened a little and he said, "But you know, I'm glad that you're safe."

"Yes, I'm rather glad I'm safe too," Evergreen said, the faintest hint of redness appearing in her cheeks. "Which is more than I can safely say for the rest of my team."

"We'll find them," Elfman laid a large but gentle hand on her shoulder. Wherever they may be, we'll find them. As a Man, I promise you we'll never stop looking until we do!"

Evergreen really blushed this time, a warm feeling appearing in her chest at Elfman's comforting words… but she quickly tried to cover it up. "Man! Man! Man! I can't believe I actually missed that tripe!"

"THAT'S WHAT YOU SAY WHEN SOMEONE'S TRYING TO BE NICE!?"

"Well, I can't even get into another universe and escape from it, can I!?"

"And we totally beat the snot out of all those goblin things," Gajeel crowed. "And we probably ruined half of their precious bank. I still don't get the point of those damn things… leaving your money where anyone could destroy it… we're not so stupid in our world are we?"

"You do realise that we actually do have places similar to that, right?" Cana snickered, already holding half an empty bottle of wine in her hand. "They're called merchant guilds. Mages don't usually end up using them but most regular people do."

"…Oh…" Gajeel deflated slightly. "Well… it's still say it's stupid."

"So tell me, what defines a Beast exactly?" Remus was now asking a slightly fuming Elfman. "I was always a little nonplussed about that - your sister uses Animal Soul and you use Beast Soul, but aren't all Beasts technically animals?"

"Nah, there's a difference and quite a Manly one I'd say!" Elfman pounded his chest. "Animal Soul only lets you use your power on creatures that are totally animal. Beast Soul can be used on animals but its more effective on creatures which are classified as monsters, including ones much more like a Man in their physical features or their intelligence."

"Ah, I see. So you could potentially use it on, say, a centaur?"

"…Well yeah probably. But that would look really weird," Elfman rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully. "Although, it could also look like a MAN!"

"So do you have demons in this world?" Mirajane asked Mrs. Weasley, who was re-applying a bandage to Mad-Eye Moody's leg.

"Technically yes we do but… not the satanic kind that I've heard you can become," Molly replied. "Most of our demons are a lot more animalistic than that, things like Grindylows, Kappas and Kelpies."

"There are myths and legends about the more satanic kind of demon," Mr. Weasley chipped in. "Creatures from the underworld and all that kind of thing. But nobody really believes anything like that exists anymore. There have been no confirmed reports of anything like that ever in recorded history."

"That's almost a pity," Mira smiled. "It might have been nice to acquire a new form or two while I was here."

And all throughout the amicable chatting, Harry Potter sat at the edge of the table and watched silently - having refused to go back to Hogwarts straight away. Unlike most of the Order, he had barely interacted with anyone from Fairy Tail before today, with the exceptions of the Exceed. A large part of him was still coming to terms with the fact that these were all apparently people from an entirely separate universe but apart from the fact some of them had rather odd hair colours you really wouldn't know it to look at them.

But for the first time in a long time, ever since he had really entered the Wizarding Word, he was sitting in a room full of magical people he barely knew and he was not the centre of attention. It was one of the most refreshing feelings he'd ever had, which was why he was not attempting to draw any attention to himself.

Still, one thought did keep swirling around in his mind. What did the presence of these offworlders mean for the future?

Eventually though the individual conversations transformed into room-wide ones recounting the events of that particular day and all the separate rescue missions that had taken place.

"Nice, Lucy!" Natsu thumped the Celestial Spirit Mage in the back hard enough to almost knock her face first into a bowl of soup after she'd recounted how she and the Spirits had caused enough chaos for Sirius to slip out unnoticed. "Sounds like you absolutely trashed the place in true Fairy Tail style."

"I'm not planning on making a habit of it you know," Lucy looked up at him but she was unable to keep the grin off her face. "I'd rather not get into trouble all the time like the rest of you do."

"Nah, it'll happen," Natsu shook his head. "It's infectious. You'll be blowing buildings everywhere before too long."

"And we're certain nobody expected Potter of having a role in Sirius' escape?" McGonagall pressed.

"As far as anyone knows I got Harry out of there immediately before they locked the place down," Mr. Weasley nodded. "And they think he's staying at my house for the day to recover from the trauma of what happened."

"They what?" Harry asked sharply, a little anger flaring up within him once again. "Trauma? They think I'd be traumatised by that?"

"Emotional trauma at the fact that the man who they believe to be behind the deaths of your parents escaped justice," Mr. Weasley clarified. "If that really had been the case it probably would have left you very upset and angry would it not?"

Harry bit his tongue and put aside his protests. He may not want to be seen as some kind of hero but he didn't want to be viewed as an emotional wreck either. Still, he grudgingly admitted that it was a good excuse for why he wasn't back at Hogwarts yet.

The destruction of Azkaban and the escape of the Death Eaters was the next topic of conversation, one which drew some particularly grave expressions from many of the Order.

"Despite the heroic efforts of all involved to save the prisoners, so much so that no lives were lost as the prison went down," Dumbledore said. "The fact the Dementors have defected is a pretty large blow to our side."

"Not to mention we now have nowhere to put any of the Dark Lord's followers that we do catch," McGonagall agreed.

"There must be somewhere else that can be used as a prison besides Azkaban," said Bill. "That iceberg you put them all in won't last forever."

"There are other places that would serve as alternatives, but Azkaban was definitely the best choice," Mad-Eye grunted.

"Bollocks to that," Cana snorted, quaffing another gulp of wine. "I'd say the world's better off without a hellhole like that, with or without those… disgusting things guarding the place."

"You have no idea how much I agree with you there," Sirius growled. "I wish I could have seen the place sink."

"And I wish we could have taken Sturgis with us when we left," Hestia grumbled. Indeed, poor Sturgis Podmore had been one of the men they'd had to leave behind in an ice cage. All the Order members had wanted to liberate him but considering the breakout of Death Eaters they didn't want anyone to think Sturgis might be involved with them and thereby extension themselves in case anybody discovered about the Order. That was why Kingsley had also carefully modified the memories of the Auror, Gawain Robards, so that he would forget about the presence of the Order members but would remember everything else that had gone down perfectly.

"I can't believe you pulled off a Fairy Glitter, Cana," Natsu exulted. "That's so awesome!"

Cana laughed. "It certainly felt pretty badass." She held up her arm and the Fairy Glitter tattoo appeared before everyone's eyes - Cana had figured out how to make it fade in and out at will. "And I can definitely keep it permanently this time?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't make a habit out of using it if I were you," Mavis warned. "The Three Great Fairy Spells can have some… nasty side-effects if they're used too often. Each one of them should only be used as an absolute last resort."

"Got it," Cana nodded. "In that case I'm going to search out a way to use my magic to its full potential. If my current Card Magic isn't doing it for me I'll find something that can."

"Well whatever it is I hope it'll be effective in putting down those Death Eaters that escaped," Tonks muttered. "And that other guy who tore the whole place down… where do you think they are now?"

"We don't know that, but we think we know where they went when they left the prison," Happy raised a paw. "They went to where we were."

"What?" Gildarts sat up sharply. "You saw Bluenote?"

"Yeah, and we totally kicked his ass!" Natsu grinned.

"Actually it was just Elfman that did that, Natsu," Happy chipped in helpfully, which caused Natsu to deflate a little.

"Though from the sound of it I wouldn't have liked to face him at full strength," Elfman muttered. "A Man knows when he's outgunned."

"Perhaps you guys should start at the beginning," Charlie Weasley said, locking his gaze upon Lisanna. The youngest Strauss sibling got the distinct impression he'd been waiting quite impatiently for a while to start talking about this, because he very quickly said, "What happened after you merged with that Horntail at Gringott's? Where did you go?"

"Well… I don't know whether you're going to believe me or not, Charlie."

"After all the stuff I've seen you guys do I really don't think there's much more about you all that will surprise me."

"Ah but this isn't about us… this is about something from your world."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I met a talking dragon."

"…"

Charlie's face was totally blank. As were the faces of all the other Order members in the room, with one exception - Dumbledore. He looked mildly surprise but he gave Lisanna a calculated stare, and the young Take-Over Mage got the distinct impression he was analysing her, as if to rationally figure out whether she was telling the truth from her body language or something.

"…What?" Charlie eventually croaked, voicing the very same question in everyone else's heads. Lisanna noticed that Gajeel and Wendy were also paying close attention, although Gajeel was trying to feign indifference.

"You remember how you told me about the dragons from myths, which lived alongside dragonlords in ancient times and could speak as easily as any human? Well… I met one. And he taught me how to do this."

The moment she transformed back into her new form, her wings spreading wide to either side of her and her scales shining faintly in the light, a clamour erupted from around the room. Not just from the Order members but from the other Fairy Tail members too. Lisanna had to admit - the looks on everyone's faces were pretty priceless. Especially the other two Dragon Slayers. Gajeel immediately lost his indifference and his jaw dropped, a fork he'd been chewing on clattering to the floor and Wendy scooting forwards to examine her wings with wide eyes and shooting off a bazillion questions at once. And she wasn't the only one doing so. The entire room was trying to get in their own questions right up until Dumbledore raised his wand and pointed it at his throat.

"EVERYONE!" he yelled, his voice magnifying over the din and hushing everyone instantly, several of them clapping their hands over their ears. The Headmaster lowered his wand, his eyes twinkling visibly as he looked to Lisanna. "I am sure it would be best if we let the story unfold from the top."

Lisanna nodded and told the story as best she could. To their credit, the Order members didn't interrupt her once, but they were staring at her with varying degrees of disbelief throughout.

She stopped just after she reached the part where Natsu had arrived and she'd changed form for the first time, not mentioning the part about Igneel. The Fire Dragon's words burned through her mind - how if Natsu knew that Igneel was inside him it would automatically cause Igneel to be ejected from his foster son and he would die. Not only would that terrible… but it would be bad on two levels if it were to happen indoors.

"…You met… Kilgharrah…?" Charlie whispered.

"You know of him?" Lisanna asked.

"Everyone who studies dragons knows of him. He was the dragon who supposedly gave Merlin himself assistance many times throughout his time in Camelot, but those who still believe he ever existed all assume he died a long time ago. You're telling me… that he's still alive. And he let you do… that?"

"…Yeah…"

"…OH MY GOD, YOU HAVE TO INTRODUCE ME!" Charlie cried, looking so excited that he was practically in danger of spontaneously combusting. "WHERE IS HE NOW!? CAN I SEE HIM!?"

Lisanna laughed. "He could be anywhere by now and I don't know how to find him. But he said we would meet again someday, when we're meant to. I didn't understand everything he said to me exactly but… if he's right and we do meet again I'll try to set something up."

Now Charlie looked like he was going to faint and he probably would have done if Bill hadn't clapped him on the back. "Jeez, if all that is true… that's amazing!"

"Forgive my scepticism but can you prove any of that?" McGonagall asked.

"She has no need to," Dumbledore stated calmly. "She is telling the truth. Quite remarkable - a dragon of the Old Religion still exists. Even at my age, you really do learn something new every day."

"So… Fairy Tail has four dragons now?" Lucy breathed. "That's… that's amazing, Lisanna!"

"It's got five dragons! Don't forget about Laxus!" Evergreen pointed out.

"Laxus isn't a member of the guild," Erza pointed out, which made Evergreen pout and glower at her. "But Lucy is right - this is phenomenal."

"I always hoped there might be another girl Dragon Slayer out there," Wendy said with shining eyes. "You might not be a Dragon Slayer, Lisanna-san, but this is just as good!"

"Thanks Wendy," Lisanna smiled, pulling her into a hug with her wings folding around her. She looked up at Gajeel to see his reaction, but he'd already picked up the fork and was chewing it again, though he was watching her out of the corner of his eye with barely feigned interest. "I still need to practice in order to use this form to its maximum potential but you can bet I'll do everything I can to do so."

"Aah, our little Lisanna's growing up," Gildarts chuckled. "I'm sure we'd all like to see what that new form can do later on."

"But what happened after that?" Juvia chipped in. "Where did Mira-san and Elfman-san's rescue come into it."

"That happened when we were heading back here!" Natsu said and quickly took over the narrative. With everyone's attention shifting to him as he outlined the story, Lisanna's attention slowly drifted down to the small bluenette still held in her arms. According to Igneel… Natsu was not the only one with a dragon inside them in this room.

She stretched out with her mind while everyone was distracted:- _Hello? Is… anyone there?_

_I am indeed here, child,_ a rich melodious (and oddly familiar) female voice appeared in her head, and for a moment Lisanna found her vision blurring as the image of a huge white dragon with sweeping tufts of feathers on either side of her head, thick fur around her neck, massive feathered wings that also doubled as her front legs and what appeared to be no less than three long, furry tails sweeping out behind her appeared briefly at the fore of her mind. She had extremely kindly blue eyes and Lisanna could feel a pulse of serenity wafting off her like a constant wave. _And I am immensely pleased that our idea to teach you Dragon Soul worked._

_Things should start getting very interesting indeed as soon as we get the heck back to where we belong,_ another voice chipped in. It was a low baritone like Igneel's but a lot less growly - smoother, like polished iron. This time the image that appeared in her head was of a heavily armoured dragon, shining silver-gray from his pointed head, down his ridged neck and to the curved blade on the end of his tail that looked a little like small fish fins. His iron hide looked lightweight but tough and his eyes were narrow and black but for his grey pupils, while his wings… were his wings on hinges? Yes, they were connected to his body by a single flexible tube that would allow the stiff, metallic wings to flap up and down as well as rotate forwards or backwards a little as needed, which was necessary because his wings definitely didn't have any other joints in them - they were metal sheets with feather-like projections at their bases.

_Grandine… Metalicana…_ Lisanna whispered reverently. _I'd never even heard of either of you until recently but it is a huge honour._

_Ah, you've got no need to be so formal with us, girl,_ Metalicana chuckled. _It's not like we're going to eat you if you don't show us respect or anything._

_Oh um… okay. Wow, you're… not quite what I was expecting._

_Were you expecting an antisocial funsponge like my foster son? Or for me to be all regal and majestic and shit like that because I'm a dragon?_

_Metalicana, please,_ Grandine chided him. _It wouldn't hurt for you to show a little dignity once in a while. As you can probably tell, young one, Metalicana is not picky with his choice of words. Nevertheless he is right - you've no need to show deference to us. We are, after all, technically in your care right now. It's we who should show respect to you, as well as gratitude for what you are going to attempt to do for us._

_Oh yeah, we're all that and more. Definitely,_ Metalicana added.

_I promise I'll do my best for you. And for the other two Igneel told me about when we get back._

_We have every faith that you will,_ Grandine said.

_But you should probably stop talking to us for the moment. I think my son is wondering why you're staring at him,_ Metalicana snickered.

Lisanna gasped, realising she was indeed staring into Gajeel's eyes for no reason that would be apparent to the Iron Dragon Slayer. She looked away quickly but just before she shut off her newfound telepathy she heard Igneel say, _To be fair, Metalicana, your son is getting better at the social thing. And he plays a mean guitar._

_That he does. That he definitely does. But I'm a better singer._

_Males,_ Grandine muttered. _Everything's a competition._

Lisanna blinked. She hadn't expected the dragons to be so… human… with the way they spoke. She'd expected them to be more like Kilgharrah, who definitely was rather regal in the way he spoke, except when he was amused by something. But she shook her head, resolving to have a more in depth conversation with them later and focused back on what was going on around her, to discover by this point Natsu was just recounting what happened after Bluenote and the Death Eaters arrived on the scene.

Harry was on his feet now and had been since Natsu had said, "That Dark Lord guy who's name I forget… Voles In Morgues… was there…" and had listening intently ever since. To be honest, Natsu wasn't the best at storytelling, and was using a lot of hand gestures swinging his fists around to demonstrate fighting without really going into the details. But Mirajane decided to take over from that point, explaining in much better clarity about Voldemort's threat and how she'd very nearly been forced to take it before Lisanna and Natsu arrived, the fight with Voldemort (which had all the Order members listening with wide eyes), how Bluenote and the Death Eaters had arrived, how Lisanna had taken a Killing Curse for Scrimgeour and survived (which caused a miniature clamour until Lisanna had explained her 'theory' as to what had happened) and finally how the whole thing ended.

Nothing was said for a full minute as everyone tried to process all that.

"You actually… destroyed… the Malfoys' house!" Harry gaped. "You drove Voldemort away?"

"And Scrimgeour and an entire squad of Aurors saw You-Know-Who for themselves?" Kingsley was now also on his feet. "That is massive. Tonks, come with me. There'll be big things happening within the Ministry by now and it won't be long before the two of us are missed."

Tonks jumped up, almost tripping as she hurried after Kingsley towards the fireplace. As soon as the two of them had Floo'd out of there, Dumbledore ran a hand over his beard musingly. "It is indeed excellent news, quite a counterbalance to the bad news of having Azkaban be destroyed. If a squad of Aurors witnessed Voldemort with their own eyes then the number of allies we have in the fight against him has gone up."

"Do you think it'll be enough to get the whole Ministry with us?" Molly asked, wringing her hands lightly. "Surely if Minister Fudge hears about this personally…"

"Perhaps," Dumbledore replied. "But we shall have to wait on the report from Mr. Shacklebolt and Ms. Tonks to know for certain."

"Well, with or without the Ministry we've practically got this in the bag!" Sirius barked with laughter. "Only four out of a group that's apparently twenty-two strong went up against Voldemort and his top tier forces and completely trounced them if I'm understanding this correctly. He's never going to be able to stand against all of your at once. I bet we could just kick our feet up and watch with buttered popcorn as you all steamrolled your way over him."

"It might not be so easy as all that," Mavis said, her feet swaying back and forth a little as she perched on the shelf above the fireplace. "I predict a ninety-seven percent chance that after such an exposure Voldemort will go to ground and start working overtime in preparing his forces for his next confrontation. He has now seen first-hand what some of us are capable of and after a defeat of that magnitude he will not wish to face humiliation in front of his forces by attacking again where he's in a position where he knows there's a high likelihood he will fail. And then of course there's the fact he now has two of the most powerful members of Grimoire Heart with him."

"Is it likely that they'll end up working together?" Remus asked.

"I am unsure. I do not know much about either Bluenote or Rustyrose but I estimate a one-hundred percent chance that Voldemort will at least try to get them on his side. He knows now he will need power like theirs in the fight against us."

"But now we come back to the question of how they could have possibly ended up in this universe, don't we?" Gray muttered. "If they weren't in the Fairy Sphere, as you say they weren't First Master… then how?"

"I do not know," Mavis sighed. "All I know is how we arrived here and even then I do not understand the full situation. How Grimoire Heart could have gotten here too… it is a mystery to me."

"Are we absolutely certain they couldn't have been in a Fairy Sphere of their own?" Dumbledore asked.

"Positive," Mavis nodded. "There is no way they would have gone unnoticed by me if they were. Only two Grimoire Heart members were contained within that Fairy Sphere. One was dead and the other was turned into a tree."

"Azuma, the one I fought - he was the one who became a tree," Erza nodded in confirmation.

"Which one was dead?" Natsu blinked.

"I think his name was Zancrow," Juvia piped up. "I was there when he died… Zeref killed him."

"Zancrow…? That name's kinda familiar," Natsu mused.

"That's the name of the Fire God Slayer you fought, Natsu-san," Wendy pointed out.

"Oh yeah, him. Wait… he's dead?"

"So we're left with a puzzle," Gray said before anyone could answer Natsu's question. "How can they be here?"

"Well… from what Rustyrose said… it almost seemed like he'd only just arrived," said Lisanna. "He said that he'd just woken up in the middle of a street with no idea where he was not long before he arrived at that manor to join the fight against us. He definitely can't have been in a Fairy Sphere if that was true - someone would have noticed it just lying in the middle of a street until now."

"Unless he was in a Fairy Sphere elsewhere and then someone moved his body when it lowered, dumping him in the street," said Cana.

"But why would anyone do that? It doesn't really make sense," Lucy said, tapping her chin in thought.

"Hmm… there's an explanation somewhere," Mavis sighed. "I get the feeling there's something I'm missing - something hovering about in front of me and yet I can't seem to see it."

"There's one more thing," Lisanna said. "You told us six years have passed back in our world since we fought Grimoire Heart. But Rustyrose was covered in wounds from our first encounter with him on Tenroujima - he still had the marks where Elf-niichan and Freed struck him. If he wasn't frozen in time in a Fairy Sphere and its been so long since that battle… how can he still be so beat up?"

"…Time…" Mavis blinked, before suddenly sitting bolt upright. "Time! Of course… that must have something to do with it!"

"What?" Sirius leaned forward. "You've figured it out?"

"Not entirely… but I have a theory with that new information. We of Fairy Tail were sent to this world as a result of a conflict with three dragons. One of them seemed to have control of space and it was that one which opened a rift that sent us here. But another one had control over time - its roar distorted time for everything around it, which is why the effect of the various Fairy Spheres are wearing off at differing rates rather than them all going down at once. If no time has passed for the Grimoire Heart mages either, perhaps his power played a part in bringing them here."

"But how?" Levy asked. "How could it have done that?"

"That part I don't know, but I calculate an overwhelming percentage chance that that dragon was involved. Most likely unintentionally, but somehow. We won't know the full story until we can extract the information from a Grimoire Heart mage personally. But if there are two, it is likely there will be more out there somewhere."

"Well, we've already shut them down once," Natsu smacked his foot down on the table with his hand aflame, grinning confidently. "And we'll do it again no matter what world we're in!"

"Aye sir!"

"We all appreciated your confidence Mr. Dragneel," Dumbledore nodded. "But for now I must call this meeting adjourned. Harry, we must return to Hogwarts now - it will not be too much longer before we are missed."

"Can I not stay a little longer?" Harry asked, looking to Sirius, who also looked a little put out that his godson was leaving so soon, but he put on a grin and ruffled Harry's hair.

"I can manage, Harry. I won't be trying to speak to you through the fire again though, I can tell you that. I have another idea in mind. Remus can you pass us those mirrors?"

Remus smiled and handed two silver handheld mirrors over to Sirius, one of which he had retrieved from Gildarts after the battle with Bluenote. It had been very smashed up, but with a few complex repairing spells it hadn't been too difficult to fix. Sirius took one in hand and passed the other to Harry.

"These mirrors are two-way," he explained. "Your Dad and I used to use them to communicate across distance in Hogwarts when setting up our most elaborate pranks. I'll keep the other one on me at all times - just say my name into your mirror and we'll be able to talk Umbridge-free at any time."

Harry beamed, a massive weight lifting from his chest at the thought of a way to communicate with Sirius without owls or fireplaces where anyone could walk in and see him. "Thanks," he said, and threw his arms around Sirius one last time before getting up to leave. He gave the amassed crowd of Fairy Tail mages one last look. "I really wish I could stay and get to know you all better," he said. "But… I just want to say… thanks for helping us to put Voldemort down."

"I have known you for less than an hour, Harry Potter," Erza said, dipping her head to him respectfully. "But from what I have seen and heard, you are brave beyond measure… courageous… and willing to put yourself on the line in an instant to protect those close to you," she glanced to Sirius, then back at the Boy Who Lived with a smile. "If you were born in our world, you're the kind of person we'd want in Fairy Tail."

"…Thanks," Harry said, a little embarrassed under the sea of grinning faces now directed his way but genuinely thankful for the compliment from someone who was quite clearly much more powerful than him. He hurried the fireplace, holding the mirror close and a few moments later he was gone in a rush of green with Dumbledore and McGonagall following him out. Happy bade farewell to the others too, hurrying off to retake his post at Hogwarts once more.

"Right then," Sirius said, getting to his feet. "That's the problem of talking with Harry solved. Now for the new problem… I'm running out of space to put you all here. Guess we'll be conjuring up some sleeping bags tonight."

* * *

"…I don't believe this…" Rufus Scrimgeour growled to himself as he stood in the door of Minister Fudge's office. Having made sure that his Aurors were making a full sweep the area around Malfoy Manor in an attempt to cover up the incident as some kind of major gas leak and Obliviate all the Muggles who had seen things they weren't meant to, and as well as making sure that the prisoners within the makeshift cages on that iceberg weren't going anywhere, he'd returned to make his report to the Minister and several other Wizengamot members who had come to hear what he had to say, accompanied by Gawain Robards in order to tell his side of events.

But he had just found the Fudge was already been told what had happened… by Lucius Malfoy. He was leaning on Fudge's desk with one arm about his wife Narcissa, both of them with a few bandages covering their numerous scrapes and both of them looking more than a little shell-shocked, with Lucius apparently pouring his soul out to the Minister and the terrified looking men and women around him.

"…I had never feared for my life more than I had then," he was saying. "And now in hindsight I am only thankful that this catastrophe didn't take place during the holidays when my son Draco was home. Narcissa and I barely made it out intact - there is no telling what could have become of him if he had been home. And now… our house is just… gone… everything we've ever owned that we chose not to store in our Gringott's family vault… utterly vaporised."

Narcissa said nothing, breathing heavily and doing an excellent job of looking like a woman on the verge of having a panic attack.

"We're all immensely relieved you were able to escape, Lucius," Fudge said earnestly. "And you can be sure that we will do everything in our power to bring these Fairy Tail mages in…"

"What can you do?" Lucius looked up with a haunted expression. "Against the power they wield… what can you possibly do? It was just one of them alone that obliterated our house - a river of fire and lightning streaming out of his mouth to turn every brick of our property into ash. There's nothing the Ministry can do to combat their strength."

"We will," Fudge promised, though he looked very perturbed as did most of the people around him. "We will find a way. No matter what, we will not let them get away with targeting one Wizarding Britain's most prominent families in such a heinous manner!"

"They just came out of nowhere," Narcissa practically sobbed. "There was no warning, none whatsoever! They just stormed in and started tearing our house to pieces!"

Scrimgeour's eyes narrowed with barely concealed anger. He'd seen them both fleeing with the supporters of the Dark Lord - he knew full well that they were playing innocent. But evidently they had been quicker on the draw than he had and they hadn't mentioned a thing about the Dark Lord or the presence of the other Death Eaters that had just broken out of Azkaban. This was going to make things a lot harder now!

He cleared his throat and everyone looked up to face him. "Ah, Scrimgeour. Robards," Fudge straightened up. "Did you have any success in apprehending these Fairy Tail terrorists? Any that we can send to Azkaban to join their two brethren we have locked up there would be most welcome."

"Not exactly," Scrimgeour growled. "On two fronts there actually. The Malfoy Manor is not the only thing that's been destroyed. Azkaban is gone too."

"WHAT!?"

"And at least ten high security Death Eaters are missing, Minister!"

"WHAT!? EXPLAIN!"

"I will, Minister, but let me tell you something first. I… I saw him. With my own eyes, Minister, I saw him."

"Saw who?" Fudge practically spat, so purple in the face he looked barely able to breathe.

"You… Know… Who."

Instantly there was scattered yelling from all the Wizengamot members and Scrimgeour found his eyes locking with Amelia Bones across the room. She was looking at him with wide but calculating eyes, the way she did during a criminal trial, trying to see through the truth of his words and not for the first time Scrimgeour wondered if Madam Bones could use Legilimency.

"That's impossible!" Fudge shouted. "Where was this?"

"At the Malfoy Manor, sir," Scrimgeour's eyes narrowed. "I fear Mister Malfoy here has not been entirely forthright with all the details."

"How… dare you!" Lucius growled. "You throw ludicrous accusations such as that around when we are clearly still in shock! We are homeless, Head Auror, and you victimise us in this manner!"

"Start from the beginning, Rufus," Madam Bones cut across him. "Tell us about Azkaban. It is gone you say? Then where are all the prisoners? Don't tell me they drowned!"

"It seems not," Scrimgeour replied. "We did a full inventory and everyone is accounted for but ten of the Dark Lord's most prominent supporters… all of which I saw at the Malfoy Manor I might add…" he glowered at Lucius. He was risking his very career here and he knew it, but in the face of every shocking revelation he'd encountered that day he simply could not stay quiet. "…As well as the two Fairy Tail girls we sent there earlier. Gawain was there. You can tell them what happened, can't you?"

Gawain nodded and instantly let spill everything in a flood of information from the deaths of his comrades at the hands of Bluenote, to being forced to take him to Azkaban only to find Gildarts already there. He explained everything he could explain given that his memory had been modified to exclude the Order members from what he remembered but he continued right up until the point where Gray and Gajeel worked together to imprison the remaining inmates and left in a rush upon their little boat to head back to the shore.

"Two fighting men were responsible for bringing down the entire prison and the island it stood upon?" Madam Bones breathed tightly through her teeth.

"Such wanton destruction - it is truly typical of these terrorists," Fudge grimaced, looking more than a little grave.

Scrimgeour took over there to relate his version of events, and this truly left everybody flabbergasted. The Head Auror told them absolutely everything, from Lisanna taking a Killing Curse from the Dark Lord to save his life and surviving, right through the destruction of the house, the appearance of another man who appeared to have it in for Fairy Tail and could use magic like their own… and finally to seeing Peter Pettigrew in the flesh.

The room was left horribly silent after that, everyone waiting on a knife edge to see what Fudge's response would be and trying to digest the immense torrent of information that Scrimgeour had just laid down before them.

When Fudge did speak, it was slow and methodical… almost dream-like.

"You are saying…" he said. "That Fairy Tail are not terrorists despite their numerous destructive encounters with us, including wrecking part of our Ministry, destroying half of Gringott's Bank, sinking Azkaban and obliterating the Malfoy Manor. You're saying that the Dark Lord has returned to power and has his most loyal followers are with him once again, along with two people from Fairy Tail's world who are not associated with the guild. And you're saying that you saw the wizard that Sirius Black murdered over thirteen years ago also on the side of the Dark Lord, meaning you think it's possible that Sirius Black is innocent of all the charges placed upon him? Are you truly saying all of that, Scrimgeour?"

"That is all absurd," Lucius muttered, though Scrimgeour silenced him with a glare.

"I am," he said. "Just as that man with the golden hair told us this morning before Black was extracted from our custody."

"…HAVE YOU GONE MAD, HEAD AUROR SCRIMGEOUR!?" Fudge exploded. "YOU TELL ME ALL THAT WITHOUT A SHRED OF EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THESE RIDICULOUS CLAIMS!? ARE YOU EVEN HEARING YOURSELF AS YOU SAY THEM!? IF THIS IS SOME ELABORATE JOKE IT IS FAR FROM FUNNY!"

Scrimgeour started - he hadn't expected any reaction Fudge had to be this violent, and indeed many of the other Wizengamot members looked surprised as well, including Madam Bones. But it didn't take long for Scrimgeour to recover himself:-

"I do not lie, Minister! Do you think that I would say all of this unless I was absolutely certain of it! He Who Must Not Be Named was there at Malfoy Manor and the Fairy Tail members present were fighting against him!"

"That… is… not… possible!" Fudge slammed his hand down upon the desk. "The Dark Lord is vanquished. He has been dead for fourteen long years and there is no magic that can bring the dead back to life! We all know this! Therefore there is no way that you could have seen him!"

"And yet I did! He and Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov… all of them together in one place. I daresay without Fairy Tail there fighting against them all I would have lost a few men in the field today!"

"You are absolutely certain you could not have been mistaken?" Madam Bones enquired.

"You cannot mistake a man with red eyes and two slits for a nose for anyone else. It was him, I assure you, and I can prove it! All you would have to do is bring in a Pensieve and look at my memories of the event."

"No!" Fudge declared. "If you truly believe you saw that Dark Lord today, Scrimgeour, then there is a simply explanation. It was a trick! A hoax conjured up by those damnable Fairy Tail mages! If the Dark Lord really was reborn why in the world would he be at the Malfoy Manor? The Malfoys were cleared of any involvement with the Dark Lord long ago and they have provided funding to dozens of Ministry causes ever since."

"Perhaps they're not quite as innocent as we were led to believe…"

"How dare you? How dare you slander a man who has given so much of his fortune to good causes for so long!"

"It is alright, Minister," Lucius replied fluidly. "I am certain that Auror Scrimgeour is merely trying to do his duty."

"You see? Even now he does not hold anything against you. He is a good man, Scrimgeour. Which is more than I can say for these Fairy Tail mages that have managed to delude you into thinking they're innocent!"

"They did no such thing!" Scrimgeour shouted, getting more than a little angry now.

"You are blind!" Fudge retaliated. "Is it not obvious to you what they're doing? They destroyed Azkaban prison…!"

"Because two of their own were locked in there…!"

"But who else was freed today?! That's right, ten Death Eaters! They were set loose as well, weren't they? And on the self-same day as these Death Eaters were freed from Azkaban another Death Eater, and a mass murdering one, was sprung from our custody here at the Ministry. I do not believe that those beings that took Black were not just some third party - I know they were working with Fairy Tail! The two jailbreaks could have been happening at the exact same time! Can nobody else see that Fairy Tail are gathering together people who are known enemies of the Ministry? It is the only logical explanation!"

"And what of Pettigrew?" Scrimgeour growled. "Did I imagine him too?"

"If you think you saw Pettigrew then that must have been a trick too!" Fudge insisted. "Fairy Tail have been a thorn in our sides every since they appeared and now they're gathering more to their side!"

Some of the Wizengamot members were nodding and Scrimgeour had to admit that part of Fudge's interpretation of events did sound like it could make sense. Almost. Though he didn't believe it for a single moment.

"Alright then, Minister! Answer me this! Why would Fairy Tail go to so much trouble to make me think I saw You-Know-Who if he really wasn't there?"

"To throw us off the scent of course! To make us think that they're not the enemy and focus our efforts on trying to find an enemy who is not really there!"

"Minister, that doesn't make sense! If Fairy Tail were our enemies they wouldn't need to be so elaborate with their scheming! I have seen for myself the raw power they wield! I saw one of them obliterating a mansion in the blink of an eye in a bid to strike He Know Must Not Be Named with his attack. Comparatively you, sir, have only seen a fraction of what they are capable of but I can tell you this! If Fairy Tail wanted to do us harm then they could have invaded the Ministry and doubtless killed everyone inside it and destroyed everything whenever they wanted!"

"And they have invaded the Ministry! Twice!"

"But nobody has died! Despite all their phenomenal power not a single person - human, goblin or otherwise - have been killed in their raids! The only creatures who have been killed are Dementors and considering what they do I can see why they would want to do that! They've been holding back from killing anyone! Not only that, but they've been saving lives! Or have you forgotten they stopped the avalanche in the mountains, freed tortured dragons from the chains of the goblins. And one of them saved my own life today, just as another protected Gawain here from the very man who killed his fellow Aurors!"

"It's true, sir," Gawain nodded. "That man… Gildarts… he gave me time to escape as he held the other man off. It was almost definitely him that was responsible for the massacre in Chagford and Fairy Tail protected me from him."

"You see?" Scrimgeour gesticulated wildly. "I believe that there are definitely people from the same universe as Fairy Tail on our shores who are not be trusted. But I do not believe Fairy Tail themselves are among them!"

This time Fudge floundered and many of the assembled Wizengamot looked unsure, puzzling over the details and tried to set things straight in their minds. So much conflicting information was piling up, things they believed waging war against facts they were being presented with.

And that was when Lucius said, "There was one more thing, Minister. Just before I escaped… I overheard one of those Fairy Tail mages saying something rather alarming. I cannot remember the exact words but it was something like… 'Things are going well. It won't be long before this whole world is… begging… for our help."

"AHA!" Fudge cried. "OF COURSE! That explains everything!"

"What does!?" Scrimgeour snarled.

"Oh, it's all too obvious now! Fairy Tail don't want to take us over by force! No… no they want us to worship them!"

"What are you talking about?"

"This whole thing is one big fabrication, Scrimgeour! It's clear now why Fairy Tail are trying to make us think that You-Know-Who has returned! They want to rule over us so they're creating an enemy for us to fear that doesn't even exist, so that they can defeat him for us! No doubt they intend to try and keep up the ruse and deceive us into thinking the Dark Lord and his followers are attacking them! We'll find ourselves unable to stop him and then… finally… they expect us to turn to them for help, then as soon as they supposedly defeat him we'd hail them as saviours and install them in positions of power! They want to rule us through adulation, not fear!"

"…Minister, that's NUTS!" Scrimgeour yelled.

"Is it? It makes perfect sense!"

"No it doesn't! It doesn't explain the existence of these other people who Fairy Tail fought against for one thing! Grimoire Heart, as I recall!"

"It sounds like a turf war from their world has been dragged into ours to me! Fairy Tail would seek to rule us through deception and these… Grimoire Heart people through force! Both are enemies of the Ministry!"

"Then how do you explain Fairy Tail breaking into Gringotts and freeing the dragons!"

"Another act to make us think they're concerned about animal welfare!"

"No! No, no, no, no, no! None of that is true, Minister!" Scrimgeour shook his head vehemently, staggered at how blindly Fudge was determined to make Fairy Tail into the villains. He knew what he saw had been no trick. He'd felt the power of that Killing Curse radiating through the air moments before it could touch him. Lisanna had genuinely pushed him out of the way of death and taken one for him before she realised she was immune to it. And nothing else he'd seen from any Fairy Tail mage he'd spoken to - Levy, Natsu, Lucy, Gildarts - made him believe they had malicious intent. But Fudge was ignoring all the evidence in favour of making them the enemy.

And worse still the majority of the Wizengamot members were nodding. For despite the fact Fudge's version of events was far from the truth, it did sound like it could be to those who'd never properly interacted with someone from the guild.

There was no point in making the case any further. Scrimgeour could already tell Fudge was so sure of himself that he would not be swayed by the word of any Auror who had seen what happened at the Manor that day.

He could practically feel the smug smile pasted across Lucius Malfoy's mind but kept carefully hidden from his face. He'd just skilfully manipulated Fudge into taking this conclusion, both before and after Scrimgeour had even arrived. Scrimgeour felt the urge to hex him into oblivion, to arrest him right then and there, but without any physical proof… Lucius was still an innocent man in the eyes of the Ministry. An innocent man with far too much influence.

"Scrimgeour, see reason!" Fudge proclaimed. "This may be another part of Fairy Tail's plan - to sew discord in the ranks of the Ministry and turn us against each other until we feel we cannot function without them. You must not let them into your head in this manner."

Clenching his fist, the Head Auror bit down upon his tongue in a bid to keep himself from shouting more. There was no rationalising with the Minister any more, and if he continued arguing he would only make things worse.

"I… apologise… for my outburst," he said. "But I shall be returning to the grounds where the Malfoy Manor once stood and conduct a thorough search for any evidence. If the Dark Lord I saw truly was… a trick… then I shall find out for certain."

"So you agree it makes sense?"

"I agree that we must find the truth. But I will not make assumptions." He looked around the room, but almost nobody still looked confused - all looked stoic as if they believed Fudge's spree of paranoid theorising to be proven fact already. Only Madam Bones still looked sceptical, but her face wasn't giving much away.

"Very good," Fudge nodded. "I trust you will use every resource to find a way to bring Fairy Tail to justice. If Azkaban could not hold them we must find something else that will do the job, along with those Death Eaters that they are now allied with. And whatever we do, we must act fast."

* * *

"You don't believe anything the Minister said in there, do you, sir?" Gawain asked as they headed back to the main Auror Office.

"Do you?" Scrimgeour replied.

"…No, I don't. The man who killed my team was ruthless and unremorseful but that Fairy Tail man was genuinely concerned for my safety, and for that of the other prisoners. They all were. If Minister Fudge is right then they are extraordinarily good actors. And the Dementors… they were definitely not acting under Ministry jurisdiction anymore."

"It won't be long before all the Dementors have joined the revolt," Scrimgeour ran a hand over his face. "What in the world are we supposed to do now?"

As they entered Scrimgeour's office, they were rather surprised to find none other than Kingsley and Tonks waiting for them. "Head Auror," Kingsley dipped his head. "We heard the news and came in as soon as we could. There's talk that you saw You-Know-Who for yourself? Is that true?"

"So I believe," Scrimgeour nodded. "And there are a great many things I saw out there today that would stun you beyond measure, Auror Shacklebolt."

"We've heard most of it already," Tonks shook her head. "Unbelievable to think Azkaban's just… gone… And the Dark Lord returning with his Death Eaters and this other party from the same world as Fairy Tail… everything's getting so complicated."

"On the contrary I believe everything is falling into place in my mind at last. But the same cannot be said for the Minister… or many of those damned toffs that still make up the Wizengamot."

"Is he still refuting the existence of the Dark Lord despite your claims?" Kingsley asked, wide-eyed.

"Outright denying it is what he is doing," Scrimgeour growled and quickly outlined exactly what had gone down in the office. When he'd finished Tonks sucked on her teeth in frustration.

"Well that went badly," she muttered. "But it could have been worse. At least the Minister didn't try and accuse Dumbledore of working with Fairy Tail even though he's now accused both of them of separately trying to scaremonger the Wizarding World about Voldemort. Same apparent crime… it might not be long before he wonders if they're connected somehow."

"He's already wondered that, but he may do so again. It's all pointless anyway," Scrimgeour threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "How are they so blind to all this? Lucius Malfoy's manipulations are playing their part, damn him, but he doesn't hold sway over their own thoughts."

"Fear. It's always fear. And the desire for power," Kingsley said. "Fudge is so paranoid about losing his power that he's seeing enemies trying to take it from him when there are none. And since Fairy Tail are powerful strangers from a foreign world, everyone seems determined to label them as invaders."

"It's a very extreme case of xenophobia," Tonks sighed.

"It's just ridiculous," Scrimgeour growled, slamming his hand down upon his desk. "I know Fairy Tail aren't the enemy yet I am still being tasked with bringing them in. I'm being asked to put my resources into catching the wrong people."

"If Sirius Black is innocent, like you're saying, then we've been technically doing that for some time already," Kingsley pointed out. "But… sir… if I might make a suggestion. Perhaps if the Minister and the Wizengamot refuses to see sense then we Aurors should conduct our affairs… without their say-so."

"…What are you saying, Shacklebolt?"

"I am saying that perhaps we should make it look like we are trying to find Fairy Tail when in reality we are focusing our efforts on finding only the escaped Death Eaters and You-Know-Who. Perhaps we should… go behind the Minister's back."

"…That… is a serious suggestion to make," Scrimgeour said gravely. "If the Minister believes so firmly that Fairy Tail is the enemy and he found out we weren't trying to capture them then all our jobs would be put on the line. Worse we could be imprisoned for it."

"That's why it would be imperative to keep our investigations under wraps," Kingsley replied - he was taking a calculated risk here but if it paid off it would be worth it. "Perhaps you should reach out to Fairy Tail yourself, sir. They have proven they are willing to fight the Dark Lord. Maybe they really could assist us in stopping him. For good this time."

"If I worked with Fairy Tail and was discovered to be doing so before we proved You-Know-Who was back then we really would go to jail. Besides… where would I even find them to contact them."

Tonks caught Kingsley's eye, asking with her expression whether he really thought this was a good idea. But Kingsley nodded. Scrimgeour was firmly on Fairy Tail's side now. It was time to bring him into the fold.

"I know where you can find them, sir."

Scrimgeour looked up sharply. "You do?" he asked. "Where? And how?"

"That… is a long story. And you may not like what you hear."

"But you have to believe us," Tonks interjected. "We were doing what we thought was best. For the good of everyone. And that is our job as Aurors, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Scrimgeour asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously. But Kingsley responded by turning around and pointing his wand at a startled Gawain, undoing the memory charm he'd placed on him earlier. Gawain gasped and stumbled backwards against the wall.

"You… you were there!" he cried. "At Azkaban! Both of you were there when Fairy Tail was there, along with Mad-Eye Moody and some others. You were fighting alongside Fairy Tail!"

"What!?" Scrimgeour yelled. "Explain yourselves, immediately!"

And they did. They told him everything, from well before Fairy Tail showed up on the scene and their work with the Order. Kingsley described how he'd been giving false information about Sirius to throw the hunt for him off the scent, knowing he was innocent but unable to prove it. Tonks described her first meeting with Gray, Juvia and Lisanna as well as her decision to find out more about them for themselves. And Scrimgeour listened with stony silence as they even described how they had been the ones hiding behind Gray's ice wall at Gringott's and had been firing back at them to keep them from getting in.

When they'd finished, Scrimgeour was silent for a full two minutes. When he finally spoke it was in a low growl that would make a lion weep with envy. "You disobeyed my orders, turned against your fellow Aurors and sided with those branded enemies of the Ministry. You came within inches of committing actual treason… and now… I have never been prouder to call either of you members of my Auror force. Especially you, Nymphadora."

"You are?" Tonks gasped, so blown away that she forgot to reprimand him for using her first name.

"You've done what we always taught you to do. Follow your instincts to protect the people. And I should have been listening to my own instincts from the start - nobody I ever met in Fairy Tail face to face struck me as villainous but I believed they were. You, Auror Tonks, you didn't. And because of your actions… you have ensured that they did not mistake us for villains as we have mistaken them. I can only imagine the scale of the battles that would have happened if everyone from the Ministry just doggedly pursued them anywhere they went. Perhaps they would not have held back so much in our bouts with them and they really would have become enemies of the Ministry with neither one truly understanding the other. But that is not the case… because of you, Dumbledore and this whole… Order of the Phoenix."

"So… you're not angry?" Tonks asked.

"I'm furious! But I'm also grateful," Scrimgeour gave her a genuine smile.

"So what do you intend to do now that your know about the Order and our workings?" Kingsley asked.

"I certainly will not be revealing anything to Fudge," Scrimgeour said. "And you are right, Shacklebolt. We will not waste our resources fighting those who don't need to be fought. I will see to it that every Auror in the Ministry knows the truth and we will make sure they are in the plan. From this moment on, whether Fudge wants it or not, we will no longer be at odds with Fairy Tail."

"That's great!" Tonks said. "It's a shame that most people will still think they're enemies but if those who really matter know the truth then that's a start."

"Indeed. And… I want you to arrange a meeting. Between myself, Dumbledore, and whoever is in charge of Fairy Tail. From this moment forward, we will all work together to stop our true enemy. Even if we must do in secret from the Minister."

* * *

Harry was not altogether sure what to think as Professor McGonagall guided him back up to the Gryffindor Common Room. Everything had gone completely mad in the course of a single day. He was still getting used to the fact people from another universe were even part of the equation. Now they'd faced Voldemort and had managed to push him back with their power alone.

Mostly he was elated. He'd wanted to find a way to deal with Voldemort ever since he'd risen last summer and now it seemed like they had it.

But there was some part of him that felt a little… cheated? Was that the right word? Yes… yes, it was.

Despite the fact he'd never wanted power or glory, never wanted the spotlight that had been placed on him the moment he set foot in the Leaky Cauldron with Hagrid several years ago… in some strange way he still considered Voldemort to be his enemy. Which he knew was silly - after all Voldemort was everyone's enemy, not just his alone. But given everything that Voldemort had done to him throughout his life and the number of times he'd faced him and managed to come out alive, whether he be sticking out the back of a man's head, a rising memory in control of a Basilisk or resurrecting in a graveyard… he'd always felt intrinsically involved with Voldemort's doings. Which was part of the reason why he'd been so furious that Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione and everyone else hadn't been telling him anything over the summer, and why he was so adamant on getting involved.

And yet now Fairy Tail was here and they were… stealing his thunder? That wasn't really the right way of putting it considering he didn't want any thunder that could be stolen, but it was just that little bit irritating that they were facing him head on and winning while he was just expected to sit at school.

Ultimately he didn't care how Voldemort was defeated as long as he was defeated as soon as possible, but that didn't mean he wanted to just sit back and let a bunch of people who had only been brought here by chance to solve all his problems for him.

The other thing that weighed on his mind was the grave look Dumbledore had given him as soon as they'd got back to his office. He'd taken Harry to one side and asked him once again about the dream Harry had had. The one where he'd seen Voldemort and Malfoy with the two Fairy Spheres. Harry recounted the details and Dumbledore had looked very sombre before letting him go.

Of course Harry had realised that he'd essentially dreamed something that really had happened. That he had been right and Voldemort really did have two Fairy Spheres. But it hadn't been the first time that Harry had ever had a vision about what Voldemort was doing so it hadn't really bothered him. In fact it was useful as hell as far as he was concerned. So why did Dumbledore look so concerned.

It was late evening by the time he got back to the Common Room and he was immediately pounced on by Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George, all of whom had been seriously struggling to keep their heads about them throughout the day, worrying about what Harry might be doing and how Sirius was doing, as had Charla and Pantherlily who were waiting nearby. But there were a lot of people still in the Common Room at this hour so they'd taken the conversation up to Fred and George's dormitory, whose other occupants weren't there. And by the time Harry had finished telling them everything that had happened his mouth had gone dry.

"Bloody hell…" Ron whispered, over and over again. "Bloody hell… just… bloody hell…"

"Everything's going mad," Hermione whispered, looking as if she was struggling to believe a single word that Harry had just said.

"And we just had to sit here and do our Charms while all that happened?" Fred protested. "At the very least I would have liked to have seen some of it."

"At least Sirius is safe," Ginny pressed. "That's the most important thing out of all that. Sirius is safe and sound, thanks to Harry."

"Yeah… he is," Harry grinned, pulling out the mirror which had been stashed in his coat pocket. "And now we have a way to contact him without putting him at risk again."

"And a way of connecting with the rest of our guild too," Charla nodded. "We won't have to keep flying backwards and forwards anymore if we hear anything new."

"I can't believe Malfoy's house has been destroyed!" Ron said, a touch of glee appearing in his voice. "Oh, let's take Colin's camera with us down to breakfast tomorrow! Can you imagine what his face will look like when he reads the newspaper in the morning."

Harry laughed uproariously, as did Fred and George, both of which started trying to emulate what they thought Malfoy's expression would be. Even Ginny giggled and Hermione's mouth twitched even as she tried to tell them that being made homeless all of a sudden was not funny.

"In all seriousness though," George said when they'd recovered. "What are we going to do now?"

"Do?" Hermione asked. "About what?"

George checked the door as if to make sure nobody was going to walk in before saying, "About Dumbledore's Army of course."

"What about it?" Harry asked, bemused.

"Well, are we still going to do it?" Fred chimed in on his brother's behalf. "From what you just told us those Fairy Tail guys just trashed You-Know-Who and his most powerful followers. And the whole point of Dumbledore's Army is for us to learn to defend ourselves against You-Know-Who in the first place."

"But now that Fairy Tail's got him on the run, how long before they manage to defeat him? Do we really need to bother with learning this stuff with them on our side?" George agreed. "Don't get me wrong I'm still all for the idea but…"

"We should definitely still do it!" Hermione declared vehemently. "Fairy Tail may have been phenomenal today but they didn't stop him and we can't exactly rely on them for everything while the Ministry is so keen to pursue them. Just because they have the power to beat him doesn't mean they will. And no matter how powerful they are, there's only just over twenty of them. They can't be everywhere at once. What if V… Voldemort or his followers attacked one of us when we were walking down the street with nobody from Fairy Tail anywhere near us?"

"Yeah, and them being as badass as badass can be doesn't change the fact we've got Miss Toadface for our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Ron nodded. "We're really not gonna learn a thing for as long as she's here."

"Plus I came up with a cool name for it. We can't let that go to waste," Ginny grinned.

Harry rubbed his face thoughtfully. He still wasn't sure about being a teacher but he agreed that Dumbledore's Army should definitely continue. The whole premise of the group was to help the other students survive rather than lead them into trouble and they couldn't just assign a Fairy Tail bodyguard to every one of them. But if the day ever came where he could properly join the fight, he wanted to be ready for it.

"We're still going to do it," he nodded. "But we still need to figure out exactly where…"

"Harry Potter, sir!" squeaked a voice from the doorway that made everybody jump, and they whirled around to see that somehow, without any of them noticing, a house elf wearing a massive pillar of woolly hats upon his head had appeared in the room, with a white owl perched upon the topmost hat.

"Dobby!" Harry cried in alarm. "What are you…?"

"Dobby has come to return your owl, sir!" Dobby squeaked, pointing up at Hedwig who looked as good as ever after her visit to Professor Grubbly-Plank yesterday. "Dobby volunteered as soon as the Professor asked one of us to do it for her."

"Are those all my hats?!" Hermione wailed, just as Harry got an idea.

* * *

The Room of Requirement sounded almost too good to be true.

Harry mulled it over as he lay in bed that night. A room which could provide anything that whoever wanted to use it needed… it was quite the fantastical idea. And if the information Dobby had provided was accurate, there could be no better place for them to meet up for their first Dumbledore's Army meeting. They'd decided as soon as Dobby left that they'd try and bring everyone together for the first lesson tomorrow evening. Harry's gut was being gnawed by little flashes of nerves; the prospect of him actually having to act as a teacher even to older students was more than a little frightening.

But, just like with Fairy Tail, he would do absolutely anything he could to protect his friends. And if teaching them was the way to go… he'd do his best.

It was with Fairy Tail in mind that he finally drifted off to sleep… what could Voldemort be thinking right about now?

'How could this be happening!?'

Voldemort paced back and forth, his black cloak swirling around him and his pale white hand clenched so furiously around his wand that it was a wonder it hadn't snapped in half yet. Harry found himself looking out through Voldemort's eyes once more, and layer upon layer of boiling rage hammering down on top of him. Their new hideout was dark and Harry could make very little out of their surroundings but he could see several groaning Death Eaters about the place. One woman with bedraggled black hair, Bellatrix Lestrange, was nursing her broken arm while her husband Rodolphus used his magic to create a sling to hold it in until they could find some kind of magical solution. Evidently none of them were particularly adept at healing spells.

But Voldemort didn't care about any of that. He was more concerned with the fact that despite his confidence that he would soon have two powerful Fairy Tail mages in his thrall he had instead been pushed into a defeat the very moment that his followers returned to him. For years they'd been awaiting his return and as soon as it happened for them he'd been overpowered by three youngsters… along with all of them at the same time. And not only that but Ministry officials had seen him with their own eyes.

This was a disaster. An unmitigated disaster!

And the only thing he had to show for it were two other men from Fairy Tail's world, both of whom were resting in the corner. They might make good allies but if they were as strong or stronger than most of Fairy Tail then that meant they too were more powerful than him!

He was Lord Voldemort! He was the man who had cheated death and come back from a fate that would have killed anyone else in the world! He shouldn't have allies more powerful than himself! He should be the most powerful! The clear front-runner! Stronger than anyone and everyone else around him! How was he supposed to command the loyalty of his followers if he was the weaker party?

He considered killing Rustyrose and Bluenote right then and there, whipping out his wand and blasting them to the realm of the dead before they knew what was happening. But he held himself back from doing so, knowing that they were his best bet of finding out more about Fairy Tail… and more important… combatting them. Because in terms of raw power his Death Eaters were outmatched. It was incensing to admit it, but they were.

"Is there any way for me to get something to eat around here?" Rustyrose asked, slouching back in his chair and rubbing at his chest. "I'm starving. I feel like I haven't eaten in years. And would you stop pacing please. It's getting rather wearing."

Voldemort sucked a deep breath in through his nostril slits, calming his range and turning around to deliver what could almost be considered a charming smile if it had been set in most any other face. "How remiss of me," he smirked. "Somebody bring these men some meat. I believe they need to get their strength back! And perhaps we should introduce ourselves properly. I am the most powerful Dark Wizard of this world, Lord Voldemort."

"Most powerful Dark Wizard? You?" Rustyrose scoffed, having been filled in that they were apparently in a different world by Bluenote already. "Then I weep for the magic of this world. If you're truly the best it can produce then we have little to fear from it."

Voldemort's wand hand twitched in irritation but he held himself back. "And you? You are powerful too?"

"More than powerful enough to take on the majority of Fairy Tail," scoffed Rustyrose. "I cannot believe you pulled me out of the fight back there. My fragment had not even begun to shake," he pushed his glasses up his nose and tried not to make it obvious that his chest was hurting."

"I don't give a crap about any of you," Bluenote growled, wincing as he rubbed the bottom of his heavily aching chin. "All I care about is the prospect of getting us home."

"And find out what happened to the rest of our guild…" Rustyrose growled, shivering slightly as if a bad memory had just welled up within his mind.

"I am afraid I cannot help you with that but I have a proposal for you gentleman. How would you like to join forces with us?"

"With you? Your ragtag mob of pathetic little magic users?" Rustyrose snorted. "Why?"

"Because we share a common enemy. Fairy Tail have been getting in the way of my plans ever since they arrived in this world. And from what I gather your guild, Grimoire Heart, are also their enemies. It seems logical enough to me that an alliance would benefit us both."

"It would not benefit me," Rustyrose sneered. "Fairy Tail can rot in this universe for all I care. If we can just get home we can leave them here. They'd never interfere with the affairs of the Balam Alliance again!"

"I am tempted," Bluenote grunted under his breath, clenching his fist. "The sooner I finally defeat Gildarts Clive the sooner I'll be able to truly fly. But I agree with the child. We must go home."

"And if there is no way to get your back? You'd be stuck in this universe, constantly hunted by Fairy Tail and their allies…"

"Do not concern yourself with that. We are fully capable of taking care of ourselves," Rustyrose waved a hand dismissively. "If worst comes to worst, we will find our own way of eliminating our enemies. We don't need you."

Now Voldemort was really considering killing this man at least. It was a trade-off between wanting to be the most powerful and needing strong reinforcements - stronger than his Death Eaters could provide. That was the only reason he hadn't already tried.

"Will you at least tell me how you ended up in this world?" he asked.

"I am not sure myself," Bluenote growled. "I did not realise I was in a different world when I awoke on moorland several days ago. I remember nothing except clinging to a barrel floating in the sea, watching Acnologia destroying Tenroujima before a blinding light blasted the water next to me and knocking me unconscious."

"I do," Rustyrose said, his teeth gritting as genuine fear appeared on his face. "It happened soon after Zeref appeared on our airship… and killed Master Hades…"

"He what!?" Bluenote said sharply.

"You heard me the first time. That left only myself, Kain and Zeref aboard the ship. And that was when Acnologia descended upon the island. I remember well, Zeref watching from what was left of the roof as the Black Dragon descended… but then out of nowhere… three more dragons blitzed into existence half a mile away directly in front of us and surged in towards us. We could make no move before one of them slammed directly into our airship and sent us surging back towards the island. Kain and I clung on for dear life, but I saw Zeref jump ship before we crash-landed in the sea. I don't know what happened to him after that, but I don't care."

Though Voldemort had no idea who Zeref was he continued to press for details. "And what then?"

"The dragons were fighting all around us, churning up the sea with their massive attacks. We were caught right in the middle of their storm. It was a brutal fight that took them high into the sky and down beneath the waves, smashing each other with force enough to trigger tsunamis, I'm certain. That's probably what knocked you out Bluenote - their fighting.

"But then of course Acnologia charged into their midst. He must not have noticed their presence until after he blasted Tenroujima to hell but when he did he went for them straight away. But they didn't seem interested in fighting him, only each other. So one of them… this four-legged one with a massive crest sticking up from the back of its head with ridges that shone like diamonds… it opened some kind of swirling blue portal that started to suck in everything around it. The water, the airship, us, even the other dragons. I saw Acnologia beating his wings hard to escape from its pull but everything else was thrown straight through it…

"And we crash-landed again, right back into the sea, like we hadn't even gone anywhere. I was barely conscious at this stage but the dragon fight was still going, except this time Acnologia was nowhere to be seen. But eventually one of the other dragons opened up another portal like thing, except this time it was a huge pink rift, like a tear in the sky. And once again everything was sucked up into it, including us and the airship… and this enormous glowing yellow sphere with the Fairy Tail insignia on it, rising up out of the sea beside us. I could vaguely make out a dark outline inside it… which exactly resembled the Tenrou Tree. Which means that the entire island of Tenroujima somehow survived Acnologia's attack… and if we're in a different world… most likely that island and everyone on it is here too."

Voldemort's eyes were narrowed slits. That correlated with what Snape had told him - he had mentioned an island but had told him that he did not know where it was and that Fairy Tail didn't seem willing to share, claiming it was their holy ground. So these Grimoire Heart mages had come through the same rift that brought Fairy Tail, but they hadn't been inside Fairy Spheres when it happened. Interesting.

"But you claimed you woke up in the middle of a street earlier today," he said to Rustyrose.

"That's true," Rustyrose nodded.

"And yet you have been walking around this universe for several days have you not?" Voldemort turned to Bluenote.

"Yes. But I do not care about how I came to be here. The puzzle behind our appearance in this world means nothing. All the matters is what we choose to do next. Whether that be finding a way home… or crushing this world and making it our own."

"Yes," Voldemort urged. "And if you choose the latter…"

"You'll do what exactly?" Rustyrose glowered. "What makes you think you and your followers, with your pitiful magic, could be of any use whatsoever to us."

Despite his seething, Voldemort simply offered Rustyrose a condescending smirk - if they played the arrogance game then arrogance would be the best way to speak with them. "Simple really. You are enemies of Fairy Tail and they already have a strong presence in this world. And more to the point they have allies. Local allies who know this world, know this country, and have quick ways to gather news. By all means go out there yourselves. Blast cities to the ground, let the Muggles weep with fear, it would be glorious to watch. But unless you know what you're doing out there, unless you know where you're going, it will not be long before Fairy Tail's local allies bringing them crashing down atop your heads. If you want to remain free, you need local help as well. Mull that over, won't you?"

Rustyrose and Bluenote scowled at him as he spun around in a whirl of cloaks, but Voldemort didn't pay any further attention to them. Instead he was deep in thought. If he was ever going to win against Fairy Tail and the Order now, he would need to gather more allies. Gathering Death Eaters was all well and good but he'd need more than just dark witches and wizards at his side. Much more. Any kind of ally he could think of and the more powerful the better.

_If there were two of these Grimoire Heart people here, _he thought. _What are the chances that others like them have also been swept through?_

_Higher than you might imagine…_

Voldemort almost jumped a foot in the air, whipping around with his wand flashing through the air in search of anyone he did not recognise! A voice had suddenly run through his head without any warning whatsoever, reverberating within his mind like a distant echo.

A woman's voice.

But there was no woman in the room except for Bellatrix. All his other followers were men except for Narcissa Malfoy and she wasn't here. And even if she was the voice didn't belong to her. It was smooth and regal, but Voldemort could hear a distinct smirk in it along with a slightly… flirtatious… edge.

Some of his followers were looking at him, perplexed, so Voldemort lowered his wand and turned back around, staring into space as he voiced the thought, _Who was that? Who is talking to me?_

_I would have thought the more important question was my whereabouts as opposed to my identity,_ the woman's voice said again. _I am close and yet… so far at the same time. But I have been watching you, Tom Riddle. Oh, you've been the most feared man in this world for centuries. Even with Fairy Tail here, you still are really. I've seen the terror you inspired as you reigned all but supremely two decades ago. It gives me the shivers just remembering it._

Voldemort frowned. _Do I know you?_

_We have never met. But I am certain that you do know me. Or at least you think you do._

_And you have been watching me? Why have I never heard from you until now if that is the case?_

_Quite simple really - I could not communicate with you until recently. I have been… unable to communicate with anyone for some time. And you are the first that I have chosen to speak with now that I can once more. You should be honoured._

_I will decide whether I should be honoured or not when I know who you are!_

_Oh but when you know who I am… you will have to make a choice. The same choice in fact that you are offering to those two from Grimoire Heart. Whether you wish to side with me… or against me. Soon everyone in this world will have to make that choice once I finally break free from my prison. And that time is near at hand… thanks to Fairy Tail._

_I do not understand._

_I have been sealed… for a long time… in a crystal cave that was banished from time and space itself by extremely powerful and old magic. I have long floated within the Void between universes, hovering on the fringes of the world I used to be part of but no matter what I tried I could not return. But then suddenly… a huge golden sphere came soaring through the Void and exploded into several dozen smaller spheres right next to my prison. The blast knocked it forwards, closer to my home dimension than I've been in so… very… long. Now I hover on the verge close enough for me to talk with those on the surface and some day soon… I will break free._

_How? If you truly are beyond the walls of this dimension how could you get back?_

_Because of the Grimoire Heart mages,_ the woman's voice sounded as if it was licking her lips. _Time was distorted as well as space when they were sucked through the rift. Aside from the two you have met, the ones who remain are still in the middle of travelling from one universe to another, frozen in time until they appear within space once again. That is why they have appeared at different times. When Bluenote and Rustyrose there passed by my prison I used my magic to hook onto them and use their progress to pull my prison a little closer each time. In fact I was the one who made sure Rustyrose appeared close by so he could help you earlier today. You're welcome. But when the next one passes me by, and it will be soon, I will finally be free. And when that time comes, I would like you to side with me. And help me reclaim… my rightful place!_

_And what would that rightful place be?_ Voldemort growled. _I ask you one last time. Who… are… you?_

The woman's voice laughed, sultry but dulcet.

_My rightful place is as the Queen of Albion. You might know me from legend as Morgan Le Fay… but I prefer my true name… Morgana Pendragon. And I will be seeing you soon, Tom Riddle. And you too… Harry Potter._

"GAAH!" Harry shot upright in his bed, his eyes wide and his body immediately breaking out in sweat. The other inhabitants of the dormitory stirred, with Dean Thomas murmuring, "Wuzgoinon…" but Harry ignored him.

What the hell… had he just seen?

* * *

Okay so, I'd like to clarify two things here. Firstly I'd like to reiterate that I am drawing on elements of "Merlin" for this story but I am ignoring the events of Season 5, otherwise Kilgharrah… and Morgana… would both be dead. And secondly, some of you may be familiar with the work of TeenMuggle who has done a very entertaining Harry Potter/Merlin crossover which involves Morgana being sealed outside time and space in a crystal cave as well. I already had a vague concept in mind when I read TeenMuggle's work, but I did ask for permission to use a similar plot element in my story just this once rather than just taking it and using it for myself. The rest of my story will be completely different from 'Ancient Relics' in every other way.


	41. The Room of Requirement

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 41:- The Room of Requirement**

* * *

"And you're absolutely sure of it, Harry?" Sirius asked as he faced the mirror he was holding clenched tightly in his palm, his knuckles bone-white. He hadn't been expecting Harry to use the handy little device so soon except perhaps to test it out, but what his godson was saying now was… quite frankly terrifying. "You're absolutely certain that's the name you heard."

"Absolutely," Harry nodded. "Morgan Le Fay… Morgana Pendragon, that's the name. There's no way I could have mistaken it for anything else."

He was right about that. Dull as History of Magic with Professor Binns was there were some parts of it that went in, and in their very first year they'd been taught a good many of the legends surrounding Merlin and Morgana and their intense rivalry in the time of Camelot. Binns had always stressed in his usual soul-crushing monotone that most of what they knew couldn't be confirmed as one-hundred percent fact because many of the official records of what had happened in those days had been lost or put to the torch by Muggles during the height of their fear of witchcraft many centuries ago, but Morgana was one of the names that everyone remembered, even the Muggles themselves. She was supposedly the most powerful sorceress ever to live, and only Merlin stood above her at the top spot of the most powerful wielder of magic ever.

"I see…" Sirius murmured, sucking on his teeth. "Well… I'm sure it was nothing. Like you said it was probably just a dream."

"Yeah, maybe… but it felt so real Sirius. I didn't see the face of the woman who was talking, but it was if I could feel her eyes right on me… like she was peering down at me from the ceiling and watching me as I slept."

"Nobody was watching you sleep, Harry. That I can assure you of. Now get down to breakfast and try not to let this worry you too much. Morgana Pendragon is long dead, just like Merlin, King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and every other human from back then. There's simply no way that it could have been her."

"…Yeah, you're right. It was… stupid of me to worry," Harry sounded relieved, but not entirely convinced. "Thanks for listening to me anyway, Sirius."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," Sirius grinned. "Bye for now."

When he put the mirror down he looked up across the attic room he was sat in. He'd taken the mirror with him when he'd gone to feed Buckbeak that morning, taking several of the new Fairy Tail mages up to meet the proud Hippogriff. Despite the fact Buckbeak was clearly itching to spread his wings properly he was calm before anyone from Fairy Tail he'd met so far. He seemed to realise their power and sometimes he was the first to bow to them in the usual Hippogriff ceremony, which was practically unheard of.

Currently up there with him was Erza and Mirajane, along with Gray and Juvia. Most of the other Order members had already gone, Dumbledore and Moody having assigned them various things to do across the country in a bid to find out where Voldemort might have gone scuttling to after his defeat. Erza was currently running her hand up the middle of Buckbeak's face, having had a particularly reverent effect upon him.

"Is there a way that it could have been her?" she asked pensively, letting Buckbeak tear into a piece of meat she was holding in her hand and not the least bit concerned at how sharp his beak was considering she was wearing armour. "This Le Fay you speak of?"

"…I don't know," Sirius shrugged. "There's a reason why the things that happened back then are referred to as Arthurian Legend. There are so many conflicting sources about who Morgana was, what she did and what happened to her. The only thing every source says is that she and Merlin were mortal enemies for most of their lives and that she wanted to become the most powerful person in the world, both in magic and in position. Some sources say that she died, killed by Merlin. Some say that she was responsible for the death of King Arthur but was overcome with remorse when he died and was never seen again after that. Still others say that she became a priestess of Avalon long before Arthur died and was forgiven by him, and that she helped Merlin lay him to rest when his time finally came. But one thing is for sure - I've never heard of her being sealed away inside a crystal cave outside time and space. That one is definitely new to me."

"So there's a strong likelihood that this really was just a dream," Gray observed.

"And yet he also gave perfect descriptions of Rustyrose and Bluenote," Mirajane pointed out gravely. "That boy has never seen them before in his life and I don't remember us mentioning what they looked like at the meeting yesterday."

"Besides," Erza said, her eyes heavy and fixing the others with her gaze. "We know from experience that it's possible for an ancient evil to be long thought dead when in fact they've simply been in hiding."

Nobody in the room could argue with that.

"I assume you're talking about this Zeref person you keep mentioning," Sirius noted.

"Yep," Gray nodded. "I saw him with my own eyes. Four-hundred years and he still looked about as young as I am."

"He wasn't at all what Juvia pictured," Juvia agreed. "Juvia had always pictured Zeref as this terrifying, hulking man with wild hair and a constant maniacal expression as he delighted in sending anyone and everyone he met to their grave. In reality he looked almost frail. But Juvia felt his magic… and how tainted it was. Juvia believes it really was Zeref."

"And you think its possible that Morgana could have truly survived the ages in our world too?" Sirius asked.

"I would simply caution you not to assume anything," Erza said. "And not to dismiss the evidence out of hand. I do not know why Harry has these dreams but from what I understand correctly he's been right in the past."

"Do you think he could be a seer, like Charla?" Mirajane asked.

"Nah, that doesn't sound right," Sirius shook his head. "Seers see the future. I think Harry only ever sees the present when he has these weird visions."

"Good point. But there's one more important thing to remember - he also gave us a potential explanation as to why the Grimoire Heart mages are here that seemed to fit perfectly with all the facts we've collected about their arrival, explaining everything from why Rustyrose was still wounded to why he appeared several days later than Bluenote. It would have been quite a feat for him to dream up such a theory. My dreams are usually quite a bit more random than that."

"That doesn't necessarily mean its true," Gray folded his arms. "But… it surely does look sound… and ties everything up in a neat little bow if its true. At least where Grimoire Heart are concerned."

"I'm going to talk to Levy," Erza said as she drew away from Buckbeak, tossing him the rest of the meat over her shoulder. "If there's a chance that this Morgana is real and that our being thrust into this world has given her an opportunity to break free from some unearthly prison then I want to know how we can combat her."

"Juvia hopes it was just a dream on Harry-san's part," Juvia whispered. "It would be awful to think that we're responsible for unleashing an ancient horror upon this world just like we could have done upon our own."

Gray looked at Juvia carefully and could see she was biting her lip, looking unexpectedly guilty. But then he remembered… she'd been the one pursuing that pink-haired girl who'd been taking an unconscious Zeref away, and of course Zeref had managed to evade capture and killed one of Grimoire Heart in the process. Was Juvia cut up about that? Was she blaming herself for Zeref's escape?

"Hey," he said, placing a hand upon her shoulder as she looked up at him in surprise. "There's nothing you could have done. If you'd succeeded in catching up with him, you'd probably be the one lying dead instead of that Zancrow guy. Instead you're alive, and that's something we're all glad for, you hear me?"

Juvia blushed a deep red and looked down, at the floor. "Th… thank you, Gray-sama…" she half-whispered, half-gushed. "Juvia… appreciates that."

"I should probably find a way to send word to Dumbledore," Sirius said as he got up as well. "I don't know if Harry was dreaming or not but if there's even the slightest chance that he's right… well… let's just say I hope he's not… or that Morgana's not nearly as strong as the legends made her out to be."

"She was really that powerful?" Mirajane asked.

"Let's just say that according to the stories she could have quite easily usurped the crown at any time if it weren't for Merlin protecting it. She was the Voldemort to his Dumbledore. And I'd really not have another Voldemort running around no matter how pretty she might end up being. Especially if she ends up being more powerful than him."

* * *

Erza found Levy in the Black House library and it was hardly surprising that the little bluenette was sitting with a book open on the table in front of her. What was quite surprising was how her eyes were unfocused, staring into the middle of the book as if she wasn't really seeing it. She certainly wasn't reading it.

"Levy?" Erza prompted, sitting down beside her and jerking her out of her reverie. "Are you okay?"

"Erza… yes… yeah, I'm fine," Levy coughed, readjusting her Gale-Force Reading Glasses and returning herself to the book more properly this time.

"Is there something on your mind?" Erza asked with no small amount of concern. Levy was usually a pretty focused individual and when you placed a book in her hands it usually took a lot to tear her away from the pages.

"…It's… not important…" Levy sighed.

"Important or not, its bothering you. You know you can confide in me, don't you, Levy? You know that you can confide in anyone from the guild about anything."

Levy looked up from the book, locking her gaze with Erza's own and finding a warm hearth in there, inviting her in as she always did whenever Erza wasn't in her stern, Titania mode. She sighed, and slowly closed the book with a heavy thud, ignoring the stream of dust that spilled out from the sides and said, "…It's about Gajeel."

The Iron Dragon Slayer in question had left late last night, heading back to the Hog's Head along with Wendy to take up their usual residence with Aberforth. Cana had very desperately wanted to go with them when she'd learned they were sleeping in a bar but her father had pointed out that Aberforth's help was coming more than a little grudgingly and it really wouldn't help if Cana was to drink him out of business the night she arrived. Which was a distinct possibility.

Yet despite what had happened at Azkaban, when Levy had used the memory of him protecting her as the happy memory to fuel her Solid Script Patronus, she'd still been relieved when he'd gone. She'd still avoided getting close to him at the meeting and had looked pointedly in another direction whenever he looked her way, her gut clenching with fear. Which was utterly ridiculous! Why was she still so afraid of him even after that!?

"Oh? What about him?" Erza asked.

"…Erza, you had a bad reaction to the Dementors, didn't you?"

"….I think that bad is a rather large understatement."

"Right… sorry. But still, when they were around you they invoked horrible memories for you didn't they?"

"Suffice to say they did," Erza said grimly, not keening on thinking about anything that had happened between the Dementors arriving and her blocking a dose of Fiendfyre at the prison.

"Did any of them… I dunno… have some sort of lingering effect on you?" Levy pressed. "Did any of them… change… the way you thought about something or… someone?"

She quickly outlined what had been happening ever since she'd emerged from the Fairy Sphere, grappling with a newfound fear of Gajeel that she knew was ridiculous and yet couldn't seem to shake. Erza listened in silence, drumming her fingers on the tabletop thoughtfully. She'd remembered some terrible stuff… things that she'd long wanted to forget but had replayed in her mind over and over and over again. The slavers of the Tower of Heaven capturing her and forcing her to work, Old Rob's death, Jellal turning on her and eventually killing Simon.

Levy wasn't as familiar with the details of Erza's past as some of the others, but she knew enough for what Erza said next to make sense.

"Because of the things I saw… I suppose nobody would blame me if I suddenly felt a deep surge of hatred for Jellal. Nobody would think anything of it if I was consumed with a desperate desire to plunge my sword through his death for all the things he's done to me and those I hold dear. Nobody would blame anyone for that desire in these circumstances."

"But you don't desire them, do you?"

"No," Erza shook her head. "I've already lived through all that a million times in my head without Dementors helping me to do it. I've never been able to forget. I view Jellal now in exactly the same way as I did before. He is a poor, lost soul who was manipulated into doing all the things that give me doing nightmares, possessed by dark magic and horrified as soon as he was free, even though he did not remember the friends I told him he'd hurt. He does not deserve to be hated and so I do not hate him. I never could. No matter how many times I am forced to remember the things he did while possessed."

Levy raised a brow. She suspected there was another reason… a very deep reason… why Erza could not hate Jellal. She'd heard exactly how devastated she'd been when Jellal had been taken away by the Magic Council. But she decided not to bring it up. Now wasn't the right time for teasing.

"Why can't I be like that?" she asked. "I know with absolute certainty that I have no need to be scared of Gajeel anymore so why? Why? Just why am I still afraid of him?"

"Perhaps you're not afraid of him in the way you think you are," Erza smiled, the edges of her lips twitching into an ever-so-slight smile.

"Huh?" Levy blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Fear often breeds fear. I have no doubt that you were indeed irrationally afraid of Gajeel for a short time after your Dementor encounter, fearing that he might beat you up again. But you're a smart person Levy - it wouldn't have taken long for that fear to fade. Indeed, you say yourself you know you don't need to be afraid of that. So the only explanation is that something else scares you when it comes to Gajeel now."

"…Really?"

"Perhaps you may not have realised it, but I would guess that is the case."

"But then… what?"

"You know your own mind best, Levy. But…" Erza's expression now changed into a completely undisguised smirk. "Is it fair to say that during the events of Tenroujima and Grimoire Heart's attack you became just a little… taken… with Gajeel?"

"EEEHHH!?" Levy squealed, almost falling out of her chair and gaping at Erza as if she'd just told her she was her mother! "What…! What are you…? You can't be serious… there's… there's no way I… we just… I wasn't… he…" she spluttered, trying to pull her brain into order but her extensive vocabulary seemed to have quit on her unexpectedly.

"I think that answered my question pretty well," Erza chuckled, pushing herself to her feet. "I won't pry into your personal affairs there Levy but if I might make my diagnosis. I don't think you're scared of getting close to Gajeel because you're afraid of being hurt by him anymore… physically. I think you might be afraid of being hurt by him emotionally. You know Gajeel's changed from the way he used to be, for the better… but you don't know how much. Gajeel from Phantom Lord wouldn't have been interested in relationships, would he? Gajeel from Fairy Tail though… would he?"

"Ungh… jrrsh… ffmmf…" Levy gurgled incoherently, her mind reeling. Erza was talking nonsense! There was nothing between her and Gajeel and there never had been! It was an absolutely preposterous suggestion to make! No way, nuh-uh, could never happen.

Although… the thought of never being able to get over her fear of Gajeel was almost more terrifying in its own right to her. Maybe if it had been someone else she would have waved it off, confident that she'd get over the irrational fear soon enough. But with Gajeel… she couldn't get it off her mind.

But she couldn't have feelings for him! He was Gajeel! The man who'd beaten her half to death!

…And the man who had been there for her every time she really needed someone ever since.

Levy found herself staring down at the pages again, stunned. Seriously, was it possible? Could she really think of Gajeel as anything more than a friend? And what would he think? If she, or anyone, went to him and asked him if he'd like a girlfriend… what would he say? She imagined what his response might be and heard him say the words, "Girlfriends are a waste of bloody time."

Her heart clenched with a lot more trepidation at the thought he might say that than she expected! Oh gods… was… was Erza right? Her… and Gajeel? Could she really want that?

"I hate to interrupt your thoughts," Erza said as she scanned the books on the nearest shelves. "But we need to do some researching. We need to find out as much as we can about a woman from ancient times called Morgana Pendragon."

"Um…" Levy blinked, trying hard to snap herself out of her ridiculous… probably… thoughts. "O-okay… why?"

"Let's just say she might not be as dead as everyone from this world believes her to be."

* * *

Cana sat in the living space just off the kitchen - a part of the house that was surprisingly unused considering how many people came and went through it. But then again, the kitchen and its long table did make for easier congregating. She had an ornate coffee table spread out before her, and on top of that was a large assortment of her own cards. She looked like she was trying to read the tarot, but that was really the last thing on her mind.

"How are you proceeding?" Evergreen asked as she strode into the room, fanning herself lightly. "Made any progress?"

"None whatsoever," Cana sighed, collapsing back against the soft back of the sofa and running a hand over her face in exasperation. "There's really not much that I can do right now as far as I can see. If we were back in Earthland then maybe I'd be able to do a little reading or something to at least see if there are any stronger kinds of card magic out there. Or maybe consult with some elder who knows things I don't about magic to see if it would be possible to forge a new kind."

"What about Mavis? Can't she help you?"

"I've already asked her but she doesn't know enough about Card Magic. It's actually quite new as magic goes so no wonder it hasn't been built up to the same kind of power level as a lot of other magical kinds. Apparently I'm already using the most powerful kind of Card Magic there is. There's a few tricks I haven't learned but… if I want to use the potential Mavis says I have I can't just keep using this magic. Maybe I should just throw the cards in the bin and try and work on an entirely new magic."

"There's got to be some way you can do it," said a voice from the doorway and they both looked up to see Lisanna standing there, still looking tired from the previous day but her usual smile in place. "Some way you can use your existing magical skill to create a new one."

"What do you mean?" Cana asked.

"Well, look at me," Lisanna said. "I got Dragon Soul yesterday, but I never would have been able to achieve such a new power without my pre-existing Animal Soul, and even then it wouldn't have worked if I hadn't used it on one of this universe's bestial dragons. At the end of the day though my new power is still a Take-Over - just a different kind to the one I used to use. Maybe you can develop a new kind of Card Magic in the same way."

"She's right," Evergreen nodded. "And if you can then you'd have your power boosted much quicker than you would trying to learn a brand new magic entirely from scratch. Speaking of which, I think I'm going to try expanding my own magical repertoire."

"You are?" Cana asked. "Why?"

Evergreen pushed her glasses further up her nose ruefully. "My Stone Eyes has served me well. There's almost no human that it can't beat if I just catch their eye long enough. But, much as I am… loathe to admit it… I've become a little too reliant on it. I've been screwed over a number of times when it hasn't worked - on Erza's artificial eye, Rustyrose with his summoned creatures and glasses, those Erkling things. My Fairy Magic is strong but I haven't bothered learning all the spells I could with it. And I'm a Fairy Queen now," she puffed out her chest and smirked behind her fan. "I should really maximise the magic that helped win my that status, shouldn't I?"

"Probably," chuckled Lisanna. "I need to train as well - I need to make sure I can use my own new magic to its fullest… and learn everything it has to offer."

"That's all well and good, but how are we supposed to do all that anyway?" Cana asked. "You had a teacher to help you learn Dragon Soul, Lisanna. Now we're all rather sadly lacking in people to help us out."

"We'll find a way," Evergreen said confidently. "We always do find a way after all. And when those other two idiots from the Raijinshuu show up, along with Laxus and the Master, I sure as heck intend to make them proud of me. Somehow."

"Speaking of which," suddenly Lucy walked into the room, evidently having heard the latter part of that conversation from outside. "Do you think you could use your card magic to predict where we'll find any remaining Fairy Spheres, Cana?"

"I can try," Cana nodded. "Not sure how successful I'll be. Predicting where things isn't as easy here I've found. Maybe its because there's much less Ethernano in the air so our kind of magic doesn't flow so well over long distances in this world. But I'll have a crack at it, see what I find."

Lucy nodded, looking up and out through grimy window into the street beyond. "I know what you mean," she said. "Has anyone else noticed it takes longer for us to regain our magic here after we use it up? I felt tired for hours yesterday after opening so many Spirit Gates. I still don't think I've completely recovered."

"Celestial Spirit Magic is a pretty draining kind of magic," Lisanna noted. "More so than a lot of others."

"I know. And that's why I'm going to get stronger too in any way I can," Lucy said. "My greatest weakness is my lack of magic power - I've run out more than once at inconvenient times. If magic takes longer to recharge here then I really can't afford to let that happen here."

"We've all got motive to get stronger. I think practically everyone else agrees, even Erza," Evergreen conceded. "But we're not exactly going to be able to train our magic very much in here. We'd risk destroying the Order's safehouse. And we'd be noticed if we tried to train outside and the Ministry would be on us instantly."

The four girls lapsed into silence, contemplating their various situations until Cana ran a hand through her hair and said, "Ungh, I need a drink."

* * *

Morning breakfast at Hogwarts went pretty much as Harry expected it to. He was tense - how could he not be given what he'd dreamed last night. I had seemed so horribly real and yet it surely couldn't have been. He should take it easy, just like Sirius suggested.

Although his dreams had been right before and given everything he'd heard and seen recently with regards to Fairy Tail and their world, was it really so implausible? Was anything implausible when it came to magic?

He decided not to tell Ron and Hermione about Morgana for now. Talking to Sirius about it was enough for the moment. He knew he'd have to tell them eventually but for the moment he wanted them to focus on their first upcoming DA meeting. Harry had so many butterflies in his stomach he was certain he was going to need their help on this one and it would be better if they had clearer heads than that. Telling them about Morgana wouldn't help. They both certainly knew a lot more about her than he did - Ron grew up being told stories about her and Hermione had probably read every word of every book she could get her hands on about Merlin and Morgana. But he wouldn't keep it from them for long, just until after the first 'lesson.'

There was one thing that nicely broke the sense of doom and gloom surrounding him though.

"WWWHAAAATTT!?" screamed a voice from the Slytherin table, and Draco Malfoy surged to his feet as he stared at the the third page of the _Daily Prophet, _and his eyes bugging out of his head. Harry and Ron struggled not to burst out laughing - they knew full well what story he was reading so rapidly at this moment.

"He likes to rub his riches in people's faces so much and now he's homeless," Harry whispered loudly. "What goes around comes around I guess."

"I think he's mad that the destruction of his house only made the third page," Ron snickered. "I guess the destruction of Azkaban and the escape of Sirius Black beat his precious house to the punch."

Harry guffawed and was about to reply when Hermione nudged him in the shoulder and pointed down their own table. Not far away, Neville Longbottom was staring at the paper, looking positively thunderstruck… no, more than that. He looked furious!

"Whoa, what's up with him?" Ron whispered.

"I don't know," Hermione said back quietly. "I've never seen him look like that before. Not ever."

Harry swallowed. He knew exactly what Neville was thinking. After all, Bellatrix Lestrange and her posse, the very same people who had apparently tortured his parents into insanity with the exception of Barty Crouch Junior, had just broken free. Harry imagined the Neville was probably thinking much the same thing he had when Voldemort had returned, though with a little less immediate fear for his life.

He quickly tried to divert the conversation back to Malfoy. It wasn't his place to say what had happened to Neville's family after all.

But just as he was finished breakfast and about to head back to the dormitory to get ready for class…

"Hem, hem…"

Harry's back went as stiff as an oak tree - he was really growing to loathe that noise. He turned about with all the grace of a rusty hinge to see Umbridge standing behind him. She looked like she was trying maintain her usual calm, faux-sweet mannerism but she looked considerably rattled. No doubt she'd only just received word of what happened yesterday as well and she did not look best pleased.

"Remind me again, Mister Potter," she said with just the faintest of growls behind her honey-coated voice. "Just why were you not in my class yesterday?"

"Because I went to see Sirius Black receiving the Dementor's Kiss… Professor," Harry replied stiffly.

"…But he didn't… did he?"

"No, Professor… someone interfered. Friends of Fairy Tail or… something."

"Yes, remarkable really that someone managed to get into the Ministry even after all the heightened security to break Black out, isn't it?" Umbridge's eyes seemed to be trying to bore a hole through Harry's glasses. "Especially after you were there… as arranged by Dumbledore so you could have - how did he call it - peace of mind, at last?"

"It's too bad it didn't work out," Harry snarled. He hated that he was having to talk about Sirius as if he was some criminal, especially to this woman, but he managed to channel his loathing of her into his words and make it look like Sirius was the one he hated. "I… I'd give anything to see that… son of a bitch… brought to justice."

"Language, Mister Potter," Umbridge said instantly, her tone slightly clipped, then she added, "I seem to recall a similar incident two years ago where Black somehow managed to escape the Dementors when you weren't so far away."

"The guy's good at escaping I guess. He was the first out of Azkaban after all. And he didn't have help."

"Perhaps… and now he seems to have sided with Fairy Tail. I assume I don't have to tell you how much of a threat these… mages… are to our very existence. If you knew anything about them… you would tell me, wouldn't you?" she cocked her head, that sweet smile very much back in place.

"Of course," Harry said, pointedly fixing his gaze on Umbridge's own. "But I'm just glad to be safe here behind the Hogwarts wards where they won't be able to get to me."

"…Hmm… get to class, Mister Potter," Umbridge said, turning around and half-strutting, half-waddling her way back up to the teacher's table. Ron and Hermione, who had been watching the whole thing nervously, quickly got up to usher Harry out of the hall.

"She knows something," Ron whispered. "She knows you're tight with Sirius, Harry."

"She can't possibly know that unless one of the Order members told her, and none of them would ever do that," Hermione shook her head. "She only suspects. But it does look suspicious - she knows it was Sirius in the Gryffindor Fire but she has no idea who it was he was talking to and she can't accuse you without proof."

"Yeah well, we've got the mirror now to make sure that doesn't happen again," Harry said. "She won't catch us out a second time. We just need to focus on the DA meeting tonight. Tell everyone where and when and make them spread the word."

"Let's hope Dobby's information was accurate," Ron murmured.

"In my experience, Dobby knows what he's talking about. It's coming up with plans that he's not so good at."

As they left the hall, Pantherlily watched them go. He was sitting on the Ravenclaw table next to Luna - who he was allowing to stroke his ears for the sake of keeping up appearances beneath Mavis' illusion. He'd watched the whole exchange. That Umbridge truly was a nasty piece of work… and she would definitely need to be dealt with.

His mouth tweaked into a small smile, and he resolved to see if Mavis was back when breakfast ended. It seemed Umbridge could do with another haunting from her imaginary werewolf.

* * *

Lessons passed with a crawl and with every half hour that went by Harry's nerves grew. A part of him thought it was ridiculous that he was nervous - he'd been the focus of an audience every time he played an official Quidditch game, as well as during the three Triwizard Tasks. Surely he could take a simple class… but then again he'd never actually been looking his audience in the face before. And they weren't supposed to be learning anything from him before.

Ron and Hermione constantly assured him he'd be fine, which he was grateful for, but their words didn't really help.

Eventually though the time came and they headed off the the seventh floor after classes ended. They were accompanied by Ginny, Happy and Charla, the two Exceed having insisted they come along at least for the first lesson to see how it went. And sure enough, there was the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy with his trolls, just waiting for them. It was a good thing tapestries couldn't talk as portraits could, and that there were no portraits in this hallway, otherwise the secret of their meeting place could potentially be ruined. Maybe that had been what whoever put the tapestry up way back when had in mind.

Harry carried out Dobby's instructions while the others watched with bated breath, walking down the corridor once… twice… thrice… and sure enough… there was the door, blipping into existence before them. None of them really noticed it appear. It was more like it had been there the whole time but none of them had noticed it until just then.

"Soooo… just to double check," Ron said as they stared at the door. "We're absolutely sure there isn't a giant three-headed dog behind here or something are we?"

"If what Dobby said is true, this would have been a pretty good place to hide the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione noted.

"…Are we going in or not?" Charla asked impatiently. "We don't want to be caught out here gawking, do we?"

Harry quickly jumped into action and grabbed the doorhandle, swinging it open. The little group filed their way inside, looking around with great interest at the room which splayed out before them. It was large - much larger than it ought to be given the structure of this part of the castle at about half the size of the Great Hall, with a floor covered in cushions, a desk full of various Dark Detectors and an entire wall of various books about the countering Dark Arts or interesting spells.

"Oooh, this looks great!" Hermione made a beeline for said books. "Maybe Dobby was right about this place after all."

"It does look like a perfect room to practice in," Ginny agreed. "But are we absolutely sure that Umbridge or Filch or whoever won't be able to find it?"

"I did ask it specifically if we could hide the room from her or anyone who would tell her if they found out about this so… let's hope so," Harry said. "It's odd though - I was expecting something a bit more… I dunno… hands on. Like maybe targets to practice on or…"

"Uh, Harry," Ron pointed. "Were they there before?" Harry followed his gaze and blinked when he saw a row of targets up against the far wall, just like those used for archery practice. Okay, he was certain they had not been there when he came in.

"Then could we use this room for anything we want?" Happy cried, instantly beginning to drool and raising his paws into the air. "I wish that there was a huge pile of fish in the middle of the floor!"

…Nothing happened.

"It's not a wishing well, you dope!" Charla chided him. "And besides you'd stink the whole place up with that!"

"…Aye… sorry," Happy drooped slightly. "But why didn't it work?"

"It can't conjure up food out of nothing," Hermione said. "Nothing can - food is one of the Five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration."

"…It's what now?" Ron asked, his blank expression mirrored by everyone else in the room. Hermione sighed, but didn't repeat herself.

"There's magic on our world that can conjure food out of thin air," Happy muttered. "Vegetable Magic and everything."

"Yeah, but conjured food doesn't taste good even there," Charla pointed out. "It's remarkably inedible."

"I suppose," Happy conceded, and then his stomach growled. "All this talk of food's making me hungry though."

"Well, who's fault is that?" Ginny chuckled. "I'm sure we can head down to the kitchens later and…" she paused, blinked and said, "Okay I know that door wasn't there before."

Everyone looked around and indeed, there was another door set in the wall between the targets which had suddenly phased into existence out of nowhere. And those who knew the castle well enough knew that there shouldn't be anything outside a door at that position but a drop into space down to the courtyard below. Yet when Ginny hurried over and opened it, there appeared to be a dark passageway inside. One that led out in a straight line directly ahead and was lit by flaming torches held within evenly spaced brackets to either side.

"Oooookaaaaayyy…" Ginny said slowly, reaching out with one foot just to test that the floor was real and not some illusion. "Is anyone else feeling pretty creeped out right now?"

"Where do you think it leads?" Harry asked suspiciously.

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know but I doubt it leads anywhere bad. This is the Room of Requirement after all so that door must have appeared here for a reason. Maybe it leads to the kitchens because Happy asked for food. The Room can't conjure food but it could make a passageway to a place that already has it."

"Well since this might be your door, Happy," Charla turned to her fellow Exceed. "You should see where it goes. I'll come with you."

"Aye sir!" Happy raised a paw, the two cats lifting off the floor and spreading their wings.

"Need any help?" Ron asked.

"You lot focus on your upcoming lesson," Charla shook her head. "That's more important than finding out where some door goes."

"If we run into trouble we can look out for ourselves. We been in quite a few tight spots before," Happy agreed. "You should close the door behind us too. See you later!"

They swept past Ginny through the door, and the redhead girl watched them disappear into darkness for a moment before swinging the door shut just before a knock came at the other one and the first members of the group began to arrive.

Despite the reassurances that there shouldn't be anything suspicious about the corridor-slash-tunnel that they were flying through, Happy and Charla kept their guard up. They were certain now that they should be flying right over the castle grounds considering the corridor didn't bend even once in any direction. It was just a straight line and there were no stairs or slopes leading up and down so considering they'd started on the second floor did that mean there was just some giant invisible bridge sticking out of the castle now. Hopefully the owls wouldn't fly into it.

"This place is kinda spooky," Happy observed, his voice echoing across the stonework eerily and the dim lights making it difficult for either of them to see ahead - Exceed weren't as good at seeing in darkness as a regular cat. "Do you think there could be ghosts in here?"

"We've already seen ghosts in the castle itself, remember?" Charla rolled her eyes. "And our own First Master is a ghost. If there's one thing I've learned while I'm here it's that ghosts aren't dangerous."

"What about ghouls then? Ron told me that he had one living in his attic…"

"Let's just focus, shall we?" Charla rolled her eyes, and the two of them picked up speed until all of a sudden they reached a complete dead end. They almost flew straight into it, yelping slightly as it rushed up towards them through the darkness but quickly able to arrest their flight and settle back down upon the ground.

"Wow… that's a bit anticlimactic," Happy said.

"It's got to lead somewhere," Charla shook her head. "But… where?"

And then quite abruptly something warped into existence on the wall in front of them, causing both the cats to step back in surprise. For what appeared there was… a painting. A portrait. And it was a portrait of a young girl in a slightly ragged dress. One that looked extremely familiar!

"Is… that who I think it is?" Charla blinked.

"That's Ariana… Aberforth-san's younger sister," Happy breathed. "What's she doing here?"

The portrait of Ariana just smiled enigmatically, raised a hand to wave to the Exceed… and then the entire wall opened before them like a giant door, the portrait included, to reveal a room beyond. A simple dining room where most everything was made of wood and one which the cats also knew well.

"This is…" Happy said, but before he got any further there was a loud crash and a yell of, "FUCKING GOAT! GET BACK HERE AND LET ME MILK YOU OR I SWEAR I'LL EAT YOUR HORNS! EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE NOT METAL!"

"Gajeel?" Happy cried in surprise, hurrying into the room. "We're in the Hog's Head!? But… how does that work?"

"Wendy!? Are you here?" Charla called, and moments later the blue-haired Dragon Slayer appeared in the room from where she'd been helping Aberforth at the bar as per usual.

"Charla?" Wendy blinked. "What are you doing here? And how did you get here?" she said, looking up at the displaced section of wall with alarm.

"I haven't the foggiest idea," Charla looked around back at the tunnel they'd just headed through. They'd somehow gone in a complete straight line with no visible ascent of descent from the seventh floor of Hogwarts Castle to a pub in Hogsmeade, entering through a wall that didn't even face the castle. There must have been some incredible magic at work to warp reality to such a degree cos there was definitely no corporeal tunnel between the two places, and yet here they were.

But why had it brought them here? Because Happy had wanted to go to a place with food? Or was it more than that? Had the room given them something they required without even asking for it - a passageway to their friends. Of course the Exceed had no problem getting to the Hog's Head from the castle… but now…

Charla gasped when she realised the implications of what had just happened.

They now had a route that could potentially get Fairy Tail in!

At this point, both Gajeel and Aberforth appeared in the room at the same time. "The hell!? What are you two doing here?" Gajeel asked.

"What in blazes did you do to my wall?" Aberforth cried, immediately checking to make sure that Ariana's portrait was okay.

"I think that your sister just helped us out big time," Happy said, bouncing up and down enthusiastically. "That room's amazing, Charla. If it can provide us with a tunnel straight here then just imagine what else if could provide us with!"

"What room? What's going on?" Wendy blinked.

"Have you got another important message?" Gajeel asked.

"…Possibly," Charla said, smiling brightly. "Not an urgent one but it could be pretty big. Can someone call in the rest of Fairy Tail, and the Order too come to that? We might have just struck metaphorical gold."

* * *

Harry looked out at the packed Room of Requirement, side-stepping as Dennis Creevey almost fell over in surprise when his wand went flying out of his hand, courtesy of his older brother. Things actually hadn't been so bad when the ball had gotten rolling. Granted when he'd first stood up before these people, many of which were in their final year and about to take their NEWTs and yet still expected him to do the teaching, his throat felt tight and he'd wanted nothing more than to grab a Butterbeer and drain it. Or maybe crawl into a pit somewhere.

But as soon as Hermione had helped smooth the way by having Harry officially elected as leader, he was given just that little bit of confidence that he needed.

"Well…" he said. "You all saw the newspapers this morning, didn't you? If any of you in here still don't believe me when I say that Voldemort's back then you've just been given ten more very good reasons to learn how to defend yourselves."

"Ten maximum security Death Eaters broken out of prison," Ernie Macmillan shook his head. "And yet still Umbridge was having us read through those useless texts of hers this morning. Even if the Ministry's not willing to admit You-Know-Who is back that should be enough of a reason to let us actually do something."

"Yeah but they weren't broken out by You-Know-Who, were they?" Zacharias Smith grunted, clearly still quite sceptical of Harry's story even though he too had raised his hand to elect Harry as leader. "They were broken out by that Fairy Tail lot."

"How do you know that?" Ginny glowered at him. "Just because the paper said so? You may recall that the paper's been claiming that Harry and Dumbledore are liars for months and that's bollocks too."

Harry was surprised at how vehemently Ginny spoke up for Fairy Tail considering she hadn't actually met any of them besides the Exceed. But then again she was 'harbouring' Charla in her dormitory and had presumably spent quite a bit of time talking to her about her various friends so was probably speaking up mostly in the white cat's defence.

"What, you're saying that Fairy Tail aren't destructive maniacs now? Give me a break," Smith rolled his eyes.

"He's got a point," Terry Boot said nervously, drumming his fingers together in clear agitation. "How are we supposed to defend ourselves from those people? From what I've heard not even top Aurors have been able to best them."

"I heard that some of them might be even more powerful than Dumbledore himself," Anthony Goldstein whispered.

"And they completely destroyed Azkaban yesterday," Hannah Abbott swallowed. "Who's to say they won't come after Hogwarts next?"

Harry hesitated, looking to the others for a decision as a hubbub broke out through the room, panicked whispers about the kind of terror Fairy Tail could rain down on their heads. Should they mention what they knew about Fairy Tail… that would be like telling everyone here that Sirius Black was innocent. They'd all proven they could keep this meeting a secret so far but how much more information could they entrust them with?

He could see real fear in the eyes of his fellow students when they discussed Fairy Tail. And they were relatively safe within the walls of a heavily fortified magical castle… how much worse was it for people outside? And could they tell what they knew about Fairy Tail without any real proof anyway?

Ron and Hermione both looked quite lost but then suddenly Luna's voice raised above the din. "I don't think we should be too quick to judge Fairy Tail," she said, drawing everyone's attention to them. "We only know what we've been told of them by other people and none of the people who've been writing really know anything about them anyway. None of the papers have gotten an exclusive interview with a Fairy Tail mage yet, to tell their side of the story. My father's really hoping it will be him that gets to do that. But I will not fear them until I am given a reason to fear them."

"Destroying Azkaban wasn't reason enough for you?" Padma Patil asked incredulously.

"As I recall there were two Fairy Tail mages being held prisoner there," Luna shrugged. "That wasn't mentioned in this morning's paper, but it sounds to me that what they were doing was a rescue mission that got out of hand. I also don't recall them saying anybody died. If there had been any casualties I think it would have said."

Harry stared at Luna in amazement. Luna knew as well as he did that Fairy Tail weren't enemies but instead of saying that outright she was making so very intuitive and perspective points to make the others think for themselves. Getting them to engage their brains instead of throwing the truth at them, which might in turn make things easier when the truth really was thrown at them.

Nevertheless they weren't there to discuss Fairy Tail - they were there to learn how to defend themselves. "Forget mages from another world for now. Let's concentrate on what we know we can fight, and that's the Death Eaters that escaped. So… let's start with the Disarming Charm and work our way up from there. It might sound basic but I know from experience just how useful it can be."

And that was why they had been doing for the last half an hour. Harry had found himself paired with Neville… or at least that's who he thought he was paired with. The Neville standing before him looked like a completely different person. Not in terms of looks but in terms of attitude - he was focused, intense, clearly using every ounce of concentration at his disposal as he tried to disarm Harry. And even though Harry still managed to beat him to the punch and disarm him nine times out of ten, Neville really was managing to catch him off guard on occasion.

But he didn't look happy when he did. He just look momentarily satisfied before tossing the wand back to Harry and resuming his stance.

"Neville… are you alright?" Harry asked, knowing very well that Neville was not alright but hoping that poking would get him to open up so they could talk about what was bothering him.

"I'm fine, Harry," he said, his glare of concentration never leaving his face. "Let's just keep going."

"Are you sure? You don't… really seem like yourself…"

"I said I'm fine!" Neville snapped, glaring at him. Harry was taken aback, but he didn't show it. Instead he just raised an eyebrow and stared Neville down.

"You know, getting angry in a fight really isn't going to help much unless you know how to channel it. If you get angry you could end up making totally the wrong call when it comes to what spell you should use. Or do something stupid that'll leave you exposed to a Killing Curse or something."

Neville's jawline softened slightly, but his grip tightened around his wand. "I just… want to be ready when the time comes," he said.

"…I know," Harry said. "I know exactly how you feel. Voldemort killed my parents… and he's out there. And I'm determined to do everything I can to stop him… to avenge my parents. And I just… get so pissed off all the freaking time that there's nothing I can do to help stop him while I'm cooped up in here. But it really doesn't help, Neville. I know I can't really talk, but it doesn't. Be determined… but don't get angry."

Neville's glare gradually lessened and he sighed and looked down at his feet. "I know…" he whispered. "I know… you're right. You're a great teacher, Harry. Thanks."

Harry coughed in embarrassment, but he was glad to have found away to empathise with Neville without him strictly learning that he was aware of his parents' condition. But when it became clear he wasn't going to say any more, Harry raised his wand again. "Come on then, let's do this."

Even though Harry was clearly the better duellist of the two, Neville didn't let that stop him even for a second, and indeed he did manage to successfully disarm Harry one more time before Harry asked him to join with Ron and Hermione so that he could move around the room and see how everyone else was getting along. Fred and George were doing pretty well although half the time they were aiming for other people from behind as a joke. The Creevey brothers were being a little overenthusiastic and getting in other people's way, leading Harry to have to grab Colin before he ran straight into Justin Finch-Fletchley. And for the first time that he'd seen her, Luna had a serious expression as she and Ginny went back and forth at disarming one another.

He deliberately put off going over to where Cho Chang was practicing for a while but as soon as he did, he found himself having to dodge a badly aimed spell from her partner, Marietta Edgecombe, a girl that Harry hadn't said a single word to throughout their time at Hogwarts as far as Harry could remember, at least one on one. And from the evil eye she was giving him now, it was quite clear that she didn't want to be here now.

"Her mother works as a Floo Network Regulator," Cho explained in hushed tones when Marietta refused to look at Harry. "They magically monitor fireplaces suspected of being used for illegal activity."

"…Really?" Harry said slowly, his throat going a little dry and wondering if anyone in that office was monitoring what was going on in either Grimmauld Place or the Hog's Head. He suspected not, otherwise Ministry officials would have turned up at both places by now even they couldn't actually get in to Grimmauld Place. But it was something to be wary of in the future.

"Yeah, and her parents have forbidden her from doing anything to get on Umbridge's bad side… to be honest I kinda dragged her here. And to the Hog's Head the other week. Because… because we need to… to learn how so we don't…"

Cho looked down at the floor, biting her lip and Harry's stomach dropped when he realised she must be thinking about Cedric. Of course he would be a massive motivation for her to believe Voldemort was back and want to learn to defend herself. After all, if she didn't believe Voldemort had returned then she'd have no real explanation as to what happened to her old boyfriend.

Clenching his fist slightly, Harry looked up to Marietta and said, "Look… I get that you don't really want to be here, but surely you've got to see how important this all is. If Umbridge isn't going to let us learn to defend ourselves then we have to do this, even if it is behind her back."

"And if we're discovered, what then?" Marietta snapped at him. "You realise my mother could lose her place in the Ministry if I get caught here? So not only will I be expelled but my family would be pretty much ruined. But that's not something you'd get is it? I heard you don't like your family."

Harry scowled at her and Cho gasped. "Marietta!" she chided. "That was uncalled for!"

"I'm just calling it like I see it," Marietta muttered.

"She's got a point though," Harry conceded. "I don't like my family. My aunt and uncle are horrible people. But I do like Ron's family. The Weasleys are very good to me, and if they were found here they could be ruined too. But I'd much rather see them expelled from this school or fired from the Ministry than dead. And they know that too, which is why all of them are here learning what Umbridge refuses to teach us."

Marietta frowned, looking at him as if she was trying to see into his brain. "You're really sticking with your story that You-Know-Who is back then? My mother says you're just doing it for the attention."

"So does most of the Wizarding World, but I'm not. I don't want attention - I've never wanted it. And let me ask you this. Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to make false claims about something like this? If it wasn't true then even if everyone believed me, which they don't, then I'd eventually be found out and ridiculed as a liar for it. But it is true and I started being ridicules as a liar right from the start. But I'm still saying it, even after Umbridge did this to me!" he walked over and brandished the back of his fist in Marietta's startled face, showing her the faint scars that read 'I must not tell lies.'

"Because it's not a lie. It needs to be said," he finished.

"…That evil bitch…" Cho gasped, for she had hurried over to stare at the scars herself while Marietta suddenly looked physically sick.

"She… she did that to you?" she whispered. "And that still didn't stop you?"

"Indeed it didn't," a voice behind her made all three of them jump. "Harry's no liar, Miss Edgecombe. Not unless he needs to be."

"P…P… Professor Lupin?!" squeaked Marietta, while Harry and Cho's jaws dropped. Somehow the commotion of the room had entirely prevented anyone from noticing none other than Remus Lupin walking in and watching their progress. Harry in particular was stunned before he whirled around to face the door the Exceed had gone through. It was now wide open and Happy and Charla were both standing in it with wide smirks on their faces. They waved to him cheerfully, leaving Harry more confused than ever.

"But… but… how are you here?" Cho asked.

"Quite a room this is," Lupin said as he looked around. "Providing you with a secret base for your little Defence group and providing a tunnel to allow people you know through straight from Hogsmeade. It bypasses the Hogwarts wards entirely. And I have to say I actually feel slightly put out that your father and I never discovered this room back when we were at Hogwarts, Harry. And we thought we'd uncovered every one of its secrets."

"How… how do you know about this Defence group?" Marietta asked, slightly panicked and clearly wondering if word had somehow already spread.

"Don't worry, I have no plans to tell Umbridge," Lupin patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"Ooh, this room's cool," said another voice and Harry looked back to see Tonks entering the room from the doorway, followed shortly by Moody, who was looking better after the altercation at Azkaban yesterday. "We should totally get one of these at the Ministry."

"You let us sneak up on you, did you, Potter?" Moody growled. "What if we'd been enemies? What am I always telling you - constant vigilance, boy! You should keep an eye on all your exits at all times!"

By this point other people were starting to notice the new arrivals.

"Tonks!" Ginny cried, running across the room and attracting everyone's attention when she threw her arms around the young Auror and almost knocked her over. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"We received a special invite," Tonks laughed. "Of sorts anyway. That tunnel leads all the way back to the Hog's Head and it definitely wasn't there before today."

A chorus of questions erupted round the room. Some of the older students recognised Tonks from when she'd been at school but all of them knew Lupin and Moody on sight. Many of them quickly flocked over to Lupin who was still their favourite Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher by far in spite of him being a werewolf. But once the clamour had died away Moody was the one who take centre stage.

"So, you're all here to learn how to defend yourselves are you?" he growled.

"How do you know about that?" Angelina Johnson asked.

"Known about it since you all met up at the pub," Tonks winked. "We've got some pretty handy sources after all. But don't worry, your secret is safe with the Order of the Phoenix."

"The what?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked, perplexed.

"Simply put we're a secret order," Lupin explained. "Fighting in the shadows to try and prevent Voldemort from getting more power and thwarting his plans wherever we can while the Ministry continues to sit back in denial. We're a little like you in that way, though we're all trained in how to defend ourselves already of course."

"So you believe Potter?" Zacharias Smith asked with lowered brows.

"I do, Mr. Smith. I haven't seen him myself, but I've already seen first-hand how his forces are mustering."

"And quite frankly if you don't believe him then you're an idiot and you don't deserve to be here," Moody said shortly, leading to quite a few grins from around the room as Zacharias went red. "But if you really want to learn how to defend yourselves then I suppose the Order could… chip in every now and then when we have the time to help teach you a few things."

"Are you serious? You'll help out?" Harry asked, feeling suddenly elated.

"When we can," Lupin repeated. "This is your Defence group, Harry. You're still the primary teacher and quite frankly you are more qualified to teach it than most given what you've been forced to endure."

"There's Aurors that don't have as much experience as you," Tonks agreed.

"But yeah, we'll help out when we can," Moody grunted. "You haven't learned everything after all, Potter. For instance I know for a fact that you haven't even touched on how to deal with Inferi and when You-Know-Who makes himself known you can bet there will be quite a few of those roaming around." He ignored the panic that flashed across the room from those who knew what Inferi were. "This technically isn't part of the Order's duties, but we can always try and teach young civilians a thing or two in our spare time."

"It'll be mostly up to you though, Harry," Lupin pointed out. "Though I'd rather like it if you could wait for me to be here when its time to teach them Patronuses. Maybe I can rustle up an extra Boggart for them somewhere."

"Thank you, Professors. And you too, Tonks," Harry beamed. "Thank you so much." He felt a lot better now that he had the official backing of the Order. Not only might they be able to help him on occasion but the fact that they, of all people, believed he would make a good teacher… well, no offence to Ron and Hermione but somehow their word counted for more in that regard given they were adults, Aurors or teachers themselves.

"So like I said, Miss Edgecombe," Lupin turned to Marietta. "I won't tell Umbridge. And you're doing the right thin by being here. There's never been a more important time to learn how to defend yourselves."

Marietta didn't say anything, but she did look down at the floor, clearly very deep in thought.

And then came the question that Harry had been expecting.

"What about Fairy Tail?" asked Michael Corner. "Is this Order doing anything to stop them too?"

A pall of silence settled over the room. Those who weren't in the know were left on tenterhooks waiting for an answer. Those who did know were not quite sure what to say. Harry looked to Lupin, to Tonks, to Moody… but they were all looking at him now. Moody even gave him a little shrug, which made their meaning quite clear.

'It's your call, Harry.'

Harry grimaced. He was not completely sure whether he could trust all of the people in this room. Marietta Edgecombe had already proven her parents were in Umbridge's pocket, Zacharias Smith was not giving a good impression of himself and he barely knew people like Michael Corner and Terry Boot so he had no way of accurately judging their characters. If any one of them were to blab about Dumbledore's Army he'd be expelled. But if any of them blabbed about Fairy Tail he could be arrested and any Order member they knew about could become a target of the Ministry.

Did he dare?

"What's going on?" Lee Jordan prompted the room. "Why's everyone gone so quiet?"

"Harry," Ron said under his breath, slipping over to his best friend's side and whispering to him. "I think we should tell them, mate."

"But how can you be sure they'll all keep it to themselves?" Harry whispered back.

"I can't. But we've got to be honest with this lot. If you're insisting You-Know-Who is back but also claim that you think Fairy Tail's an enemy when you know they're not, they could end up not trusting you. What if they find out you're in league with Fairy Tail before You-Know-Who reveals himself? They might think you were lying about him too. It's a risk to tell them, but its a calculated one."

Harry knew Ron was right. He had to be completely open with them. It stung a little that Ron was calling for complete honesty when Harry hadn't told him about the dream he'd had last night with the voice of Morgana, but he'd get to that eventually.

"Okay," he said. "Okay, guys… listen… I know I've asked you all to keep what we're doing here a secret but now I need to ask you to keep another one. At least for the time being."

"You sure about this, Harry?" Tonks asked.

"I'm sure," Harry nodded. "I can't lie to my friends. I'll lie to Umbridge but I sure as heck won't lie to them."

"Lie about what?" Lavender Brown asked with furrowed brows.

"Remember what Luna said earlier? About how the papers are only printing one side of the story when it comes to Fairy Tail? Well she's right. They're only printing what they think and they're terrified of Fairy Tail because they don't know the full story and won't give them a chance to explain. Fudge isn't just delusional with paranoia about Dumbledore building any army. He's also totally sure that Fairy Tail are trying to take over our world. But he's wrong. They're not."

"How would you know that?" Cho asked, her eyes as wide as many of the other people in the room.

"Because I've met them. Some of them anyway. They're actually good people, every one of them."

"What!?" Katie Bell shouted and her cry was echoed by most of the other people in the room. "Even if that's true and you have met them and spoken to them, how can you be sure they're good people?"

"Just from the way they are, I suppose," shrugged Harry. "Some of them are a bit rough around the edges but they've all got good hearts."

"That's ridiculous," Zacharias immediately cried. "How can you possibly expect us to believe…"

"Actually," Susan Bones abruptly cut across him. "My aunt thinks there's more to them than we know as well."

"She does?" Harry blinked.

"I received a letter from her this morning," Susan pulled a piece of parchment out from the inside pocket of her robes. "Telling me to take what I heard in the paper with a pinch of salt. She told me not to mention this to anyone but since we're talking about it… she doesn't have proof, but she suspects the same thing that you're saying Harry. She thinks that the Ministry as a whole has been treating them like threats the moment they learned they were from another world and refuses to look deeply at their motivations. She thinks that if they did, we'd find them much less… frightening… than we do now."

"Ten points for Madame Bones then," Ron grinned, which made Susan blush.

"So… what?" Dean Thomas asked. "Everything the paper's saying about them is wrong?"

"Well, not everything," Hermione corrected. "They did wreck Azkaban and they did destroy the Malfoy Manor… and they did break into Gringott's and the Ministry and destroy a lot of stuff while they were there. But the thing is, every time they did something like that, they were launching a rescue mission."

"Damn straight we were," Gajeel said from where he was leaning up against the doorway. Everyone's head snapped over to him and the moment they saw the black mark of Fairy Tail upon his shoulder they were all left under no illusions as to who they were looking at.

"AAAAH!" Zacharias and several others cried while the former rushed for the door, a couple of others darting after him, but quick as a flash Moody pulled out his wand and cast a spell upon the door which somehow locked it, even though it didn't have a keyhole, to keep them from getting out. They scrabbled at it, but nothing happened, while the rest of the room stood momentarily paralysed with fear. Even Ginny was visibly shocked at Gajeel's intimidating appearance, but Hermione just smacked a hand over her face.

"Really?" she said aloud. "You couldn't have used Wendy or someone much less… menacing… to introduce the group?"

"Gajeel-san wanted to see what they would do," Wendy popped her head around the taller Dragon Slayer as she hurried into the room, tapping her fingers together lightly. "Is it wrong that I found that a bit funny?"

"Hello Wendy," Luna instantly drifted over towards her, but both Wendy and Gajeel had to get out of the way of the incoming train of people behind them. Harry's eyes widened as the room became even more jam-packed… for it seemed they had brought with them every single Fairy Tail mage that had thus far been found. Cana was carrying a barrel of Butterbeer that she'd filched from the Hog's Head. Elfman and Gildarts had to stoop slightly to keep from hitting their heads on the top of the doorframe. And Natsu had brought with him a piece of meat that looked like it should have been sent to Buckbeak and was devouring it just like a Hippogriff.

"You're… you're all… Fairy Tail…" Ernie looked like he was about to hyperventilate.

"We are," Erza said, stepping forward to the fore of the group and smiling warmly even though most of her audience looked terrified of her… though she was somewhat used to that so it didn't bother her much. "And you are the plucky young children willing to defy authority to do what needs to be done."

"That's right, we're Dumbledore's Army," Fred and George spilled out of the crowd excitedly - it was the first time they'd met any of the group outside the Exceed as well. "Hey, we're Fred and George Weasley," said Fred. "Care to guess which one of us is George and which is Fred?"

"I'd rather guess which one of you is Ginny," Lucy laughed, looking out at the crowd and instantly picking out Ginny Weasley - her flaming red hair was a dead giveaway. "And that's probably you, isn't it? Nice to meet you finally."

"Nice to meet you too… wow, you guys are quite a bunch, aren't you… Charla told me as much but it's another thing to see it… no wait, don't tell me. You're the girl with blond hair so you must be Lucy. The guy with the face studs, you're Gajeel. The three with white hair… you're the three Strauss siblings. And you there… you're Gray, right?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Because you're not wearing a shirt."

"AAH!" Gray cried and instantly turned to try and find one, as Juvia stepped in front of him and glowered at Ginny.

"Are you admiring, Gray-sama's chest? Are you another love rival?!"

"And that must make you Juvia," Ginny grinned, stepping towards them and grabbing the surprised Water Mage's outstretched hand, shaking it profusely. "Awesome to meet you all."

"Oh… um…" Juvia blushed, her insta-rage subsiding and being replaced by a shy smile. "The pleasure is entirely Juvia's."

"Dumbledore's Army, huh?" Natsu said. "That's a cool name. You guys are practically like a little guild of your own."

"Which makes Harry the Guild Master," Lucy noted with a smirk.

"Well the boy does have a lightning shaped scar," Evergreen crowed. "That's proof right there that he'd make an excellent guild master, isn't it?"

"Have you forgotten that Laxus still isn't a guild member anymore already?" Mira laughed. Evergreen just scowled.

"So which of you are the resident pranksters?" George cried, pointing out across the group. "Come on, there's got to be at least one amongst you or I'd feel let down."

Suddenly Cana appeared between the twins and wrapped her arms around their shoulders with a tipsy grin. "We don't really have a prankster at the moment but I suppose it's a roll I could fulfil. Put some more of this Beer Butter stuff into my body and I'd be up for practically anything. Would anyone object to me sending Fudge and his wife a box of very inappropriate magazines? I can picture whoever opens them freaking out because they'll think they belong to the other one."

"…We have to do that now!" Fred laughed.

"Oi, Levy," Gajeel said as he pointed right at Susan, startling both the bluenette and the Hufflepuff girl at the same time. "Heard that one talking about her aunt in the Government. The one you mentioned from your questioning - Madam Bones. Seems she doesn't believe we're the enemy."

Levy gave Gajeel a peculiar look before shaking her head and saying, "One of the few that does," as she moved over to Susan. "I met your aunt quite a while ago now. Has she told you about me? The one she questioned in the courtroom of the Ministry?"

"You're… Levy McGarden?" Susan asked.

"That's right," Levy nodded.

"Yeah, she told me about you. You had a particularly bad reaction to the Dementors before you were busted out. She told me that the whole reason Fairy Tail partially destroyed the Ministry was probably just to rescue you, but that that detail was omitted from the paper."

"That's right. Your aunt was the only person in that courtroom who objected to having those… things… used on me," Levy shivered. "Maybe if they'd listened to her, we wouldn't be on the run from the Ministry right now."

"She objected to tricking you into drinking truth potion too," Susan said. "She'll be so pleased to find out she was right about you."

"Well, as soon as you can find a way to do that let me know so I can thank her," Levy smiled.

Gradually the other members of Dumbledore's Army began to lose their fear and actually began to mingle with the Fairy Tail mages. Lee Jordan was the first, emboldened by Fred and George's complete lack of fear and he began an animated discussion with Erza about her magic. Others followed, most notably the Gryffindor members taking the first steps, followed by the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs together.

Lavender and Parvati were enthralled by Mirajane's Transformation Magic, which prompted Tonks to butt in and start a competition with Mira to see which of them had the better transformative abilities. It turned out to be a draw.

Angelina, Alicia and Katie were all stunned at the lack of magical sports from the Fairy Tail world but kept Gildarts entertained by regaling him with stories of their many Quidditch games. Colin and Dennis Creevey both approached Wendy, who was just as young as Dennis himself. Dean ended up talking with Natsu, Ernie with Lucy, Padma and Hannah with Lisanna, Cho with Evergreen and so on and so on throughout the whole group.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked to each other with wide grins. This was going better than they'd hoped. All three had assumed they they would need to take a great deal of convincing before they believed Fairy Tail were truly bad guys, but it seemed all that was really needed was for Fairy Tail to come in and be themselves, along with a little inside help to keep the rest of the DA from panicking and hexing them.

Neville had gone over to Elfman to talk. "You look very strong," he noted. "I bet most people don't try messing with you, do they?"

"And if they do they usually regret it," Elfman punched his own chest with a grin. "A real Man knows how to defend himself."

"…I guess that doesn't really make me a Man if that's the case, does it?" Neville sighed. "The bullies always walk all over me. I tried standing up to them once in the first year but I got beat up really bad. Crabbe and Goyle probably wouldn't stand a chance against you but me… I'm just the butt of a load of jokes really."

Elfman regarded Neville carefully before laying a thick hand upon his shoulder. "It's a rare Man that can admit his faults like that to a near complete stranger," he said consolingly. "But if you really want to be a Man… you've got to do something about it. Train long and train hard to make sure a bully never picks on you again. And then make sure they know exactly who it was that got the better of them when the time comes. I think… the best thing about being a real Man is that technically anyone can be one, including you. But it doesn't really come naturally so if you are one, it means you've worked at it. So… make sure you work at it and you'll find yourself as much a Man as anyone else in this room."

"…Thanks," Neville said, feeling oddly uplifted after that speech, even though he wasn't totally clear on what this guy's definition of a 'Man' actually was.

Eventually only Zacharias and Marietta were left standing by the door, looking unsure of what they were supposed to be doing but clearly both still very suspicious of Fairy Tail still.

"Are you going to introduce yourselves or not?" said a voice by their feet, and they both looked down to see Charla standing next to them, looking very much like an ordinary cat since Mavis' illusion was still up around them but that was still more than enough to jar the two of them into shock.

"What… you… you just…" Zacharias spluttered.

"Yes, yes, I talk, I know," Charla waved a paw dismissively. "The point is you're both being very rude right now, and I think you should stop."

"Aye. Are you still scared of us?" Happy asked, stepping up next to Charla's side.

"You're with Fairy Tail too?" Marietta gasped.

"Of course. Do you have talking cats in this world? And yes, I know you have sphinxes but they don't count," said Charla.

"The point is, do you really think we could be on the side of evil?" Happy asked. "Even when we've got people like Charla here, who are just too darned cute to be evil?"

"Oh shut up, will you?" Charla snorted at him, though she didn't look at him due to the slight redness that appeared beneath her fur. "The point is, you have to give us a chance. And I can tell you now that being friends with Fairy Tail is probably one of the safest things you can be right now. Stick close with them and they'll come to your aid whenever you need them."

"How do we know you're not just trying to get close to us so you can stab us in the back?" asked Zacharias.

"If we wanted to hurt you then we could have easily done so by now. And think about it - this is the Room of Requirement, right?" Happy said. "If Dumbledore's Army needed a place to learn how to defend themselves, why would it let in people who wanted to threaten them?"

Neither of the two suspicious students could refute that.

"Give us a chance," Charla said. "And we won't let you down."

There was a short pause, after which Marietta slowly walked away to join the rest of the group and started talking with Evergreen as well. And then, despite one last suspicious glance at the cats, Zacharias went over to talk to Gajeel.

Eventually though time ran out. They'd only really had half a lesson considering the number of introductions they'd all gone through but it was still time very well spent nonetheless. Most of them were quite disappointed that they had to leave, seeing as how they'd just made some fascinating new friends.

"Will you be teaching us a few things too?" Dean asked when it was time to go.

"We don't really know enough about the magic of this world to be effective teachers," Erza told him with a shake of her head. "But I suppose there are other things we could pass on to you where possible. Like how to stay agile on the battlefield or something."

"You could always use Gray for target practice," Natsu snickered.

"Why you…" Gray growled at him.

"Most importantly though you need to keep the fact you know us a secret for now," Gildarts said clearly. "Until the Ministry is willing to see sense about us we would not have any of you getting into trouble on our account. Hopefully that won't be too much longer but even so, just keep quiet for now, okay?"

"Raise your hand if you agree to keep Fairy Tail a secret," Fred shot his hand into the air.

Everybody in the room raised their hands, even Marietta and Zacharias.

"Thank you," Erza nodded to them respectfully. "We promise to do our best not to destroy anything else."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Tonks chuckled, leading to a smattering of laughter across the room.

"Oh, and there's… one more thing you should all know," Levy said, gesturing back towards the tunnel entrance… and the lone figure now standing in it.

"What's up?" Sirius grinned.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

"Seriously? I mean seriously?" Harry glared at Sirius an hour later. "You only escape from custody yesterday and you decide to pull a stunt like that?"

"Believe me, Harry, we heavily advised against it," Remus sighed. "But Sirius insisted that if your group was going to learn the truth they should know the whole truth."

Most of the members of Dumbledore's Army had gone back to their dormitories now. It had been a lot harder to convince them of Sirius' innocence than it had been for Fairy Tail's. After all they had been believing he was a mass murderer and Voldemort's most devoted supporter for much longer, and he hadn't done himself any favours by breaking into the Gryffindor Common Room during Harry's third year.

Plus, it had been very hard to make them believe that the real mass murderer had in fact been Ron's old pet rat.

But when Harry mentioned it had in fact been Pettigrew that killed Cedric Diggory, albeit on Voldemort's orders, that had sobered them up quite quickly. Cho had burst into tears, but perhaps because of that she was the first one to claim she believed him. And one by one they had managed to extract a solemn promise from each of the members not to breathe a word of what they knew about Sirius to anyone until the time was right.

Now only Harry, Hermione, Luna and the Weasleys remained in the room with the Order and Fairy Tail.

"Hey, it all worked out for the best, didn't it?" Sirius shrugged disarmingly.

"But what if it hadn't?! What would we have done if one of them hadn't promised to keep silent. I barely trust a couple of them as it is."

"Then I assume someone would have used a Memory Charm on them to make sure that they didn't blab."

"They still could, you know! A promise is nothing but words - they can be broken easily."

"Well if they do blab now they'll have a good thing or two to say about me."

Harry sighed. "You're going to kill me one day, Sirius. Is it possibly to be worried to death?"

Sirius laughed and clapped Harry's shoulder. "Sorry. I promise I'll consult you next time I decide to do something that'll potentially get me in trouble. But now that that's all over and done with… we can get onto the other reason why we're here."

"Which would be what exactly?" Pantherlily asked, the black cat having opened the front door in the middle of that sentence and walked through in full battle form, Mavis floating right behind him. "That whole gang is here, it seems."

"Lily, where've you been?" Gajeel grunted.

"Giving Umbridge a healthy dose of the frights," Lily chuckled. "As far as she's concerned her werewolf stalker just appeared again today. She was cowering under her desk when I last saw her, and this time I made sure to clout her in the side and knock her sprawling, just so she knows the werewolf isn't entirely a figment of her imagination even though nobody else can see it."

"Did you really have to use a werewolf?" Lupin sighed. "She's always tried to persecute part humans like me - this isn't going to help in that regard."

"No, but it plays to her fears and hopefully we can ensure that after this is over she'll never be in a position of power ever again," Lily replied. "So… what's the other reason why you're all here."

"Well it's simple really," Sirius said. "Much as I'm loving the company, my house is getting rather overcrowded with almost everyone from your guild living there. I've run out of beds. I even had to give up my own last night so that Elfman could use it."

"…It's not very Manly to steal another Man's bed, is it?" Elfman muttered embarrassedly.

"Anyway, when we heard about this room… well… let's just see if it lives up to its name as the Room of Requirement, shall we?" Sirius grinned.

"Was that door there before?" Fred asked, pointing at a very large metal door set into the wall off to their right. One that should theoretically lead into an old classroom if opened. And yet when Erza strode over and opened it she walked straight into what appeared to be… a stadium. Or at least something like one. It was almost the size of a football field, with a domed ceiling two stories high and walls that were made of an extremely sturdy looking metal. There were four other metal doors set in the other walls, two in the far wall and one on either side.

"What in the world…?" Hermione breathed as everyone steadily filed through. "What the heck did you guys ask for?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Levy smiled as she stepped up next to her fellow bookworm. "You guys need a place to train without being discovered. So do we. And we were hoping this room could provide us with one and it certainly looks like its trying."

"And we need some more living space too," Lucy said from where she'd run over to the door set in the left-hand wall and thrown it open. "And… yep… there's five beds in here. This must be the boy's room then."

"…Seven… eight… nine beds in here," Cana confirmed from the opposite door. "This is definitely the girls room. Free from any peeking holes too from the look of it, just in case any of you boys were thinking of being perverts."

"And those two back there are both bathrooms," Moody said, peering through the doors at the far end. "One for each gender again. More than enough space to house every Fairy Tail member here if they so chose."

"Well I don't think we'll all use it for that at once," Gray noted, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking round in amazement. "I'm sure some of us will stay in Grimmauld Place and some in the Hog's Head, just to make sure we have a clear path between the three locations if nothing else."

"Juvia will go wherever Gray-sama goes!" the Water Mage cried, and to his credit Gray didn't react any more than temporarily face-faulting.

"Still, this room is amazing!" Lisanna said, siding back a section of metal wall to reveal a large assortment of books behind it. She brightened when she saw several of them were about the Old Religion… maybe some of these could help her get a better handle on her new magic. There wasn't anything about the magic from their own world though… evidently this world couldn't conjure things from another dimension, which meant that sadly it was unlikely to be able to provide them with a way home either. But they hadn't expected it to. Even the most powerful of magic had limits and these room wasn't just some magical answer to all their problems. Just quite a few of them.

"It is indeed, but we still ought to test it," Erza said, and suddenly a sword flashed into her hand, then another, and suddenly she was clad in her Heaven's Wheel armour. "If we're going to train in here we need to make sure it can contain us!"

She burst into the air and roared, **"TENRIN… BLUMENBLATT!" **and launched her blades in a full on assault at a nearby wall.

"Good point!" Gray slammed his hands together, **"ICE MAKE… HAMMER!"**

"Oh, I'm getting in on this!" Natsu bellowed as he and Gajeel simultaneously charged at another wall.

"**KARYUU NO… KOEN!"**

"**TETSURYUUSOU: KISHIN!"**

The other stronger members of Fairy Tail piled on their own magic - Mirajane and Elfman both morphing into their Take-Over forms and blitzing forward to slam Evil Explosions and their bare fists at the walls. Juvia swished into water and struck the walls with a tidal wave of force and Gildarts slammed his foot down and raised his hand, a blast of Crash Magic thundering from his palm and sending everyone standing close to him flying with the backlash of power he emitted as his attack struck the wall head on. To the Hogwarts students it felt like their stomachs had dropped from their bodies. It was the first time they'd been given a proper demonstration of Fairy Tail's magic, with the exception of Harry witnessing Lucy and Evergreen's magic. And though they'd heard how strong they were, they could not only see it now. They could feel it.

And it stole their breath away.

When the smoke from the multitude of attacks cleared, the walls were in a sorry looking state, rent with a multitude of cracks and gashes in the metal but amazingly they were still standing, even after Gildarts' blast. "There are wards around the walls," Moody noted. "They don't stop your attacks from hitting them but they significantly reduce the damage they do upon impact. And then…"

He didn't need to finish because moments later the walls glowed and suddenly… they weren't broken anymore. Every piece of damage that Fairy Tail had just caused disappeared into nothingness, leaving the walls as smooth and intact as they had been when they'd first arrived.

"Alright!" Lucy cheered. "I think we've found the ideal place for us to train."

"Aye sir!" Happy whooped with her.

"Yeah, but more importantly, this room provides us with something else too," Gray grinned savagely.

"What's that?" Natsu turned to look at him… and saw Gray's fist swinging right towards his face.

**KABLAM!**

"GAAAH!" Natsu cried as he was slammed across the room to crash into the far wall. Harry and everyone else from their world stepped back in sudden alarm. "WHAT THE HELL!?" Ron shouted what they were all thinking, but Gray just laughed.

"I've been itching to do that for weeks!" he said.

Natsu just stood up, his face twisting into a strange half-grin, half-snarl combination that made him look practically insane. "THE FEELING'S MUTUAL, ICE BASTARD!" he roared as he blasted forwards on a plume of fire and slammed his head into Gray's stomach. Gray shot backwards to crash straight into Gajeel and Elfman, knocking all three of them to the floor.

"SUCKER PUNCHING PEOPLE IS UNMANLY, GRAY!" Elfman shouted, scooping Gray off the ground and hammering his foot into his stomach to knock him away.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT, SALAMANDER!" Gajeel bellowed and bulldozed forwards to slam his forehead straight into Natsu's with a solid clang of iron that sent him spinning.

"HOW DARE YOU STRIKE, GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia yelled and threw a watery blast at Elfman.

"BACK OFF, GAJEEL! I'M FIGHTING NATSU!" Gray got up and bodily threw himself at the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"OH, I'M GETTING IN ON THIS!" Cana laughed as she pulled Natsu to his feet and swung him around by the arm to throw him at Juvia. And in mere moments what looked like half the people in the room had descended into a full scale brawl, punching and kicking and beating at each other with furious energy. Every non-Fairy Tail member was left stunned, watching the fighting and unable to believe their eyes.

"What are they doing?" Tonks cried. "They're all friends!"

"This happens all the time," Lucy sighed. "Hardly a day goes by back home where some kind of fight doesn't start."

"Best to let them get it out of their systems," Mira chuckled.

"They've had to suppress themselves from doing this while staying with Sirius or Aberforth," Gildarts smiled. "But now they're in a room they'd have a hard time destroying. They can finally let rip again."

"Besides, fighting is one of the way these guys bond with each other," Lisanna pointed out. "In Fairy Tail, everyone is friends with everyone, but they're also rivals. And the boys have fun reminding each other of that."

"The girls usually stay out of it though," Erza laughed, right up until Gajeel was thrown right into her and they both slammed into the wall. Seconds later Erza shoved Gajeel away and bellowed, "WHO DID THAT!? CEASE THIS AT ONCE, YOU IDIOTS!" and hypocritically she tossed herself right into the fray to bludgeon Elfman in the face with her armoured fist.

The Hogwarts students all stood together, staring in absolute disbelief.

"Well, it's official," Ron said. "These guys are bonkers."

Harry had to agree.

"Let's just be glad they're on our side."


	42. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 42:- Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger**

* * *

"So we're seriously going to just sit back and trust them all?" Zacharias Smith glowered in the Hufflepuff Common Room that evening. "We're not even going to question all of this?"

"Seems to me like you've already done plenty of questioning of it," Ernie replied with a distasteful expression. He and the rest of the Hufflepuff DA members had congregated together in one corner to converse in hushed tones about the overwhelming amount of information that had been dumped on them earlier. Each one of them was still having difficulty processing it all, with the possible exception of Susan Bones who just had to contend with the fact that Sirius Black was apparently innocent.

"I'm just saying," Smith snorted. "We still don't have any actual solid proof that what they're saying is true."

"Other than the fact we all just had a lovely conversation with them?" Hannah shook her head. "No, I believe what Harry's saying. I believe that they're not the enemy."

"It's naive to just trust them based on first impressions," Zacharias countered. "Sure they seemed friendly enough but we've got to take everything we hear with a pinch of salt. They just brought in Sirius Black for crying out loud. What if he decides to murder all of us in our beds?"

"Well for starters how would he get into our Common Room?" Ernie asked.

"Hello? He's in the freaking Room of Requirement. They could probably make a tunnel from there to here and utterly bypass the password-protected entrance if they wanted to."

"Hey, that's a good idea," Justin said. "Let's suggest that to Harry in the morning - it would save us having to sneak around the castle to get to the next DA meeting if we could do that."

"What's your problem anyway, Zach?" Susan glared at him sternly, almost mimicking her aunt with her demeanour. "Why are you so determined to believe the worst of Harry and his friends? You don't believe anything they say to you and all they're doing is trying to prepare us for what's out there. You should be grateful to Harry, not sneering at him all the time and questioning his every move."

"All the papers say he's a liar," Zacharias pointed out.

"All the papers say that Fairy Tail are maniacal lunatics with god complexes," Ernie chided him. "But that's not what I saw today - I saw a bunch of people that are very grounded considering the power that they wield. Not a single one of them I spoke to was even slightly arrogant about how much stronger they were than us. And besides, I seem to recall the papers saying that Cedric Diggory died in a tragic accident, but we all know that's not true, is it? You all saw his body when Harry appeared with it last year - he was a bit bruised and battered but he didn't have a single injury that could have been fatal. It had to be a Killing Curse that killed him. There's no other explanation."

That quietened down the whole group, even Zacharias' face falling at the memory of their fallen House Champion. All of them had resented Harry for getting into the Triwizard Tournament, believing he was trying to take the attention away from their house. Now that they knew Harry had been forced into competing with the aim of bringing Voldemort back, most of them felt extremely guilty for doing so.

"…But how do we know that Potter wasn't the one who cast the Killing Curse?" Zacharias suddenly said.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Justin shouted, loud enough to draw the attention of most of the room. He had to wait until they'd gone back to what they were doing before he continued. "Look, you suspicious idiot, I seem to recall there was a time where pretty much everyone in the school thought that Harry was evil. Especially me when he spoke in Parseltongue to that snake coming towards me. But we know it wasn't him now. He killed the Basilisk that almost killed me. He fought off over one-hundred Dementors. He stopped You-Know-Who from getting the Philosopher's Stone. He's done heroic things you can only daydream about doing yourself and you still think this badly of him?"

"I just think its a pretty big coincidence that he only ever seems to do this stuff when nobody else is around to see it," Zacharias glowered as he stood up and walked away without saying another word. The other four watched him go sourly, each of them wondering how such a nasty prick had ended up in Hufflepuff and not Slytherin.

"We're going to have to keep an eye on him," Susan said. "I think most of the DA is willing to listen to reason and keep their promises not to tell anybody but of all of us, he's probably the biggest risk."

"Agreed," Ernie said, puffing out his chest a little importantly. "Justin and I will make sure he stays quiet. And if it looks like he's going to blab… we'll think of something."

"Maybe we should start learning how to do Memory Charms," Hannah suggested. "Just in case we need to make him forget all about the DA and Fairy Tail."

"Good idea," Susan nodded, before she suddenly grinned. "But on another note… who else is looking forward to our next DA meeting?"

"Definitely me," Hannah beamed. "I want to see what Fairy Tail can do."

"Don't we all?" Justin laughed.

* * *

The DA members of the Ravenclaw common room were having a similar discussion, though there were slightly more of them and they were accompanied by Pantherlily, who was taking up his usual vigil alongside Luna. Mavis had altered the illusion around him now so that all DA members could also see him for what he really looked like as opposed to normal looking grizzled black cat that everyone else saw.

"It's just so fascinating isn't it?" Padma Patil was saying. "A whole other universe out there that nobody's ever heard of until recently and we're among the very first people on our world to get a chance to talk one-on-one with people from it."

"We're still quite far down the list though," Terry pointed out. "There's got to be at least… twenty to thirty people that got a chance to speak with them before us."

"Well yeah but considering how many people there are in our world, that's high up the list from my perspective," Padma shrugged.

"Can you imagine how cool it would be to explore their world?" Anthony Goldstein grinned. "I mean, it might not be unexplored territory for the local but it would be for people in our world. It'd be like… a jungle expedition where there are still people who've never seen a white man, except in their world we'd probably be able to blend in with a crowd pretty well."

"Perhaps you'd be interested to know," Pantherlily chuckled in a low voice. "That I'm not actually from the same universe as Fairy Tail. I'm from yet another one."

"You are!?" Michael Corner gasped. "But I thought you came to this world with Fairy Tail."

"I did. I live in their world, but I'm not from there. Exceed aren't native to their Earthland. We come from a place called Edolas."

"No way!" Anthony beamed. "You have to tell us about it! Everything that you can, please do tell us."

"Well there's quite a lot to tell," Lily shrugged. "Where would you like me to begin?"

"Perhaps you could start by telling us about its animals," Luna smiled. "My father would be very interested to hear about what kinds of exotic fauna could be found in another world. If there are humans in your worlds too then are there perhaps any Crumple Horned Snorkacks?"

"…Not that I'm aware of but I can tell you about Legions. Huge, winged creatures that look like crosses between small dragons and massive bats."

It seemed that the natural curiosity of Ravenclaws was enough to overwhelm any suspicions they might have for the group. With one notable exception - Marietta Edgecombe was still looking at Pantherlily like he was an alien… which he kinda was. Not a dangerous alien per se… it was more like she had just met E.T. for the first time and wasn't really sure what the heck to make of him.

She was particularly mindful of the fact this cat had apparently spent the evening terrifying Umbridge and that frightened her in turn.

A fact that Cho Chang was easily able to pick up on.

"What are you thinking, Marietta?" she asked. "Are you still worried about your mother?"

"Well, how can I not be?" Marietta fretted, loudly enough to draw the attention of the rest of the group. "What am I supposed to do? Umbridge could end my mother's career in an instant. What would happen if she somehow found out that I knew what this invisible werewolf that's stalking her really is and I said nothing to her?"

"You shouldn't worry too much about possibilities," Luna said vaguely. "There are so many of them that we'd never get anywhere if we tried to think through them all. We should just do what we feel needs to be done."

"What do you know?" Marietta snapped at her.

"My father posts articles in his magazine that he knows will make many people judge him," Luna said simply. "That they might think he's crazy or delusional… but he publishes them anyway because he thinks people deserve to know things that the Daily Prophet won't tell them. He does what he thinks is right. Regardless of the consequences."

The Ravenclaws stared at Luna in surprise. Most of things Luna said and did were often… a bit strange, to say the least. And they'd all read _The Quibbler_ at least once so they were well aware it was usually full of complete baloney, or sometimes things that had a grain of truth but were hopelessly misinformed. And they were all well aware of the fact that Luna believed in a lot of things which… just weren't true.

But in spite of all that, she was actually quite insightful when she wanted to be.

"She's right," Cho said, looking to her friend and placing a hand over the top of Marietta's own. "We have to do this, Mari. We have to because… because…" a lump appeared in her throat and she stopped talking. Like the Hufflepuffs, she was remembered Cedric at this moment, and the fact Umbridge and the Ministry were not willing to admit the truth behind his death filled her with bile.

"Think of it this way, Miss Edgecombe," Pantherlily said. "Power is a dangerous thing in the hands of the wrong people… and this Umbridge definitely counts at the wrong people. If our plan works we may be able to unseat her from her power and if that happens she will no longer hold any sway over your mother. But that's only if she doesn't learn the truth about the invisible werewolf. You want to help your mother? That's good. You can start by helping me."

Marietta was silent for a good minute, under the watchful eyes of the rest of the group.

"You really think that you can bring her down just by haunting her?" she eventually said.

"It's a work in progress, but I believe this is the first stage, yes."

"What's the second stage?"

"Probably pushing her into making some serious, and preferably public, mistakes. I'll tell you when we come up with it, but everything relies on her not finding out about what we're doing. Or about Fairy Tail's alliance with the Order and the DA. Are you okay with that?"

"…I still don't like it," Marietta whispered. "But… I agree. She is a horrible… evil woman."

"Anyone who could do that thing to Harry's hand… or anyone's hand… is evil," Cho agreed.

"If you really think that you can get her out of office…" Marietta whispered. "Then… I promise I won't say anything. But please… get her out of here as fast as you can."

"Will do," Pantherlily smirked. "Now… I believe I was telling you all about Legions."

* * *

The fighting that had broken out in the Room of Requirement had actually been one of the longer ones. After all, some of the Fairy Tail members had a few week's worth of punching and kicking at each other to make up for. But eventually it had died down and despite a few large bruises and welts across their skin, none of them looked too worse for wear. Nothing a little of Wendy's healing magic couldn't fix up instantly.

Now they were starting to make themselves more at home in their new quarters. Some of the girls had gone to have a bath - which hadn't been that easy at Grimmauld Place given there was only one bath and a large number of people to share it with whereas here there was a much more communal tub like the one from Fairy Hills. Some of the guys had gone to select their beds, which almost led to another fight breaking out between Gray and Gajeel as they both wanted the one on the far side. In the end it was rendered pointless because both of them decided they'd be staying the night elsewhere anyway.

Lucy lamented that there were no windows anywhere in this place, but that was hardly surprising. They needed a place where nobody could find them after all, and if there was a window then there was a risk, however small, that someone on a broomstick might be able to spot them through it.

But for the other Gryffindors it was getting late. It was almost time for them to head to bed but before they left… they had one more surprise in store when suddenly Dumbledore strode into the room, flanked by Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.

"Ah, quite marvellous. Quite marvellous indeed," Dumbledore smiled brightly as he looked around the room. "I hope that this castle never ceases to amaze me with its newfound secrets. My time as Headmaster would be made considerably more dull if my school building happened to be the same every day."

"Professor," Hermione squeaked. "What… what are you doing here?"

"I invited them," Sirius said. "Soon as I heard about the Room I thought it would be good for them to come and see it for themselves."

"He is after all the Head of the Order and this school both," Lupin pointed out. "If Fairy Tail is to stay here then he ought to know."

"But… what about…?" Hermione fretted, a clear terror grasping her heart at the thought of what the Headmaster would make of their illegal Defence Against the Dark Arts group.

"I refuse to believe that any of my students could know about this room," Dumbledore gave Hermione a poignant stare, a slightly mischievous glint at the back of his pupils. "It is a complete coincidence that happened upon this room and I am certain I will forget all about it once I leave. Old age does start to affect the memory after all."

"…Thanks…" Harry said dumbly, a collective sigh of relief passing through the group.

"I'll be honest here, Mr. Potter," McGonagall walked up to him sternly. "I am not sure what to make of this. It is a serious breach of the rules and I ought to give you a detention every night for the rest of the year… and I have to admit… I'm rather proud all the same. Do keep me informed on the progress of your students if you can."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, his legs feeling a bit like jelly.

"Let us hope…" Snape said slowly, peering down his nose at Harry. "That this illicit activity doesn't… subject you to the supposed curse placed upon the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. It would be… a travesty… if something were to happen to you, Mr. Potter. Truly it would."

Harry scowled, unimpressed by Snape's attempt to rattle him even though it worked ever so slightly. He'd never even considered that. To be honest he didn't really believe it was cursed but that would seriously suck if it did. Though then again, if that got Umbridge out by the end of the year then he wouldn't need to keep teaching into the next one.

"Then we have your permission to stay here, Headmaster?" Erza asked, taking up a mantle of leadership amongst the Fairies despite the fact she'd already requipped into her her pyjamas.

"You do," Dumbledore nodded warmly. "I can't say I condone your decision to let a bunch of my students know about you… and most especially about you, Sirius," he turned and gave the Animagus a stare that could have melted wood for a moment. "But, as I told Mavis some time ago, I will not presume to try and control you. The decisions on how Fairy Tail conducts its business are entirely your own as long as they do not end up being detrimental to the Order, which I hope will not be the case here. However… that is not the main reason I came here. Harry?"

"Yes, Professor?" Harry asked quickly.

Now Dumbledore's tone became much more serious, a grave look falling over his face that made him look even older than usual. "Tell me everything you can about that dream you had last night."

"Dream?" Ginny blinked. "What dream?"

"Did it happen again?" Ron pressed with immediate interest. "Did you see what You-Know-Who was doing? And hey, why didn't you mention it before?"

"'Cause I didn't want you to worry until after the first meeting," Harry murmured. "Yeah… I saw Voldemort. I saw his Death Eaters. But I also saw… or rather heard… a lot more than that."

By the time he'd finished telling them about Voldemort's altercation with Morgana, Ron had gone as white as chalk. As had Ginny and both the Weasley twins. Hermione and Snape both looked sceptical but very alarmed, while McGonagall just looked alarmed. Dumbledore himself gave nothing away, standing back and taking a deep breath. He didn't question whether Harry was sure he'd heard the name right. He had every confidence that Harry had made no mistake.

"Morgana Pendragon," he said slowly. "That's a name that I never thought would cause concerns in my future."

"But she can't be alive," McGonagall swallowed. "It's impossible… she died over one and a half thousand years ago - nobody lives for that long."

"We know someone who's been alive for at least four hundred years," Erza stated sombrely. "If Zeref's reign had been one and a half thousand years ago in our world, perhaps he would still be alive after that too. Who's to say this Morgana isn't the same."

"And an explanation was given as to how she could still be alive in the dream itself," Dumbledore murmured.

"But… but Morgan Le Fay?" Ron gasped, his throat constricting slightly and feeling uncomfortably dry. "THE Morgan Le Fay? The same woman who briefly managed to overthrow the King and unleashed all kinds of horrors upon the entire country?"

"Is she really all that bad?" Natsu asked from where he was sitting on the floor nearby.

"She's worse," Ginny replied. "Every witch and wizard born into a magical family grows up on stories of her. There isn't a child in a Pureblood family who doesn't lie away at night sometimes, staring at the door as if expecting her to come through it at any moment. If the Ministry doesn't want to admit that Voldemort's returned, what are they going to think if they're told Morgana Pendragon might be alive too?"

"I think it's fair to say that people are more afraid of Voldemort than Morgana in this time period," Sirius said. "But that's only because Voldemort is a much more recent threat. If Morgana really did return… people might actually start using Voldemort's name again just so they can refer to her as You-Know-Who instead."

"But how do you know she's so terrible anyway?" Natsu pressed. "If all you've got is stories… how can you be sure she's that much of a threat?"

"He's got a point," Gray nodded. "In our world we still have physical proof of how strong Zeref was even four-hundred years later. The demons he made still sometimes break loose and tear through towns and villages alike. Does Morgana have anything like that still around today?"

"…Well… no…" McGonagall murmured. "She does not."

"Then how can you know for certain?" Gray asked.

"Yeah. Besides, when I met Zeref… the guy was weird," Natsu murmured. "He didn't… seem… like the bad guy everyone was always telling me he was."

"Aye… he cried and ran away after killing a bunch of trees with his magic," Happy agreed. "He didn't really look evil at all."

"But in my dream," Harry said. "That guy Rustyrose told Voldemort that he'd appeared on their ship just before the dragon attack and murdered this… Master Hades, I think it was… in an instant flat."

"Wha…!?" Natsu gaped in alarm, as did most of the other Fairies there. "Master Hades…? He's dead?"

"That's what I heard," Harry shrugged.

"A man that powerful… killed instantly…" Erza whispered. "We were barely able to defeat him even with the help of a few lucky turns of events and the combined efforts of myself, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Wendy and Laxus, all of us using all the power we had. Granted he was quite beaten up when Zeref came across him but still to die so fast…"

There was a solemn silence throughout the room as the Fairies digested this news. Hovering nearby, Mavis bit her lip and turned to stare blankly at the wall, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes but quickly wiping them away before anyone could see them.

"Anyway, like I was saying," Natsu shook his head. "We know how powerful Zeref is. Are you certain that Morgana is as strong as all the stories say?"

"We really do only have stories, many of which may not even be true," Moody conceded. "But if some of them are… they claim she was the most powerful sorceress to ever live in our world by a considerable margin."

"And that is true."

Everyone turned to look at Lisanna, who had been the one to speak having emerged from the bathroom with a towel a few minutes ago in preparation to head to the bath (which the girls felt comfortable using even with all the boys there because the boys couldn't actually open the door - they'd made them try).

"Excuse me?" McGonagall stared at her.

"It's true that Morgana is the most powerful sorceress from this world ever," Lisanna repeated.

"And how would you know this?" Snape asked her sceptically.

"Kilgharrah," Lisanna replied. "The dragon who gave me my Dragon Soul. He was around in the time of Merlin and Morgana - he told me he knew Merlin personally. And he told me that while most of the stories about Morgana are not true, such as the one about her having a child with King Arthur - apparently that never happened, she was definitely the most powerful sorceress ever."

This wasn't actually true - Kilgharrah had never even mentioned Morgana when Lisanna had spoken to him. But Lisanna had just been told a few minutes ago by Igneel. Her telepathy was not strong enough to reach Kilgharrah wherever he was, but the dragons themselves were still in contact with him and exchanging information which they were passing on to her now.

_Kilgharrah also says that Merlin did indeed banish her from time and space within the Crystal Cave after the Battle of Camlann when King Arthur died despite his insistence that he should kill her and be done with it,_ Igneel reported to her. _And he can sense a stirring within the Old Religion. A stirring which indicates that Morgana may definitely be close to retuning._

_Bloody evil nemesises,_ Metalicana grunted. _Acnologia, Zeref, this Morgana woman, that Voldemort guy… no matter what universe they're from they just refuse to die, don't they?_

_Technically the plural for nemesis is nemeses,_ Grandine said.

_Really? You're correcting my grammar now?_

Lisanna didn't report this part, unable to think of a way of saying it that wouldn't sound suspicious as to how she knew so much, but her words had an impact on her audience nevertheless.

"Well… looks like we might have a whole bucketload of new problems to look forward to," Tonks said dryly.

"Yes…" Dumbledore nodded slowly. "Finding Voldemort has become more important than ever. If we can find him then perhaps we can find a way to stop Morgana, if she is indeed about to rise once more. Which seems unfortunately likely… given how accurate Harry's dreams have been so far."

He gave Harry a bizarre look as if he was trying to look inside him. It was a look that made Harry extraordinarily uncomfortable and raised a question he hadn't really been asking that hard until now? Why did he have dreams of what Voldemort was doing? He'd taken it pretty much for granted for a while… after all there had to be some magical reason and it was certainly a useful skill to have… but why?

He had a feeling that he was not going to like the answer.

* * *

Needless to say, the destruction of Azkaban and the escape of Sirius and ten high security Death Eaters did not go over well in the wider Wizarding World. Mass hysteria was beginning to break out all over the place, with people wondering if their houses would be the next on Fairy Tail's list of targets after the Malfoy Manor… and whether they'd be as lucky as the Malfoys when it came to escaping with their lives.

It was felt to a much lesser extent at Hogwarts, where most of the students still felt relatively safe behind the wards, but people were still jumpy and they usually only travelled together in large groups as if that would somehow help them if a Death Eater appeared around the corner. The grounds were empty when they would normally be filled with students attempting to enjoy the last of the sunshine before the winter set in. And students tore into their letters the next morning, desperate to hear that their families were safe for another day.

The effects were felt a little more at the Ministry. A huge crowd of scared witches and wizards amassed in the Atrium, demanding to see Fudge and hear what he was planning to do about all this. The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes were working double time across the country to sort out incidents where an unfortunate Muggle had been hit with a nasty hex because they'd been mistaken for a Death Eater or Fairy Tail mage by a panicked wizard or witch. And the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was also kept busy dealing with a few duels that broke out across the country and a few nasty counterfeit protective items that had sprung up out of nowhere, con artists being very quick to take advantage of everyone's fear.

For that reason, Scrimgeour was unable to attend to the meeting he'd asked for Kingsley and Tonks to arrange between himself, Dumbledore and someone from Fairy Tail until a couple of days later. When he could finally break away he brought Gawain Robards with him. But Dumbledore had not been keen on the idea of letting the Head of the Auror Office into Grimmauld Place just yet so Kingsley had arranged for the meeting to take place at the Hog's Head.

When Scrimgeour arrived he was met by Dumbledore and McGonagall, as well as Lucy and Levy. These two girls were the ones that Scrimgeour had had the most communication with so it made sense for them to be there. Gildarts was also standing in the corner, and when Gawain spotted him he immediately bowed his head in respect.

"I never got a chance to properly thank you for saving my life," he said gruffly. "That monster you fought killed my team. If it hadn't been for you I would probably be rotting at the bottom of the ocean by now."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for your team," Gildarts replied sombrely. "But I least I could be there for one of you. But that monster is still out there somewhere… and I'll make sure he's held accountable for his actions, sooner or later."

"There are many monsters out there which are being overlooked in favour of needlessly pursuing you lot," Scrimgeour sighed. "Sadly the public are very much under the belief that you are the enemy and Fudge really isn't handling this well. At the very least he should be making sure the press think he's got everything under control rather than simply scaring them."

"To be fair, I'm not entirely certain how he could convince anyone that he has anything under control whatsoever while still portraying Fairy Tail as the enemy," McGonagall noted. "Tuesday's events must have seemed quite catastrophic from his perspective. And nobody would think anything was under control at all so soon after that."

"Good point," Scrimgeour grunted. "But I, at the very least, am willing to admit that I made a mistake when I went along with the scaremongering. At least there are people like you in the world, Dumbledore, who have some sense about them."

"I would not say I had any more sense than the average wizard," Dumbledore smiled. "I would simply say that I am more willing than most to stop and listen before judging other people or what they are doing. I must admit, had I learned about Fairy Tail in another way I too might have suspected they were alien invaders for a time. I was fortunate to have met a frightened young girl first in that regard."

"The Minister met a frightened young girl too," Scrimgeour pointed out, turning his gaze upon Levy. "And he still treated you like a threat. I must sincerely apologise to you, Miss McGarden."

"That's okay," Levy said quickly, waving her hands earnestly. "It wasn't you who gave the order to set those things on me."

"But I did not object to it either. And yet, without you to open my eyes, perhaps I would still believe that you and your comrades were malicious invaders."

"That's our Levy-chan," Lucy patting the bookworm on the back, causing the bluenette to blush slightly. "It seems she has a knack for winning people over. That's the second time it's happened."

"What was the first time?" Levy asked in bemusement.

"Gajeel of course," Lucy leaned down and smirked into her ear. "Don't think I haven't noticed the way you bring him out of his shell."

"Wha…! What's are you…?" Levy stuttered - why the hell did everyone insist on teasing her about her friendship with Gajeel like this? She shook her head violently, getting rid of the errant thoughts that had started running through and blotting out Lucy's laughter.

"Anyway," Scrimgeour cleared his throat. "I thought I'd like to learn more about what you've been doing from your own mouths. Clearly there are many things going on and the Ministry's intelligence on it is sorely lacking. Shacklebolt and Tonks have filled me in on much of the details, such as the remaining Fairy Spheres dotted about the place. But if the Aurors are going to work around you we need to know all the information you have with regards to our real enemy."

"It seems, rather unfortunately that we're adding to our ever-growing list of enemies," Dumbledore replied. "We've gained some mighty allies in Fairy Tail. But we're gaining some mighty foes as well."

"Tell me everything," Scrimgeour replied. "Let's start with this Grimoire Heart. What do you know about them?"

For the next half hour they talked back and forth, Gawain making notes as Lucy, Levy and Gildarts took turns describing what they knew of the remaining Grimoire Heart members. The three of them had, between them, encountered all the main members that remained given that Zancrow and Hades were dead, Azuma had become a tree and from what Gray and Juvia had said Ultear had defected from their side and Meredy had probably done the same. Gildarts explained in detail everything that he had seen Bluenote do both times that he had encountered the Gravity Mage. Lucy told them about Kain Hikaru, who according to Harry's dream would most likely be showing up at some point in the future. And Levy told them everything she knew about Rustyrose, but she also mentioned the two lieutenants that she and Gajeel had fought against, Yomazu and Kawazu.

"I have no idea if its likely those two will be showing up," she said when she finished. "But they were strong, almost strong enough to make it into the Seven Kin of Purgatory, so we should probably still be on the lookout for them."

"…I'm sorry, can you say that again?" Gawain asked incredulously. "One of our enemies might be a chicken-man who can fire eggs from his beak?"

"…He's tougher than that makes it sound," Levy muttered defensively. "But yes. It's a possibility."

"Regardless of how tough this chicken-man may be," Dumbledore said, "I'm afraid there may be a possibility that Voldemort and Grimoire Heart are not the only enemies we will have to face. Recent… evidence… has come to light that indicates another threat may be about to rise. One from our own world, as a matter of fact."

"…What do you mean?" Scrimgeour asked suspiciously.

So Dumbledore told him.

And the news sent Scrimgeour reeling with a mixture of shock and incredulity.

"Morgana!" he gasped. "Morgana Pendragon! You can't be serious, Dumbledore! You expect me to believe that an ancient sorceress from a century and a half ago is still alive and could rise again at any time?"

"Have I lied to you so far?" Dumbledore pointed out, a question which stopped Scrimgeour in his tracks. "I told you the truth about Voldemort. I am telling you the truth about Fairy Tail. And I am telling you what I know now. I do not say it is fact. The only thing we have to base this on is a dream of Harry's after all. But Harry has been known to have startlingly accurate dreams in the past. As I told you before, I am willing to listen and consider the possibilities, so while I cannot say for certain that Morgana will return I will not be quick to dismiss it entirely. And neither should you."

Leaning back in his chair, Scrimgeour let out one long, slow breath - like he lapsed into momentary meditation in order to digest this news. "I suppose you're right," he conceded. "But Morgana Pendragon… I hope to any God in heaven, to Merlin himself, that what you say isn't true."

"A sentiment everyone familiar with Morgana shares," McGonagall agreed.

"But if it is the case," Gawain said. "Then surely it'll be more important than ever to finally put aside this unnecessary witch-hunt for Fairy Tail. So that we can all work together in fighting the real enemy rather than each other."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Gildarts asked. "I think in the last few weeks we've managed to trash just about all of the most important Wizarding places in this entire country. The Government… twice… the Bank, the Prison… only the School hasn't fallen victim to us yet."

"Not quite true," Dumbledore chuckled. "Wendy did manage to wreck part of our Quidditch stadium when she arrived on our campus. Though we certainly did get off lightly compared to the other places."

"We really haven't been painting a very good picture of ourselves from an outsider's perspective, have we?" Lucy murmured embarrassedly.

"To be fair we… really haven't been doing anything that we don't do in our own world," Levy coughed. "It's a wonder more people there don't resent us for the amount of damage most of us usually leave behind them. The Council there hate us and they're already familiar with guild systems. How are we supposed to ingratiate ourselves to a government that doesn't understand us at all after everything that's happened?"

"I guess the only way is for someone to meet with the Minister and the Wizengamot and make them understand somehow," Scrimgeour replied.

"Yeah, one slight problem with that," Gildarts raised his hand. "If one of us were to meet with the Minister he'd try and arrest us pretty much straight away. And based on prior encounters with him, that is not going to end well for anyone."

"If he tries to arrest us we'll either be forced to resist him and escape, thus causing more damage and lowering our reputation even further," Lucy held up one finger. "Or we turn ourselves in and we'll probably be subjected to any Dementor that's still skulking around the Ministry." She held up another finger.

"I wouldn't recommend that," Scrimgeour shook his head. "The Minister is now talking about subjecting all Fairy Tail members to the Dementor's Kiss upon capture rather than imprisoning you."

"He's what!?" McGonagall cried. "He can't do that, surely!"

"He can. The majority of the Wizengamot is behind him and the terrified populace are calling for it too. Azkaban was our best prison and it was completely demolished. We have no facilities capable of holding your more powerful members since we can't just render you harmless by confiscating a wand like we do with everyone else. They think this is the only way to deal with you now."

"Great," Levy facepalmed in exasperation. "Just great. So what do we do?"

"I have a suggestion, but I'm not sure how well it could work," Scrimgeour said. "What do you know about… what was it…?" he clicked his fingers as he struggled to recall a memory. "The… the world of the… Celestial Spirits? Yeah, that was it."

"The Spirit World?" Lucy asked sharply. "What about it?"

"Oh, so you're familiar with it. Well yes, you must have heard about the way Sirius Black escaped. I'm fully aware that he's innocent now thanks to Shacklebolt and Tonks but he was broken out by a third party that knew he was innocent, and knew you were as well. These… beings from this Spirit World that could appear out of nowhere…"

"Er… let me stop you there," Lucy held up a hand sheepishly. "Sirius Black actually was rescued by Fairy Tail. I guess Kingsley and Tonks forgot to mention this part but the Celestial Spirits are actually my allies."

"Your allies?"

"Yes. I was there that day, in disguise." Lucy held up her pouch of golden and silver keys. "My magic allows me to summon beings from the Spirit World to come and fight at my side. It's an alliance that's been in my world for thousands of years. Celestial Spirit Mages form contracts with the Spirits and the Spirits come to help them when needed. So when Sirius was being rescued, I was surreptitiously summoning them to help out with these keys."

"…Of course!" Scrimgeour gasped. "How did I not realise that? I saw you summon that bull and that girl with the ram horns on Mount Cairngorm. How did I not put two and two together there?"

"Well… I didn't use either of them at the Ministry," Lucy pointed out. "And Loke was careful to tell everyone he wasn't one of us. We didn't want to be implicated because that would give the Ministry another reason to think we're bad guys… though what happened at Azkaban kinda ruined that."

"Loke… he was the one with the cat-like ears who fired light from his hands?"

"That's the one. He's the leader of the Twelve Zodiac Spirits, based on the twelve constellations. His real name is Leo the lion, but he prefers to be called Loke nowadays."

"Well, your attempt not to set the Ministry any more against you there may not have worked but you may have accomplished something else. His statements that You-Know-Who and Pettigrew were alive and that Sirius and Fairy Tail were innocent were heard by a great many people. I don't think anybody really believed him but they still heard him. I'm thinking that if Fairy Tail lays low for a while, he and his fellow Spirits could continue to act as emissaries and insist upon their message. I thought that perhaps their ability to appear out of and disappear into think air regardless of wards would make them ideal candidates as they could escape instantly if the Minister tried to apprehend them, with no need for a fight."

"Do you know, I rather like that idea," Dumbledore mused. "Some of them have powers akin to you mages. Perhaps being presented with friendly faces who do not use violence and present reasonable arguments, who are doing this with no visible benefit to themselves, could get more of the Ministry thinking instead of taking what they're seeing at face value."

"It's a lovely idea but it's not that simple," Lucy bit her lip. "The Spirits can't just show up wherever they want to. They have to appear within the vicinity of their key. The key is their anchor point to this world through which they open their gate."

"…I see…" Scrimgeour mused. "And only you can summon them?"

"Only a Celestial Spirit Mage can yes," Lucy nodded. "Although Loke and Virgo can open their gates under their own power. The other Spirits can't as far as I know but those two can."

"Well then, there's your answer," Scrimgeour said. "If you give their keys to me then I can smuggle them into the Ministry and then those two can appear there to do their emissary work."

Lucy's hand immediately clapped over her keys and she held them close to her chest. "No," she said quickly, shaking her head. "I'm sorry… but these keys are precious to me. They're the doorways to many of my dearest friends. I don't like giving them out to anyone."

"But this could help your cause. Could help us all if the Spirits can sway the Wizengamot…"

"If the Spirit keys go somewhere then I go with them," Lucy insisted. "I formed a contract with them and I promised to keep their keys safe. I won't risk losing them in the heart of the Ministry."

"…It'll be a lot harder to smuggle you into the Ministry whenever one of them needs to appear there," Scrimgeour pointed out.

"Perhaps you don't need to," Levy tapped her lip. "You could always get the Spirits into the Ministry in the same way you smuggled yourself in last time, Lucy."

"Oh yes!" Lucy brightened immediately. "Of course! Then the keys wouldn't even have to go into the Ministry at all."

"Sorry, what are you talking about?" Scrimgeour asked.

"One of the Spirits, Gemini, has the ability to take on the shape of anyone they touch," Lucy explained. "Unless the person they are trying to copy is more powerful than the mage they have a contract with. In this case, me. When they do successfully copy someone they gain access to all their abilities. And they can transform into the two most recent people they've become any time they like afterwards. So if I was to summon Gemini outside the Ministry, they could transform into a Ministry employee and infiltrate the place, then find somewhere to hide and turn into me, and then they'd be able to summon other Spirits within the Ministry. Then if they need to flee, Gemini could pop back to the Spirit World in an instant just like the other Spirits."

"An ingenious strategy," Dumbledore smiled. "I remember you saying that this particular Spirit can also gain access to all the memories of those they transform into which allows them to play the part perfectly."

"It sounds like it could definitely work," Scrimgeour nodded, tapping his chin in thought.

"The only problem is that I can only summon one Spirit at a time," Lucy said. "Which means that Gemini will also be able to summon only one Spirit at a time so the Wizengamot would only receive single emissaries. That might not be a big deal, but it also means I won't be able to summon any more to help me out if I get into trouble while they're in there."

"Well then," Levy grinned. "I guess you've just got yourself a little more incentive to train yourself to the point where you can open at least two gates at the same time."

"I suppose I have," Lucy clenched her fists, as if pumping herself up to begin training right away. "I'll get stronger, just like everyone else. That I promise you."

"Let's hope that the Spirits can help to pave the way to peace," said Dumbledore.

* * *

Things began to settle into more of a routine after that. Voldemort and Grimoire Heart were evidently keeping close to the ground just as much as the Fairies. There was no news about them, not even from Snape as the Potion's Master had yet to be contacted again by the Dark Lord, which meant at present nobody could confirm or deny whether the two groups were even still together.

A couple of days after moving into the Room of Requirement, the Portkey cage that had been stolen from the Ministry was used to transport the Fairy Sphere that had been rescued from the Malfoy Manor into the stadium-room. They figured it was a good place to keep it. Certainly better than keeping it outside where they'd have to assign someone to keep an eye on it at all times.

And most importantly of all, things began to get back to normal at Hogwarts as well. Or at least normal as things could be under the circumstances. Everyone from the DA kept quiet about Fairy Tail, though it clearly wasn't easy for some of them, particularly gossips like Parvati and Lavender, but they managed to keep things under wraps.

Dean Thomas was perhaps having the hardest time of hushing it up. He ended up having many conversations about Fairy Tail with Seamus Finnegan, who was still avoiding Harry like the plague but seemed to find the Fairies a particularly fascinating topic. He was constantly wondering what kind of things they could do, what kind of magic they had. And it was frustratingly hard for Dean not to tell him exactly how he could find out for himself.

"Can we not just let him in on the secret?" he asked Harry plaintively one day before breakfast after Seamus had already left the dormitory. "I'm sure he can keep his mouth shut about them too."

But Harry had been obstinate, not to mention grumpy. "Seamus still thinks I'm a liar and that anyone who supports me is mental. What if he finds out I'm being backed by Fairy Tail and takes that as proof as to everything the Daily Prophet's been saying about me and them. What would we do with him then? We shouldn't risk it until he's willing to see the truth for what it is."

Dean had looked strained but finally nodded and let it slide for now.

There were a few other notable differences in the place now. And one of the biggest was Malfoy. He was no longer strutting about the castle like he owned it. In fact, he was rather subdued ever since he found out his house had been wrecked. Hermione theorised that he might actually be worried that Fairy Tail might go after his family again. The Malfoys had many faults but they weren't a dysfunctional family - they did care about each other. It was almost enough to make both Harry and Ron feel sorry for him… but considering the crap he'd put them through since day one they both still felt he'd just been dealt some serious karma.

Apparently Lucius and Narcissa were temporarily staying with Minister Fudge himself. A deal which nobody in the Order or the DA liked the sound of. The last thing they needed was Lucius whispering into Fudge's ear and making him more stubborn than ever.

Another notable change was Umbridge. Just like Malfoy, she wasn't striding about smarmily anymore. But she was much more jumpy, as if expecting something to come charging round the corridor at her at any moment. This was an amusing site to everyone in the DA who knew what was going on - even Zacharias Smith wasn't a fan of hers. Only Marietta seemed worried about it, but she still said nothing.

But even the other students who were not in the DA were picking up on her behaviour and were acting accordingly, occasionally making a loud noise when she was nearby and watching her leap a foot into the air, pretending they'd fallen over or hurt their hand or something like that when she snapped at them for causing a disturbance. Peeves the poltergeist was having immense fun tormenting her and at one point even Professor Sprout pretended she'd pricked her finger on the thorns of a Rupturing Rose just to startle the High Inquisitor during an inspection of one of her lessons.

And throughout it all the Hogwarts populace moved on, totally unaware that up on the seventh floor, Fairy Tail were working hard to build up their strength.

Natsu and Gray were constantly honing their magical skills, the room providing them with anything they needed from old tyres they could use to tie to their waists and drag behind them as they ran. Natsu worked on improving the destruction power of his attacks by repeatedly seeing how much he could damage the walls before they fixed themselves. Gray was often joined by Juvia, the two of them working together to form water and ice into a myriad of different shapes and push their magic slowly and steadily every time. Though Gray usually had to contend with Juvia practically swooning at how well their magic went together and glomping him part way through the session.

Gajeel and Erza would frequently duel with one another, or with Pantherlily whenever he came to visit, each of them determined to get faster and put more power into their blows. Inevitably Erza was usually the winner of their bouts, but every once in a while the other two would catch her off guard and be able to alter the swing of the fight in their favour for a bit before Erza swung it back again.

There was very little that Elfman could do to expand his own magical repertoire, given that the room couldn't exactly provide him with new Beasts to use his Take-Over magic on, so he compensated by working on bulking up his muscles. The room could certainly provide him with weights and training machines which he worked to the max, often doing so in his Beast form so that he could try expanding his magical power at the same time. He claimed he wasn't going to stop until he had arm muscles as thick as basketballs.

Lucy quickly got to work on expanding her own magical potential as promised, summoning Capricorn from the Spirit World to help tutor her as he had apparently done with her mother. She spent most of her time meditating, breathing deeply and letting her magic rise to the surface, pushing at it and releasing it into the air. It was quite exhausting and it frequently left her drained, but even after a couple of days anyone watching could notice a difference, as she was able to hold it for longer.

For others it wasn't so simple. Wendy and Evergreen were both keen to learn more spells that their magic could accomplish but with no books to teach them, and while a mage often learned many new spells based on pure instinct alone a training environment was not the best one for having to rely upon instinct.

Wendy managed to overcome this by tagging along frequently with either Natsu or Gajeel, watching them using their own attacks and then trying to emulate them with her own Sky Dragon spin on it. Gajeel's attacks seemed mostly to be quite specific to the fact he was an Iron Dragon, but she thought that some of Natsu's could probably work well with wind. So she started trying to practice a Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang - Tenryuu no Saiga - hoping that that would work if she practiced it enough.

And Evergreen received a personal tutor in the form of Mavis.

"Do you know much about Fairy Magic?" Evergreen asked when Mavis offered to help her.

"I know a fair amount," Mavis smiled. "I wanted to learn how to use it myself but by the time I found the books on the subject I already learned a different kind of magic so I never got round to it before… well…" she smiled sadly and shook her head. "But never mind. I do know a good deal about various different kinds of fairies from folklore and tales. And from what I know, each prominent Fairy Magic spell ever created allows for a different manipulation of the fairy dust you produce based on a particular aspect of those fairies."

"I currently have two main ones," Evergreen related. "The Fairy Bomb, Gremlin. And the Fairy Machine Gun, Leprechaun."

"Indeed. Gremlins have long been associated with aircraft which is why they have a bomb-based spell. And the bullets produced by the Machine Gun attack are supposed to look like a shower of golden coins, of which the Leprechaun is known for. But there are many other kinds of Fairies out there, all with their own form of attack. For instance, have you ever heard of an Undine?"

"I have," Evergreen nodded. "They're elemental fairies that are associated with water. They're practically all female and supposedly they have no souls but can acquire one by marrying a human man."

"Correct, that's the folklore. But what's most important here is their water attribute. For that reason, the Fairy Spell of the Undine is based around creating a torpedo of dust. A large projectile that can be fired through air or water to explode upon impact. It has less range than the Machine Gun spell, but more power. It's less accurate than the Fairy Bomb spell but works better at range."

"That sounds handy," Evergreen smirked, shrugging off her coat. "So… where do we start?"

* * *

"Ugh!" Cana cast down her cards in frustration and fell back against the wall, bumping the back of her head against it repeatedly in clear irritation. "Well done, Cana," she muttered. "Well done. You've gone and set yourself an almost impossible task. Develop a new kind of Card Magic, my ass… I need a drink."

"I think that when you're trying to create a new magical type, you really ought to keep your head as clear as possible," Erza said, walking over to stand above the irked brunette. "No Butterbeer for you."

"Ah, come on Erza," Cana pushed herself to her feet. "Just one drink. What would you do if someone tried to cut off your supply of strawberry cake?"

"They wouldn't dare," Erza said immediately, her hand going to her sword as if someone actually was going to try and suggest that. "…Ahem… anyway… have you had any thoughts of any kind?"

"I can have a thousand thoughts but none of them matter without some way of physically transforming the kind of magic I use into something else. Fact is I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I'm not some kind of… magical guru."

"…Hmmm…" Erza tapped her lip thoughtfully. "Well, you've got the Fairy Glitter now. Couldn't you use that as some kind of power source to… transform your magic?"

"I already thought about that, but I don't think that would do very much. At best it would add a light element to all of the spells I already have and make them more powerful, but that would also be very wearing on my body and Mavis told me not to use the spell too much. And it's too specific a spell to really… change… what I'm able to do. It would just add to it really."

"Why exactly do you want to change your Card Magic so much anyway?"

"Because up until this point I've mostly been fighting by throwing out elemental attacks that someone else in Fairy Tail can do better except for a few nifty additional tricks I've got. And I'm through with that. I need to find a way to stand out more besides useful trick every now and then. I need something that'll make me more useful on the front lines."

"I suppose that makes sense… Well then I'm sorry but I really don't know what to do. However," the redhead smirked. "On the subject of nifty tricks, I do have one thing you could try."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Well I wouldn't know how to teach it to you, but I know of a Card based spell which I've never seen you use before. One of my old friends, Shou… he used it on me and on a bunch of other people and it allowed him to… suck an individual person into one of his cards."

"Suck them in?"

"Yes. I suppose it's a little like my Requip magic in that he stored the people inside pocket dimensions, except those pocket dimensions were built within the cards. He could have carried as many people as he had cards around in his pocket if he'd wanted to."

"Huh. You're right, that's not what I'm currently going for but it might be useful," Cana mused, bending down to pick up one card and examining it carefully, turning it over and imagining what it might be like to be trapped inside such a two-dimensional space. "Alright then, I'll set this new branch of magic aside for now and see if I can learn how to do that. Could be useful for sneaking a large group of people into places without being noticed or something like that."

"Indeed," Erza nodded, patting Cana's shoulder. "Learning a new kind of magic is all well and good, but never forget a nifty trick in the right situation can be a lifesaver. So even if you do learn a new kind of magic, don't forget what you already know now because of it."

Cana smiled and nodded, sitting back down and focusing on the card. "So, can I have that Butterbeer now?" she asked.

"No," Erza chuckled and walked away.

* * *

As with everyone else, Lisanna was trying to learn as much as she could about her own new magic. But for her that didn't mean practicing out the spells right away. The Room had provided her with a number of books about the Old Religion that she could tap into in her Kilgharrah form and she was determined to know as much as she could about it. Not just to help her out but because Morgana was a practitioner of the Old Religion herself, and if she really was at risk of coming back it would do well to learn everything they could about her powers.

It was a sentiment shared by Levy, who was flicking through the books rapidly next to her but still taking more time than usual on each page just to make sure she understood everything. Occasionally she would even read a passage aloud:-

"The High Priestesses of the Old Religion are the main servants of the Triple Goddess, she who presides over all, sees all and knows all. The centre of the Old Religion was upon the Isle of the Blessed, located near the Great Seas of Meredor. This Isle was once a haven for all magical people, who would come from far and wide to receive protection and blessings from the Priestesses during times of need. Many magical artefacts of great power were forged upon the island and kept under the protection of the Priestesses, who in turn were protected by the Blood Guard - warrior Priests sworn to defend them."

"Maybe I should go to this place," Lisanna murmured as she looked up from her own book. "It sounds like learning magic like this is tough. This book's telling me all about how it often took years of study and practice before most got any good with their magic."

"Yeah, but you won't have that problem," Levy pointed out. "You've taken on the shape of a creature naturally gifted with these powers and you've already proven you can use them quite well without any study whatsoever."

"I know but… you know… on some level this almost feels wrong to me," Lisanna sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"This magic, this Old Religion… nobody in this world has practiced it in centuries with the exceptions of a couple of dragons as far as I know. Now somebody is finally learning the art again after thousands of years and its an outsider from another world rather than someone like Harry or Dumbledore. I feel like I'm… almost intruding on their culture. On their history."

"Really? I don't see it that way at all," Levy said brightly. "It's not an intrusion. You're shining a light on an ancient history that even most magic users in this world have forgotten about. Look at this book," she hefted up the thick tome she was reading. "I wonder how many people have read this over the last millennium. Not many I'd bet."

"Well, I suppose that's true," Lisanna conceded.

"If you ever need to remember that, just imagine how excited Charlie was when you told him Kilgharrah was real and still alive," Levy beamed. "One day he may meet Kilgharrah himself. And one day, because of you, perhaps magical people in this world will be able to start learning this magic again for themselves. And if you hadn't come along and met Kilgharrah, that might never have happened."

"…Wow, Levy, you really know how to perk someone up," Lisanna grinned. "You're absolutely right. Let's remind the people of this world exactly what they've forgotten." She flipped a page and locked onto a particular word, before her body shifted into its newest form, wings unfolding from her back as she opened her palm and whispered, "Forbearnen…"

Levy noticed that Lisanna's eyes momentarily glowed golden before a small fire popped into existence on her palm. Lisanna smiled and focused upon the flame, making it do little loop-da-loops above her hand and flitting between her fingers before it finally morphed into a tiny fiery dragon's head just above her index finger and poofed back into nothingness.

"How does it feel when you use it?" Levy asked curiously.

"I hadn't really thought about it but… it doesn't actually feel much different to when I use my Take-Over. It may me magic born of another world… it may be an entirely different branch of magic from ours that most people from my world would never be able to learn… but its still magic. The mechanics of the magic between our worlds are different but its essence is still the same… a powerful force of nature, woven into the very fabric of the world. So yeah, it really doesn't feel any different at all."

"Well then I have every confidence that you're going to be a quick student, Lisanna," Levy said. "Now… let's get to the more practical side of things for a bit. According to this book, since this magic is the essence of nature you should be able to use all four of the elements as they are the most basic aspects of the natural world. Which would you like to start with? Fire?"

"Kilgharrah can breathe fire so it does seem like the logical choice," Lisanna nodded. "Let's do this."

* * *

Of course the Fairies were not the only ones training. It took a few days to organise something but DA members continued to come up to Harry over the course of the next few days, eagerly asking when the next meeting was going to be, which was in no small part due to the fact they wanted to meet some of the Fairy Tail members again. Harry hadn't initially been planning to come back for another meeting for at least a week but in the end he settled on meeting up again the following Saturday.

Hermione was quick to create some special magical coins which she passed out to each of the members and would tell them when the next scheduled meeting was to take place. But Harry was himself enthused at everyone's eagerness to continue and announced as the meeting began:-

"Remember, we don't necessarily have to find a time we can all meet up at once. If we did that then we'd be a lot more limited because of scheduling conflicts with Quidditch practices and stuff. So if you ever want to come down here and practice some of the spells that we've learned already then by all means come along. Just make sure that nobody sees you entering the Room when you do 'cause this place can only be a secret meeting place if nobody else knows about it."

"Do you think Umbridge could get in if she saw us walking in?" Michael asked nervously.

"I don't think she could get in unless she knows exactly what we're doing in here," Hermione shook her head. "Which she might have done if we were just a Defence Against the Dark Arts group but with Fairy Tail living in here too now she won't know the full extent of the Room unless someone tells her."

"But it would still be better if she didn't know about this place at all so everyone make sure you keep your traps shut," Ron said. "Or I might just let my brothers use you as test subjects for their next inventions."

"You would look the other way in your Prefect duties, little brother!" Fred faux-gasped in horror.

"You astonish and appall us," George grinned.

Nevertheless they all got to work and set about practicing the Disarming Charm once again, as they had done last week before they were interrupted. Harry had to admit he was seeing some marked improvement. Most of them didn't know about Morgana yet but the threat of Voldemort was really spurring them on… and there was probably just a little bit of an extra motive in there to do with potentially impressing Fairy Tail.

It wasn't long before Erza and Mirajane walked into the room through the stadium doors to watch. Harry wandered amongst the group, correcting their stances and demonstrating how to improve their wand movements for those who were falling behind, occasionally ducking a rogue wand that went spinning across the room but apparently not fazed by it in the slightest. And the students took his instructions to heart and sharpened their focus.

"He does seem to have the air of a natural born leader," Erza noted, as she watched Harry kneeling down next to Dennis Creevey and talking him through how to get better, as both the Creevey brothers were still running around like their heads were on fire in their excitement. "And he certainly commands respect from his comrades."

"He's not unlike yourself in that way, Erza," Mira patted her arm lightly.

Erza smiled, but didn't reply, watching as Harry went over to Lavender Brown and gently nudged her foot outwards with his own to give her a wider stance and make her more steady.

Eventually, after about half an hour of spellwork, Harry turned to look at his guests thoughtfully. "Hey," he called, hurrying over to them. "I was wondering, if you could help me out with something."

"Oh? What with?" Mira asked.

"Well, I was just thinking," Harry said as he looked out at the group. "It's all well and good that they learn how to use the spells but we should probably hold some proper duelling situations as well… some exercises that might prepare them for a real fight."

"A good idea," Erza nodded. "In real conflict, the enemy will not just be standing still and letting themselves get fired upon. There will be a lot more movement and activity involved. Learning the spell techniques alone will not prepare them for that."

"Exactly. Do you think you could do me a favour and… I dunno… be the enemy sometimes?" Harry shrugged. "We'll practice amongst ourselves sometimes but you guys are fighters. From what I understand you've been in many battles, just like the Death Eaters have so you might make better practice adversaries."

"I have just the thing," Erza said, and sudden a pair of swords flashed into her hand. Harry stepped back in sudden alarm but Erza chuckled and said, "Don't worry, these won't hurt you. I haven't had to call these out for a while but these are known as ghost swords - ideal for training those with no experience in swordplay. If they hit other metal objects they get blocked," she demonstrated by clashing the razor-sharp looking blades together in a shower of sparks. "But if they hit a body…"

Before Harry could stop her she'd reversed her grip on one of the swords and plunged it straight into her own abdomen. But it didn't puncture the skin - instead the blade seemed to pass through her as if it was an illusion, and Erza withdrew it and clashed them together for good measure.

"These will be our weapons," she said, tossing one to Mira. "They have to try and disarm them from us, but if we hit one of them with these, they're out."

"That sounds great!" Harry said and hurried off to organise the event. Soon enough the DA was crowding the walls and the first group of six were lined up to take Erza and Mira on - Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Fred, George and Lee Jordan, all with wands raised and the spells on their lips. They were a little nervous, but all determined to do their best.

"Everybody ready?" Hermione called. "Then… begin!"

"EXPELLIARMUS!" all six of the seventh years cried at the same way but their spells impacted harmlessly against the wall. Erza and Mira had sprung away in different directions, one morphing into her Soaring Armour and the other into her usual Satan Soul form. Both of them blitzed straight past the startled teens and Erza whipped around to sweep her sword straight through Lee Jordan even as he was turning around.

"OUT!" she cried.

"…What!?" Lee gaped, looking down at his intact torso as if expecting it to be cleaved in half. But the other five members of the group were instantly on the move, dashing in all different directions as Erza and Mira rushed between them at high speed.

"Expelliarmus!" Angelina shouted, flashing her wand in Mira's direction but the white-haired demoness sprouted wings and flew upwards so the spell shot underneath her and hit Alicia instead, her wand sent flying out of her hand. The suddenly defenceless witch gasped as she saw Mira dropping towards her with blade raised and dodged backwards just quickly enough to avoid being struck, but Mira motored in towards her to sweep the phantom sword through her chest a second later.

"OUT!" she echoed, upending herself and twisting back towards Angelina who was forced to dive sideways to avoid being struck herself.

Fred and George were working together, twisting around each other and firing spell after spell towards Erza, but she easily flipped and spun from side to side to easily avoid them all. But then a sword sprouted from Fred's chest and he gasped, looking down at the impaling shadow blade that would have gone straight through his heart if it was a real blade.

"OUT!" Mira said behind him as she withdrew the blade and George gasped and leapt away only Erza to shoot in towards him with another cry of "OUT!" as her sword slipped across George's waist.

In a matter of seconds the group of six had been reduced to two, and Angelina and Katie quickly fired their spells and split up, running pell-mell as Erza and Mirajane rushed in towards them at high speed. Angelina ducked under Erza's swing and spun around to fire another Disarming Charm at Erza's back but Erza took her by surprise by dropping into a perfect split so the spell flew over her head and then somersaulting onto her hands with her legs sweeping out above her to kick Angelina's wand out of her hand and spring onto her feet, driving her blade deep into Angelina's navel.

"OUT!" she shouted.

Katie yelped as Mira plunged in towards her and narrowly avoided a slash to her abdomen with a desperate roll to the side. Mira whipped around on a penny but Katie had pointed her wand at the floor and suddenly smoke billowed from the tip, engulfing her within the black smog. Mira swept into it only to emerge on the other side with Katie gone.

Then…

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Katie shouted from off to the side and the sword suddenly flew out of Mira's hand for Katie to snatch the hilt in her own. "YES!" Katie cheered. "YES, I AAGH!" her victory was short-lived as Mira dove at her and seized her hand, spinning her around and wresting the sword from her grip before plunging it deep into her chest.

"Out," she smiled as Katie dropped to the floor, heaving for breath and, as with everyone before her, inspecting the place where the sword had gone through her just to make sure there was no physical wound. All in all, that had taken about fifteen seconds to unfold and the entire DA was left rather shocked at how quickly and efficiently Mira and Erza had demolished the older students.

"Hey… that wasn't fair," Ernie protested after the stunned silence. "You didn't hold back on any of them."

"We've never been good at holding back," Erza said seriously. "And if you were facing a real enemy they wouldn't be holding back either."

"That wasn't even a proper duel though," Zacharias complained. "The Death Eaters won't move and attack like you do. And they're nowhere near as fast as what you were doing."

"Aren't they? When I fought that Voldemort guy, he was disappearing and re-appearing all over the place," Mira stated. "And there were quite a few things that you can hopefully take away from that. Harry, do you know what they could have done to improve things there?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Harry, who looked a little awestruck but nervous. "Yeah," he said. "I think so. Um… for instance," he looked to Alicia and Angelina. "Never stand on opposite sides of an opponent otherwise you risk hitting each other if they manage to dodge you.

"Never focus on just one opponent," he then pointed to Fred and George. "Always make sure that you've got an eye on every angle possible for incoming attacks.

"Don't forget that even though you're meant to be disarming them you can use other spells to reach that goal. Only one of you did that," Harry nodded to Katie. "But you celebrated too early. Always make sure your opponent is down before you congratulate yourself on a victory or they might still get the better of you.

"And never assume that your attack is going to hit even if you aim it at someone from behind," he finally said to Angelina. "If you'd thrown more than one attack at Erza, at multiple angles, you might have hit her there."

"All correct answers," Erza nodded in approval.

"And think of it this way," Ron pointed out. "What they just did there was bloody impressive if you ask me. If we can figure out how to combat them in an effective way while they're doing that, well, the Death Eaters won't know what hit them, will they?"

"Is there any way I can convince you two to come down and help us practice Quidditch?" Angelina said. "You'd certainly keep us all on our toes."

"Maybe one day," Mira chuckled. "Now… who's next?"

* * *

Over the course of the next week, the DA took Harry's words to heart and showed up whenever they felt they had nothing to do and had the opportunity to sneak away, practicing disarming each other and occasionally getting the chance to watch Fairy Tail training themselves. And the more they interacted with them the more comfortable they became in their presence. Not to mention the more awed they became at watching them practising their magic. It reached the point where even Zacharias had little negative to say about them, and Cho Chang could watch with a smile as Marietta sat with Levy and Lisanna, discussing the Old Religion with some of the typical Ravenclaw enthusiasm for learning.

There was still very little word on Voldemort though. Harry had no more dreams about his doings and the Order's attempts to dig up his location bore no fruit whatsoever. They even conducted surreptitious raids on the houses of a couple of other known Death Eaters, with a little help from Scrimgeour and his Aurors. But they found nothing. Wherever he was laying low, it didn't seem like he was ready to pop his head up out of the ground for a while yet.

Perhaps because of this, the Order members also found themselves coming in through the Hog's Head passageway to do a little training in their downtime. Sirius passed in and out on an almost daily basis, claiming that this was a much more homely place to spend his time than his actual home. Mrs. Weasley was there frequently too and at first she tried to convince every member of her family that the DA was a terrible idea and that they would all be more than safe as long as they stayed at the school but if they were caught they would have their education ended for sure. When nobody listened to her she grudgingly gave her consent after some heavy coaxing from Mr. Weasley, on the condition that none of them used the passageway to sneak into Hogsmeade for any reason. They all had to stay safely within the wards.

This was a sentiment that everyone else wholeheartedly agreed with, especially the Professors. They were willing to turn a blind eye to what they were doing in defiance of Umbridge, but at the end of the day they were still students and were supposed to be under their protection so Aberforth was left with strict instructions to turn any of them right back around if they tried to sneak out through his bar.

But other than that, one or two of them would occasionally filter in whenever they got the chance and practice or or two of their spells and even have a few mock duels with each other. Such as the one Lupin and Tonks were currently in the midst of.

"You're pretty quick on your feet for an older fella," Tonks grinned as she dove sideways to avoid the Stunning Spell that came rocketing towards her from Remus' wand and dashed across the room, firing half a dozen red hexes of her own as she ran. Lupin ducked and swept his wand out to form a Shield Charm that sent most of them rebounding backwards towards her and followed up with a couple of hexes that Tonks couldn't even begin to guess at.

"Are you sure you're the same woman that keeps tripping over the umbrella stand?" Lupin chuckled as he watched her nimbly dodge most of the projectiles and flick another aside with a sweep of her wand to send it rebounding off the wall.

"You're the one who'll be tripping up in a minute," Tonks grinned and sent three flashes of red out from her wand. Lupin raised another shield but as soon as the spells hit it they exploded into bright flashes of light that seared at his eyes, forcing him to close them. Stumbling backwards, he heard the rush of another incoming spell and threw himself sideways, rolling across the floor and pushing himself upwards in a whirl of shabby coats. His wand came shooting up and he let loose none other than his Patronus. Tonks blinked in surprise as the wolf bore down on her, knowing it couldn't hurt her. But it did jump up on her and dematerialise upon impact her, swirling about her like a silvery mist that she could barely see through.

"That's new," she conceded, but she fired a beam of yellow light straight up from her wand that hit the ceiling and stuck to it like a grappling hook, literally heaving her into the air by her wand as the beam contracted and allowing her to swing over Lupin's follow-up shots which came in from the left. She swung herself out of the mist and let go of the spell, firing off a spell in mid-air. Lupin displayed astonishing reflexes as he twisted away with startling speed, Tonks' spell hitting a target and morphing it into a white stork which flapping and squawked about in confusion. But Lupin ignored it and dashed forwards as Tonks landed squarely on the ground, the two of them whirling around to fire off Stunners at the same time that collided squarely with each other in a blast of red that sent them both stumbling backwards a little.

But Lupin was the first to recover and he let loose a volley of jinxes that left Tonks diving for cover, summoning one of the targets to her to use it as a shield before throwing it straight at Lupin, who turned it into a tennis ball and caught it in one hand before physically throwing it back and hitting it with another spell that enlarged it to the size of an exercise ball. Tonks dove under it and suddenly jammed her wand against her own throat, grinning slightly… then…

"**AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

Her magically enhanced voice blasted across Lupin's hearing, which was slightly more acute than most people thanks to his lycanthropy even in his human form. He staggered back with his hands over his ears and it left him more than open to Tonks' rapid follow up spell - Tarentallegra. As soon as it hit Lupin his legs were sent jerking about in all directions, sending him collapsing back to the floor just in time for Tonks to summon his wand to her in a quick disarming spell.

"Looks like I win," she grinned.

"So it does," Lupin smiled good-naturedly even as his legs continued to spasm erratically. Tonks was quick to cancel out the spell and let him slump to the floor in relief. "Well it seems there's a reason you're considered one of the better Aurors even in spite of your young age, Miss Tonks."

"You're not so bad yourself," Tonks grinned, striding over towards him as he began to get to his feet. "Almost wish I had you for a teacher while I was here at the ACK!"

In her victory she'd completely forgotten about the giant tennis ball which had just rolled into her back and sent her stumbling forwards. Lupin surged up instantly to grab her shoulder and waist in his arms, swinging her around and hefting her back up before she could go crashing to the floor.

"Now that would have been a bit of a faceplant," he chuckled as he retrieved his wand from the slightly reeling Tonks' hand.

"…Yeah…" Tonks laughed. "Makes me glad that wasn't a giant Bludger now," she chuckled.

And then she became very promptly aware of how close she was standing to Lupin. So close in fact that their bodies were almost touching. She stepped back quickly, coughing into the back of her hand and saying, "Well, anyway, if you ever want to get your ass kicked again then you know who to come to."

"I'll bear that in mind," Lupin chuckled. He had noticed the mild embarrassment that flashed across Tonks' face there but he decided not to comment on it. "I need to get going anyway. Dumbledore's given me another mission this evening… not particularly looking forward to it though, that I have to admit. Bye for now."

"See ya," Tonks waved.

But as soon as Lupin had left through the passageway door…

"Aaaw, that was quite romantic, Tonks-san."

"Juvia!" Tonks gasped, almost falling over again as she whirled around to see the Water Mage standing beside the door to the stadium, smiling at her with her hands on her cheeks.

"Aaah, if only Gray-sama would catch me like that if I fell," she cooed. "To feel his arms around me… it would be like such a dream come true."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Tonks spluttered. "Come on, it's not like that. Lupin's just a chivalrous guy who helped keep a girl from bruising her own face, that's all. There's nothing romantic about it."

"Well, maybe not yet," Juvia smiled. "But you never know where you might find the love of your life, Tonks-san. I never expected I would meet mine on the opposite side of a war between my guild and his own after all, yet I did."

Tonks snorted. "Yeah, like I'd want a romance to start after a trip and fall scene like that. I'd really rather my life didn't play out like some cheesy gag-worthy romance novel thank you very much."

Juvia pouted slightly. "Well, why couldn't it start like that? Don't you think Lupin-san is a handsome man? …Oh gods, did Gray-sama hear me say that?" she panicked and whipped around but there was nobody there but them.

"Well… yeah sure he's handsome, in a way," Tonks shrugged. "He's a bit shabby but then again he can't be blamed for that. And those scars make him look a little… rugged… I suppose…" she frowned, examining Lupin's face in her mind's eye for a moment and… realising that actually he was quite a handsome man under the constantly tired look he gave off.

But she quickly shook her head and said, "Anyway, it wasn't romantic. There's nothing between me and Remus and I highly doubt there ever will be."

"Is there a special man in Tonks-san's life then?"

"Well no. No, I haven't had a boyfriend since I was at Hogwarts myself actually."

"Then never say never," Juvia smiled warmly. "Sooner or later, Tonks-san is going to meet someone who you find yourself wanting to be with as often as you can. Someone who makes you feel warm and whole inside when you're in his presence. Whether that man will be Lupin-san for you, or someone else entirely, Juvia can't say. But Juvia wouldn't write Lupin-san off the list entirely. Or anyone else for that matter. Except for Gray-sama!" she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Gray-sama is definitely off your list, understand!?"

"I understand completely," Tonks laughed, joining as they wondered back into the stadium room. Still, she couldn't help but mull over Juvia's words. She hadn't had much time to think about a boyfriend since she'd started studying to become an Auror. Was it maybe time to start thinking about it again?

Maybe… but even if she did, Lupin wouldn't really be on her list…

…or would he?

And rather annoyingly, Tonks couldn't get the thought out of her head for several hours.

* * *

It only took a mere couple of weeks for advances to be seen on all sides.

Evergreen had managed to learn not one, but two new Fairy Magic spells and still had several more in the pipeline. And she was demonstrating them to great effect - having joined in the frequent one on one duels that Fairy Tail were having with each other, each one of them sparring with a different partner every time. She even managed to momentarily catch Gray off guard when she fired a glowing torpedo of Fairy dust at him, which exploded on contact with Gray's hastily erected ice shield with a titanic blast that sent him crashing back into the wall hard enough to dent it.

Cana had managed to take everyone by surprise a few days ago when quite abruptly they had all been warped into flatness, unable to see anything except for what was directly in front of them but for black lines and whiteness. Even Gildarts had been warped into one of the cards, which Cana had picked up from the floor and smirked at.

"Maybe now I can keep an eye on you. Keep you from philandering any more women," she chuckled.

Gildarts chuckled and raised his hand, before suddenly the card in Cana's hand was ripped to shreds and he exploded out of it, landing on his feet right in front of her.

"Nice try," he said. "This is quite a powerful spell but it can be broken by those with the right power."

"Ah well, it's still a useful technique," Cana shrugged. But despite her success in this area she still hadn't had much luck coming up with a new type of Card Magic. Not yet anyway.

Similarly Lucy had not quite reached the threshold where she could summon two Spirits at once yet, but she had still improved her magic power significantly and she was sure she was getting close. Maybe another week of training and she'd finally break through that barrier. Wendy had successfully learned the Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang and was on her way to learning the Talon attack as well.

LIsanna was making a marked improvement with her magic as well. Considering Kilgharrah was a creature of the Old Religion she had a natural aptitude for it. All that was really required was learning the spells and with Levy's help she'd already amassed many new ones. She'd also joined in with the sparring, often duelling with Mirajane to practice using her wings and tail effectively, and occasionally chasing the Exceed around the room to improve her aerodynamic ability, with visible results. She could now almost catch them when she tried.

Elfman was already beginning to bulk out a little, with almost every part of his body from the arms to the chest down to the legs increasing in size the more he trained, even in his human form. He was also allowing his white hair to grow out a little more, claiming it made him look more manly.

Improvements were also being seen in everyone else amongst the Fairies, each of them able to unleash their attacks with greater power than before and for longer as well. But they were far from the only ones. The DA were getting better as well, each of them rapidly mastering the Disarming Charm and moving quickly onto the Stunning Spell. Harry was now overseeing full-scale duels every time he was around to watch them, and they were clearly doing a lot better - every one of them. They still hadn't reached the point where they could really get the better of Erza or Mira, who trained with them with the ghost swords frequently, but everyone one of them was faster, more agile, working better in teams and making it much harder for the girls to pull one over on them.

The most astonishing improvement of all was Neville, who appeared to be putting more effort into it than anyone. Which was hardly surprising to Harry considering the recent escape from Azkaban but he was still remarkably impressed. In fact, Neville was one of the only two who actually managed to stun Erza during one of the training sessions before he was rendered out two seconds later by Mira.

Harry couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this happy on a regular basis. But seeing the DA at work, seeing how they were getting better, it just put him in a near constant state of good cheer. One which he had to hide from Umbridge of course but still… as far as he was concerned this was the first true sign of a happy ending in the future. Or at the very least it was the first sign of a future in which half of his friends didn't end up getting murdered. In fact, he was having to put increasing effort into training himself up in these sessions as well as teaching everyone else. Ron and Hermione getting increasingly close to being able to hold their own against him when they duelled and at the rate everyone was going they were going to surpass him. Which was not a thought that bothered Harry but he knew he couldn't let himself fall behind just because he was teaching his friends.

And yet through it all, they still found the time for the occasional respite of their training to do something that made them temporarily forget the impending threats of Voldemort, Grimoire Heart and Morgana. One such example came one Wednesday on October 26th, when a majestic looking screech owl landed in front of Luna at breakfast to deliver a copy of _The Quibbler_ and a rather flamboyant looking envelope.

"Oh, my father remembered my birthday," Luna said with a vacant smile, which made Pantherlily look up with a start. "That's nice of him."

Lily looked around to make sure nobody was listening, but Luna was sitting by herself that morning so he felt it would alright to whisper, "It's your birthday? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Oh, I didn't feel the need," Luna replied as she opened the envelope and pulled a card that looked very much like it was homemade and had a creature on the front that Lily couldn't even begin to name. "Nobody ever celebrates my birthday here so I don't really remind people about it."

Lily grimaced - sometimes Luna could say such depressing things without sounding in the least bit depressed. The fact that Luna didn't seem to have any friends in her house who cared enough about her to remember or at least celebrate her birthday was dreadful. And the black Exceed knew right away that he wasn't going to let that stand.

Which was why Luna got quite the surprise when she came to the DA meeting that evening.

This time it wasn't a DA meeting at all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUNA!

The was what the banner across the far side of the room screamed and it was what everyone in the room at the time roared as soon as Luna had closed the door. The blonde-haired Ravenclaw was uncharacteristically taken aback, almost falling over as a wall of noise rolled over the top of her and blinking several times as if trying to confirm what she was seeing was real.

And it unequivocally was.

DA and Fairy Tail members were mixed together, sipping on tankards of Butterbeer and downing various confections that Fred and George had managed to smuggle in somehow. Natsu seemed to be particularly delighted by the Canary Creams, puffing into the shape of a large bird approximately once every twenty seconds, Cana was astonishing everyone from the DA with how much Firewhiskey she was able to down, and Ginny muscled her way through the crowd to grab Luna by the hand and urge her forwards.

"Come on," she grinned. "Everyone's here to celebrate your day - get stuck in with the rest of us."

"But… but why…?" Luna looked around in utter bewilderment. "Nobody has done anything for my birthday since the first year I was here. Why is everyone suddenly…?"

"PARTIES ARE FOR MEN!" Elfman shouted over the din, simultaneously lifting Parvati and Padma Patil up off the floor in each hand and using them as weights, much to the amusement of everyone around him.

"Which is his way of saying that we never really need much of an excuse to throw a party," Gray chuckled from his seat nearby, raising his drink to Luna as she passed by. "If often feels like there's one every week at our guild back home. At least."

"And Pantherlily told us about what you said," Ginny said, looking mildly sheepish. "About nobody celebrating your birthday. I… have to say I didn't even know when your birthday was and I wanted to apologise for that so… we arranged this."

"It seemed like the decent thing to do," Lily said as he stepped up next to her - he was currently in his battle form as he'd been in the middle of an arm-wrestling match with Gajeel a few moments ago. "Consider this making up for it all. I pulled the rest of the Ravenclaw DA members together to help Ginny out."

"I… really don't know what to say," Luna whispered. "I feel like a Wrackspurt has taken over my mind."

Pantherlily chuckled. "You don't have to say anything, Luna. All you need to know is that you have friends now. And I say that its long overdue."

"But everyone thinks I'm… Loony."

"Look at us," Lily placed one large paw on Luna's shoulder and gestured out to that various Fairies around the room. "Most of us are a little loony in our own unique ways but we're still all friends for life here. A kind, gentle girl such as yourself should have had many friends a long time ago, but I think you became more comfortable in your solitude and stopped trying to find some. I've seen it, Luna. You don't look bothered when someone calls you Loony but I think it it does, deep down. But who cares if you're loony or not? You should be appreciated for exactly who you are - which is an eccentric, sweet and unique young girl who's a lot cleverer than most people give her credit for."

Luna stared up at Lily in astonishment, and to her own complete surprise her eyes began to water. Before she knew what she was doing she'd thrown herself at the big cat, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head in his chest. "Thank you, Lily," she mumbled. "Thank you."

Lily smiled and patted her back, and when he looked up to the rest of the room he could see most of them were looking his way. Ginny beamed at the big Exceed and held up her hand for a high-five which Lily was more than happy to oblige. Both of them got the distinct feeling that after tonight, the amount of people who could potentially tease and taunt Luna would drop rather significantly. Or at the very least the number of people willing to stick up for her would rise.

But the moment was quickly broken when Gajeel stood up and yelled, "Oi! Girl! Are you trying to steal my cat!?"

Luna pulled away from Lily and smiled over at the Iron Dragon Slayer with shining eyes. "It's tempting, Gajeel-san," she said, using the same honorific she knew Wendy usually applied to him. "But I'm afraid the Nargles in my dad's backyard aren't particularly fond of cats. Perhaps I would have better luck with a dog."

Laughter consumed the room and Luna spent the rest of the evening mingling with fellow students and mages alike, telling anyone who would listen about the various extraordinary animals she hoped to see one day. Not a single one of them believed that most of them existed but they humoured her anyway. Even Hermione managed to swallow her factual mind and had a rather animated conversation with Luna about Dabberblimps.

Harry found himself wondering how he hadn't really noticed Luna before now. Even based solely on her reputation as a slightly strange girl he felt like he ought to have known her better. It struck him how little he'd really known about the other people in his school, both in the rest of his year and and in others. But the DA was really turning things around and Harry had to admit, he'd never felt as much a part of a community as he did now with all of them.

Natsu had been right. It was like they were a little guild of their own. The members were mingling a lot more, and he could see them building up bonds with each other that actually emulated those that Fairy Tail shared between them - the avid celebration of a girl that most considered weird tonight was proof of that. And that spirit wouldn't even be broken in just over a week's time when the first Quidditch match of the year was due. After all, every one of them there wanted Gryffindor to beat Slytherin in that game.

But little did any of them know… it would be shortly after that that all hell was going to break loose.


	43. Turns and Returns

I've received a suggestion to give Lucy more Spirits that represent the Chinese Zodiac twice now. Not sure if it was from the same person or not but I'm afraid to say that's not going to happen. It's a lovely idea but Chinese astrology is quite different from the Western astrology that the Spirits are based on. I feel that in order to do that they would have to come from a second Spirit world, and I don't particularly want to do that I'm afraid. But that's not to say Lucy won't get an extra Spirit or two. You'll just have to wait and see.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 43:- Turns and Returns**

* * *

October rolled into November and of course that meant Hogwarts school congregated for the Halloween feast on the very last day of the month. Several of the members of Fairy Tail were disappointed to miss out on the festivities, especially Natsu. He practically broke down and cried at the thought of all that delicious food that he wasn't going to be allowed to get his hands on, especially since Happy very smugly reminded his partner that he would be attending the feast in his illusionary disguise and would be able to chow down as much as he wanted provided he didn't eat with his hands.

In the end though, Fairy Tail did get a feast of their own. When they'd first moved into the Room they had started to be provided with food by a joint effort from Aberforth, Mrs. Weasley and Fred and George, the latter two doing so by sneaking down to the Hogwarts kitchens and smuggling food up whenever they could. And all of them did their best to provide Fairy Tail with a whole host of delicious treats for the occasion, even though nobody in Fairy Tail had the slightest idea what Halloween was in the first place.

But more importantly, the arrival of November meant something else was upon them. The first weekend of November was when the annual Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was held and despite everything that had been happening, Harry had really been putting as much effort as he could into practicing for the event, helped by Angelina's insistence that they play every single day whenever they could wrest the pitch away from the Slytherin team (it seemed the fact both of them were in the Order didn't stop the rivalry between McGonagall and Snape on the Quidditch pitch for an instant). Harry had quite a bit of lost time to make up after all considering the amount of practices he'd missed under the ruthless, stubby thumb of Umbridge. But his Seeking skills were definitely still up to speed, leaving him confident he could best Malfoy in the upcoming match.

The same could not be said for Ron.

The youngest Weasley boy had made some improvements over the month once he'd gotten over his initial jitters and when he was on form he was actually a great Keeper, which was saying something considering how much of a well-oiled machine the three Gryffindor Chasers were. But if he made just one mistake he was quite quick to fall apart and it took him a while to get his head back into the game. But as the big day approached he'd becoming increasingly jittery at practices, not helped by the relentless jeering and taunts from practically everyone in Slytherin whenever they saw him, and was thus letting in more and more goals.

When the big day dawned, Ron wouldn't touch his breakfast. Which reminded Harry very much of his own first day in a Hogwarts Quidditch match - he'd lost his appetite that morning too. But Ron looked like he was going to be sick in his cereal bowl, and the tide of well wishes from the rest of Gryffindor were really not helping.

"Ron, you'll be fine," Hermione was saying, waving a piece of toast in front of his nose like she was trying to hypnotise him with it. "Come on, just eat something. You'll need your energy."

"I thought you said I'd be fine," Ron muttered, looking away. "Harry, I don't know if I can do this. I… I'm no good at this. I'm just… rubbish."

"Hermione's right," Harry assured him. "You'll be fine. Look, Angelina wouldn't have picked you for the team if she didn't think that you could do the job and she's right. You're a good Keeper, Ron. Whether you believe it or not, you are. Just… go out there and show everyone else, yeah?"

"…Suppose," Ron muttered, slowly taking the toast out of Hermione's hand and nibbling on it. "Thanks, 'Mione."

"You're welcome," Hermione said, but she still glanced towards Harry with obvious concern written all over her face. A concern that Harry shared - Ron's nerves were his bane on the pitch and today he looked more nervous than ever. He had skill and they both knew it, yet for some reason he still looked like he'd just been told he had two days to live.

But there was no time to build up his confidence… today was the day.

Although they did get a brief respite from their thoughts when they saw the ridiculous lion-hat that Luna had made for herself… and the fact she'd dressed Pantherlily in a full lion's mane that practically obscured his small body.

"Don't ask," he said quietly. "It was all I could do to convince her not to change the colour of my fur."

* * *

The Quidditch Pitch was absolutely packed when the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams strode out from opposite sides. Angelina had given them all the classic captain's pep talk beforehand, speaking with the exact same fiery passion and determination that their previous captain Oliver Wood had once used… in fact it had quite possibly been even more so! Not that Harry could blame her. This was going to be her only game against Slytherin in which she was the team captain. From her perspective, today just had to go smoothly.

Which did nothing at all to help Ron, who looked like he was really regretting eating that toast already.

Hermione pushed her way through the crowds in the Gryffindor stands in search of a good place to stand and watch. She eventually spotted Neville with Parvati and Lavender and shoved her way over to them.

"Morning," she huffed as she finally got over to them.

"Hey, Hermione," Neville said, leaning out over the railings to try and get a good look at the teams. "How was Ron?"

"Not too good," Hermione bit her lip. "It looked like he was just one step away from having a complete panic attack. I have to admit, I'm a little bit worried."

"Well he better perform well," Parvati whispered in her ear. "I wouldn't want him to give Fairy Tail a bad impression of our house."

"What?" Hermione blinked. "I really don't think that Fairy Tail are going to care very much about this match."

"Oh really?" Lavender raised a brow, before she looked back towards the back of the stands. Hermione frowned and followed her gaze but at first she could see nothing out of the ordinary… until she spotted what looked suspiciously like a bunch of cards stuck to the woodwork at the back of the stands, above the heads of the cheering Gryffindor students.

"What!?" she gasped. "Are they…?"

"Yeah," Lavender giggled. "Some of them really wanted to see what it was all about so we cooked this up with Cana. We sneaked down here this morning to sort it out. Now they can all watch the match and nobody will notice them because they'll be too involved in the game."

"I noticed them!" pointed out Hermione.

"You were looking for something suspicious," Parvati rolled her eyes. "Nobody else is. Besides, we wanted to show them a bit more of our culture."

"…I don't know about this," Hermione bit her lip.

"Lighten up, Hermione. Nobody else can even see those cards anyway," Lavender patted her on the back.

"Why not?"

"Because of me," said Mavis from where she was suddenly sitting next to her, several Gryffindor students looking straight through her as if she wasn't even there. Hermione jumped but managed to make herself not look directly at the ghostly First Master of the guild.

"You're… using your illusion magic?" she whispered.

"That's right, to disguise the cards from everyone except those I know and trust," Mavis giggled. "I don't have enough power in this form to disguise everyone at their full size, but a deck of cards is much easier to hide. Now let's watch some Quinnitch!"

"Quidditch," Hermione corrected her. She was still uncomfortable but was satisfied enough not to object any further.

"Go on, Harry!" Natsu was cheering from inside his card, pounding on the outer edge in his excitement. "Smash them to pieces!"

"Natsu, keep your voice down," Erza chided him from several cards over to the left. "We may be hidden from sight but not from sound. We don't want these other people to hear us."

"I'm pretty sure that they won't distinguish our voices from the rest of the cheering crowd," Lucy pointed out. "But it's probably better to be on the safe side."

"This is kinda exciting isn't it?" Levy said as she pushed her face right up against the edge of her pocket dimension in a bid to get a better view. "I've never been that interested in sports but to see a whole new kind should be quite the experience."

"Flying broomsticks sounds like a Man to me!" Elfman pounded his fists together.

"If you tried to fly on a broomstick the poor thing probably wouldn't be able to lift you," Evergreen rolled her eyes.

"Ssh, it's about to start!" Mira said, and everyone quietened down as the elevated voice of Lee Jordan broke out across the pitch.

"Welcome to the first annual Quidditch match of the year between the proud lions of Gryffindor and the sneaky little snakes of… sorry, Professor… I mean between Gryffindor and Slytherin. It's sure to be quite an interesting match as Gryffindor have received a new captain for the first time in four years, last year's captain Oliver Wood being replaced by the lovely Angelina Johnson in leadership and Ron Weasley for his position on the field as keeper. Most of Mr. Weasley's older brothers have been doing this team proud for years, including the two current Beaters, Fred and George… so we're sure to expect great things from him."

"Unngh…" Ron almost vomited right then and there.

"And speaking of Beaters, the Slytherin team's received two new ones after Derrick and Bole left last year… good riddance to them… yeah, yeah, sorry Professor I'll stop now… they'd been replaced by Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, better known as the two lackeys of the team's Seeker Draco Malfoy. We all know they love to hit things but they might find that the Bludgers are a little harder to hit than a trembling first year so we'll have to see how they do. And of course their new Captain is Montague after Marcus Flint left two years ago, replaced on the team in his capacity as a Chaser by Adrian Pucey, returning after a couple of years off and who's name always makes me laugh, I have to tell you."

Harry glared across the field at Malfoy, who was indeed being flanked by his two usual lackeys. Malfoy glared right back, but for some reason there didn't seem to be as much smugness in his stare as usual, which left Harry mildly surprised.

But a minute later the game had begun after Madam Hooch forced Angelina and Montague to shake hands, and suddenly they were all up in the air, Harry quickly locking his focus on finding the snitch. Ron and the Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley, arced off towards their appropriate goalposts and the game began in earnest as Angelina snagged the Quaffle from the air and the players zipped in and out of each like rampaging hummingbirds.

"Whoa, we've got to get us some of those!" Gray beamed as he watched them go. "Look how fast they're going. Would sure beat riding a train."

"Ghhngghhmm…" Natsu clapped his hand over his mouth, his cheeks bulging as he watched the broomsticks racing all about. "Cana… what'll happen if I throw up in here?"

"DON'T YOU DARE, DRAGNEEL! DON'T YOU FREAKING DARE!"

"Quit being a wimp, Salamander," Gajeel rolled his eyes. "You're not the one actually riding those things! Now shaddup, we're trying to watch here!"

"And Angelina slings it to Alicia who passes it straight back to bypass Pukey… I mean, Pucey… and oh, that was a nice dodge there from Angelina - that Bludger came flying out of nowhere - but now she's dropped the Quaffle down to Katie Bell who's zinging her way up, side-stepping Montague there… is stepping the right word for a game played in the air… and she's honing in towards the goal. Bletchley moving out to intercept and oh, what's this!? Warrington almost crashes straight into Katie but she's tossed the Quaffle over her shoulder to Alicia… she swings around… and YES! SHE SCORES! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR! Hey, can we get ten points for the House Cup too for that? No? Ah well, never mind."

Harry laughed to himself as he swept low around the Slytherin goalposts, straining his eyes for the slightest hint of a golden blur anywhere on the pitch. Lee Jordan always had a way of making the commentary amusing despite his obvious bias against Slytherin during any game they played - he was usually able to keep it neutral in all the others, even the ones Gryffindor were in. But a goal right off the bat was a good thing, perhaps this would help boost Ron's confidence in the team and therefore in his own.

"Miles passes the Quaffle out to Pucey and he's streaking along the pitch now like he's on a mission - Katie moving to intercept but he's passed it onto Montague, who passes it like a hot potato off to Warrington. The Gryffindor Chasers are all behind now, but OH OUCH! OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH! I'm pretty sure that was George Weasley who smacked that Bludger right into the Quaffle itself, smacking the red ball straight into Warrington's face. Now the Quaffle's falling but it's Alicia that picks it up and lobs it straight to Katie. That same Bludger moving in but Fred Weasley… that is Fred, right - smacks it aside and cuts off Pucey before he can get in close to Katie. Katie passes it onto Angelina but… oh, I have to admit that was a pretty good move from Montague there, snatching the Quaffle moments before Angelina can grab it, but she zooms right back in and pops it out of his hands before he can get a grip! And wow, the crowd's loving this aren't they? Listen to that singing!"

Up until this point, Harry hadn't really been aware that the crowd were singing, but now that Lee said it he could definitely hear it rising above the din. He paused for a moment so he could hear the lyrics… and when he did, his blood ran cold.

"Weasley is our King,  
Weasley is our King,  
He always lets the Quaffle in,  
Weasley is our King!"

"Oh crap…" he muttered to himself, looking back at Ron who was staring in abject horror at the singing Slytherin's, not even looking at what the Chasers were doing in that moment and his face a mouldy grey colour, like he'd been sculpted out of clay. And the Slytherins appeared to have noticed, all of them jabbing their fingers up at him to the beat of their song.

"Weasley cannot save a thing,  
He cannot block a single ring,  
That's why Slytherins all sing:  
Weasley is our King!

"Weasley was born in a bin,  
He always let's the Quaffle in,  
Weasley will make sure we win,  
Weasley is our King!"

"RON!" Harry shouted, sweeping off towards the goalposts and looping round them, shouting at the ashen-faced Keeper as the Slytherin Chasers closed in on his position, the Gryffindor Chasers frantically trying to intercept but despite the fact they were clearly better Chasers the Slytherin team still had faster brooms which evened things out. "GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!"

Ron was started out of his reverie as if he'd been shocked with electricity and looked panicked as he saw Montague approaching with the Quaffle. Lee Jordan was now trying to cover up the lyrics of the song with his hard and fast commentating, all joking gone from his voice. "Johnson moves to block Montague but he swerves around her, incoming Bludger but Montague's passed to Warrington, Warrington to Pucey, Pucey streaking up the inside towards the lowest goal hoop. Come on, Ron, you can do this! He's going to shoot!"

Ron swerved frantically as Pucey hurled the Quaffle but it was such a wild movement that he completely overdid it and his fingers just missed the Quaffle, which streaked past his hands and popped straight through the goal hoop, making the score ten to ten. Harry's stomach lurched… there was the one mistake Ron needed before falling apart and right on his first try too… this was not going to end well.

"WEASLEY IS OUR KING!  
WEASLEY IS OUR KING!  
HE ALWAYS LET'S THE QUAFFLE IN!  
WEASLEY IS OUR KING!"

"Well not to worry, not to worry!" Lee was saying as Ron retrieved the Quaffle and tossed it to Alicia, though it was a very haphazard throw and Alicia only just managed to catch it. "Score's still even now and Alicia passes it to Katie, to Angelina, to Katie, to Angelina, to Alicia… blimey these Chasers are going fast but oh no, two Bludgers have converged on Alicia now courtesy of Crabbe and Goyle but Fred Weasley streaks in and blocks one, but now Alicia's dropped the Quaffle. Warrington scoops it up and passes it to Pucey, who throws it to Warrington and now he's got a clear pathway to the goal with only Ron in the way…"

"COME ON, RON!" Harry and Hermione ended up shouting at the same time but their voices were smothered by:-

"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN!  
HE ALWAYS LET'S THE QUAFFLE IN!"

"Oh god…" Ron muttered to himself as Montague's grinning face loomed in at him. "Oh god… oh god… oh god…" He arced upwards to try and follow Montague to the middle post but this time Montague feinted and Ron completely overshot, leaving Montague able to toss the Quaffle through the right-hand hoop almost lazily.

"WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN!  
WEASLEY IS OUR KING!"

"…This is horrible…" Levy whispered, staring across the pitch to the Slytherin end with utter revulsion. "How can they be so cruel to him?"

"Bastards!" Natsu snarled, having completely forgotten to feel ill in the wake of this and pounding his palm with his fist. "I've got a good mind to go over there and kick their asses! Every one!"

"On this occasion, I'd be willing to join in," Lucy growled. "They're disgusting."

"He doesn't look too good," Wendy noted worriedly, looking up at Ron who did indeed look like he was going to pass out. "Oh gosh, I wish there was something we could do to help."

"But we can't," Lisanna bit her lip. "We're relegated to the sidelines… I'm not sure if I even want to watch the rest of this."

"Join the club," Gray said bitterly.

"HARRY, STOP GAWKING AND FIND THAT SNITCH!" Angelina yelled as the game resumed. Harry gasped and got back to work, re-doubling his efforts to find the Snitch but the non-stop singing from the Slytherin side was getting to him. He had a good mind to swerve around the Slytherin side and kick as many of them in the heads as he could get away with. And as he swung by the Gryffindor stands he could see Hermione looking absolutely furious, and that some of the DA members even had their wands out, as if wishing they could use them. And the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw sides looked sickened as well.

But the song went on… and on… and on…

"WEASLEY CANNOT SAVE A THING,  
HE CANNOT BLOCK A SINGLE RING,  
THAT'S WHY SLYTHERINS ALL SING,  
WEASLEY IS OUR KING!"

But as the game got back into full swing and Lee Jordan practically shouted into his microphone above the din, Harry got a look at Malfoy. He expected an infuriatingly superior and smug look upon the blonde boy's face… but there wasn't one. In fact he looked surprisingly… vacant. Distracted… almost perturbed… as if he wasn't even thinking about the game at all.

"What's with him?" Harry wondered to himself, before getting back once again to trying to find the snitch. "He should be loving this. He should be gloating for every Knut that he's worth."

The game continued in this fashion for some time, and the song was a non-stop backdrop even when the Quaffle was nowhere near the Gryffindor goalposts. Harry could see exactly what the three Chasers were all thinking - that they had to work as hard as they possibly could to prevent the Quaffle from reaching the other end of the pitch - they'd already lost faith in Ron's abilities. And to be honest, it seemed pretty well founded for whenever the Slytherin Chasers rushed in to the other end of the goal, Ron looked as though he was about to have a heart attack and they managed to put the Quaffle through one of the hoops almost every time. And whenever they failed it was not due to Ron, but to a quick interception from a Chaser, a swift Bludger from Fred or George or just bad throw that would have missed the hoops anyway.

Harry found himself almost as distracted as Malfoy seemed to be, so much so that at one point the Snitch zinged past the back of his head and he didn't even notice it because he was willing Ron to play the game he knew he was capable of. But as far as he could see any confidence Ron had in himself had been well and truly shattered.

And he was right.

'I'm so useless,' Ron was moaning to himself in his head as the score reached 100-40 in favour of Slytherin. 'I'm pathetic. I'm the worst Keeper there ever was. Why did Angelina pick me?'

"COME ON, RON!" Hermione was screaming as hard as the rest of the Gryffindors, all of them trying to patch together the remnants of Ron's current self-worth.

"BEAT THAT RED BALL TO A FREAKING PULP!" Natsu was yelling despite the fact he was supposed to be quiet.

"WEASLEY IS OUR KING!  
WEASLEY IS OUR KING!  
HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN!  
WEASLEY IS OUR KING!"

"I'm going to kill them!" Gray was snarling. "I'm going to bloody kill them!"

"Get in line, Ice Princess," Gajeel agreed.

"This is the most unmanly thing I've ever seen in my entire life!" Elfman protested.

"Come on, Ron-san, pull it together!" Wendy tried to call over the din.

But there was one member of Fairy Tail who was still calm. Mavis had abandoned her seat on the edge of the pitch and was now hovering above the stands, calmly analysing what was going on across the field. She'd already seen the individual playing styles of each of the three Slytherin Chasers and worked out the best strategies Ron could use against each of them, but she knew that she shouldn't share them with him. She was not a Gryffindor student - it would be unfair to share her tactical skill with the team she favoured when it was not her own.

But like the others, she was finding it very hard to watch Ron's mental breakdown… because that was essentially what he was having.

So without warning she hurried forwards, running through empty space as if she was upon solid ground until she was able to stand right in the hoop of the middle goalpost.

"Ron!" she called, making Ron jump so violently that he almost fell off his broom.

"Bloody hell!" he cried, looking back at Mavis with alarm. "What… what are you…?"

"Don't look at me! It'll look suspicious," Mavis instructed, which caused Ron to swing his head back around just as Angelina was closing the gap between herself and the Slytherin goalposts.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked miserably. "Now's really not a good time to talk.

"Now is the best time. I came to ask you a question - why are you panicking like this?"

"Why? Because I'm so lousy at this obviously."

"And?"

"What do you mean, and? Listen to them singing! They're right, I'm the absolute worst! They all think I'm a loser now… nobody's going to let me live this down… I'm letting everyone on the team down and…"

"Stop!" Mavis said quickly. "That's what I was looking for. Your team! Gryffindor House! You want to do right by them, don't you? You want to succeed for their sake, don't you?"

"Well… yeah…"

"Good! Then use that, Ron. Blot out the singing and focus on your teammates… your comrades… your friends! Remember this, Ron. This isn't a game you're playing right now. It's a battle!"

"A battle!?"

"Yes! A battle between your beloved Gryffindor and the despised Slytherin! Your team… your house… your family - their pride is on the line here and you have to play your part in ensuring their victory on this battlefield. What people think of you is irrelevant. It doesn't matter if they think you're the worst Keeper in the world or the best, regardless of what side they're on. Even what you think about yourself doesn't matter here. All that matters is your friends. Do you want to protect your friends, Ron?"

"Yeah, of course I do… but…!"

"Then do it!" Mavis yelled, her hair streaming out behind her as she cried with the fiery passion of her soul. "Don't think about what will happen if you fail! Don't even think about failing at all! It's your family that Slytherin is trying to defeat, whose reputation they're trying to destroy, so don't you dare let them win! Do your duty, Ronald Weasley! And show them how strong your feelings are!"

"My… feelings…?"

"Your feelings for your friends and how much you want to protect them in any way possible! The Quaffle is coming," Mavis pointed, and indeed Warrington was now streaking towards the Gryffindor goalposts with the Quaffle under his arms. "You're all that stands between that ball and your friends' pride. So stop it! Protect your team!"

Ron's eyes were as wide as saucers. He couldn't quite explain why but it was like a small fire had been lit within his gut… a fire that was slowly spreading to the rest of him. His hands had stopped shaking upon the handle of his broom and his eyes had become laser-focused upon the Quaffle… a sort of tunnel vision that blotted out everything on the sidelines. He was vaguely aware that people were singing nearby but all of a sudden he didn't need to know what was being sung.

"I have… to protect… my team…" he whispered, his heart rate lowering just as Warrington feinted to the left and lobbed the ball directly towards the left hoop. Ron saw the Quaffle leave his hand and for a moment, time seemed to stand still.

'I have to stop it…' he thought, his eyes narrowing into determined slits. 'And I will stop it. For Gryffindor!'

And before he knew what he was doing he'd arced to the right, spun his broom around and slammed the bristles straight into the Quaffle like a bat, smacking right back towards the startled Warrington who was struck right in the stomach by the large red Sphere. Dead silence fell over the stadium as Warrington seized his broom and keeled over, winded, the Quaffle dropping straight downwards to thunk into the grass below. And Ron's jaw dropped when he himself realised what had just happened.

"I did it," he whispered aloud. "I saved it."

"You protected the pride of your friends," Mavis smiled as him, stepping away from the posts and striding away across the air. "But you still wouldn't have been able to do that if you didn't have enough talent to be a great Keeper. So keep it up, Ron. And protect your family to the end!"

"…Thanks, Mavis," Ron beamed just as the rest of the stadium realised what had happened and a massive cheer erupted from the Gryffindor stands, with even the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joining in. Harry was cheering as well, as were the rest of the Gryffindor team as Ron dove down to scoop up the Quaffle from the ground. Ron had a grin like a cheshire cat as he heard whoops and whistles and roaring from Luna's ridiculous hat. Not to mention Lee Jordan bellowing:-

"WHAT A SPECTACULAR SAVE FROM RON WEASLEY THERE! I MEAN REALLY THAT WAS JUST THE KIND OF THING WE'D EXPECT FROM OLIVER WOOD WHEN HE WAS STILL HERE! DOES THIS MEAN THINGS ARE LOOKING UP FOR THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM! IT CERTAINLY SEEMS THAT THAT COULD BE THE CASE!"

But Ron knew the game wasn't over yet. That was just one goal he'd saved and as Mavis said, it didn't matter what other people thought of him, good or bad. He had to keep going until the game came to an end. So he threw the Quaffle to Katie and play instantly resumed, with Katie shooting past all of the stunned Slytherin Chasers and passing off to Angelina just as Miles Bletchley moved in to intercept, and Angelina instantly put the score up to 100-50. And from there the game began again in earnest and practically became a melee of spinning Bludgers, swooping players and a madly zig-zagging Quaffle.

"YEAH! THAT'S IT! GO GRIFFIN DOORS!" Natsu was screaming as he jumped up and down within his card.

"CHEW 'EM UP AND SPIT 'EM BACK OUT!" Gajeel bellowed.

"KEEP IT UP, RON!" Hermione beat her hand upon the wooden railing with perhaps more excitement than she'd ever had for a Quidditch match before, while the Slytherins started up their offensive song once again, but with noticeably less force than before:-

"Weasley was born in a bin,  
He always lets the Quaffle in,  
Weasley will make sure we win,  
Weasley is our King!"

But their song gradually became less and less relevant through the game, for the next time Pucey came streaking in towards the Gryffindor goalposts Ron swept in towards him and practically battered the Quaffle right out of his hands, and the time after that, when Warrington tried fast-passing it to Montague, swept across and physically kicked the ball with the sole of his boot to send it spinning across to Alicia, who caught it and swept across the pitch to pop it straight into the left Slytherin goal. And with every save he made, Ron's confidence in himself grew.

But confidence was irrelevant. Just as Mavis said, it didn't matter what he thought of himself as long as he did the job.

He didn't save every goal from that point on - the Slytherin team were still able to get some through, but Ron's sudden improvement had thrown them off pace and the Gryffindor Chasers were rapidly catching up. Fred and George were getting in their way too, proving themselves far more effective as chasing Bludgers than Crabbe and Goyle and each with big almost dopey grins across their faces, flashing Ron a thumbs-up sign every time they got near him.

Harry was beaming fit to burst - he didn't know what Mavis had said to Ron back there but now his team was really coming into their own, melding together into the fluid machine they'd been when Oliver had still been Captain. And now the song from the Slytherins had almost completely died from their lips… and was being picked up from the other end of the field but with some very slightly different lyrics.

"Weasley is our King!  
Weasley is our King!  
He never lets the Quaffle in!  
Weasley is our King!

"Weasley can save anything!  
He never leaves a single ring!  
That's why Gryffindors all sing!  
Weasley is our King!

Weasley puts snakes in the bin!  
He never lets the Quaffle in!  
Weasley will make sure we win!  
Weasley is our King!"

Even several of the Fairy Tail members were joining in now - Cana, Natsu, Gray and Gajeel in particular all belting out the song but most of the others joining in with varying degrees of enthusiasm, their voices melding into the crowd so nobody noticed.

"Now this… is far more entertaining," Lisanna chuckled over the ruckus of the singing.

"I've never really liked sport much," Levy agreed. "But I have to admit this is kinda fun. Maybe we should take this game back home. We could organise an inter-guild tournament or something."

"A tournament between guilds? That'd take a hell of a lot of organising. I wonder who'd take charge of that," Gildarts noted, and back off in the Fairy Tail's own dimension, a short King who liked to dress as a pumpkin sneezed.

Gryffindor were pulling back with a vengeance, and were now already down a mere twenty points with the score becoming 110-130. And with Ron unlikely to fall apart again anytime soon, Harry's concentration was free to resume the search for the Snitch.

But then his heart stopped in his chest when he saw that Malfoy had suddenly upended himself and was streaking down towards the Gryffindor goalposts… and yes! There it was - a tiny fleck of gold flitting in an out of the poles. Harry swung himself around and fired across the pitch like a true firebolt - a red streak shooting past Crabbe and Goyle and making Goyle drop his bat with surprise as he homed in on Malfoy's position. The Snitch abruptly changed direction and zinged its way straight upwards, forcing Malfoy to pull himself upwards, but Harry was still in clear line of sight of his prize, both of them blasting in on a collision course.

All singing had ceased, everyone in the stadium was holding their breath… and Harry tucked himself down on his broom to make himself as streamlined as possible, aiming himself just a little above where he predicted the Snitch would be when he got there. At the last possible second he spun himself upside down, gripping the broom tightly with his legs as his hand lashed out and seized the golden ball from the air, shooting out of the way a microsecond before Malfoy got a face full of twigs.

Grinning like a lunatic, Harry swung around and pumping his fist into the air, cheering erupting from three quarters of the stadium when they realised what had happened.

"AND HE'S DONE IT!" Lee Jordan was bellowing. "GRYFFINDOR RECEIVES 150 POINTS FOR POTTER'S MAGNIFICENT CATCH, ENDING THE GAME AND TAKING THE FINAL SCORE UP TO 260-130 IN FAVOUR OF THE LIONS! WHAT A MATCH! WHAT A MATCH! WHAT… A… MATCH!"

The Gryffindor team immediately converged on Harry's position as Harry rose into the air, but Ron was the closest to him so he reached Harry first. And on pure instinct, Harry grabbed Ron's fist in his own, trapping the Snitch between his palm and the back of Ron's hand, and hoisting Ron's arm straight up into the air with his own. If anything the cheering got even wilder after that, and the other team members seemed to agree with his sentiment. Ron looked stunned, like he couldn't believe this had actually happened, but in that moment he looked as thought even one-hundred Dementors combined couldn't leech away all his happiness. He grinned at Harry, and Harry grinned right back because something told him that when the next Quidditch match arrived, Ron wouldn't be quite so nervous anymore.

"OH, WE'RE DEFINITELY TAKING THIS GAME BACK HOME!" Natsu was whooping. "I COULD PLAY THE PART OF ONE OF THOSE BLACK BALLS THAT TRIED TO HIT EVERYONE!"

"He would make a good Bludger wouldn't he?" Lucy laughed.

"Yeah, but he'd probably keep destroying the brooms," Evergreen snorted, a sentiment to which everyone agreed with.

But as the Gryffindor team descended to the ground amidst much fist-bumping, back-patting and the occasional kiss on the cheek from the excited girls, Malfoy landed nearby. Harry noticed him through the throng of red-suited players… and in his experience after a Slytherin loss like that Malfoy should have been furious or at the very least trying to get even in some way with some kind of derogatory comments to try and ruin the occasion for them, like maybe gloating about how effective the song had been at the start - Harry didn't believe for a second that Malfoy hadn't at least been partially involved in composing that horrendous piece.

But that wasn't the case. He didn't even look upset. The blond-haired boy just tossed his broom over his shoulder, his face etched in what appeared to be anxiety as he trudged his way back towards the changing rooms. For a moment Harry wondered whether someone else on the Slytherin team had threatened to beat him up if he didn't get the Snitch… but that seemed kinda unlikely.

'Okay, something's definitely wrong with him,' he thought, before he and Ron were both hoisted up on the shoulders of the other players and he was suitably distracted by the festivities.

* * *

And there was a lot of that. A full party was going on in the Gryffindor Common Room that night, with just about everyone there coming up to congratulate each of the players as much as possible. Even the ones who thought that Harry was an attention-seeking lunatic, aka Seamus, came up to him and heartily shook his hand.

"Really nice catch there, Harry," he said. "Shame you're not Irish - you'd probably make a great fit on the Irish Quidditch team after school if you were."

"Er… thanks Seamus," Harry said. Seamus was like Ron in that he was very much a Quidditch enthusiast so as far as Harry was concerned that was quite the compliment. He watched Seamus go over towards Fred and George briefly and wondered if he should re-think bringing Seamus into the fold. He was the only boy in their dormitory who didn't attend DA meetings and since they were meeting up much more regularly than Harry had initially anticipated, Seamus might eventually start to get suspicious of where they were all going.

He'd have to think about that.

Ron was sitting at a table nearby, still looking half-stunned. It was like everyone had forgotten about his initially abysmal performance in light of his spectacular turnaround, but Ron made no attempt to pretend that hadn't happened.

"I just… had to dig deep into my gut I guess," he was saying to a couple of enthralled third-years. "It was like there was a… a voice in the back of my mind telling me, Ron! You have to do this! You have to protect your house's reputation and you have to pull through… for your team. Who cares what the Slytherin's think of you? Heck, who cares what your own team thinks of you? You just have to knuckle down, sort yourself out, and get the bloody job done."

Harry grinned, as did Hermione as she had just come back in through the portrait after making sure Fairy Tail were all safely hidden back in the Room of Requirement. They both knew whose voice Ron was alluding to since he couldn't tell everyone exactly what had happened, but Harry knew he'd have to find a way to thank Mavis for this later. She'd thought to do what nobody else had by appealing to Ron's desire to do right for the team rather than to do right for himself. Fighting for their friends was a big part of the Fairy Tail spirit… and it seemed Ron, and indeed the rest of the team, had been channelling it that day.

'We may not be able to learn their magic but it looks like we can learn more from them than I thought,' Harry mused to himself, taking another swig of Butterbeer.

For this evening at the very least, nobody in Gryffindor gave much thought to Voldemort or Morgana, or even Fairy Tail for those who still didn't know they were friends. But eventually the festivities grew a little quieter and Harry found himself sitting with his usual cluster of friends in the corner, just relaxing.

"What a day," Ron said, leaning back in his chair contentedly. "I think it started out as one of the lousiest I've ever had before turning into one of the best. Quite a turnabout, right? I love how we managed to turn Slytherin's own demoralising song around like that. I wish I could have seen Malfoy's face at the end of the game. He must have been a right picture."

"To be honest, he wasn't," Harry said, and quickly related how he'd noticed Malfoy seemed distracted through most of the game despite the fact he'd been the first to spot the Snitch.

"…Huh… that's odd," Ron agreed with Harry's summation. "I mean yeah, Malfoy lost his house a few weeks ago but he always bounces back to his usual sneering self quickly after things like that happen. Look how fast he was taunting us again after he was attacked by Buckbeak in our third year."

"That's what I thought," Harry nodded. "So what's bothering him so much?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione asked, raising her brow slightly. "I would have thought it should have been, especially to you Ron."

"Er… no, I'm drawing a blank," Ron shrugged.

"Well the answer's a simple one. He's worried. About his family."

"He is?" Harry blinked.

"Honestly, you two," Hermione rolled her eyes. "I know you view Malfoy as an snotty little brat who holds nothing but contempt for everyone around him, and to a certain extent you're right. But he still cares about his family. He loves his mother, as most sons do. And while I'm not sure how much he loves his father he still has great admiration and respect for him. He doesn't just keep throwing his father's name at people that he thinks are wronging him to scare them, you know."

"…I suppose," Ron frowned uncomfortably. "Blimey… it _is_ hard to imagine someone like Malfoy caring about anyone but…"

"…if ever there was anyone, his family would probably be at the top of the list," Harry finished. "And he knows things about his father's dealings with Voldemort. He taunted us about Sirius when he came to the station with us, remember?"

"Exactly. Which means he probably also knows that Fairy Tail, the very same people who just obliterated his entire mansion, have sided with Dumbledore and the Order against Voldemort and his followers… including his parents. And he knows how powerful Fairy Tail are but he probably doesn't know that Fairy Tail aren't ruthless killers - after all, they did rip his entire house to shreds."

"Damn," Harry whispered. "So as far as he knows, his parents have just become the targets of some of the most powerful people in our world. And he probably thinks they're out there right now, trying to hunt You-Know-Who and all his cronies down."

"…Yeah… I can only imagine how I'd be feeling if our Mum and Dad were on Fairy Tail's hitlist," Ron looked queasy. "Especially if I didn't know what they were really like."

"They're more than welcome to put my family on their hitlist," Harry muttered darkly, thinking about the Dursleys. But the thought of Sirius or the Weasleys being hunted by people who could tear the Ministry apart was frankly terrifying. "No wonder Malfoy's been so distracted recently."

"Precisely," Hermione nodded. "And its not like his parents can just ditch Voldemort and try to get out of Fairy Tail's firing line either, is it? If they did that, then Voldemort would be the one to hunt them down, which isn't a lot better."

"Ugh… now I actually feel bad for laughing at him when he read that his house went kablooie," Ron ran a hand over his face. "I never thought I'd feel bad for laughing at Malfoy."

"Neither did I," Harry sighed. For a moment, he was actually wondering now if there was something he could do to assure Malfoy that even though his family was enemies with Fairy Tail, they were very unlikely to be killed by them.

But that was the moment when Charla hopped up onto their table, followed by Crookshanks who rubbed his flank against her, followed by Happy who looked decidedly unhappy about it.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt whatever you're talking about," Charla said, keeping her voice down so people wouldn't pick it out over the noise of the crowd. "But I thought you should know… didn't you say that you have a friend who lives in the hut next to the forest?"

"Yeah, we do. Hagrid, the groundskeeper," Harry nodded. "But he's away at the moment."

"Then who's the really big man currently walking around outside the hut?" Happy asked.

Instantly all three of the trio were on their feet and hurried over to the window to look outside. And sure enough, though he appeared small from all the way up in the tower, there was no mistaking the thick moleskin overcoat or the huge shaggy mane of hair around the head of the man below, who appeared to be playing a long overdue game of fetch with a very large hoarhound in the snow which had started falling an hour ago.

"HAGRID!" all three of them beamed at the same time, and in a rush they were running up the stairs to Harry's dormitory in order to retrieve Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

* * *

"Hagrid! It's us!" Harry pounded on the door half an hour later. "Open up!"

"Shoulda known," a familiar chuckling came from the other side, to the accompaniment of loud barking and scrabbling at the door. "Only been back 'alf a minute an' already yer comin' down to say 'ello. Down, Fang. Down, ya ruddy dog."

Harry, Ron and Hermione were filled with delight at the sound of Hagrid's voice… but the same could not be said when they got a look at his face. Hermione actually screamed at the sight of the bruises and cuts blotching their way up and down his face, particularly on the left hand side. But the enormous man was quick to hush them and usher them inside, where they whipped off the cloak and immediately began questioning him.

"It's nothin' fer you to worry abou'," Hagrid constantly assured them, even as he held a piece of dragon meat against his face to try and reduce the swelling. "I'm fine. More importantly, I want ter hear all abou' what's been going on since I was away."

"And we want to hear about what the heck you were doing that got you like this," Ron insisted. "Some of those cuts look like they were only made today!"

"Well they weren't," Hagrid said bluntly. "I'm just a slow healer is all. It's not important 'ow I got like this and what I was doing while I was away was top secret mind, so don't you go pokin' yer noses into it. And… huh…" he blinked as he looked up towards the window. "I don't remember ever seein' those cats around 'ere. Must belong to new students I guess."

The trio turned around to see Happy, Charla and Pantherlily were all standing on the outside windowsill, the two Exceed from the Gryffindor Common Room having popped over to Ravenclaw to fetch the third before following them down here.

"Ah… uh… Hagrid…?" Hermione asked tentatively. "Can I ask you something?"

"Long as it's no' a repeat of any of the questions you've already asked me, shoot."

"How much do you know about… about Fairy Tail?"

"…Yeh mean children's stories?" Hagrid frowned.

"No, we mean about… the group known as Fairy Tail."

"The who now?"

"You haven't heard of them?" Ron gasped in astonishment.

"Should I 'ave?"

"But they've been all over the news recently. Seriously, they've been all over it for over a month now."

"Well I 'aven't exactly been keeping up to date with current events," Hagrid pointed out. "Was on a top secret mission wasn' I? Didn't want ruddy owls with newspapers followin' me all over the place where I was goin'. Not that that means I'm gonna tell yeh, mind," he added hastily. "So then… what's Fairy Tail?"

"…How about we make a deal, Hagrid?" Harry said slowly as Hermione crossed over to the window and let the Exceed in. "We'll tell you all about the mages from another dimension and you tell us all about your journey to find the giants."

"Giants!?" Hagrid looked suddenly alarmed. "Wha' are yeh talkin' about? I weren't nowhere near any giants or anything like… wait…" his black beetle eyes narrowed in confusion. "Did you say mages… from another dimension?"

"Did I say that?" Harry grinned enigmatically. "I guess I must have said that, yes."

"Yeh've lost me," Hagrid shook his head. "Yeh can't have met from another dimension. That's impossible. And Hermione, what're yeh doing? You want those cats to be eaten? Fang'll have 'em yeh know, if he has a mind to."

Indeed, Fang was looking with rigid attention at the three cats as they hopped in onto the floor. And as Pantherlily alighted upon the ground he was up out of his bed, tremendous barks rocking the cabin as he flung himself at them. But the dog, and indeed Hagrid, was very suddenly taken by surprise when Pantherlily sprouted into his battle form and seized the startled boarhound by the collar.

"SIT!" Lily roared, and Fang instantly obeyed utterly bewildered.

"WHAT THE SAM HECK!" Hagrid cried, shooting to his feet and gasping as he clutched his bruised ribs. "Harry, Ron, get back! You too Hermione!"

"Hagrid, it's okay," Ron said quickly with great amusement. "These cats are from the other dimension too. They're part of the Fairy Tail group."

"Aye, and don't worry, we're friends with anyone who's friends with Dumbledore!" Happy waved and to Hagrid's astonishment the illusion that disguised all three of them lifted, automatically receding from tricking Hagrid's eyes and leaving the Exceed very much visible to him.

"Talkin' cats?" he blinked several times, picking up the piece of meat from where he'd dropped it and sitting down heavily. "Must be hallucinatin'… if talking cats existed I'd know about it surely."

"What about sphinxes?" Charla pointed out.

"Nah, they don' count… got human heads, them," Hagrid murmured, staring at each of the cats in turn. "You lot are all cat… and yeh're talkin'…"

"Yeah, they are," Hermione smiled as she slipped over to Hagrid's side, unable to keep the grin off her face as she loudly whispered, "And in the world they're from, all the dragons talk too."

"WHA…!?" Hagrid was almost on his feet again. "Yeh're not serious!? This isn't all just some elaborate prank yeh've been planning since yeh got back to school, is it, cos if it is that's extraordinarily mean of you."

"It's no joke," Happy said as Lily shrank back down into his little form once more while Fang stared at the three cats in apparent bemusement. "There's lots of amazing things in our world that yours doesn't have."

"And vice versa of course," Charla agreed. "For instance I don't believe ours has hippogriffs. But we certainly have talking dragons."

"And flying cats! See!" Happy grinned as he lifted off from the ground, sprouting his wings and doing laps around the cabin. Hagrid's jaw was hanging open with disbelief, while Fang appeared to be trying to follow Happy's progress with his head all while sitting in the same spot Lily had told him to.

"I don't believe it…" Hagrid whispered. "I don't… believe it… Harry," he turned to face the young boy he'd rescued from his non-magical family over four years ago. "I'm gonna ask yeh one last time… are you pullin' my leg?"

"No, Hagrid. I'm really not. There's a lot of stuff been going on since you've been a way. Trust me… a lot."

Hagrid sat there, momentarily lost for words. But then his eyes lit up like a child who'd just been told there would be four Christmas celebrations throughout next year. "By crikey, I never thought… I never even imagined… yeh've got to tell me all about it," he leaned over the table as much as he dared with his injuries. "I want to know it all, every detail about yeh're word. What kind of creatures do they 'ave there? What's the magic like? Do yeh have a magical school like this one? I can't believe I'm actually talking to cats from another world!"

"And we'll be sure to tell you everything we can in time," Lily said, sprouting back into his battle form again and raising his hand, which Hagrid shook eagerly. Harry, Ron and Hermione all winced - knowing from experience how tight Hagrid's grip could be when he got excited, but Lily didn't even flinch. "But first I want to say it's a pleasure to meet you at last, Hagrid. We've been told quite a bit about you. And I do believe, based on what we've heard, you're going to be very popular with the rest of our group."

"Who are all human by the way," Charla coughed as she hopped up onto the table. "We three are the only non-humans that have traversed from our world to yours. But may I say," she looked up, up and up until she could see into Hagrid's beaming and bruised face. "I've been to three different worlds… and you're still the biggest man I've ever seen without some temporary magical growth."

That just seemed to make Hagrid even happier.

"Well where are the rest of yeh're group then? I want teh meet 'em all!"

"That's the thing, Hagrid," Harry said insistently. "You have to keep quiet about them okay? Nobody can know that you've been in contact with Fairy Tail, except for the Order members and a few select students."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Let's just say most people haven't exactly been greeting them with open arms," Hermione sighed. And they quickly outlined to Hagrid everything they could think to tell him, including how the Ministry had branded them as threats and how the Wizarding nation was so gripped with fear at their phenomenal powers that few were willing to even consider Fairy Tail might not be enemies. As well as how Fairy Tail's actions hadn't really been helping to convince them otherwise for the most part.

"THEY SANK AZKABAN!?" Hagrid bellowed, this piece of news in particular catching his attention. "Blimey… good riddance to the place but… blimey, where're they gonna put all the convicts now."

"I heard that the Ministry was trying to co-operate with the Ministry of Germany to use the prison of Nurmengard for a while until they can build a new prison somewhere," Hermione said.

"Whoa," Hagrid breathed, leaning back in his chair, apparently deep in thought. Nobody in the cabin spoke for a while, waiting to hear his verdict. But eventually he smiled and said. "Well, if Dumbledore trusts this Fairy Tail lot then so do I. And even if that weren't the case, you lot rescued a bunch o' dragons from the cruel lash of the goblins. That automatically makes you alrigh' in my book. Was never sure if there really were any dragons in Gringott's but I was always sure tha' if there were, they wouldn' be having much a life cooped up underground like that, so good on yeh."

"We thought you'd like that," chuckled Ron. "But just wait until you meet the rest of them. Anyway, now you have to tell us about the giants, Hagrid…"

But before he could get any further there was a knock at the door.

* * *

The encounter with Umbridge was a thoroughly sickening. Her contempt for Hagrid was extremely clear and Harry could tell right off the bat that she was looking for any kind of excuse to get rid of him as soon as possible. Even if Hagrid wasn't a half-breed, which she apparently loathed, his loyalty to Dumbledore was very well known and that made him even more of a target in her book. And she seemed to suspect that Hagrid wasn't telling the truth about going to the south of France anymore than Harry and the others did.

But eventually she left and Harry and the others were left with Hagrid to discuss his plans for his classes, which Umbridge would definitely be inspecting soon, possibly as early as Tuesday morning which was when they had their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the week. So worried were they about Hagrid's potential career prospects that for the moment they forgot about the giants and indeed about Fairy Tail, which allowed the three Exceed to slip off unnoticed and fly back towards the castle.

"Hagrid, are you absolutely sure that nobody will be in any danger?" Hermione was eventually asking, frustrated by Hagrid's refusal to tell them his plans for their lessons. "The evil hag will be looking for even the slightest thing she can use against you so any lesson she inspects has to be completely airtight."

"There's nothin' for yeh to worry about, Hermione," Hagrid assured her. "Now… what were we talking abou' before she interrupted us?"

"We were talking about… er… where'd the cats go?" Ron asked, his head swivelling in bemusement. The others did the same until quite suddenly there was a knock… on the wall.

"Huh?" Hagrid blinked, looking at a section of wall that was next to his fireplace - about the only wallspace that didn't have something jammed up against it in the entire hut. "That's odd… why would anyone be knocking there?"

"I think I have a theory," Hermione said as she eased herself out of the chair and hurried over to the wall. She tapped on it lightly and ran her hand across it until she found a groove in the wood and pulled on it. It jutted outwards like a door handle and the entire panel of the wall swung away, to reveal a small blue-haired girl standing in a large dark hallway beyond, along with three smiling cats.

"Hello, Hermione-san," Wendy said with a smile.

"Hi Wendy," Hermione grinned, stepping past to let her shuffle into the hut.

"Wha…?" Hagrid's mind appeared to be being blown yet again. "I've got three doors in my hut? Where the heck did that passageway come from.

"Wow… you're very big," Wendy observed, her eyes widening at the size of the humongous man before her. "Um… I mean…" she added quickly, bowing her head. "It's very nice to meet you, Hagrid-san!"

"This is Wendy," Hermione introduced her. "The youngest human member of Fairy Tail."

"…Right…" Hagrid stumbled, still trying to wrap his mind around the extra door.

"Oh, and she was raised by a dragon apparently," Harry snickered.

Hagrid sprang to his feet so fast he almost fell over, clutching at his ribs and the piece of meat going flying across the room to land on the fire. "Raised by a… you're bleeding kidding me! Aahhn…"

"You're hurt!" Wendy gasped and hurried towards him, raising her small hands and placing them gingerly on his massive chest, a greenish glow emanating from her palms. Hagrid sat back, gasping in surprise as he felt a soothing aura pass through his torso and his ribs began to crack painlessly back into place.

"Blimey…" he whispered. "That's… tha's amazing."

"Unfortunately Umbridge has already seen him though, Wendy," Hermione pointed out. "You'll have to leave his visible injuries there otherwise she might get suspicious later."

"Okay," Wendy grimaced unhappily, but she understood the necessity. She eventually lowered her hands and Hagrid was able to stand up and swing his arms from side to side experimentally, forcing Ron and Harry to duck under the table to avoid being accidentally clubbed across the head with his huge hands.

"No pain at all," Hagrid beamed in amazement. "Even Madame Pomfrey couldn't have done better than that. Thank yeh very much, little one. Thank yeh very much indeed."

"…I'm really, really little next to you," Wendy murmured.

"Now yeh've got to tell me all abou' this dragon that raised yeh," Hagrid said eagerly. "It was the other way round fer me - I raised a dragon myself in this very hut for a while. Norbert was 'is name. Lovely little blighter he was, until I was forced to give 'im up." He looked momentarily crestfallen, still upset even after all these years that his beloved Norwegian Ridgeback had been taken away from him. But he perked up quickly and said, "What was your dragon's name?"

"Perhaps it would be best if we were to continue this conversation at the other end of this corridor," Charla offered. "There's a great many more people for you to meet, Hagrid. Including two others with dragon parents and another who can actually turn into a dragon."

"…LEAD THE WAY!" Hagrid roared so loudly everyone clapped their hands over their ears tightly. But they smiled at his enthusiasm and led him into the dark corridor, which was easily large for him to step into without having to stoop. Fang lolloped in after them and Hermione carefully closed the door behind them before they all hurried along it.

And sure enough, the other side led to the Room of Requirement - most specifically the stadium room where Fairy Tail spent their time practicing. And every one of them was there now, waiting for Wendy to turn with the new friend from the Order they'd heard about. And clearly every one of them was impressed by Hagrid's size when he emerged at last.

"Dang… and I was really enjoying being the tallest person around," Gildarts muttered.

"So… so yeh're them?" Hagrid looked out at the amassed group excitedly. "Yeh're all the people from the other world? Fairy Tail?"

"Indeed," Erza nodded, baring her arm to him and tapping her blue guild mark. "If you possess this mark, you're one of the Fairy Tail guild. And a great pleasure it is to meet you, Hagrid-dono."

"…I can't help think that I've met someone who could win a wrestling match with Taurus," Lucy breathed.

"Are we sure he doesn't have Titan magic?" Levy giggled.

"Now you…" Elfman said as he stepped forward to grip Hagrid's hand and shake it firmly, looking up into Hagrid's eyes and unused to feeling quite so dwarfed. "You look like a real Man indeed."

Hagrid looked like he was in the world's best candy store in that moment, wading into the crowd of Fairies and introducing himself left and right. There was no way he was going to remember the long list of names he was hearing immediately but he didn't care. He was just enthused about everything and every time one of the mages gave him a little demonstration of the kind of magic they could do, he looked like he was about to wet himself with excitement. Harry could understand why Hagrid in particular would be so intrigued by it since he could no longer practice magic because he'd been accused of a crime he hadn't committed. There must have been a part of him that was wondering if he could learn something like this, which was a bit unfortunate as the answer was no. They'd have to find a way of letting him down gently about that.

The groundskeeper also proved himself to be very popular among the Fairies very quickly, no doubt because of his extremely openly friendly exterior and the fact that he wasn't regarding them with any degree of suspicion at all, which they had grown accustomed to in this world. He ended up having a quick talk with Lucy about each of her Spirits, asking to meet Sagittarius who was his own Zodiac sign, lamented that he didn't have anything like Elfman's Beast Form to show to people in his classes and ended up promising Cana several dozen rounds the next time they were both in the Hog's Head.

But it didn't take him long to remember what most excited and he called out, "So… which of yeh were raised by dragons?"

"That would be me," Natsu pounded his chest.

"And me," Gajeel grinned.

"Um… well you already know about me, Hagrid-san," Wendy said.

"I want to know it all!" Hagrid cried. "Everythin' about these dragons, what they taught yeh, how the behaved. I love dragons - if things had gone different when I was younger I might be ou' in Romania with Ron's brother right now workin' on the dragon reserve."

"I was going to say that you're acting remarkably like he was when he learned about the dragons of our world," Lisanna smiled as she stepped up between Natsu and Gajeel. "So just by way of experimentation, what would you say if I told you that Natsu and me… we met an ancient talking dragon from… this world."

"Yeah, some old geezer of a dragon named Kilgharrah," Natsu chuckled.

"Hey, I was there too. Don't forget me!" Happy cried.

Harry was now sure that Hagrid really had wet himself just a little bit there. "Yeh… Yeh're saying…?" his voice was barely above a whisper.

"And he taught Lisanna how to do this!" Natsu pointed to her and hopped about on the balls of his feet. "Go on, Lisanna. Show him. Show him, show him quick."

Lisanna rolled her eyes at Natsu's enthusiasm for her new ability, which hadn't abated even after two weeks with it. But she obliged him nevertheless and flashed yellow, morphing into her newest Take-Over form once again and spreading her wings out behind Natsu and Gajeel respectively.

Hagrid took five seconds of staring at her before he actually fainted, keeling over backwards and crashing straight to the floor with a colossal thud, even though both Natsu and Gajeel jumped forward to grab his arms and arrest his fall a little.

_Wow, I wonder what would happen if we told him that we were in here,_ Lisanna heard Igneel say in her head.

_Is it possible for someone to die of excitement? Cos I think there's a possibility he would do,_ Metalicana agreed.

* * *

It took half an hour for Hagrid to wake up and when he did he was eager to hear more but his questioning was quickly arrested by Harry. "Hagrid, can you tell us about the giants now please?"

"…Why're you so sure that I went teh see giants anyway, Harry?" Hagrid asked, fidgeting slightly. "I'm tellin' yeh I was nowhere near…"

"It's alright, Hagrid," Gildarts said reassuringly. "We're pretty tight with the Order - they told us about where you'd gone. Somewhere up in the mountains of… Europe, I think its called… to look for giants and try to sway them away from joining Voldemort, right?"

"They told yeh?" Hagrid blinked.

"We're practically members of the Order as it is," Erza explained. "And we've joined the fight against Voldemort. It's natural they'd tell us what you were doing."

"And we're quite fascinated to hear about what you've been up to," Mirajane agreed. "Please do tell us."

Hagrid looked uncomfortable, but his trust in Harry and Dumbledore's decision to befriend Fairy Tail was enough to loosen his tongue. "Well," he took a deep breath before beginning. "It took us a while to get there cos we was travelling on foot see… couldn't risk magical transportation until we'd manage to lose the Ministry officials tailin' us cos I'm not really supposed to be doin' any magic. But eventually we managed to get to the mountains and began our climb in search o' the giants…"

He had the rapt attention of his entire audience as he unveiled his tale of his journey with Madame Maxime, interrupted only once in a while when someone asked a clarifying question or when someone got a bit excited, like Natsu did when he heard about the ever-burning flames that had been given to the Gurg of the giants as a gift.

_Reminds me of my old buddy, Atlas Flame,_ Igneel chuckled wistfully. _You know, I think he actually went on to found a village of giants if my memory serves me well._

_Guess ever-burning flames are very popular among giants from either world then,_ Metalicana chuckled.

_Sssh, this story is interesting,_ Grandine chided her male companions in Lisanna's head as Hagrid continued on. It had not gone very well for them overall, and the collective faces of the group fell almost in synchrony as Hagrid told of how their initial attempts were totally ruined when a new Gurg took over and killed the old one and how the new one, Golgomath, didn't want anything to do with Dumbledore and how Hagrid and Maxime were forced to flee for their lives. And the story didn't improve when Hagrid related how Walden McNair and a couple of other Death Eaters were getting the giant's attention, and any who were still thinking about siding with Dumbledore were quickly put in their place by those loyal to the Gurg.

"That's awful," Lucy whispered.

"And utterly brutal," Juvia shivered. "Juvia doesn't know much about the giants from our world but from what she's heard they're pretty civilised. Much like humans except quite a bit larger."

"No' really the case with the ones we 'ave in our world," Hagrid sighed. "They're really not meant teh be cooped up together like they are, but humans just keep drivin' 'em back and pushin' 'em away from all forms of human settlements, killing 'em off whenever they go to places they're not wanted. Giants have always been rough with each other but there was times when they could wander around wherever they wanted to and while they was never peaceable they was a lot more placid back them from what I recall. I mean granted you'd get one or two that'd step on a human just for amusement but usually if yeh gave them a wide berth they just ignored yeh."

"But of course that wouldn't stop people from seeing them as nothing more than a threat anyway," Lisanna sighed. "It happens all too often - things that are potentially dangerous get persecuted."

"Well, to be fair," Ron said. "Giants have always been a problem for keeping up the Statute of Secrecy to keep us hidden from the Muggles. Not that I'm saying they should have been pushed back like that," he added quickly. "But it does make sense for them to stay in the mountains at the very least."

"Yeah but I wouldn't bet on them staying in those mountains much longer," Hagrid said darkly. "I don't rightly know if they did decide to side with You-Know-Who in the end, but its looking very likely that they did with tha' Golgomath in charge."

"So that's yet another enemy we may have to end up facing," Gray mused. "I wonder how our magic's going to stack up against a giant. How big did you say they were again, Hagrid?"

"The biggest of 'em usually grew to abou' twenty-five feet or so."

"How big are the giants in our world anyway?" Evergreen asked.

"I've read a bit about them," Levy said to nobody's surprise. "And I read that they were ten times taller than humans in our world. If that's true then our giants would be the larger race but I wasn't given precise measurements so I can't say for certain."

"Well I dunno abou' your giants but I know that our giants are generally highly resistant to magic," Hagrid said. "It's one of the reasons why people were so afraid of 'em cos if they decided to come and sit on their house there wasn't much that could be done about it."

"Well they haven't run into our magic yet, so we'll just have to see how that compares if they come looking for a fight!" Natsu grinned savagely. "I've never fought a proper giant before. Sounds fun."

"Still, our enemies continue to stack up against us," Erza said grimly. "And the addition of a dying race to the ranks of our adversaries… is rather sad."

"So we make sure that we don't kill any of them," Cana said. "We can beat them up but no killing, pretty much like we do with every foe we face, right? We'll overcome, no matter what this universe throws at us, we'll find a way to overcome."

"But Hagrid-san," Wendy raised her hand. "You still haven't explained how you got all those cuts and bruises. They can't have come from the giants could they? It must have taken you a while to get back and injuries from them would have healed a bit by then…"

"Tha's really not important," Hagrid replied evasively. "I'm fine anyway now, thanks to you," his eyes glittered eagerly as his former train of thought started up again. "Which reminds me, yeh were gonna tell me about yeh're dragon parents right?"

"There's quite a lot to tell on that score," Gajeel chuckled.

_You don't know the half of it,_ Lisanna thought to herself.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked to each other with tired smiles. Despite Hagrid's bad news it was good to see him back home again, and integrating well with their newest group of friends. And they had a feeling that their beloved groundskeeper had just made three friends for life with the Dragon Slayers, whom he was now eagerly swapping stories with about raising and being raised by a dragon.

Now they just had to make sure that Umbridge didn't succeed in tearing Hagrid away from where he belonged, as she was surely going to try and do.

But quite suddenly, Harry gasped and his hand flew to his forehead. His scar had suddenly seared at him and he'd felt a sudden rush of disbelief running through him, a feeling that came out of absolutely nowhere.

And he wasn't the only one who reacted. Ron, Hermione and Hagrid all suddenly stood up straight, their spines tingling and their eyes widening for reasons they didn't quite understand. And Lisanna, still in her dragon form, spun around with eyes as round as tennis balls, and about as wide too.

"What… what was that?" she whispered, to the bemusement of the rest of the the Fairy Tail members.

But she had a horrible feeling she already knew the answer.

* * *

**Five minutes earlier…**

The sun was now beginning to brush the horizon, and Voldemort's slitted nostrils were flaring. He was not used to being kept waiting. In fact he was not used to following somebody else's instructions. He hadn't done anything of the kind since his days working at Borgin and Burke's. After his time working there, he'd been the one who gave out all of the orders.

And yet here he was… standing on the outskirts of Bristol at the base of a hill, flanked by numerous Death Eaters and… waiting. Just waiting, and he wasn't even sure what for. If he ended up looking like a fool for this, he was going to be furious beyond measure!

Ever since he'd been forced to regroup, that woman's voice in his head had returned every so often, whispering to him and regaling him with stories about ancient Arthurian times. Voldemort was still unsure whether it was really Morgana speaking to him - he still held a very high degree of scepticism. But whoever it was, she was clearly powerful to be able to invade his Occlumency barriers and talk to him directly with such ease. But whenever Voldemort tried to question her about her intentions she would fall silent, enigmatically whispering that he would find out soon enough.

But on the whole, while the Order, the DA and Fairy Tail had all been preparing for an upcoming battle, Voldemort and his followers had been doing comparatively little, except licking their wounds and trying to pull themselves together after what had happened. In the last couple of days, Voldemort had started sending out forays to try and try and find some of the Dementors that had fled Azkaban upon its destruction, and a couple of emissaries to talk to a few werewolves and try to get back to recruiting, but mostly he'd been puzzling over what to do next.

As had the two Grimoire Heart mages. Rustyrose and Bluenote were still with them for the time being, having reflected on Voldemort's words and deciding he might have had a point - they did need help if they wanted to get far in this new world they knew almost nothing about. And when Voldemort had told them what he'd heard about the location of their comrades, they'd decided to stick around to see if he was right.

On the whole, the two sides hadn't interacted much. The Death Eaters gave Grimoire Heart a very wide berth, and the mages were more than happy to let them. They'd been recovering their strength well, proving the resilience of the people of their world, but after two weeks the both of them were getting restless. Voldemort had forbade them not to go out and cause trouble, but Bluenote had been very quick to glower at him and crush a wooden chair into splinters with a glance, just to make his point.

"Never forget, Dark Lord," he said with lip curled. "We are not your subordinates. We do not have to answer to you and if you try to make us then you may find yourself in the same position as that chair."

Nevertheless they had managed to reign themselves in, while Voldemort seethed. He was not used to people treating him without respect. Sometimes he would come across someone who did not fear him but even Dumbledore and Harry respected him in their own ways. Perhaps not in what he did but they at least respected the fact he was a powerful wizard. These two… there was nothing of the sort. They merely viewed him and his followers with complete contempt.

Nevertheless, Voldemort was determined to show them somehow that he was a person that they should be respecting. And yet he still couldn't come up with an answer on how to oppose Fairy Tail. Not one that would be feasible anyway.

But there was still a degree of hope left as far as he was concerned. If the woman speaking to him really was Morgana… well… he'd heard the stories. And for the first time in a long time, Voldemort was very much looking forward to the prospect of meeting someone as renowned and powerful as she.

And that's why he was here now, at this hillside just off the coast. Because the woman's voice had come to him not an hour earlier and told him to come to this exact spot.

"Bring your followers," she had instructed. "And those two from the other world. Every one of them is going to want to see this."

And so he had… and so he waited… and waited… and waited…

"I am rapidly losing patience, baldie," Rustyrose yawned, stuffing his hands in his pockets and reclining against a rock. "Tell me if this surprise of yours is coming anytime soon, will you? Your answer will determine whether I walk away or stay put for a few more minutes and then walk away."

"You DARE!?" Bellatrix snarled at him, lurching forwards and having to be held back by Rodolphus and Rabastan. "You DARE mock the Dark Lord in such a disgraceful manner? I'll have your head! I'll have it mounted on a wall!"

"And do something to bring your lady friend to heel," Rustyrose chuckled. "She seems quite feral to me."

"Just hold a little while longer," Voldemort insisted quietly, though the truth was he was beginning to lose patience himself. "We will most likely not want to miss it when it happens."

"When what happens, my Lord?" Dolohov asked bemusedly. "What are we waiting for exactly?"

But Voldemort did not answer. Instead he just kept waiting… and as soon as Rodolphus had managed to calm the fuming Bellatrix down, silence reigned over the hillside…

…for about two minutes.

Then…

***WHA-HAM!***

All of a sudden something huge crashed down into the surf about a hundred metres off to the right of the amassed group, impacting in the shallow water of the channel with a huge plume of spray as if whatever it was had just dropped out the sky like a falling meteor, even though it had actually appeared out of thin air a few metres above the surface of the water. It's sudden appearance made most of the Death Eaters jump right out of their skins, especially since the sound of its impact was like a cannon going off.

But when the spray cleared enough for them to make out what the object was, Rustyrose and Bluenote were quite to recognise it.

"That's the airship of Grimoire Heart," Rustyrose cried, and indeed it was. Battered and busted up from the fighting that had taken place on it six years prior and missing most of its roof, but still relatively intact under the circumstances.

The two Grimoire Heart mages hurried towards the surf, followed more warily by the rest of the group, but as they approached something relatively large lurched up to the edge of the ship's top deck and tipped outwards, falling through one of the large holes in the wall and plunging downwards to crash heavily into the water and actually displacing much of it to crash down against the bottom. "Woo-weeeeeeee!" it cried, as it impacted face-first before water washed in all around it and left it glubbing and thrashing about in confusion.

"Ah, so the fat one is here then," Bluenote muttered.

"Hikaru!" Rustyrose called out to the thrashing lump. "I honestly never thought I'd be this glad to see you."

"Uhh… uhhnngff…" the figure managed to struggle to its feet, revealing it to be a very large man, at least seven feet in height and more than a little overweight, who looked like he would do very well in a sumo wrestling match. He didn't appear to wear much clothing other than large black pants, boots, wristbands, a pair of brown belts that crossed over his torso in an X and robe that was blue on the inside but yellow on the outside, and he had thick and rather shaggy black hair, which contrasted starkly against his extremely white complexion. "Rusty? Is that you?" he blubbered in confusion, looking around in alarm. "Whh… woo-wee… where in the world are we?"

"That's not even the right question to be asking at the moment to be honest," Rustyrose sighed, pushing his sunglasses over his nose and turning back to Voldemort and the Death Eaters. "This is Kain Hikaru, another member of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory, much like myself. He's a bit slow but he's strong in both magic and body so I would warn you not to take him lightly either. Looks like he managed to cling onto our airship while being pulled through that vortex, unlike myself."

Bluenote grunted to himself as Kain hobbled his way to the shore, stepping duck-footedly due to the water in his boots. If the ace was honest, of all the members of the Seven Kin he'd rather had made it through to this world, Kain was at the bottom of the list. Not because he wasn't strong but because Bluenote personally found him to be extremely annoying. But at this point he'd take any familiar face he could find.

"Who… who are all these guys?" Kain asked as he made it to the sure, shaking his head and spraying water out of his hair. "And seriously isn't anyone going to tell me where we are? Gosh, I'm hungry… woo-wee… and that guy is freaking me out a little," he pointed at Voldemort as if he was an interesting wax figurine rather than an actual person who could see exactly what he was doing.

But Voldemort was quite a bit more interested in the airship. He could tell without being told that it was designed to be some kind of transportation but he couldn't have guessed exactly how it worked. But nevertheless, such a creation could potentially be rather useful to him despite the fact it was looking a little wrecked at the moment.

Still, was that the entire reason he'd been called out here by the woman's voice.

As it turned out… no…

The air was thrumming behind the group now, and Kain's questions went completely unanswered as everyone turned to look back at the hill behind them. A golden light had appeared on the side of it, and the whole hill was shaking and juddering like it had been caught in a miniature earthquake, though nobody could feel any vibrations in the ground. The Death Eaters backed away from it slowly, many of them readying their wands for a quick Disapparation if necessary. The light intensified and several of them wandered if the entire hill was going to explode. But then the light seemed to plunge inwards and dissipated… revealing the mouth of a cave set in the hillside.

For a moment, nobody moved. Nobody dared to speak. Voldemort slowly moved forwards to the front of the group, the Death Eaters falling back to let him past and all of them waiting with bated breath. Voldemort had told them all about the visions he'd been having (which he had described as such because visions sounded better than hearing a voice in his head) but none of them were sure what to think. Could it be true? It seemed so impossible… and yet…

The place was so quiet that the sound of soft footsteps emanating from inside the cave sounded almost loud in the still evening air. And into the light of the setting sun emerged a single figure, garbed in a long, elegant black dress which trailed slightly across the floor, dipped low to reveal a little of her cleavage and had thin sleeves ornately decorated with criss-crossing patterns that almost looked like a spider's web. Her hair was long, black and flowing and her lips were twisted into a combination of a superior smirk and a grin of elation.

And they could feel her power. Everyone there could sense the deep, ancient magic condensed within her body. And in that moment, all doubts Voldemort had about the identity of this woman was disappeared.

"Hello again, Albion," Morgana Pendragon took a deep breath and purred with delight. "Your Queen has returned."

* * *

"She's back," Lisanna whispered, turning to face the rest of her friends with her expression as grave as death. "I just felt a spike in the Old Religion. And so did you," she nodded to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid. "There's no mistaking it. Morgana is back."

* * *

Just as Lisanna had felt something stir, the dragon who had shared his abilities with her sensed it too. Kilgharrah opened his golden eyes, glowing in the darkness as the sun finally sank below the horizon.

"It seems the day has finally arrived," he sighed. "The one you were hoping would never come, young warlock. Morgana is free again at long last."

"I know," the wizened old man next to him whispered. "I sensed it too. And I can sense something else as well… she's grown even stronger."


	44. Authority

**scoobs987 - **I'm not sure why I couldn't PM you but I couldn't so I have to reply on here. But the answer is no - Ethernano may have been released into the air of the Harry Potter world but nobody from the Potterverse, wizard or Muggle, will be able to use it. To them it is a foreign substance - harmless but useless, and they do not have the magical containers necessary to harness their power.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 44:- Authority**

* * *

On the evening of Saturday November 4th, 1995, every witch or wizard on the planet suddenly stopped what they were doing. Numerous magical creatures also suddenly paused in their activities, and every one of them looked around them in bewilderment. Almost all of them had absolutely no idea what had just happened, but they'd definitely sensed something. There had been a faint tingling at the back of their minds, like something very important had just occurred but they didn't have the foggiest idea what it might be.

Most of them forgot about it relatively quickly, but Lord Voldemort knew that he was never going to forget this moment for as long as he lived.

Morgan Le Fay… Morgana Pendragon… a being of legend was now standing before him. Never once in his entire life had Voldemort felt reverence in the way he did now. He had met individuals that he had respect for - Dumbledore for instance and some of the Fairy Tail members for another - but he'd walked around with such a sense of superiority for most of his life that even being mildly awestruck just being in a person's presence was an alien concept to him.

Morgana looked out across the assembled Death Eaters, her lip curling slightly. "A rather shabby bunch," she said. "I thought you would have raised your followers better than this, Voldemort." She turned to look him in the eye as if she'd known him for years, offering him an almost sweet smile. "I return at long last from years of isolation and not one of your band have the decency to bow before their Queen. How insufferably rude."

Voldemort looked round at his followers and noticed they were similarly awed by what they were seeing and feeling. "Oh, quite right," he said almost conversationally to Morgana. "How terribly remiss of them. The last one of you that I see still on their feet will receive half an hour of the Cruciatus Curse."

Instantly every Death Eater dropped to their knees and bowed low, even Bellatrix and she'd only ever bowed before Voldemort himself until now. Voldemort himself inclined his head, knowing full well that this woman was not someone he could instil fear in as with most others. "It is my great honour to be the one to welcome you personally back to the world, Lady Morgana," he said, in a mildly sycophantic tone that he was very unaccustomed to using but which seemed to flow off his tongue naturally in her presence. "I am grateful that you chose me to witness this historic event."

"Historic indeed," Morgana said as she strode forwards until she was but two feet from him. She was slightly shorter than Voldemort but she somehow seemed to be a little taller. "But of course you were the most natural choice. I have been watching you, Voldemort, as I told you before. And you're skills in leadership, your great power and your ability to instil terror wherever you go… they're exactly the kind of things that I value in my allies. I consider myself fortunate that I was able to escape from my prison during your reign."

"Thank you for your kind words," Voldemort purred. "But if I may ask, how were you able to watch me when your prison was set beyond space and time? How could you have communicated with me?"

"Quite simple," Morgana chuckled, gesturing back to the cave she had just exited. "This is the Crystal Cave. Some believe it is the place where the magic of this world was born and it is filled with large magical crystals that allow me to see many things when I look into them. These crystals are not like your cheap balls that some of your kind try and use to determine the future - they are… how do they put it these days… the real deal? Yes, I believe that's the term. Even Muggles can see things in those if they so choose, but for a Seer as powerful as I… I could see practically anything I wished to see. I've been watching the world unfold for the last fifteen hundred years… watching as magic has been swept under the rug and hidden… every with magic cowering under a rock to hide from the non-magical," her face was twisting now into a rictus of disgust. "It's almost worse now than it was back during the time of the Great Purge."

"I agree," Voldemort nodded. "It is the magical who should rule this world, and yet the Muggles think it is they who dominate it. It's utterly repugnant. But you are saying that this… this cave… is the birthplace of our magic…?" he whispered, once again struck with awe at this piece of information. Wizards and witches had speculated for generations as to how magic had originated or from where, but nobody knew for sure. Perhaps the information had simply been lost to the ages.

"It looks so… unassuming…" he murmured. "And set in such an ordinary hillside."

"It was not always set in a hill," Morgana replied. "It used to be set in an ancient and narrow valley known as the Valley of the Fallen Kings, an area that was strong with magic and where few dared to tread. But the land has changed much since I was last here, and the Valley is now lost to us, swallowed up by this channel you see before you when the sea level rose," she gestured out to the Bristol Channel. "That is why I had it appear here when it re-entered existence. It was as close as I could get it to its original location."

"And you've lived for this long, trapped inside that cave… unaging… immortal…" Voldemort breathed.

"I am only still alive because I was free from the constraints of time while in that cave. It's odd… I thought I would feel a lot older now that I am back under its influence, but I feel nothing. However, I intend to bring about some big changes now that I have returned," Morgana smiled. "But the forces that now rally against us are strong. Of course you and I are very powerful, my dear Voldemort… but I think we can both unequivocally say that Fairy Tail, the very same people who allowed me to return by knocking into my prison, have already proven they are a match for you. And I will not make the mistake of underestimating them. I am powerful but I admit, I know very little about their abilities and how they would match up with my own."

"A wise decision," Voldemort agreed, though his face twitched slightly under the remarkably unsubtle reminder of how badly his attempt to forcibly recruit one of them to his cause had gone. "But of course we do have some people similar to them on our side now," he gestured behind him to the three Grimoire Heart mages, who were regarding the scene with vague interest, or outright confusion in the case of Kain Hikaru.

"Woo-woo-wwwweeeeee!" the latter suddenly cried, hammering his arms up and down almost nervously like a toddler having a tantrum. "Would somebody please explain to me what is going on? I'm so confused! Where did Zeref go? What happened to those dragons?"

"All your questions will be answered in due course," Morgana stated calmly, apparently having expected a reaction like that while Voldemort was left nonplussed by it. "But I am grateful you are here, all three of you. It was your passage from one world to another past my place of exile which allowed me to finally claw my way back and while I know you had no active role in freeing me I thank you nonetheless."

"Pleasure," drawled Rustyrose. "But more importantly, who else is coming? Is there anyone else from Grimoire Heart being dragged through to this world."

"Oh yes," Morgana smirked. "Two more actually - I saw them. What did I hear you call them… Yomazu and Kawazu I believe I heard you name them."

"That's it?" Bluenote arced a brow. "Just those two? Granted they were close to the Seven Kin in strength but still… what of Ultear and Meredy? What of Azuma and Zancrow?"

"What of Zeref?" Rustyrose added, his name sparking a reaction in Kain who clapped a hand over his eyes as if afraid he'd suddenly see Zeref standing before him.

"There is nobody else set to come through," Morgana replied. "Apart from those two, everyone else affected by the rip in time and space is now already here. And this… Zeref of yours… he is not one of them. It seems he was somehow able to evade the vortex which sucked the rest of you in."

Rustyrose and Kain looked at each other, apparently unsure whether to feel relieved or disappointed at this news.

"But all is not lost for you," Morgana added. "Of that I can assure you. I can see that what each of you most desire now are two separate things. To go home to your own word and to see Fairy Tail crushed. And I promise you… if you join forces with me… I will see to it that both of those things occur."

"Can you now?" Rustyrose said, clearly sceptical. "And how can you do that? If I'm understanding this whole situation correctly you were unable to get yourself back into your own dimension from just floating around outside it. How do you propose to get us right back across the divide to our own?"

"Granted, I could not get back before, but then the rift between our two worlds was forcibly opened, allowing you and Fairy Tail to pass through. But its still there now - a pathway beyond space that links up our world to yours. If it wasn't there then you wouldn't have been able to cross over at different times as you have been doing. The magic of the Old Religion is very diverse - and I am confident that I will find a way to use it to allow you to return to your own world."

"And what exactly would you have us do for you in return?" Bluenote growled lightly.

"Why, help me to conquer this one of course," Morgana spread her arms out wide, smiling broadly. "The land you are standing in now is my land. I am the rightful ruler of all you see around you and I shall take back what is rightfully mine. But my enemies are strong, so I will require assistance in my ascension. But once I have no further need for your help, I will make sure that you are rewarded with exactly what you want."

"You want us to take on Fairy Tail again?" Kain Hikaru stammered lightly, still not totally up to speed but able to follow at least part of the conversation. "Woo-weee… that didn't exactly go well for us last time, and there were a lot more of us back then. We lost Master Hades too and he was more powerful than any of us."

"He's right," Rustyrose gritted his teeth. "It pains me to say it but they are stronger than we gave them credit for. I believe we are still definitely strong enough to take on most of them in one-on-one combat, but not all. And they greatly outnumber us here from what I have heard."

"I agree," Morgana smiled. "But I have had fifteen-hundred years to plan for my return. I didn't take Fairy Tail into account for that of course but I have a few ideas that will help… level the playing field so to speak. By the time I am finished, you will only be a part of the force I intend to build. But your power would make you a pivotal one nonetheless. So… will you join me?"

The three Grimoire Heart mages glanced at each other before Bluenote suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Tell me this," he stepped forward. "What's to stop us from simply forcing you to find a way to get us home now and then leaving you to deal with Fairy Tail?"

The air around him shook and quite suddenly all the kneeling Death Eaters found themselves flattened against the ground by an intense wave of gravity. Even Voldemort was suddenly forced down to one knee. But Morgana took a wide stance and managed to resist being pushed downwards.

"I had a feeling you would ask me that," she smirked lightly. But suddenly her irises flashed a bright golden colour and she said, "Gestillan hæle brēostcofa."

Bluenote gasped and faltered, his hand clapping to his chest and his gravity magic halting in his tracks. Alarm rippled through the group as Bluenote staggered backwards, falling to his knees and his eyes bulging before he collapsed straight onto his stomach, gasping raggedly for air.

"Bluenote!" Rustyrose cried, dashing over to his side and looking wildly up at Morgana. "What the hell did you do!?"

"I just stopped his heart," Morgana replied sweetly. "Your friend is currently going into cardiac arrest because his blood's no longer being pumped around his body. But not to worry. I don't want you to die after all." Her eyes flashed golden again and suddenly Bluenote heaved for breathe and rolled onto his back, gasping and panting but apparently fine as his heart jumped into overtime to try and catch up for the last twenty seconds it had just skipped.

"Bottom line though," she purred. "I would advise you not to test yourself against me. I won't be so presumptuous as to say that you could never defeat me if you used your full power - I know what you did there was just a taste of it after all… but I believe I have just proved it would be a great risk to you to try."

"Point… made…" Bluenote growled and he slowly pushed himself upwards.

"But I don't want you to think of me as a threat or an enemy. I want us to be partners… allies… both of us helping each other to get what they want. I believe in biological terms this is called symbiosis. If you want nothing to do with me I'll let you go on your own way. I won't interfere with you unless you get in my way. So… I ask again… will you join me?"

"Uh… I'd like to volunteer," Kain Hikaru raised his hand. "I rather like my heart the way it is and I'd like for it to keep going."

"…I suppose it would indeed be… mutually beneficial for us to join you," Bluenote nodded slowly. "Perhaps with your assistance, I will truly be able to fly."

"But to be clear," Rustyrose raised his finger. "We will follow your lead, but you are not our leader. We reserve the right to back out at any time we choose if we feel our partnership with you is leading us downhill, understand?"

"Deal," Morgana replied simply before turning back to face Voldemort at the Death Eaters.

"My Lady, that was remarkable," Voldemort noted. "I have never heard of a spell that makes the heart simply stop beating."

"A great many spells have been lost to the ages. But I remember them all," Morgana said as she strode past him to look out across the Bristol Channel. "Soon this land will bow before me as it once did in ages past… before Merlin and Arthur stole it all away from me. But the Old Religion is returning… it's power has waned over the years but I can feel it now, climbing its way back up to prominence. And we shall rise to prominence with it. Voldemort," she turned around to face him. "What would you say if I offered you the position as Minister for Magic under my regime?"

Voldemort's eyes narrowed slightly. "You are… choosing my position under your rule?" His voice was a light snarl now. He was enthralled that the great Morgana Pendragon herself had appeared before him but he had no interest in becoming her subordinate. He had no desire to be anyone's subordinate. He had not bowed low as his followers had. He was Lord Voldemort - the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time. Morgana might be the most powerful witch, but she did not rule over him.

"Certainly not," Morgana chuckled. "I am simply suggesting where our partnership can lead us to. I will be Queen naturally. It is my birthright after all. But I am suggesting that you take the position of Minister by my side. And the two of us can rule together, ensuring that the magical triumph over the non-magical, coming up with mutual decisions for the good of our people together. If you'd prefer not to be the Minister then you can forge a new position for yourself. What say you?"

Voldemort's suspicions melted and he felt his lip curl into a smirk of delight. "Victory is practically assured," he said. "With the two of us together alongside Grimoire Heart… not even Fairy Tail will be able to stand before us."

"I would not be so quick to say that," Morgana sniffed. "But we will certainly take any means necessary to grind them into the dust… to render them as weak and useless as an actual fairy. But first, we must do some heavy recruiting to our cause. I have seen that you have had success with swaying the giants. The Dementors are on our side should they ever come back from hiding and it appears you are making strides with the werewolves. But we will need more. Much more. And fortunately… I know exactly where to start."

"And where will that be?" Rustyrose asked.

"All in good time," Morgana chuckled. "First things first, this airship of yours," she gestured out to the hulking, black vehicle lying in repose in the bay. "Do you think you can get it up and running? I don't mean entirely fixed right away, but at least able to fly. It may prove invaluable for staying on step ahead of our enemies."

"I have some knowledge of the inner workings of the ship," Rustyrose said. "Fortunately the engines and the base are still mostly intact so we should be able to get it moving. The entire section may have been taken clean off but fortunately there was nothing vital up there. Just the roof, the observation platform that contained Hades' throne room and the Jupiter cannon. It's a pity that we've lost that last one - it was a powerful weapon to be reckoned with."

"If we had Ultear here then she'd be able to repair the whole thing more or less instantly," Kain muttered lightly.

"I wouldn't say that it was all irreparably damaged though," Morgana mused. "It may take a powerful restoration spell but I'm sure that we will get this ship fully operational once again. In the meantime, Voldemort… who would you say you trust most out of all your Death Eaters?"

"That title most certainly belongs to Bellatrix here," Voldemort gestured out to the Death Eater in question, who looked like she was about to explode with pride the moment he said it. "She's been my most loyal supporter for many years now, and one of my most powerful operatives."

"Well I should say so," Morgana turned to regard Bellatrix appraisingly. "Back in my time I was merely expected to stand around and look pretty but women are just as capable of wielding power as any man. Miss Bellatrix… I have a task for you."

"With all due respect… My Lady," Bellatrix said tightly. "I will not follow the commands of anyone by the Dark Lord."

"And I am certain the your Lord will approve of my plan," Morgana purred smoothly. "I want you to head to the British Museum in London. There are many artefacts there from the time of Merlin and myself but the ignorant Muggles don't have the slightest clue what many of them are truly capable of. But there is one object in particular which I am interested in - a large, silver coin with a swirling spiral pattern upon it. Bring that coin to me… it will prove to be most useful indeed in bolstering our forces."

"Do as she says, Bellatrix," Voldemort instructed immediately. "A little ancient magic could be exactly what we need to combat Fairy Tail."

Bellatrix bowed low and departed with a loud crack.

"Excellent," Morgana smiled. "Now, everyone else on board the airship. It will only be a matter of time before it is discovered if we leave it where it is… but fortunately I know the perfect place to moor it for now. Does it float?"

"It does," Bluenote nodded. "It works as a regular ship just as much as an airship."

"Good. Then as soon as we can get it out into the bay, do it. Would everyone like to accompany me onto the deck?"

She raised her hands and suddenly a violent whirlwind ripped out of the ground around her, forcing Voldemort to step backwards a little, watching with wide eyes as Morgana seemed to fade from sight as if she'd dissolved into the wind itself. That was not Apparition but it was definitely some kind of instantaneous transportation spell. Quickly he Apparated onto the deck of the airship and indeed she was there already, looking around curiously at the wreckage. Clearly the battle that had taken place here had been an extraordinarily violent one - the deck was rent asunder in several places, the walls were all but gone and what appeared to be a large golden globe was sitting nestled amongst shattered planks in the corner.

The other Death Eaters quickly Apparated on board too, some of them bringing the three Grimoire Heart mages with them. Jugson was unfortunate enough to be the one who transported Kain, who instantly reeled and collapsed on top of him, almost breaking his spine in the process.

As Rustyrose headed off to patch up the engines, using his Arc of Embodiment to bring some crucial parts he would need into existence for the repairs, everyone else split up to explore the lower decks of the ship. As the ship was designed to house an entire guild it was kitted out with near enough everything they would need to live there, including toilet facilities, various kitchens and even bedrooms. Though there was still the occasional oddity, like opening a door only to find a brick wall on the other side.

Voldemort and Bluenote accompanied Morgana as she wandered through to the centre of the lower decks, coming upon a room right at the back which had once been Hades' own personal dining room, used by him and by his top generals only. It had metal tiled floors of a deep red colour, and a large stain glass window that allowed a view out the back of the ship between the two engines, which resembled two conjoined circles, one raised just above the other and filled with red and blue patterns. There was currently a very large hole in both the ceiling and the roof… and lying crumpled to one side of the room was a corpse.

The body was clad only in what appeared blue shorts while the rest of it was absolutely swathed in bandages, leaving only the hands, feet and a small part of the chest uncovered, along with just over half the face. Even the left eye was covered by the bandages and the man had clearly been very old when he died. His hair and moustache were grey and former was very long, as was his thin, wavy beard which easily reached down to his waist but was now strewn out limply across the floor beside him.

"So… it's true," whispered Bluenote, stepping over to the body and staring down at it almost blankly, as if unable to believe what he was seeing. "Master Hades really has perished."

"This is the man who led you in the fight against Fairy Tail?" Voldemort asked. "It appears he took quite a beating before he died."

"How do you feel, Bluenote?" Morgana cocked her head curiously.

"…I am unsure. I respected the man greatly. I did not like the way he was constantly trying to restrain me from letting loose my power on his enemies but I had great respect for him nonetheless. Certainly more than I've ever had for anyone else I've ever encountered."

"Well, his base is ours now," Morgana sniffed. "And I intend to ensure that it does not go to waste."

Suddenly there was a rumbling, whooshing sound and each of them felt a jerking motion as the airship juddered into life. "Excellent," Morgana smiled. "Now, do you steer this thing?"

"It was personally linked to Master Hades and did whatever he willed it to do. When Master Hades is not on board… or has died… command of the vessel instantly falls to the highest ranking member of the guild on board. Which in this case, would be me."

"Good, then would you please steer us out into the bay?" Morgana asked. "I have a specific destination in mind."

The ship automatically turned itself around, grinding against the sandy bottom of the bay and forcing itself out into deeper water. Morgana led the way quickly back to the topmost deck of the ship remaining, moving to the front of the ship as it broke free of the shallows and pushed off into shallow water, red magic circles swirling around the two thruster-like engines at the back.

"Were are we heading to, my Lady?" Voldemort asked.

"To another place steeped in the Old Religion," Morgana replied enigmatically. "Can you not see it?"

Voldemort's eyes narrowed, trying to pierce the gloom that was descending all around them as the last vestiges of sunlight were disappearing, as well as a thick mist that eerily blanketed the bay. But up ahead, he could vaguely make out… a shape… what appeared to be towers… ancient and crumbling into ruin… rising up out of the water ahead of them.

"A fortress?" he whispered in astonishment. "In the middle of the Bristol Channel?"

"That…" Morgana smirked. "Is the Isle of Blessed… where the High Priestesses of the Old Religion dwelled… a sanctuary for all magical users everywhere until Uther Pendragon came along and left it a ruin. It was once situated in the middle of a lake, but the same rising sea level that flooded the Valley of the Fallen Kings also washed over the lake, merging it with the ocean. But the Isle still stands, lonely and forgotten, but still there. Thousands of Muggles pass within sight of it every day across their bridge, and they don't even see it. And even wizard and witch-kind have forgotten where it is."

"Then it will make a perfect base for us!" Voldemort smirked. "My Lady, your knowledge truly is invaluable to our cause."

"No… it will only serve as a temporary refuge for us," Morgana shook her head. "There is one out there besides myself who remembers the Isle of the Blessed. And it'll only be a matter of time before Merlin joins the fight against me once more."

"…What!?" Voldemort gasped, suddenly completely stunned. "Did you say… Merlin?"

"Oh yes," Morgana growled. "I had hoped that he would die and be done with it by the time I return but it would seem age means nothing to Merlin. He's still very much alive, and still very much the most powerful warlock who ever lived. But do not worry… with what I have in mind, neither he nor Fairy Tail will be able to stand in our way. Before us, they will all crumble into nothingness."

* * *

Nobody really knew what to think when they heard that Morgana had returned. Certainly they'd all felt a little stirring in the world when it happened, some more strongly than others, but it still almost seemed like a dream to them. There was no dramatic event surrounding it to make it seem real as there had been when Voldemort had returned. The sudden death of Cedric Diggory had been nothing short of tragic, but at the very least it provided the punch to the gut that Harry's friends needed to believe what he said.

This time there was only a curious incident where everybody's spine had tingled at the same time, and the word of a single girl who hadn't even heard of Morgana until recently, to make people believe that she really was back. And even Lisanna couldn't really provide any solid evidence to support her words other than saying, "I just felt it. It was like a voice whispering in my ear, telling me exactly what had happened. I can't explain it, but I know what happened. I know it my bones."

Which wasn't a lot to go on really. And several Order members were still more than a little sceptical of the claim.

But not one of the Fairy Tail mages were. Every single one of them believed what Lisanna told them and over the course of the next few days they began training themselves even harder than before. They may not have known anything about Morgana's power but none of them were prepared to take any chances. And the Order definitely noticed their increased efforts too.

"Look, I'm not saying she's not telling the truth," Tonks said to Juvia and Wendy the following day as the two blue-haired mages took a short break from their training. "But how can you just believe her so firmly like that without any physical evidence at all?"

"Because we trust her," Juvia said simply. "She's one of us and we trust her judgement."

"Lisanna-san wouldn't have any reason to lie about this," Wendy agreed. "So until what she says is proved otherwise, we stand with what she said."

"But it can't be as simple as that surely," Tonks frowned. "Don't you need evidence? Or at least an account of exactly what exactly took place and where? Lisanna couldn't tell us a thing about that."

"It is as simple as that for us," Juvia said. "Fairy Tail puts its faith in one another. In every way possible."

Tonks had to admit she was a little envious after that conversation - if she'd been the one to just say that out of the blue, how many of her friends would have believed her? But she ended up training harder herself when she didn't have Auror duties, as did several other members of the Order.

The majority of the DA were still left in the dark on this whole Morgana matter. Harry and the others weren't exactly sure what they could say. Many of them were unsure whether to believe Voldemort was back for a long time, and some of them might still have doubts even now. Harry couldn't shake the feeling that if he told them Morgana was back, based solely on the word of one Fairy Tail member, some of them might actually start to believe the same thing as Fudge, and that the Fairies were trying to sew unnecessary panic and disorder in the magical community to create a dependence on their strength.

But when he expressed this concern to Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer didn't seem to care all that much about the ramifications.

"You should tell them," he said simply. "They're your friends, right? You should trust that they'll trust you in return. And if they don't believe you now then they will eventually, won't they?"

"I know… but… what if I tell them the truth and they turn away, thinking I'm crazy. Then they leave the DA and discover the truth the hard way when Morgana makes her move and they haven't learned what they need to learn to protect themselves because I drove them away?"

"…That's a lot of ifs…" Natsu muttered before shaking his head and saying, "But still, how can they prepare themselves for Morgana if you don't tell them exactly what it is they're up against? And why should they trust you if you don't trust them first?"

That shut Harry up rather quickly and gave him quite a lot to think about. But he still didn't tell the DA… because he still wasn't sure he knew the truth himself. He'd been preparing to face Voldemort in one form or another since practically the day Hagrid had told him how his parents had really died. But this whole Morgana thing had come practically out of the blue - it was such a sudden development that part of him wondered if it could possibly be real.

But then again, Fairy Tail had come out of the blue as well hadn't they? And nobody could doubt that they were real.

He knew he was going to need to put some serious thought into this. If Morgana really was back then the DA deserved to know, but… should he just tell them when all even he could do was speculate? And even if he told them, how exactly was he supposed to teach them to defend themselves from such an ancient enemy?

Fairy Tail didn't worry about how they would win - they only sought to bolster their abilities to give them the best possible chance when the time came. And this was going pretty well for most, as evidenced on Monday when Lucy got to her feet and raised two keys at the same time:-

"Open, Gate of the Ram, Aries! Gate of the Goat, Capricorn!"

A deafening cheer erupted throughout the room as both the Spirits appeared in a flash of yellow light, the noise causing Aries to clap her hands over her ears and scream apologies to all and sundry, convinced she must have done something wrong. Lucy looked tired after the double summoning but even as she panted for breath her face split into a massive grin. Which got even wider when Capricorn patted her on the back and said, "Your mother would be extremely proud of you, Lucy-sama."

But things weren't going quite so well for others. Despite her best efforts, Cana still wasn't really coming up with anything that would allow her to develop a brand new style of Card Magic.

"Ugh, I think I've set myself an impossible task," she groaned two nights after Lisanna's announcement that Morgana had returned. "I don't even know what I was thinking. I'm hardly an expert on different magical types am I?"

"Don't say that, Cana," Levy said - the bookworm having agreed to try and help Cana figure it out. "I'm sure we'll be able to come up with something."

"Yeah, maybe. If we had books from our own world to give us a few tips," Cana muttered. "But this room doesn't seem to be able to conjure up anything from our own world, does it? Maybe I should just face it - there's no way I can invent a new use for the Cards I have in my deck."

"Oooh, ooh, I have an idea," said a voice, and both Cana and Levy looked around to see that young Dennis Creevey had broken away from the meeting that the DA were currently having, apparently having been listening in on their conversation. "What if you were able to get some new cards?"

"New cards?" Cana frowned. "Well, that would be a nice thought but where exactly would I get…?"

"You could use mine if you want," Dennis grinned, reaching into his robes and pulling out what were indeed about a dozen cards, smaller than Cana's own but definitely still cards, which he quickly handed to Cana. She frowned when she looked over them - each one appearing to depict some kind of strange animal or creature before she flipped one over to read the words upon the back:-

"Magic The Gathering?" she asked in bemusement. "What does that mean?"

"It's a trading card game," Dennis said eagerly. "When my brother Colin was invited to go to a magic school I got really excited, and I was told by the headmaster himself that I would be accepted into the school one day, but Colin was going to be there two whole years before I could get there. But the next year I heard about a new card game which had been invented called Magic The Gathering so I immediately began to collect as many cards as I could find. It made me feel a little bit closer to what Colin was doing at the time, like I was already a wizard and these were my familiars and powers or something."

"That's kinda cute I guess," Cana smiled as she shuffled through the cards and inspecting the pictures, interested by the many unusual creatures they portrayed. Allosaurus Rider, Rhox, Vagrant Plowbeast, Griffin Sentinel, Lorescale Coatl… so many unusual names. "But I'm not sure how these cards are going to help me exactly?"

"Well… I don't know. Couldn't you use them to… I dunno… create a kind of magic where you could do the things on the cards? Like summon a creature or… or empower yourself with a new ability or something like that. Like… like see this one," he pointed to a card with the title of Spectral Cloak. "If you used this one then maybe you could turn yourself invisible for a while. How cool would that be?"

"It would be pretty neat," Cana chuckled. "But I'm afraid these cards can't really help me. They're just ordinary playing cards with no magic about them, despite their name. It's not like I can just… insert magic into them and poof, I'm doing new stuff. It doesn't quite work like that."

"Oh… okay… sorry…" Dennis looked at the floor, slightly crestfallen.

"Hey, kid. Don't feel bad," Cana said quickly. "I really appreciate you trying to help. It's just I don't think it'll work. Here, you can have your cards back…"

"Nah, you keep them for now," Dennis shook his head. "Even if they can't help you maybe you'll get an idea or two from them later. But I will want them back at some point."

Cana smiled and ruffled Dennis' hair. "You got it, kid. Now go on, get back to your training."

Dennis grinned and hurried after his brother, leaving Cana to show Levy the cards. "He's right," Levy nodded. "It would be pretty cool if you could summon creatures like that to fight. And imbue yourself with different powers from the cards rather than simply firing attacks from them."

"Yeah, but no matter how awesome the idea, we're no closer to making it a reality," Cana groaned. "Right… back to work I suppose… ugh, I'm gonna clear out the Hog's Head tonight, you mark my words."

* * *

After his initial meeting with Fairy Tail, Hagrid had gone straight back to doing his duty as the groundskeeper and began preparations for his first Care of Magical Creatures lesson, which would be on Tuesday afternoon. And in spite of everything involving Voldemort and Morgana, Harry's most pressing concern was what Umbridge was going to try and pull on him when that happened.

Ron and Hermione were in complete agreement - it seemed almost inevitable that Umbridge would be there to inspect the lesson, but considering Hagrid was refusing to tell anybody exactly what he intended to do they had no way of helping him prepare.

"She's going to tear him to shreds," Ron muttered as he looked out of the window on Monday evening, staring almost blankly across at Hagrid's hut in the distance. "Even if he was the best teacher in the world there's no way she'd ever judge him fairly just because he's a half giant."

"But surely if he does a good enough job then she won't be able to sack him," Hermione wrung her hands. "She might have the right to dismiss the teachers but she doesn't have the right to do so without a good reason."

"Yeah but Hermione - this is Hagrid we're talking about," Harry sighed. "If he brings something like those Blast-Ended Skrewts to the lesson this time then he's done for immediately."

As the three tormented themselves thinking about the many different ways that tomorrow's lesson could go wrong, Charla and Happy looked at each other from across the room. "Do you think there's anything we can do to help?"

"Not unless you can somehow make sure that Hagrid's lesson plan involves something that won't eat the students," Charla replied. "But the answer seems fairly obvious to me."

"It does? What's the answer?"

"We push forward with exactly the same thing we've been doing so far. We need to destroy Umbridge's credibility. And the sooner we do so, the better."

* * *

The Gryffindor trio traipsed almost reluctantly out towards Hagrid's hut the following afternoon, as if they were going to attend Hagrid's public execution rather than a simple lesson. The other Gryffindors hurried along behind them and sure enough, the Slytherins were not far behind. They were the absolute last thing Hagrid needed at this point. Malfoy had already smugly told Umbridge about what had happened with Buckbeak earlier that year.

This time though when they gathered together, all three of them noticed Malfoy's rather subdued behaviour. Most of the rest of the Slytherins, including Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Zabini, were looking rather excited and were constantly glancing back up to the castle - waiting for Umbridge to come down and give them a real show. But there was one girl among the Slytherins with long brown hair who took the trio by surprise. She didn't seem interested in the potential spectacle that was set to unfold here either. In fact, she actually put her hand on Malfoy's shoulder and squeezed it lightly, almost consolingly. Malfoy glanced across at her and gave her a nod, but didn't really respond other than that.

"Who's that girl?" Ron asked, frowning in clear bemusement.

"Really, Ron?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Are you telling me you seriously don't know the names of everyone in our year yet?"

"Well… it's not like I want anything to do with the Slytherins is it?" Ron looked a little red in the face. Harry kept quiet, not wishing to draw attention to the fact he didn't know that girl's name either, though Hermione seemed to figure it out.

"That's Daphne Greengrass," Hermione sighed. "She's only been in our year for the past four years, you two."

"She looks kinda worried herself," Harry noted.

"Well that doesn't surprise me," Hermione shrugged. "From what I know about the Greengrass family they were never really followers of Voldemort like the Malfoys, but she's been raised under the same Pureblood supremacy bull that the rest of the Slytherins have been fed on. With Fairy Tail opposing Voldemort, he's going to be doing some heavy recruiting, and I bet she's worried that her own family might soon by drafted into being full-time Death Eaters."

"So why aren't the other Slytherins so bothered by this?" Harry asked. "Crabbe and Goyle don't exactly look worried about their families. Nor does Nott and I know all their Dads work for Voldemort."

"I don't know. Perhaps the reality hasn't sunk in properly for them. After all they didn't just have their houses destroyed. Or maybe they have more blind faith that Voldemort will keep their families safe than Malfoy does. Heck, for all I know they might actually hate their fathers. As to Pansy and Millicent, their families are like Daphne's. They agree with Voldemort's message but are not fully read to stand behind him. Maybe they haven't realised that their families might be put in the firing line soon yet either. But Daphne's pretty sharp. From what I know she's the cleverest of the Slytherins in our year. And she has a younger sister, Astoria, so she's probably worried about her as well."

"Uhhh… this sucks," Ron pulled a hand over his face. "I'm starting to see the Slytherins as actual human beings. It was so much easier when I thought of them as just horrible gits that didn't care about anyone but themselves."

"Well, that's the reality of it," Hermione shrugged. "On both sides of every war, there's always children who are going to worry about what might happen to their parents on the battlefield."

Harry said nothing, merely watching Malfoy and Daphne closely. He'd never really seen the two interact before - Pansy was usually the only girl that Draco seemed to allow to hang around him most of the time. And though he knew squat about Daphne, he had seen her around. And now he thought about it, while she did giggle and titter to the tune of Pansy's insults like the rest of the Slytherin girls she had been doing it less and less over the years. And looking at her now, she seemed to be a lot less upbeat than he remembered her being. Like she too was worried, but was trying to ignore and focus on what was happening right now.

Ron was right. He'd gotten so used to seeing the Slytherins as just enemies that it was kinda weird to see their more human sides.

But he was quickly sidetracked from his thoughts when Hagrid appeared and led them over to the edge of the Forbidden Forest with the carcass of a small cow over his shoulders, which was hardly encouraging for anyone.

And yet when Harry saw the creature that he was going to be teaching them about today… a sense of relief washed over him. Not because the animal in question looked particularly dangerous, but because he might finally get a reason as to why nobody he'd spoken to about these skeletal winged horses could actually see them besides him. Indeed, most of the class seemed utterly bemused when the creatures appeared, looking right through them as if they weren't even there.

"Thestrals," Hagrid announced proudly. "Dead useful creatures these, but there aren't that many of 'em in captivity at them moment. This lot right 'ere - they're probably the only tame herd in all of the United Kingdom."

The class had some very mixed reactions to the invisible creatures. Some looked interested, but most looked puzzled or even frightened. But the regular class was not the only audience that Hagrid had for his lesson. There were four others watching from up in the trees, either concealed by the foliage or sitting out in the open, but also invisible to most of the people down there.

"I can't see anything," Happy frowned, squinting so hard that his eyes were almost completely shut though of course this did nothing to bring the creatures into focus.

"Nor can I," Charla frowned. "That's rather disturbing, but I suppose its a good thing in some ways. It means I haven't seen anybody die after all."

"What about the Master of Caitshelter?" Happy asked.

Charla bit her lip sadly but said, "He was dead before I even met him. He might have faded away in front of us but he didn't die right then and there. You have to see the moment of death, otherwise we'd all be able to see them just because we know Mavis."

"Good point… can you see them Lily?"

"Yeah… I can," Pantherlily nodded grimly. "I've seen a fair bit of death back in Edolas. Times where I watched Erza Knightwalker or some other palace captain or high ranking officer execute someone. What about you, First?"

Mavis was silent, staring at the Thestrals almost vacantly as they tore chunks out of the carcass, their wings ruffling slightly. One of them sniffed the air curiously before turning around and looking right at her. The First Master stared right back - certain that the Thestral couldn't see her but it definitely knew she was there. Quite the clever creature…

"First?" Pantherlily prompted, jolting Mavis out of her reverie.

"Oh um… yeah… yeah, I've seen death before," she whispered. She bit her lip as the smiling face of a young girl in an orange dress with brown hair that was pulled into two mid-length pigtails appeared in her mind's eye. Her childhood friend Zera's face… followed by the faces of many… many… many others. "I've seen… a lot… of death…"

The three Exceed didn't know how to react to her suddenly deeply sorrowful attitude, but before they could think of a response Happy suddenly pointed and hissed, "Look. We've got incoming now!"

Indeed he was right, Umbridge was waddling her way down to the lesson. And just as they predicted the moment she got there she started tearing into Hagrid, deliberately making him feel foolish and undermining his confidence to the delight of the majority of the Slytherins and the fury of every Gryffindor. Hagrid quickly started to stumble and trip over his words, realising that Hermione and the others had been right in that he should have prepared to face this woman better and desperately trying to keep a grip a mere two minutes into the inspection. And it was all Harry could do not to fly forwards and punch her in the face over and over and over again.

"That little…" Charla growled. "If I didn't hate her before… how much more nasty can one person even get?"

"I guess it's time to intervene," Lily whispered. "First?"

"I'm on it," Mavis whispered, raising her hand. And Lily was quick to drop off the branch, growing rapidly in size and landing smack into the middle of the Thestrals in his battle form. Mavis weaved what little of her magic she could still wield expertly, so even though the Thestrals suddenly panicked and bolted, not a single person in the glad could see Pantherlily. Except for one.

"The werewolf!" Umbridge screeched, flailing backwards so violently that she almost collapsed straight onto her backside, gazing in utter horror at the slavering jaws and ruthless eyes of the creature as it lunged from side to side, swiping at the fleeing Thestrals with its massive claws as the skeletal horses screeched in a blind panic. One of them knocked straight into Parvati and buffeted her over as Hagrid hurried around trying to calm them - Pantherlily having to dodge him to make sure they didn't crash together. But as soon as Umbridge shouted, Lily turned his head to face her like an angry dog that had just heard its owner calling.

"Werewolf?" Pansy cried fearfully, looking around wildly. "Where?! Where is it, Professor, where?"

"It's right there!" Umbridge pointed a pudgy finger directly at Lily, scrambling backwards across the ground as the Exceed/werewolf took one slow, deliberate step after the other, stalking his way towards her. "Can't you see it! It's right in front of your noses!"

"There's nothing there, Professor!" Nott insisted, unaware that Lily was actually two feet away from him. "I can't see any werewolf!"

"But it's within arm's reach of you!" Umbridge screamed.

By this point of course Harry, Ron and Hermione had cottoned on to what was happening but quickly feigned looks of confusion, looking around at empty air for any sign of Umbridge's werewolf but this time Lily was invisible to them as well so it wasn't hard to pull off. Umbridge scrambled to her feet and suddenly seized Daphne Greengrass by her robes, grasping the back of her head and physically aiming her gaze right at Lily.

"YOU SEE IT NOW!? YOU SEE IT? YOU SEE IT NOW, DON'T YOU!?"

"OW… No, Professor," Daphne gasped, yelping as Umbridge tugged at the roots of her hair and she stared into nothingness. "There's nothing… there's nothing there. And even if there were, it's impossible, Professor. The full moon isn't until tonight! There's no way a werewolf would be transformed now…"

"I KNOW WHAT I SEE!" Umbridge screamed, shaking Daphne like a doll but it was at this moment that Pantherlily suddenly sprang forwards, raking his claws through the air at them. Umbridge screamed as though the devil himself had jumped at her and shoved Daphne forwards before turning and sprinting away as fast as she could physically make her short legs go. Daphne yelled as she was thrown forwards into Lily's path but the Exceed bounded straight over her and took off after Umbridge, slowly at first but getting slightly faster with ever step, allowing Umbridge to gain a little ground first before he began to really pick up the pace.

Behind him, Daphne sprawled down upon the grass but while most of the others were staring after the fleeing Umbridge in shock, Hermione rushed forwards and gripped Daphne's arm, pulling her up to her feet again quickly.

"Get off," Daphne snapped irritably, pulling her arm out of Hermione's grip as soon as she was upright again.

"You're welcome," Hermione said dryly.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks. Whatever," Daphne sighed, her gaze turning up to watch Umbridge veritably blazing her way across the ground. "What the hell just happened?"

"I don't know," Hermione lied. "But if she's really seeing a werewolf where none of us can see it… she just tried to sacrifice you to it."

Daphne's face went incredibly white, and as she watched Umbridge fleeing for her life, she whispered words that Hermione never thought she would ever hear any Slytherin say about her:-

"That… bitch!"

* * *

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Umbridge screamed as she bolted in a mad zigzag run back up to the castle. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH! GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Lily couldn't stop himself from grinning almost savagely as he bounded along on all fours - a pose he was not used to but which he could handle quite well. He deliberately took a long, arcing route in his pursuit of Umbridge, allowing her to see him approaching from the side out of the corner of her eye without having to turn around constantly to face him, as well as letting her know exactly how much faster he was than her. He tore across the ground towards her and she swiftly whipped out her wand and let loose a frenzied barrage of curses at him. Most of them were thrown in such haste that they completely missed him but those that would have were easily evaded when Lily bounded straight over them and fell upon Umbridge with a practically rabid snarl.

"HHEEEEEEEEEEE!" Umbridge screeched as she practically threw herself sideways, her pink dress smeared with dirt as the werewolf's claws lashed in a mere inch past the back of her head. Lily hit the ground shoulder first and rolled expertly away, flipping himself back onto his feet as Umbridge staggered back to her own.

"INCARCEROUS!" Umbridge yelled, hurling a deluge of magical ropes from her wand and taking off back to the castle gates before it even had a chance to hit. But Lily was prepared for this too, except he had no plans on dodging! He charged straight into the ropes and allowed them to entangle his body, bellowing as his legs were snared and he went tumbling to the ground, trashing wildly and howling like he was possessed by a deranged demon. Umbridge turned around for a moment to watch him writhe, her heart hammering and a single thought running through her head.

'_My spell hit him. He was affected by it. But that can only mean he really is there! I'm not going crazy - he IS real!'_

Which was exactly what Lily wanted her to think. But moments later his muscles bulged and with brute strength alone he tore his arms free of the bindings trying to ensnare him, sinking his teeth into more with feral savagery to tear them loose. Umbridge screamed once more at the sight of him breaking loose and took off once again, the distinctive snapping of more ropes filling her ears until the pounding footsteps behind her resumed, the werewolf charging in faster than ever.

It was almost upon her when she finally reached the castle gates and whirled around to slam them shut with a wave of her wand. Lily crashed forcibly against the other side, pounding on the doors with his fists a couple of times while Umbridge cowered on the other side… but his job was now done. He quickly shrank back into his smaller form and lifted off into the air, now disguised as an owl, before he could make enough noise to draw the other students and teachers out of their lessons.

Umbridge stood trembling on the other side for a full two minutes, the sudden lack of noise coming in from the other side the most unnerving thing she could imagine. She hadn't heard the werewolf leave so she could only assume it was still there. So what was it doing? Just… hunkered down and waiting for her to open up the door again? Well fat chance of that! She turned about and scrambled up the stairs, making an immediate beeline for her office and hurling the door wide open as soon as she arrived. She darted to the fireplace and seized a little Floor Powder, throwing it in the fire and shoving her face in after it.

"Minister of Magic's Office," she called, and in a flash of green suddenly she was peering out of a grate set in the side of the office. This was a restricted Floo fireplace that only very few had access to, she being one of them, and to her relief Cornelius Fudge was there, furiously busying himself with a mountain of paperwork.

"Minister," she squeaked, her breathing still ragged from the running. "Minister, it's me!"

Fudge jumped and looked down to the fireplace in alarm. "Dolores?" he blinked, pushing himself to his feet and hurrying over to kneel before the grate. "What are you doing calling me at this time of day?"

"It's urgent, Minister," Umbridge gasped. "Listen, you have to call in an Auror squadron to the school right away. There is a werewolf running loose throughout the premises!"

"I'm sorry… what?" Fudge asked in alarm. "A werewolf, you say? At Hogwarts School?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Teeth and claws and everything. With a disgusting, slavering snout and the tufted tail - the whole package. Everyone at the school is in danger! We have to mobilise…"

"Wait," Fudge raised a hand, frowning in confusion. "Hold up. Are you saying that this werewolf was in a transformed state… in the middle of the day?"

"Yes, that's what I'm saying!"

"Now hold on a moment, Dolores, you know that's not possible. I know tonight is the full moon, but werewolves only transform after sundown during the full moon. That is simply how it works."

"Well… well, yes, I know that's how its supposed to work but I'm… I'm telling you, Minister, I know what I saw! It was real, and it attacked me! I was inspecting the Care of Magical Creatures lesson when it sprang from out the woods and almost mauled me. I barely escaped with our injury! I barely escaped with my life!"

"…Okay," Fudge said slowly, a little uncertainly. "Then you are saying that there are people who were at this Care of Magical Creatures lesson who can verify what you saw?"

"…Well…" Umbridge faltered, remembering well how nobody else seemed to be able to see the werewolf even though it was right in front of them. "Well… well I'm not sure… but I bet…" she gasped. "I bet that groundskeeper had something to do with it. Maybe you should bring him in for questioning!"

"By that groundskeeper… you are referring to Rubeus Hagrid?"

"Yes, him! That's the one! He must be involved with this werewolf's appearance…"

"Dolores, forgive me but I do not see how that is possible," Fudge shook his head, looking more than a little concerned at this point. "I know Rubeus Hagrid is loyal to Dumbledore to an absolute fault and Merlin knows I'd like an excuse to take him in, but there is no way that he would be able to orchestrate a werewolf attack in broad daylight. There is no magic that can transform a werewolf ahead of time and even if there were Hagrid does not have the means to use such magic."

"Well… but…" Umbridge floundered, aware that she was now losing Fudge's belief rapidly. Maybe he had a point - after all the werewolf had appeared before Hagrid had returned to the school. But there was a large part of her brain insisting that he had to be involved somehow. A filthy half-breed like a werewolf attacking her at the class of another disgusting half-breed… there surely had to be a connection! She couldn't see it now but she was certain there had to be one. "Maybe… maybe a potion that has not been officially registered…?" she floundered. "That's possible, right? And… and we know of a werewolf that is also friendly with Dumbledore… what was his name - Remus Lupin? That's it! It must be him!"

"Remus Lupin was in the Ministry today actually," Fudge said. "He was brought in for questioning by Auror Shacklebolt under suspicion of association with Fenrir Greyback. They were trying to determine if he knew of Greyback's current location, but it seems as though he knows nothing."

"But… but…" Umbridge stammered, struggling to come up with new arguments but the fact was she had no proof whatsoever that she really had been attacked by a werewolf. Nobody to back up her claims. She doubted even the Slytherins that had been at that lesson would vouch for her after what had happened down there. They'd all been looking at her like she was mad… and fear gripped her when she noticed Fudge was looking at her like she'd gone… peculiar… as well.

"Are you sure you're alright, Dolores?" Fudge asked.

"I… yes, Minister," the High Inquisitor eventually coughed. "I'm fine. I… I am sorry to have wasted your time. Perhaps… perhaps I was mistaken about… about what happened. I was so sure but… as you say, it's impossible. Perhaps it was… some kind of prank from one of the students."

"Well, I recommend that you head to the Hospital Wing and get something to help calm yourself," Fudge said kindly. "Do let me know when you're feeling better, won't you?"

"Yes, Minister of course. I absolutely will. I should probably go now. Thank you."

And without another word she pulled her head from the fire and stumbled over to her chair, deep in thought. She was certain that that had been no prank. It had looked, felt and sounded all too real to be a prank. There had to be an explanation that made sense. But without proof, it seemed there was nothing she could do to convince anyone else.

She was alone in facing this monster.

"That wretched half-giant must be involved somehow," she hissed to herself. "And I will prove it. I will get to the bottom of this… one way or the other."

Outside her partially open window, one ghostly girl and three winged cats looked at each other with smiles, having heard the entire conversation.

* * *

"You should have told us you were going to do that," Hermione griped that evening, sitting on a chair in the Room of Requirement and running a hand lightly over her face.

"Probably," Mavis nodded. "But we wanted a genuine look of surprise from you. That's why we haven't told the rest of the DA about the whole werewolf haunting thing at all. As far as they're concerned, Umbridge really did flip out for no reason back there and we'd like it to stay that way. It's simpler when the reactions are real."

"Yeah but funny as that was you've done the exact opposite of what we wanted," Harry pointed out. "We wanted to keep Hagrid out of Umbridge's crosshairs. Now you're apparently saying that she suspects he's somehow involved with the werewolf project. She's going to come at him harder than ever now."

"Indeed. Just as I predicted," Mavis nodded.

"Huh? You… predicted that?"

"Precisely," Mavis held up a finger as if she were lecturing them. "The eventual aim is to get Umbridge kicked out of the school because the Ministry no longer believes her capable of doing her job. And the quickest way of doing that is to exploit what people already know of her and push at her buttons. The members of Ministry, whether they like her or not, know of her dislike of those she considers to be half-breeds. Just as the Ministry as a whole is paranoid about us, she is specifically paranoid about them, which is why we decided to use a werewolf in the first place. I calculated that if we launched a werewolf attack on her at the Care of Magical Creatures lesson, her natural hatred of people like Hagrid would immediately make her conclude he had a hand in it. And if we play things correctly from here, this belief can play to our advantage."

"How do you figure that?" Ron asked.

"It's quite simple really," Charla stated. "From now, whenever the werewolf appears before her, she's going to be looking for proof that Hagrid is involved. But she'll never find it because from this point forward we will only initiate attacks on her at times where someone can provide Hagrid with an alibi that puts him nowhere near where the incident took place for some time before it happened, and preferably some time after as well. That is why we shouldn't tell Hagrid about it either, just in case she confronts him about it. That way his puzzlement will also be genuine and he can't say anything to accidentally incriminate himself."

Pantherlily nodded and continued, "And so things will continue with her continuously being haunted by a werewolf nobody else can see, convincing herself that Hagrid is involved despite all evidence to the contrary, but never having any proof to back up her claims. She may not be a fool, but she's not as clever as she thinks she is. If we can pull this off properly then she may eventually genuinely snap. If that happens she won't just be removed from the school - she could be removed from power altogether."

"And if the worst comes to the worst and she has Hagrid sacked," Happy finished. "Then it doesn't matter too much because as soon as she's out Dumbledore will reinstate him."

"…I suppose… all those points are valid," Hermione mused. "But… I dunno… don't you feel that we're kind of… using Hagrid a bit?"

"Well yes, we are using him," Mavis smiled. "But something tells me he won't object too strongly in the long run if it gets her out of the school."

"Here's hoping that it does," Harry sighed. "And soon."

"The seed has already been planted," said the deep voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt, taking some of the group by surprise as they looked around to see him, Tonks and a particularly pale looking Lupin standing there. "Minister Fudge called me in earlier today to enquire about my meeting with Remus. He said, and I quote, that he was 'quite worried about Dolores' and that she might be 'cracking under the pressure of her position if she's started hallucinating about werewolves out during the day.' You've already got him questioned her capabilities, if not her sanity."

"Keep pulling at that thread and it may turn out well," Tonks agreed.

"So then you really were there at the Ministry?" Hermione asked Lupin.

"Indeed," Lupin croaked. "Charla used the mirror to call Sirius last night and explain the plan to me. They suspected that I might spring to Umbridge's mind and when we failed to convince them to try something else we concocted a plan to give me an alibi too, just in case."

"After all, we wanted Lupin free to help the Order as much as possible," Mavis smiled.

"That makes sense," Ron nodded. "But er… are you sure you should be here Professor? It's… uh… not going to be long before the sun goes down."

"I know," Lupin murmured. "I'm here to get my monthly Wolfsbane Potion from Snape. As soon as I have it I'll be heading back to Grimmauld Place for the night to lock myself in one of the bedrooms."

In true 'speaking of the devil' fashion, Snape opened the door rather forcefully at that moment, drawing the attention of most of the room. He curtly ignored everyone and made a beeline straight for Lupin, pulling out a small goblet from under his cloak and tapping it with his wand, where it automatically filled with the same steaming potion that Harry remembered Lupin taking in his third year.

"You shouldn't be here, Lupin," he said tightly as he passed the goblet over quickly, the liquid almost sloshing over the side. "I think that this school has had quite enough full moons with you on its premises."

This statement received many glares from the others but Lupin just gave a rasping chuckle and said, "I wholeheartedly agree, Severus. I intend to be out of here quickly, I can assure you."

"Good," Snape said, turning to arch a brow at Pantherlily. "We wouldn't want to have two werewolves running about the campus on the same day now, would we?"

Without another word he turned and strode from the room, slamming the door behind him.

"How the hell did he find out?" Ron snarled. "I'm pretty sure we didn't tell him about it."

"He was there at Grimmauld Place last night when Charla called," Tonks said as Lupin began to tip a little of the potion down his throat. "The Order was discussing the possibility of whether he'd be able to find out anything more about Morgana. Harry said that You-Know-Who was the one talking to her in his dream so it's likely that he's with her now if she's emerged."

"But he doesn't know where Voldemort is now either," Kingsley replied. "And until Voldemort calls him in for another meeting, which he has not done for a couple of weeks now, he won't be able to tell us anything."

There was a moment of silence before Happy suddenly asked, "Who's Fenrir Greyback? The guy that you pretended to call Remus into the Ministry to talk about?"

Tonks and Kingsley both hesitated, glancing at Lupin as he lowered the goblet from his lips, most of the liquid having gone from inside. His grave expression told everyone watching instantly that there was some history between Lupin and this man and none of them even tried to hide how intently they were listening.

But the haggard man answered by gripping the shabby sleeve of his coat and rolling it upwards until they could see his right bicep… more specifically the jagged scars across it that looked suspiciously like they'd been made by teeth.

"Fenrir Greyback is the one who did this to me," he said grimly. "As most of you know by now, the curse of the werewolf is usually received when someone is bitten by a werewolf in their transformed state. Fortunately I myself have never passed the curse along to someone else, but someone had to pass it to me. And that man was Fenrir Greyback. And it is almost certain that he will be allying with Voldemort in the near future. If he has not done so already."

His audience mostly looked a little sick, and even Harry, Ron and Hermione were horrified. They'd of course known that Lupin had to have been bitten at some point in his life, but they'd never asked for the details before.

Fortunately someone else did it for them when asked, "Um… how did it happen?"

Lupin sighed. "Greyback… is an extremely vicious individual. Unlike many of my kind he revels in his transformation. He loves the blood and the thrill of the hunt. And he's made it his life's mission to infect as many people as he can with the curse, so that one day werewolves can reign supreme. The Ministry don't know where he is - he practically lives in the wild, but at full moons he always positions himself deliberately near people so he can attack them. You can bet he'll be doing the same tonight. By this time next morning there will either be new werewolves in the world or people will have been killed. Possibly both."

"…Bastard…" Natsu hissed fro nearby, perfectly mirroring everyone else's opinion. "That sick… sick… bastard…"

"That's one way of putting it," Lupin said dryly, draining the rest of his potion in a single go and grimacing at the repugnant taste. "But one time, back when I was four, he was caught by the Ministry after he killed two Muggle children. But in spite of his savagery he's still pretty clever, and the Werewolf Registry was… shall we say pretty lax back in those days. He pretended to be a Muggle tramp, acting all amazed that the people around him were real wizards and horrified that they thought he could kill two children. They all believed him, except for one man who demanded he be held until the next full moon to make sure, but he was overruled even though they'd only have to wait a single day. And that man… was my father."

"Oh god…" Hermione clapped a hand over her face. Everybody could see where this story was going.

"Yeah," Lupin sighed. "He got angry when he was shot down, yelling that werewolves were all soulless and evil and deserved to die - a view held by a lot of wizards then and now. Greyback… well, he didn't exactly like that. He was able to overpower his escort out of the Ministry before a Memory Charm could be used on him and then he tracked down my Dad's address… and broke into my room just after I'd turned five. My Dad was able to save my life and repel him… but not before he left me with a very permanent reminder of his visit."

This story wasn't just new to the students and the mages. It was the first time that Tonks had heard it as well and she felt sick. She thought being related to a family of Pureblood psychos was bad but having your life so horribly changed… deliberately… for an incident that had only lasted about twenty seconds tops.

"That's terrible," she whispered. And all of sudden when she looked at Lupin he seemed much more… real… to her. More human. Certainly they'd become very good friends but there'd always been that little part of her reminding herself that she was talking to a werewolf through every conversation they had. But that part of her had just been entirely vanquished, and she now saw him as a tired, afflicted man, who probably felt terribly lonely even in spite of all the friends around him.

"It never gets easier to tell that story," Lupin heaved a sigh. " But even though the Ministry eventually realised their mistake, they've never been able to catch Greyback. They never know where he's going to strike next. He inspired a great deal of terror in the First Wizarding War. Voldemort used to threaten to set him on people's children to get them to fall in line behind him."

"So he's a Death Eater?" Erza asked.

"No, Voldemort would never let him be one. He dislikes werewolves as much as most people - possibly more considering his stance on blood purity. But he understands well how useful they can be in spreading fear so Greyback is a known associate of the Death Eaters nonetheless. Part of my work for the Order has been going undercover in the werewolf community to try and locate him before he joins up full time. So far I've been unsuccessful in tracking him down but I've felt his impact. Many werewolves are beginning to rally to him again, just as they did last time. I suspect Voldemort has been in touch with him somehow. He probably won't want the werewolves to fight for him until his return has become public knowledge, but he's readying them for when that time comes."

"Death Eaters… Dementors… giants… werewolves… this Morgana lady…" Lucy murmured. "A couple of Grimoire Heart mages… how big is our list of enemies going to get?"

"That I cannot answer," Lupin shrugged. "But now I need to get myself back to Grimmauld Place. The moon will rise in less than an hour, and I'd rather like to eat my dinner as a human tonight if at all possible. I'll see some of you tomorrow."

And with that, he placed the goblet on a nearby table and left, a pall of silence hanging in his wake.

"I turn into animals every day," Lisanna eventually said. "And yet I get the feeling I don't have the slightest idea what he goes through."

"Your transformations are seamless," Kingsley agreed. "They're practically like another layer over your human self, much like an Animagus. Even with the Wolfsbane Potion, every transformation for a werewolf is absolute agony. The Potion allows him to keep his mind. But for years he went completely without it and when a werewolf transforms without that potion, they lose all sense of self. Even the most peaceable ones become like Greyback in that time."

"I really wish there was something we could do for him," Wendy whispered, a couple of tears spilling down her face. "My magic is supposed to be able to undo curses and bodily anomalies but they don't help Remus-san at all. I've already tried."

"The curse buries itself deep," Hermione swallowed. "It practically changes their cellular structure and becomes a part of them. Nobody's ever worked out how to reverse the process because its engrained into their very being."

"I suppose we should just be grateful that it only happens once a month," Elfman muttered.

"Yeah but… it's been thirty years since he turned five," Levy swallowed. "You realise that means he's gone through this transformation at least three-hundred-and-sixty times since then?"

"Oh yeah, we understand it," Natsu growled, his face lighting into flames. "I understand that it means if I ever come across this Fenrir guy, I'm going to knock out every one of his teeth."

There was a general nodding of agreement from around the room but Gray had narrowed his eyes. He looked down at the floor, clearly deep in thought, which was noticed by his usual shadow.

"Gray-sama," Juvia whispered. "Is something wrong?"

"…No," Gray shook his head. "It's… it's not important. I was just… thinking about the poor people that are going to run into this Greyback tonight… and how such a psychopathic murderer has a name similar to part of mine. That's all."

Juvia frowned. She suspected that wasn't the whole truth, but she decided not to pursue the matter. "Juvia is beginning to wonder… if we did somehow manage to find a way home… Juvia doesn't think she could leave until this world has become a safer place."

"On that," Gray tightened his fist. "We most definitely agree."

* * *

The following morning, Ministry employees had to hurry to a house in north Cumbria in order to cover up the brutal deaths of a mother and both her children while the father was left alive but with a familiar bitemark upon his thigh. Another werewolf had indeed just been born into the world and it was enough to make front page news on the _Daily Prophet_.

But far away from the Wizarding World, unaware that magic even existed, a group of Muggles had already begun their day long ago. They'd been up at getting to work right at the crack of dawn, manning their ship and heading out to sea. A thick trawl net had been dumped overboard as soon as they reached deep water and the captain whistled a merry tune to himself as he prepared to rake in another day's worth of fish. Business had been going pretty well recently and he was certain that today, they were going to make a big catch.

He honestly couldn't have been more right. But neither he nor the rest of his crew had anticipated what was about to happen.

The ropes were turning in their winches, hauling the heavily laden net back up towards the surface are a run of several miles. But as a couple of crew members looked over the side to peer down in the water and make sure the net was coming up properly, one of them frowned and pointed down into the depths.

"What the heck is that?" he asked, allowed. His mate followed the point of his finger, expecting to see a dolphin or perhaps a small whale since it was too late in the year for Basking Sharks to be inhabiting these waters. But what he saw made his brow furrow of its own accord.

"Hey boys!" he shouted across the deck. "We've got something weird coming up in the net!"

"Weird!?" the captain leaned out of the bridge and cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "What kind of weird!?"

"I don't know! But whatever it is… it's glowing!"

"Glowing? What do you mean glowing?"

"I mean exactly what I said. There's this strange… yellow… glowing… thing coming up in the net. Haven't got the foggiest idea what it is."

And when they successfully hauled the net out and swung it in over the deck, they still didn't have the slightest idea. There in the net, nestled amongst the writhing, flapping fish was a single golden orb. And quite a large one too, shining brightly as its light danced across the scales of the fish. And on its side, flaring out at them all, was a single peculiar symbol.

"What the actual heck?" the captain stared, his expression mirrored by everyone else. Not a single one of them knew what to make of this. Everyone who went to sea had the dream of finding sunken treasure but that wasn't exactly they'd apply to this. It didn't even have a label in their book other than… weird.

"Maybe it's alien," suggested one of sailors uncertainly, thinking that the others would laugh at him but nobody discounted it.

"Lower it down," the captain said eventually, and those manning the net were quick to do just that, lowering the ropes downwards until the net pooled across the floor, spilling fish across the deck while the golden sphere sat in the middle. It was perfectly round but it didn't roll in any direction - as if perfectly balanced on its base somehow. The sailors quickly stepped through throng of their catch and began inspecting it from all sides. One of them tentatively put a hand on it despite warnings from the others but when nothing happened they were all doing it, sliding fingers across the smooth surface in search of any chinks of cracks, but there were none.

They ended up standing there for a full half an hour before the captain eventually said, "Okay, I don't think any of us are going to figure this out. Let's just take it back to land and… see if someone else there can."

"We're going to be all over the news for this," said the bosun. "Whatever we've discovered here, it's got to be something big."

The other men agreed and the boat steered its way around, heading back towards the Scottish shoreline where they'd set out that morning. Normally they'd spend a couple more days out at sea but this was something they wanted to figure out as soon as possible.

Another half an hour passed as the fishermen diligently sorted through their catch all around the Sphere, as they usually would… until the Sphere suddenly flickered.

"Huh?" one of the sailors stepped back when he noticed it. "What what that?"

The Sphere flickered again, and this time they all saw it.

"You don't think it's going to explode do you?" another man swallowed nervously.

Nobody could answer his question but the sphere continued to flicker, the glow intensifying until they were shielding their eyes from it and indeed every one of them was making preparations to jump overboard if it looked likely to blow. But then, quite abruptly, the golden orb vanished in a flash of bright light, dissipating into the air like dandelion seeds blown from the top of the stalk.

And when the fishermen lowered their hands…

"What the hell…" one of them whispered.

That was all any of them could say, leaving the distant calls of gulls and the sloshing of waves upon the hull of the ship the only sound for what felt like miles… until a light grunting interrupted the silence a man with extremely long green hair pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Ugh… where… what happened…?" Freed Justine grunted, rubbing at his temple and opening his eyes dazedly. "How did I… who are you people?" his hand suddenly flew to the hilt of his sword as he stumbled his way to his feet. The fisherman immediately backed off as soon as they realised what he was holding, the alarm and fear spreading across their faces quickly telling Freed that they were about as surprised as him.

"What's going on here?" he demanded.

"Yeah, you might want to be the ones to tell us that, pal, cos we've got no idea," one of the fishermen retorted.

"I think you can relax your grip, Freed," said the second man to pick himself off the floor. "Whoever these people are, I don't think they're a threat. I don't sense any magic coming from them at all, do you?"

"…You're right," Freed grunted and slowly lifted his hand from his sword. "Are you alright, Bickslow?"

"Good as can be expected given what just happened… or at least what I can last remember happening," Bickslow muttered, pushing his sallet up and away from his eyes, revealing the stickman shaped tattoo running between them and across his forehead. "More importantly, where the hell is everybody else… including Ever… and why is there not a gigantic black dragon blotting out the sun right now?"

"And why are we not dead?" Freed agreed.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" another fisherman asked. "Did you just say dragon? Yeah right, there's no such thing as dragons."

"Tell that to the one who tried to vaporise our asses," Bickslow raised a brow, scanning the skies just in case Acnologia chose that moment to come roaring in and snuff out their lives.

"Nnghhh…" another voice grunted behind them and the two of them quickly whirled themselves around, Freed rushing over to kneel beside the short and elderly moustached man swathed in bandages laying sprawled on his back across the deck.

"Master," he whispered urgently.

"Are you hurt?"

Master Makarov's eyelids slowly tilted upwards, his hand crawling up to his chest past the red Fairy Tail mark hidden beneath his bandages and gliding over the gouge marks in his chest, dug by Acnologia's claws when the dragon had had him pinned to the ground. "It appears… that I'm still alive," he grunted, turning his gaze slowly from Freed to Bickslow, who had dragged himself over to Makarov's other side. "And I'm glad… that you two are safe as well."

"Just rest, Master," Bickslow suggested, but Makarov placed his hands upon the deck and heaved himself up until he was sitting, rubbing his balding head which felt like an entire percussion orchestra was currently hammering away at the inside.

"The others…" he pressed through his grimace. "Where are they? Where are my brats?"

"They're not here, Master," Freed shook his head grimly. "We don't know what happened, but we appear to be on a ship rather than the . And they're not here."

"Well," Bickslow conceded. "There is one other… and thank the gods that he's alright too."

All faces turned to the final man who was already now pushing himself to his feet. All the fisherman instinctively took a step backwards as he stood upright - something about him filling each and every one of them with awe at his mere presence. It wasn't the strong, muscled build… it wasn't even the large lightning shaped scar that ran over his right eye. But the aura he projected right across the ship was nothing short of… electrifying.

"So…" Laxus Dreyar said gruffly. "Anyone mind telling me where exactly we are?"

At that moment a particularly large swell of water knocked against the side of the boat and it rocked slightly to side. Laxus' cheeks immediately puffed out, his eyes went glassy and he clapped a hand over his mouth, the other hand seizing his stomach as he dropped to one knee.

"Oh gods…" he croaked. "I'm think I'm gonna hurl."

"NO WAY!" Freed yelled, falling to his knees himself and screaming to the heavens. "Laxus' amazing entrance was completely ruined! WWWHHHYYYYYY!? IT WAS SO COOL!"

"Well we are on a ship," Bickslow couldn't stop himself from chuckling. "It's to be expected."

"…Wait a second…" Makarov frowned, his eyes wide, before everyone was forced to clap their hands over their ears. "ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT MY GRANDSON SUFFERS FROM MOTION SICKNESS JUST LIKE NATSU!? WHEN DID THAT BECOME A THING!? WHY EXACTLY DID NOBODY TELL ME ABOUT THIS!?"

"Urrgh… keep your voice down, old man…" Laxus wheezed as Bickslow seized him by the arm and helped haul him over to the side of the ship so he could lean over the rails and heave into the ocean.

The fishermen could only stare and the captain summed up exactly what all of them were thinking:-

"…What's happening?"


	45. Intersection of Leaders

Okay, I feel I have to say this now - can everybody please stop asking me to put Zeref in this story? I appreciate that he's a very popular character and I appreciate that everyone wants to see him, but I have a plan for how I want this story to go and the course its going to take. Is Zeref going to be a part of that plan? Maybe, maybe not - you'll have to wait and see.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 45:- Intersection of Leaders**

* * *

Laxus was not quite as prone to motion sickness as Natsu was. He, for instance, didn't get motion sick when just thinking about riding on transportation or watching it happen to someone else. But he was still practically immobilised by it when it was actually happening to him - something he tried very hard to keep hidden from everyone but his trusted Raijinshuu.

Now though, sitting aboard a ship with land nowhere to be seen in any direction, there was little he could do but try to endure it. Which ended up with him sitting against the side and groaning as he tried not to throw up all over himself.

"This is a crippling blow to our dignity," Freed was wiping his eyes melodramatically. "Will we ever be able to look these men in eye?"

"You know, you can be a real drama queen sometimes, Freed," Bickslow muttered, the sallet back in place over his eyes as he brushed off one of his wooden totem dolls. As soon as he'd made sure Laxus was alright he'd checked around for his favourite 'babies' and discovered to his relief that they were scattered amongst the fish, having made the journey with him to wherever they were now. They were a bit scuffed, and granted if they weren't here then Bickslow could have easily taken control of the next five dolls he came across but these five little totems, ugly as they were, he considered to be his signature dolls. "Any insight into what the heck happened, Master?"

"Hmmm," Makarov had his chin cupped in one hand, having just been told how they'd been dragged up from the bottom of the ocean by the fishermen. "This… golden orb that you describe. It sounds like an exact description of a Fairy Sphere."

"One of the three Great Fairy Magics?" Freed glanced around. "Like Fairy Law and Fairy Glitter?"

"The very same, except this one is designed to provide ultimate protection from anything… including time itself. Anyone shielded by a Fairy Sphere is held in suspended animation until it wears off, and the larger the sphere the more time it takes for that to happen. To us, it seems like Acnologia's attack came only a mere few minutes ago but it may have been much longer than that in reality."

"So what happened to all the others then?" Freed asked desperately. "Ever should be here with us - I was holding her hand in that circle and then suddenly she's just… not here. And all the rest of them gone too."

"Is it possible that they could have been sheltered in their own Fairy Spheres?" Bickslow queried.

"I don't know," Makarov murmured, his eyes closing and his teeth gritting slightly. A desperate ache filled his heart - the thought that the rest of the brats he'd fought to protect and who had in turn fought to protect him from that winged menace might have been vaporised by his breath attack while they remained safe… it was unbearable to think about. "I have no real idea how the Fairy Sphere came into existence in the first place. You didn't cast it, did you, Freed?"

"I did not," Freed shook his head. "I could feel everyone's magic power surging as we stood together in that circle while I tried hard to think up a defensive spell we could use. But I was unable to cast one before we saw Acnologia's roar descend. Perhaps Levy was the one to cast it? The both of us were there trying to defend everyone."

"I very much doubt this was Levy's doing," Makarov sighed. "Clever as she is, she still doesn't know the spell as far as I know. Even I don't know it - Fairy Law was the only one of the Three Great Spells I ever learned. When I was younger… brasher… I believed that was the only one of the three I would ever require. But all we can do is pray that the others made it into their own Fairy Spheres as well."

He clenched his fist, just as Freed and Bickslow both pursed their lips at the same time. And from his position at the side of the boat, Laxus looked up and, despite gurgling lightly and queasily, he managed to say:-

"Thought you had greater confidence in your guild than that, old man."

"What?" Makarov looked round at him, his expression stern - an unnecessary reminder that Laxus was no longer a member of his guild, though Laxus did notice that his gaze was slightly softer than it had been before the dragon flew into their lives. The Lightning Dragon Slayer vividly pictured that moment again where he'd offered his hand to his grandfather, estranged though they had become due to his own actions, and Makarov had taken it with tears in his eyes.

"You said we'd all go home together," Laxus croaked, cradling his stomach even as he gasped for breath. "Natsu said that we wouldn't let it end there. Lucy said she refused to give up. Gray said we'd show that dragon the power of the guild's bond. Have you ever known your guild… your brats… yourself… to renege on vows like that? Because I haven't. They're alive, old man - somewhere. You just have to figure out where that is."

Makarov stared at Laxus without comment - locking eyes with his faintly smirking grandson but his expression unchanging. Freed and Bickslow were both now unabashedly grinning, insanely proud of Laxus' words at that moment, but they said nothing either. They wanted to wait for Makarov to respond first.

Eventually Makarov was the one to break eye contact by closing his eyes and smiling lightly. "Perhaps… we don't need to pray," he said slowly. "You three are alive… I am alive… the rest of them must surely be alive to."

Laxus snorted - that was clearly his grandfather's way of acknowledging Laxus was right without actually saying it outright, jeez the old man could be so stubborn sometimes. But as another swell hit the boat and forced Laxus to clamp down on his upset stomach Makarov got to his feet and looked to the captain of the boat. "You caught us in that net - can you not lower it back into the water now? If our friends… my children… are down there somewhere as well then we need to find them."

"You surely can't expect us to believe all this stuff you're saying, can you?" spluttered the captain. "All this about dragons and magic and spells… those things aren't real. Fairy tales for the kids."

"We must really be a long way from home if we're meeting people who don't even believe in magic," Freed muttered. "Practically on another continent perhaps."

"I thought that all the continents in our world had magic," Bickslow frowned, but the guild master wasn't too concerned with that at the moment.

"How apt that you said Fairy Tale just then," Makarov stated calmly. "But I don't need you to believe all that. I just need you to believe that just as we apparently came out of a golden glowing Sphere there may be others down there in similar ones. People we need to find. And if you won't help us, we may have no other choice than to take this ship by force and search ourselves."

"…Are you threatening us?" the captain asked incredulously.

"Absolutely not. We would not harm you, but we must act. Our family may need us… and there is nothing that we won't do to come to the aid of our family."

"But just to prove our point," Bickslow added as he tossed the doll up into the air. It tumbled down towards the deck before suddenly veering upwards of its own accord, righting itself to hover in the air above Makarov's head. The other four dolls rose off the ground as well and the five of them together began to circle the captain to his awe, as well as the awe of the rest of the crew.

"How… how are you doing that?" he whispered in astonishment.

"Uh, magic. Duh," Bickslow stuck out his tongue with a wide grin, putting his black guild mark on proud display. "That's what we were just saying after all."

"I'll do a search from the air," Freed said as he drew his sword and stepped towards the edge of the boat. "With any luck I may be able to spot something glowing beneath the surface if its not too far down. **Yami no Écriture: Tsubasa!"**

The crew collectively gasped in astonishment as ghostly purple wings extended from Freed's back, each wing made of four long feather like shapes that weren't actually touching one another. They didn't even look like they were attached to his body, and yet when he leapt off the edge of the vessel he soared upwards into the sky, smiling lightly to himself as he imagined what their faces must look like even as he began to scour the ocean for any sign of another Fairy Sphere.

"I take it that you need no further proof of the validity of what we said?" Makarov asked as he folded his arms sternly. "So… are you going to help us find our friends or not?"

"…Someone get the net back in the water!"

"I'm very pleased to hear you say that," Makarov smiled.

"Uurk!" Laxus gasped as the ship was steered round to port in pursuit of Freed. "Uuugh… the smell of fish… really isn't helping right now."

"Maybe we should take a couple as a souvenir for Happy if we find him," Bickslow snickered.

"We'll find him," Makarov promised, striding to the prow of the ship and looking out across the ocean. "We'll find them all… and we will go home together. That is my vow."

* * *

Three days had passed already since Morgana had appeared back in the mortal world and taken Voldemort and his followers to the Isle of the Blessed, and a part of Voldemort was still enthralled even now. The towers and courtyards and hearths crammed into the small island might have been old, might have been charred and holed and in complete ruin, but Voldemort could practically smell the ancient history dripping from this place. History that predated the founders of Hogwarts themselves. History that predated the reign of Arthur and Merlin - magic had been here in force.

It was too bad that they weren't going to be able to stay here for now, but when they ruled Voldemort was going to ensure that this island was properly restored to its former glory. It would make a fine seat for the Minister of Magic should he ever decide to take up the position. And he'd make it so that the only way to get to it would be to cross by a small ferry just like the olden days, so that people had a chance to feel reverence on approaching as they must have done back then.

Still, the reason why they couldn't stay had left him dumbfounded for quite some time. According to Morgana, the legendary Merlin was still alive and was still walking the fields and hills of the land he'd grown up in all this time. Voldemort could scarcely believe it - and quite frankly if anyone but Morgana had told him this he would have laughed them out of the room… or possibly killed them for wasting his time. But he believed Morgana.

Though things still didn't add up in his mind even now. If it was true and Merlin really was still alive… why had he never shown himself? Why had the most powerful wizard ever spent all his time in hiding? From what he understood, Merlin was supposed to be something of a righteous fool much like Dumbledore, believing in the good in people and looking upon Muggles as kin. Why had he not shown up when the Statute of Secrecy was signed to protest against it? Why hadn't he helped his fellow sorcerers during the witch hunts that lasted through the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries and put an end to the torture? And why had he sat back and done nothing during the rise of Gellert Grindelwald or Voldemort himself during his first reign? He'd just let the two most powerful Dark Wizards of all time rise and done nothing when he could have potentially put a stop to it.

He'd asked Morgana as much, but she'd just waved the question away. "Merlin always believed that his destiny revolved around helping Arthur to establish a great kingdom. After Arthur died and he locked me in my eternal prison he withdrew from the world. I believe he thinks that he has no place in it now that Arthur is no longer the King. But I certainly don't expect him to stay quiet for much longer now that I have returned and so we must be ready for when he does decide to show himself."

Voldemort had to admit, a part of him was eager to meet Merlin. And maybe test his strength against Merlin to see how he compared. His goal, besides attaining immortality, was to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Everyone had long thought that the contest fell between him and Dumbledore but now Voldemort appeared to have a new target. Merlin was now the one to beat.

As he meandered now across the Isle of the Blessed, he made his way back towards the airship docked on its eastern shore. It was looking far more impressive now. Indeed, it looked almost the same as it had done before the battle against Fairy Tail according to Rustyrose. He and Morgana had been working together to magically fix the holes in the vessels and even entirely recreate the top half. There were now only a few adjustments that needed to be made and they would be able to get underway.

Though Morgana refused to tell any of them where they were going. Whenever asked, she just smiled and said, "Can't a girl have a surprise or two in store these days?"

Voldemort found Morgana standing at the fore of the airship, muttering to herself words that Voldemort couldn't even begin to recognise as she traced her hands across the hull. "What are you doing, my Lady?" he asked.

"I am casting a spell over the ship that will screen it from radar," Morgana replied. "There's no point in having this airship to stay a step ahead of everybody else if it can be easily traced after all."

"Radar?" Voldemort frowned. "What is… radar?"

Morgana rolled her eyes. "Why does it not surprise me that you don't know that? The Wizarding World these days… it's so full of contradictions. You believe yourselves superior to Muggles and rightly so, but you don't know a thing about them. How exactly do you expect to rise to a position of power over them if you don't even know what they can do?"

"You think we need to understand them?" Voldemort scoffed. "I lived among Muggles once and they're nothing short of primitive oafs who don't know a thing about the world. We don't need to understand them - we only need to make sure that they fear us and they'll fall at our feet!"

"Will they now?" Morgana raised a brow. "You're a fool if you really believe that, Riddle. You all are. Muggles are far more capable than you or any of your followers give them credit for."

"You sound as if you admire them."

"That's because I do."

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me," Morgana smirked at him. "You call Muggles primitive, but I believe it is the witches and wizards of today who are the primitive ones. Back when I first roamed the world, Muggles were indeed truly ignorant and primitive, but then again we all were. Even Merlin and I had no idea just how vast the world was back then. But after the fall of Camelot and as the ages passed I have been watching everything, both magical and non-magical, change over the years. And in terms of advancement, the magical can't compete in the slightest with Muggles."

"What do you mean?" Voldemort whispered, and there were several Death Eaters standing around listening to this conversation who seemed equally incredulous.

"Muggle technology has grown in leaps and bounds," Morgana explained. "They've learned how to fly, they've created instant methods of communication, they've created fast methods of transportation, they've learned great amounts about health and sanitation, they're learning new things all the time with their science and they've emulated a great many other things that we have always been able to do with magic. And perhaps the most important things to understand about their advancement from the perspective of a conqueror is their military strength. They've gone from using swords and arrows to creating cannons, high powered guns, missiles and bombs. Objects of great destruction that might give ignorant wizards quite a bit of a shock if they were to go to war with them.

"By contrast this world's magic has become… well, to be frank it's pathetic by comparison," Morgana scoffed, nodding towards Voldemort's wand derisively. "The Old Religion has become incredibly diluted, so much so that you all rely on those things like lifelines. Oh, wands existed back in my day too but they weren't considered necessary. Almost nobody used them - all capable sorcerers could do magic with nothing but their minds and their bare hands. But if I took those wands away from all of you now and destroyed them, you wouldn't know what to do, would you? Granted you, Voldemort, might well be able to fight still but your power would be severely decreased, wouldn't it? And your followers would be totally defenceless."

"That… is true…" Voldemort said slowly, grinding his teeth under Morgana's rather painful criticism but unable to deny the truth of her words. "But… we don't use the Old Religion."

"Oh yes, you do. Magic may have changed a lot over the years but magic is still magic. I may know older and more powerful spells than you, but your power stems from the same power that I wield."

"It does?"

"Tell me, Voldemort, what's inside a wand?"

"It's core. Which normally consists of phoenix feathers, unicorn hairs or dragon heartstrings."

"Exactly. Phoenixes, unicorns and dragons are all creatures of the Old Religion - all creatures of pure magic. And when you chant a spell, you push a little of your own power into the wand and the core acts as an amplifier, channelling the Old Religion to produce the desired spell. The only reason a wand is made of wood is because its much easier to swing a piece of wood around then swish a feather or a piece of hair at an opponent. But it's the Old Religion at work nonetheless. That's why the wand usually has to choose the wizard or witch - it's the Old Religion selecting which piece of it has the strongest connection with them. And that's why only those born with magic are capable of using it nowadays too."

"…What?" Voldemort's eyes widened further still. "Are you saying…?"

"That Muggles could use magic back in my day?" Morgana asked sweetly. "Well, no… but that's because back in my day there was no such thing as Muggles. Yes, there were those born with magical abilities and those without, but those born without magic could still learn how to do it. Magic flows through everyone, my dear Voldemort. It's part of the essence of the world. Certainly it was always naturally stronger in those born with the ability but even people born without a shred of magical power could still become great sorcerers.

"But nowadays, magic power has become so weakened that even those born with it need objects with body parts of ancient magical creatures to use the power properly. People born without it have no hope and now they've been given the name Muggles because of it. And without the ability to learn magic, Muggles had to look for other ways to solve their basic life problems, while those with magic remained mired where they were, getting generally weaker and weaker all the time. That's why if you ever went to war against the Muggles, you might find they put up much more of a fight against you than you might expect. In fact, they might even be able to win."

"No!" Voldemort hissed.

"Yes," Morgana said simply. "Everyone here is just as prone to being destroyed by a missile strike as Muggles themselves if we didn't see it coming. That's why we need to know about them, so that we can rule over them effectively. So that they can't surprise us with their constantly developing new tricks. Like radar, which allows them to send out pulses of sound and determine where objects are by detecting the echoes that bounce back to them. They could easily detect this ship if we flew over the wrong area unless we use our magic to counter it."

"And yet Muggles are completely ignorant of magic…"

"Because your Ministry goes to great lengths to hide it. By contrast, wizards and witches the world over barely even try to understand Muggles."

Voldemort was now silently seething. Morgana was practically challenging his entire belief system, the one he shared with every one of his loyal followers. Practically the only belief that he and Morgana seemed to share was that the magical should reign over those without magic. But then again he had not asked her opinion on blood purity yet, though if what she said about the Old Religion was true and even Muggles could learn magic back in her time then he suspected she didn't hold the same appreciation for Wizard-born blood as himself.

Not only that but he was effectively being called weak, even though Morgana had referred to him as strong only a few days ago.

"Oh don't look so grim, Voldemort," Morgana laughed lightly. "This is not a personal insult against you. You are simply a victim of changing times. Weakened magic, modern virtues… it's hardly your fault that you've grown up with either of them. And besides… things are soon going to change."

"Change? In what manner?"

"I can feel it," Morgana closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, purring at the smell of the fresh salty air washing in from across the bay. "The Old Religion's strength has waned over the years but now… it is beginning to wax. To grow in strength… raising its head after so long practically dormant. It senses that things are changing and its slowly… but surely… making its return."

"You speak as though it is alive."

"In a sense, it is. Magic runs through all of us after all and it evolves with the times. It's not just a tool for us to use - it practically has a will of its own. And it still manifests itself now and again, such as when young children who have not yet been given wands manage to unleash magic accidentally during times of emotional upheaval - that is the Old Religion answering their call. Wizards in Africa and America are still able to harness it to a limited degree when they use wandless magic. And the reappearance of the Crystal Cave, the birthplace of magic, will be a major catalyst for it's return. And you, Voldemort, you already have some control over it," she smiled. "After all, you were able to subtly use magic as few could before you even knew the Wizarding World existed. What do you think that means?"

"You're saying now that I'll be able to learn this power?" Voldemort's former rage quickly shifted into excitement. Such as he had not felt since Harry Potter had arrived in the graveyard ready for him to be reborn. "That I will be able to harness the Old Religion properly?"

"That is indeed what I am saying. But not just you. If the Old Religion is brought back properly, as it was fifteen-hundred years ago, all your followers will be able to start using it. But you have a natural talent for magic, Voldemort. You will be far stronger than most. And when the time comes… I shall teach you the spells you will need to unleash your full potential."

"It will be my absolute honour," Voldemort grinned savagely. "Just imagine… the terror we could unleash with the Old Religion at both our beck and call."

"It will not be easy to learn," Morgana warned. "But I think it will come to you much more naturally than others. And your wand will continue to act as an amplifier for your strength but eventually you may find that you don't even need it anymore. Then the issue of the twin cores between yours and Harry Potter's wands will mean nothing."

Some of the other Death Eaters listening in were looking excited now, but before any further questions could be made of the ancient sorceress there was a loud clunking sound from atop the Grimoire Heart airship. Morgana and Voldemort looked up to see Rustyrose up on the renewed glass ceiling of the throne room, his hands raised and two long projections like bat wings now sweeping out the back of the airship.

The repairs were now complete.

"Woo-wee…" Kain Hikaru remarked as he plodded over with what appeared to be tears in his eyes, dabbing at his forehead with a cloth. "It looks as good as new. As if everything that happened in the fight against Fairy Tail never took place at all. It's good to have our home back in one piece."

"It is home to all of us now," Morgana smiled. "And I say that we make use of it instantly. If everyone would care to get on board and we can make our way to our first destination."

"And where would that be exactly?" Bluenote asked gruffly.

"You will see when we arrive, but it will not take us too long to get there," Morgana said, reaching into a pocket of her long black dress and running a finger over the large silver coin that Bellatrix had acquired for her from the museum a couple of days ago. The Muggles had barely noticed it was missing, but she had big plans for it.

A few minutes later and a large magic circle ignited into existence beneath the airship, raising it vertically up off the ground like it was sitting in a giant elevator, the entire structure slowly twisting around under Morgana's direction. She'd commandeered the rebuilt throne where Hades had once sat for herself and nobody objected to it, although Bluenote gave her a rather nasty look when she sat down upon it. But under her guidance he lifted the airship into the clouds and until it was pointing in a northerly direction, whereupon Morgana raised her hand.

"That's it," she chuckled. "Full steam ahead, my friend."

And with a pulse from the engines at the back, the airship swept across the sky at a leisurely, but high speed.

"At last," Morgana smirked triumphantly. "We're underway."

* * *

Lucy leaned back in her chair, inhaling deeply in a bid to calm her nerves. She was sitting outside a Muggle restaurant in the middle of London pretending to pore over a menu, only a couple of streets away from one of the main entrances to the Ministry of Magic. Ever since her previous break-in to rescue Sirius the security had tightened even further - all Floo Networks into the Ministry had been deactivated but for a few trusted employees, and now most people had to go through a thorough screening process before they were allowed inside - guards with Probity Probes thoroughly screening everyone as they went in.

But fortunately Lucy wasn't going to be the one going in.

"You ready for this?" Mad-Eye Moody asked her, sitting across the street from her with his hat pulled down awkwardly over his magical eye. Even though Lucy knew he was a friend, there was still something about that eye that really creeped her out… maybe because she figured he could be looking right through her outfit right now and seeing her naked if he wanted to… given the things that had happened to her in the past she wouldn't be at all surprised if he was.

"Yeah, I think so," she nodded. "It's not me that's going into the lion's den, is it?"

"You told me your Spirits can't be killed and imprisoning them would be next to impossible. What's there to be nervous about?"

"I know they'll be fine but… they can still be hurt. I don't like sending them places where I can't watch their backs… but I know I'm going to have to this time."

"I see. Well for the record, I think that's kinda admirable."

"You do?" Lucy looked up in surprise. "I'd have thought you'd just tell me to get on with it and send them in."

"I'm all for getting the job done," Moody growled. "But the fact you still worry about your Spirits even though you know there's nothing in there that permanently hurt them just shows how much you care. And just because I'm not one for sentimentality myself doesn't mean I don't get it. It shows me that we were right about you being good people, and lets me know we can count on you when things are going to get tough."

Lucy smiled warmly. "Thanks, Alastor. That's a really nice thing to say."

"Not many people use my real name," Moody grunted.

"Well, we're friends right? So why not?"

Moody raised a brow. "You lot are so quick to make friends… I'd almost call it naive, but at least its refreshing. I suppose I'd much rather have you by my side in a fight than that nitwit Mundungus Fletcher. You know we've been keeping quite a close eye on him ever since you lot showed up. Just to make sure he doesn't try and jump on the Ministry's offer of an award for any information about you."

"Well then I guess we'll have to try and get the Ministry off our backs as quickly as possible," Lucy nodded as she got to her feet. "I'll be right back."

She headed into the back of the restaurant and made a beeline for one of the restrooms. She was wearing fingerless gloves over her hands to hide her Fairy Tail mark lest there happened to be a witch or wizard nearby who saw her. Lucy was one of the few members of the guild that had never been seen by anyone who was not now on Fairy Tail's side - the Order, the DA and the Aurors being the only one to come face to face with her, which is what allows her to continue to blend in easily with the crowd. Natsu had wanted to come on this mission with her, but as Mad-Eye pointed out a lot of witches and wizards now knew his face and it was unlikely this was going to end up with Lucy in danger anyway.

But Lucy still had to be careful. She checked nobody was looking as she reached the restrooms and lifted up one of her golden keys. "Open," she whispered. "Gate of the Twins. Gemini!"

"Piri piri," the blue midgets that suddenly appeared in mid-air next to her commented before swishing into the empty male restroom wordlessly. Lucy closed the door behind them before entering the women's restroom and locking the door. Moments later and Rufus Scrimgeour suddenly walked out of the men's restroom, his eyes momentarily nothing but black circles before they moulded into the correct shape. Scrimgeour had come to the Hog's Head that morning to allow his shape to be copied by the twins in preparation for the mission.

Gemini-Scrimgeour nodded silently to Moody as they passed, while Lucy allowed a little time to lapse in the bathroom before she returned to her spot at the table, watching Gemini go. She wished she had some method of keeping in touch with Gemini to find out what was happening, but neither she nor Scrimgeour had any telepathic ability so she was going to have to wait patiently as she could manage for some sign that the mission was over.

Gemini strode straight up to the entrance, which had been disguised as a small bank that no Muggle ever made a deposit in and if any Muggle noticed the bank they magically forgot it existed two minutes later. Gemini joined the queue to get in and nodded to one of the officers on duty as they reached the front of the line.

"Alright, Scrimgeour," grinned the guard. "Frigging nightmare this, all this extra security, isn't it?"

"But necessary," Gemini grunted in a perfect impersonation of Scrimgeour, handing over an exact replica of his wand for analysis. "We can't afford to take any chances. Not anymore."

"Quite right, quite right," nodded the guard, examining the wand before handing it straight back. "That looks in order to me but if you'll step into the zone please."

"I hate this part," Gemini muttered as they stepped into the back and entered a spherical cubicle, like the kind that scans people for metal items at airports. A goblin was standing on the other side of it and as Gemini took up position in the middle it pulled a lever. Instantly Gemini was doused in water which fell from the ceiling and splashed down all over their head to pool at their feet. But this was no ordinary water - this was the Thief's Downfall, water that the goblins had specially enchanted to wash away any concealments or enchantments upon the person doused in it. It was one of the many defences they had at Gringott's Bank, but considering the Goblins were still enraged at the break-in which had led to all their dragon and sphinx guards being freed, in this case they were happy to help the Ministry with their screening process to try and catch Fairy Tail.

If anyone tried to get in with concealment charms, Polyjuice Potions or anything like that, they would be instantly undone at this point.

And indeed, Gemini's magic did become undone but only for a split second. As the water poured over them, momentarily screening them from view they were able to reform back into Scrimgeour just as the water cleared, bent down on one knee and spluttering. But they were not sent back to the Spirit World because it was still Lucy's magic holding their gate open, and Lucy was still safely back at the restaurant.

"Sorry," they coughed. "Some of that… went down the wrong way. Ugh, I really wish we didn't have to do that."

"But you said yourself, its necessary," the guard nodded. "But you're all clear. You can proceed, sir."

"Thanks Oswald," Gemini nodded, able to pick out the man's name from Scrimgeour's memories before striding into the Ministry.

From there, they made a beeline straight for the Minister of Magic's office, weaving in and out of the crowd and pushing past the security trolls and other measures set in place. Since they could only hold the transformation for five minutes they occasionally ducked into an alcove to turn their transformation off and back on again, like they were rebooting a computer, before they hurried on towards their destination.

There were two guards outside the Minister's Office now at all times, even when the Minister himself was not actually in there. Gemini strode over to the two standing there now and said, "I need to speak with the Minister. Allow me inside please."

Once again their wand was examined but then they were allowed into the office. Fudge was sitting at his desk and looked up tiredly when Gemini stepped through the door.

"Ah, Scrimgeour," he sighed. "Please tell me its good news that brings you to see me today."

"Obliviate!"

With incredible speed - the exact same kind that Scrimgeour himself could manage - Gemini whipped around and blasted both of the guards with a bright white light from their wand. Fudge gasped and shot to his feet but Gemini had already whipped around and a Memory Charm rocketed across the room to strike him too. And while all three of them were still in daze Gemini switched back into their original form and the little blue twins quickly zipped out of sight beneath the Minister's desk.

A second later and clarity returned to the minds of the three men in the room. Fudge blinked when he noticed his guards standing there and said, "Yes? Did you want something?"

"Uh… uh no, not really Minister…" blinked one of the guard in slight confusion.

"Well then get back to your post. Can't you see I'm up to my ears in it right now? I can't be doing with interruptions."

"Yes, Minister," the guards quickly hurried outside closing the door behind them and leaving Fudge to sort through the files all over his desk, flicking them into piles with his wand and totally unaware of the two tiny Spirits hovering beneath his desk.

"Time to get started I think," Gemi whispered to his sibling.

"Sssh, we've got to be quiet," Mini chided her brother, but the two of them connected their stubby hands and merged together once more, sloooooooowly transforming into Lucy right there beneath Fudge's desk. They had to tuck their legs in tightly against their chest to make sure they didn't bump up against Fudge's own - that would have been awkward if he felt them down there and found a blond teenage girl hiding underneath his desk. But thankfully they were able to avoid detection.

'Here goes,' they thought together, stretching one hand out from beneath the desk with two gold keys grasped in their fingers. Without speaking allowed they channelled their power into the keys and… suddenly…

*FLASH*

"WHA-MMMGH!" Fudge cried out at the sudden blinding light that erupted before him but before he could get too loud a hand lashed out to clamp over his mouth. A hand that belonged to none other than Loke, who smirked as he fully formed into existence. Next to him was Capricorn - selected for this mission due to his polite mannerisms and diplomatic ability, which many of the Zodiac Spirits lacked.

"Sshh," Loke held a finger over his lips. "Not a sound, Minister. After all, we're just here to talk."

"Perhaps it would be prudent to release him swiftly, Leo-sama," Capricorn suggested. "A hand over the mouth is hardly civilised after all."

Loke chuckled and drew his hand away, leaving Fudge plastered against the back of his chair and staring at the two Spirits in utter disbelief.

"W-what… you…" he spluttered.

"Forgive the rude interruption to your important work," Capricorn held a hand over his heart and bowed low until Fudge could have reached out to touch his horns. "But we could find no less startling way to appear before you given your Ministry's current level of security. We trust that you'd be open to an open conversation with us?"

"You… were the ones who freed Black from our imprisonment," Fudge growled lightly, glancing constantly at the door and clearly wondering whether shouting for help from his guards would be a good idea or a suicidal one. "Where did you say you were from… a Spirit World or something?"

"Indeed, that's us," Loke pushed his sunglasses further up his nose. "We are emissaries from the Celestial Spirit World, and I believe I explained well our reasoning for the prison break of Sirius Black, did I not?"

"I remember it well," Fudge nodded sourly. "You must think us all idiots if you think we would believe that Sirius Black is an innocent man. Or any of the rest of the claptrap you were spouting about that day…"

"If we could keep things courteous that would be most appreciated," Capricorn interrupted lightly. "Can we not talk this over before we start throwing the blame around like a softball?"

Fudge turned faintly red but he relaxed slightly in his chair despite his obvious wariness. "Very well," he said slowly.

"Perhaps an introduction would be best. This is Leo, the leader of the Twelve Zodiac Spirits of our world. And I am Capricorn."

"Charmed…. now what have you to say today? Would you still have me believe that Fairy Tail are the so-called good guys in this situation after the disaster that went down at our prison? You said you could see far so I'm certain that you know about that. Not to mention the rampant destruction of the property of a man who's donated thousands upon thousands of Galleons to help improve the Ministry?"

"No, we are not hear to try and explain Fairy Tail's actions in your world to you," Loke shook his head, putting his hands in his pockets and smirking. "From what we've seen other people have already tried to do that already and it doesn't seem to have had much effect. We're here to tell you about what Fairy Tail even means. Have you never stopped to wonder how such a supposedly terrifying group of people managed to get such a… frankly pretty name?"

"Leo-sama has a point," Capricorn agreed with an inclination of his head. "We have seen the dark organisations of this world… and they have been referred to by names that are equally dark. Death Eaters… a very imposing name indeed is it not? If you were to strip away everything you know about Fairy Tail and judge them solely by their name alone, would you think of them as terrorists then?"

"…Well… well, no… but it seems to me that is the point. They is part of their scheme to gain power by making them seem like the friendly face while spreading the false rumours about You-Know-Who."

"And you have proof of this conspiracy theory of yours?" Loke asked pointedly.

"…No… but it fits what they've been doing all this time!"

"It does if you connect the dots together in a rather haphazard manner as you have been doing, without a deeper understanding of who Fairy Tail are," Loke sighed. "Let's see… by my reckoning… you've only had one proper conversation with a Fairy Tail member and you successfully cut that one short by putting her under incredible stress through the use of those Dementors. And yet you think that you know what Fairy Tail wants? You're not trying very hard to figure them out, Minister - you're pinning labels on them because of your own fear."

"Their actions speak for themselves…"

"Fairy Tail are just as destructive a force here as they are back in their own world," Capricorn interrupted. "They destroy people's houses, public monuments, businesses… all collateral damage as they try and get other things done. And yet over there they are incredibly popular. People don't fear them or their power despite everything they do. Certainly they are a headache for their Magic Council to deal with, but the general public love them."

"Their… Magic Council?" Fudge frowned. "You mean…"

"That Fairy Tail doesn't rule its own world?" Loke chuckled. "Oh, far from it. They come from a land known as Fiore, which has dozens of different mage guilds in it just like theirs. But no wizard guild rules Fiore - the country is ruled by a King. A King who has no magic, I might add. And there is the Magic Council, which functions a lot like your Ministry - trying to manage all magical people across the country and keep the peace. In fact, Fairy Tail often end up getting in trouble with them and sometimes have to pay penalties for the damages they cause. But they always pay their dues."

"Their destructive habits aren't all bad either," Capricorn agreed. "Usually they end up destroying things that require destroying, like dark mages or marauding creatures. Everything else that they do is usually an unfortunate side effect of their great power. Bottom line… they don't want to rule. They just want to enjoy life and make a difference to the world they live in. Any world they live in."

"That's not to say they aren't dangerous," Loke shrugged. "Because they are… if someone tries to harm their members. If someone confronts them as an enemy and forces their hand, they will take up arms and fight them to the last man. And when they do, they won't hold back. You should count yourself very fortunate, Minister, that they've realised you are not truly the bad guys in this world. Or they'd have torn the entire Ministry to shreds the first time they invaded it."

"But Fairy Tail are enemies only to those who choose to make them an enemy," Capricorn concluded. "I suggest you extend the hand of friendship to them soon, Minister. If you push them too far, they will hunt you down. If either Erza or Cana had been subjected to the Dementor's Kiss, rather than being sent to Azkaban prison, that would have been it. The Ministry would have been labelled an enemy for life and they would have come to destroy everything you've built."

Loke smirked. "But if you befriend them… if you ally yourselves with them… then there's nothing they won't do for you. They'll fight to the death to protect you from anything or anyone that would seek to harm you, just as they do for one another. Their loyalty is fierce, and unlike many it does not need to be bought."

"And you'll need them on your side… to face the true threats that are currently rising within this world," Capricorn was now beginning to shimmer as he opened his gate to prepare to leave.

"Think on it, Fudge," Loke began to shine as well. "Think on what we said… and I hope that you eventually make the right call."

"Wait… hold on…" Fudge got to his feet but the two Spirits had already vanished. Gemini's time limit in their Lucy body had almost expired so they couldn't have stayed much longer anyway. And Gemini themselves poofed back to the Spirit world moments later, leaving Fudge truly alone in his office with only his thoughts to keep him company.

The Minister sat heavily back in his chair, running his tongue over his teeth in deep thought. Was it possible? Had he really got Fairy Tail all wrong? His initial reaction of summoning the Dementors to guard Levy had been purely rooted in fear of what she could do when he learned she could still have used magic without a wand, but everything after that had be fuelled by the mages' own actions.

And he'd seen what Loke and Capricorn could do during the battle of the Ministry a couple of weeks ago. They'd appeared right there in the room, bypassing all of his security, and they could have easily killed him if they wanted, but they hadn't. That made them worth trusting, didn't it?

But then he thought back to all the other things that Loke had said. Insisting Sirius was also innocent and that Voldemort had returned… and he decided that those simply could not be true. They were impossible. And if the Spirits were lying about that then they had to be lying about Fairy Tail too… yeah… that made sense… right? This had to be another ruse!

He stood up and hurried off to call security and alert them to what had just happened, his mind ninety-five percent sure that he was still right.

But there was still another five percent mulling over the information he'd been given… and realising that he truly didn't know anything at all about the Fairies which meant there was a chance… however small… that the Spirits were telling the truth.

* * *

Freed's wings were carving lines in the clouds as he swept across the sky, sweeping out in wide circles around the ship which was continuing to trawl the ocean below in search of fish and Fairy Spheres alike. The green-haired man had been up here for the better part of three hours now, scanning the ocean in vain. From this height he could see land in the far distance… but he couldn't see any signs of glowing golden objects beneath the waves.

Laxus wasn't faring very well, to nobody's surprise. You'd perhaps think that prolonged exposure to the motion of the ship would help soothe his sickness but apparently not. And to the complete shock of the sailors, Makarov had decided to adopt the Erza approach to helping someone deal with the problem of transportation sickness:-

He'd delivered a very sharp punch to his grandson's gut in just the right place, enlarging his fist a little to do the job. Normally Laxus would have been able to shrug a blow like that off but in his current state he keeled over and passed out just before he could throw up again.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think some point of you enjoyed that," Bickslow said dryly to the Guild Master. "Just like I think some part of you enjoys it when you flatten Natsu into the ground."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," Makarov said casually, but Bickslow noticed the way he rubbed the back of his head and looked ever so slightly innocent. The Seith Mage couldn't help but grin. Makarov might be the elderly father of the guild, but sometimes even he was just one of the guys.

After so long though, Freed was beginning to tire. His magic wings weren't designed for long-distance flight after all. And so far their search had been fruitless.

But just as Freed was considering heading back down to the ship to take a break… something massive suddenly burst through the clouds a few feet to his left and ploughed through the air towards him.

"GWAAAH!" Freed cried in surprise, banking sharply to the left and allowing himself to momentarily go into freefall, his wings clipping whatever had just appeared next to him, spinning over and over and dropping one-hundred feet before he managed to catch himself and look up to his sudden attacker.

His jaw dropped at what he saw - a giant, black vessel mostly concealing itself within the clouds. It had been fixed up since Freed had last seen it, but there was absolutely no mistaking that symbol on the front.

"The airship of Grimoire Heart!" Freed gasped, his hair whipping about behind him under the pulse of magic he could feel in the wake of the flying transport above him. "What's that doing here?"

Fortunately there was no reaction to his presence so he could only assume that whoever was on board that ship now hadn't noticed him. One of the counters of hiding in the clouds was that you couldn't really see what was going on outside either. But Freed was not about to hang around, so he upended himself and barrelled in back towards the fishermen's vessel, alighting quickly on the deck.

"Grimoire Heart!" he cried.

"What!?" Makarov looked up sharply. "Where?"

"In the clouds," Freed pointed, and indeed from down here it was barely visible and it was rapidly moving into the distance. "They're moving fast in that airship of there's, but its like all the fighting that took place abord it never even happened. It's been totally fixed up."

"What do we do?" Bickslow looked to Makarov. "They might have some of our friends on board… captives maybe. Should we get up there duke things out with them?"

"Hmmm…" Makarov cupped his chin thoughtfully. "I doubt very much they were caught up inside the Fairy Sphere too, which means they could well be at full strength once more. They almost defeated us before - it would be unwise to rush in blindly."

"But if they have some of our friends…" Freed pointed out.

"We need to follow them," Makarov nodded. "If we follow them to their destination, we may learn something. Oi, Captain. How fast can this ship go?"

"This boat isn't built for speed!" the captain replied, not really sure what was happening but understanding a need for urgency. "It can go up to ten miles an hour at maximum speed."

"That's no good - we'll lose them at that pace," Makarov's fist tightened.

"I could get back up there," Freed suggested. "Land on the ship and hide myself maybe? Find out where they were going?"

"But how would you find your way back?" Makarov pointed out. "And how would we know we were heading the right way."

"Freed, here. Take this," Bickslow floated one of his wooden dolls over to the Rune Mage. "Long as I have a soul in a doll I always know where the dolls are. If you take that with you, I'll be able to guide the rest of us to follow along behind you."

"As expected of you, Bickslow," Freed nodded, spreading his wings out again. "Master?"

"Hmmmmnnn…" Makarov groaned. "I don't like it," he muttered. "But I suppose we don't have another alternative for the time being. Be careful, Freed. That's all I ask."

"I have no intention of being anything else, Master," Freed nodded his head respectfully and heaved off into the sky with the doll under one arm, spiralling his way back up towards the airship before he could totally lose it amongst the clouds.

Makarov turned to the captain and said, "Turn us around. That ship's heading north and we need to do the same."

"Now look here," the captain protested. "You can't just tell us what to do like that. Our dock is south - if we head north too far we could run out of fuel and then…"

"Lives may be at stake here!" Makarov shouted. "The lives of my children! I will find a way to compensate you for any lost fuel later on."

"It's not the cost I'm worried about, it's the…" but before the captain could get any further his eyes went slightly glassy and he was surrounded by a greenish aura. He immediately turned around to grab the wheel of the ship and twist it around in the direction the airship was taking and put the engine into full throttle.

"Was that necessary, Bickslow?" Makarov turned to the tall mage who had pulled off his sallet again. His eyes were glowing, which meant he'd just used his Figure Eyes ability to take control of the captain and make him do what they wanted.

"It's as you said, Master," the Seith Mage stated bluntly as he turned about to lock eyes with the rest of the crew and make them haul the net in. "We wouldn't be Fairy Tail if we didn't take any and all steps necessary to make sure our friends were safe."

"True… true…" Makarov nodded, staring up into the sky where Freed and the airship had now both been lost to sight.

The Rune Mage himself was closing in on the airship, sweeping round the back until he was between the magic circles blooming from the engines and quickly alighting upon the top of the outer hull just beneath the raised throne room. He was tempted to go snooping - see what he could find - but he knew that by himself he would be no match for some of the Grimoire Heart members and he couldn't risk getting caught.

So he drew his sword and carefully started drawing runes in a small square around himself. Runes that read:-

'Those standing within this barrier will be invisible to all those outside. They also won't get cold.'

He then sat down, crossing his legs with Bickslow's doll in his lap and waited.

* * *

Unfortunately not every evening at Hogwarts could be spent in the Room of Requirement training with Fairy Tail. The fifth year and seventh year students all had incredibly important exams coming up at the end of the year, and the rise of Morgana and Voldemort definitely didn't put those on hold. Which was why Hermione spending her afternoon in the library, capitalising on a free period she had to get her Ancient Runes homework done while Harry and Ron were forced to endure a couple of hours with Professor Trelawney up in the Divination Tower.

"Hmm…" she muttered to herself as she poured over the book meticulously. "It's at times like this I wish I had a pair of those reading glasses Levy has." Imagining how much of the library she could soar through with those things made her feel giddy, but then again there was something about just sitting back and enjoying the book that was enjoyable too. Which was better - consuming as much knowledge as possible or just being at peace while reading?

Just as she was taking note of the subtle differences between the runes for 'gargoyle' and 'bat' there was a shuffling noise from across the room and she looked up to see Daphne Greengrass had suddenly appeared in her section. Daphne took Ancient Runes just like she did - it seemed not one of the Slytherins had decided to take on Divination as a subject. And it appeared she'd had the same idea as Hermione to come here and do her homework on the subject. But even though Hermione could tell Daphne was aware of her presence, the Slytherin didn't acknowledge her.

Not that that was unusual. This wasn't the first time she and Daphne had ended up studying at the same time in the library. Usually Hermione was quite happy to carry on and ignore Daphne as well.

But for some reason this time she said, "Are you alright?"

Daphne looked up at her - evidently quite surprised. "Why wouldn't I be?" she said curtly.

"Well I was just wondering… you know, Umbridge pushed you over yesterday…" Hermione shrugged. "I was just being polite."

"Well there's no need for it. I'm quite fine, Granger."

"Oh good."

Silence resumed as Daphne sat down at the other end of the section and began to mark down a couple of runes herself. But Hermione was now finding it difficult to concentrate, glancing up at Daphne every now and then. There was a slight gnawing sensation in her gut… and upon her lip because she kept biting it, wondering whether she should say anything else.

Apparently Daphne noticed her behaviour because ten minutes later she sighed and looked up. "Anything else on your mind, Granger?"

Hermione jumped, blushing like a child who'd been caught with their hand in a cookie jar. But she had to admit she was a little confused. Why did she have a sudden urge to talk to a Slytherin girl where none had existed before? Was it because she'd heard Daphne insult Umbridge under her breath - something none of the other Slytherins had done as far as she was aware? Was there some part of her that was wondering if Daphne might be some kind of… kindred spirit now? Or at least they considered Umbridge a common enemy perhaps?

That would be a first. A Slytherin with the same enemy as a Gryffindor Muggle Born.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione decided to test the waters a little. "How's… how's Astoria doing?"

Daphne raised a brow. "And why do you care about my sister exactly?"

"Well, I was just curious really."

"…She's fine. Enjoying school life."

"That's good… good… and um… how are your parents?"

Daphne looked considerably more guarded suddenly and slammed her Ancient Runes textbook shut. "Okay Granger, what are you doing? I'm not an idiot - I know you're not just trying to make small talk here. You're going somewhere with this line of questioning, aren't you?"

"…Maybe."

"Well then please be a dear and get to the point."

"Fine," Hermione sighed and took the plunge. "I've noticed you've been a little… off… recently. And I can't help but wonder if maybe the reason for that is that you're worried about your parents being drafted to join Voldemort."

Daphne winced slightly, a fiery glare etched across her face. "The Dark Lord's dead, Granger."

"I think we both know that's not true," Hermione said stiffly. She was taking a risk here, talking to a Slytherin who could easily report her words to Umbridge, but she was also taking a leap of faith. "Your family's raised on the same Pureblood mania as the Death Eaters that escaped from Azkaban recently. I'm sure they've been approached to join forces with Voldemort by someone at this point, haven't they?"

Daphne glared but she didn't answer the question, which was all the answer that Hermione needed really.

"I get that you're worried," she said. "You're afraid of what'll happen if they refuse him. And you're afraid of what'll happen if they join and find themselves face to face with someone from Fairy Tail. You're afraid that you'll be left alone to bring up your little sister."

"What's your point?" Daphne sniffed icily, but her expression was slightly pained. Clearly Hermione's words were punching her thoughts in exactly the right places.

"My point… I suppose… is that if you ever need someone to talk to about this kind of thing then you can always talk to me."

Daphne snorted. "Are you freaking kidding me? Like I'd come and talk to a Mudblood like you about something like this."

"Well, perhaps you should," Hermione said earnestly, ignoring the insult. "I get what you're going through - I'm worried about my parents too. You know my family are Muggles. And I'm good friends with Harry Potter, who's right at the top of Voldemort's personal hit-list. It's certainly occurred to me that he might try to hurt my parents to hurt me and therefore hurt him. I don't have a younger sister, but I kinda understand what you're going through. Guess I have more in common with you than you realise."

Daphne stared at Hermione incredulously for about half a minute before she opened her textbook again and muttered, "You're weird, Granger. I just call you a Mudblood and you try and offer your shoulder for me to cry on?"

"It's not weird," Hermione smiled. "It's the right thing to do. You may be a Slytherin, but that doesn't necessarily make you an enemy. Voldemort and those who follow him are the real enemy. That doesn't apply to you or your family… yet."

Daphne said nothing for a while. Hermione got back to her Ancient Runes, but every so often she'd look up and see Daphne staring at exactly the same mark on her page, clearly not seeing the words in front of her.

And she stayed like that for almost ten minutes before she said, "You're right."

"Hmm?" Hermione looked up. "About which part?"

"All of it," Daphne sighed, running a hand over her face. "My Dad told me that he'd been receiving some… messages. Ones that were not so subtly hinting that it would be in his family's best interests to… consider joining up with a bigger cause."

"Death Eaters?"

"He didn't say that outright but… well… who else could it be really? And if its them… it's only going to be a matter of time before they force my parents to join up somehow. Like by threatening me and my sister, for instance."

"They actually did that?"

"Well not as far as I know but its their style isn't it? Threatening family members to ensure people's cooperation… it's textbook really."

Hermione tapped her lip with the brushy tip of her quill thoughtfully. "Well you're safe here," she said. "You and your sister - long as you don't go home for the holidays you'd be safe here."

"Small comfort as far as my parents are concerned."

"They haven't considered going into hiding?"

"Where exactly would they hide? As far as I can see, if the Dark Lord's back, the only place they could be safe from him and his followers is right here. And if they came here, they'd be lynched by that bitch Umbridge for associating with Dumbledore."

"…True…" Hermione murmured, choosing her next words with great care. "Though I'm slightly surprised you haven't mentioned Fairy Tail."

Daphne wrinkled her nose. "Oh they worry me too. But only if my parents are forced to join the Dark Lord."

"…How do you figure that? The papers say that Fairy Tail are a bunch of destructive maniacs who want to rule over us all. Why does it matter what side your family is on with regards to them?"

"The papers also say You-Know-Who isn't back. And we both know that's crap," Daphne rolled her eyes. "I thought you were smarter than that, Granger. Less gullible… not like most of the mindless, fearful sheep of the wider world… and you I both know where the allegiance of Draco's parents lies. I reckon Fairy Tail… aren't the monsters the Ministry's claiming they are. Seems to me like they're looking out for each other more than anything… and the only piece of private property they've destroyed belonged to the family of a Death Eater, on the same day a bunch of others break out? Those two things don't add up at all. I think Fairy Tail's fighting against the Dark Lord… not against the Ministry."

"Wow… really?" Hermione's eyes were very wide, but not for the reason that Daphne might assume they were. "That's… an interesting opinion."

"Yeah well… based on what I've heard about them and if I'm right… if my parents join up with You-Know-Who… they're screwed. And until the Ministry pulls their heads out of their own asses and does something constructive with their time rather than shaming and hunting innocent people… I'm actually rooting for Fairy Tail to take the Dark Lord out before they can get to my family."

After that the two of them lapsed back into silence for a while, before Daphne suddenly shook her head and said, "Why am I even talking to you? It's not like a Mudblood like you is going to be able help me. Just get back to studying, Granger. Exams stop for nothing after all."

Daphne focused back on her runes but Hermione couldn't focus at all anymore… her mind was racing… there was no doubt that Daphne was clever. Shrewd too… and cynical. Analytical, to have figured all that out about Fairy Tail without having to be told. And despite the obvious Pureblood supremacist attitude she had like most Slytherins, she didn't care for Voldemort. And neither apparently did her family so presumably Astoria had similar values.

She couldn't believe she was thinking it but… could it possible?

For a Slytherin to become a part of Dumbledore's Army?

* * *

Gray cricked his neck slightly and strode into the DA chamber of the Room of Requirement. He'd been spending the last two hours creating bigger and bigger ice sculptures as part of his training and could do with a break, which was why he'd gone to see if there were any Hogwarts students knocking about for him to talk to.

As of now there was only one. And Gray was entirely unsurprised to find him here, even though the day's lessons had only just finished, given that Neville Longbottom had been coming here every spare moment he could grab for the last few days. Ever since the night that Morgana had returned. And he'd been hexing the crap out of the practice dummies every time.

Gray watched him for a moment, taking in his technique. There wasn't much of one… Neville was trying to master the Stunning Spell but he couldn't seem to get it quite right at the moment, so he was compromising by flinging random other spells he knew upon the dummies. His aim was somewhat poor too… and Gray could see the expression twisted across his face.

Rage.

Eventually the Ice Moulding Mage decided to intervene and Neville jumped slightly when a couple of ice stick figures appeared on either side of the dummy he was hammering.

"Huh…?" he blinked. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you more of a challenge," Gray said conversationally as he leaned against the wall and raised his hand. "What are you going to do if you fight more than one enemy? You won't just be able to stand still and fire at them, you'll have to move around. If you hit the target I'll destroy it and create another one. Let's test your reflexes out."

Neville nodded and raised his wand again. For the next ten minutes or so they worked their way around the room with Gray creating stick figures at random all around the place in an attempt to emulate enemies popping up out of nowhere as they would if they Apparated in. Whenever it happened Neville would spin around and fire, but he'd normally need at least three shots before he could land a hit even with a static target. But throughout it all he didn't try and dodge or keep himself on his toes. He just stood still and fired, with that same expression of rage on his face.

Gray had seen enough of Harry's teaching to know that this wasn't what Neville was being taught to do. But this anger he was clearly feeling was making him forget all that. He was just attacking blindly.

Eventually Gray dispersed the stickmen that were still standing and said, "Okay… so… who are you imagining the targets to be exactly?"

"…What do you mean?" Neville's eyes narrowed. "I'm imagining them to be Death Eaters…"

"No, you're imagining them to be a specific person. Every time you fired a spell at them you were staring them right in the face as if you hated them with every fibre of your soul, so I'll ask again. Who are you angry with?"

Neville stared down at the ends of his shoes, breathing heavily from the exertion of his overly violent spell casting, before fishing something out of his pocket and holding it out. Gray strode across the room and took it gently, revealing it to be a newspaper clipping from the _Daily Prophet. _One which had a still image, which he gathered was unusual for this paper… which depicted a woman firing a jet of green light from her wand to strike an unfortunate man in the chest. The title of the article read:-

BELLATRIX LESTRANGE SPOTTED IN MUGGLE MUSEUM

"That's a newspaper from Sunday," Neville muttered. "She broke into the British Museum on Saturday evening and murdered three Muggle security guards before she left again. That image was taken from the Muggle security cameras before the Ministry covered up the incident."

Gray's grip tightened on the newspaper. That was the same night that Morgana had broken out of her prison. And the day before Neville had started on his one-man crusade against all training dummies. "What was she there for?" he asked.

"Apparently she just stole some ancient coin," Neville shrugged. "Nobody's sure why she did it since there's no currency in the world that would use a coin like that."

"So what's your beef with this woman then? Obviously it's something."

"…I don't like to talk about it."

"Well whatever it is, I can tell that it's making you want vengeance upon her. You're imagining everything you cast a spell at to be her, aren't you? And let me tell you, Neville. I know from experience that getting vengeance… is a slippery slope if you don't handle it right."

"Why?" Neville asked, his expression tight. "What happened to you?"

"…I don't like to talk about it either."

Neither of them said anything for a while, but they both knew that the only way this conversation was going to proceed was if one of them told their story. So Gray sighed and bit the bullet. "When I was seven," he said. "A powerful demon named Deliora… a huge horned creature taller than a house… laid waste to my village. He went on a rampage through it that killed everyone I knew, destroyed everything I'd grown up with. My friends crushed beneath his feet… my father lying on the ground with his head sliced open… my mother buried under the rubble of our own house… I was the only one who survived… in the entire village."

"…Oh God…" Neville croaked. Of all the stories he'd been expecting Gray to tell him, that had not been one of them. He'd certainly expected the death of a parent… but not that.

"Yeah, well…" Gray grunted. "It doesn't end there. I was taken in by a kindly woman who was proficient in Ice Moulding Magic. She's the one who taught me how to use it." He lifted a palm up and crafted a perfect little ice figurine in his hand. "This is her. Her name was Ul."

"…Was?" Neville asked apprehensively, his amazement at Gray's craftsmanship with his magic subdued by that one word.

"Yeah… the only reason I was learning magic was so that I could take Deliora down and avenge my family and friends. But… my hatred of that demon blinded me… and when I learned where he was I headed off immediately to confront him. I ignored Ul's advice… I was far from ready to face him… but I was so consumed by my hate… it was like a darkness inside me that I couldn't ignore. Deliora would have killed me easily if Ul hadn't followed me. She defeated Deliora, but in doing so… she sacrificed her own life."

Gray clenched his fist, the figurine of Ul crumbling within it as his teeth clenched so hard they were on the brink of shattering. "Every time I think about it I wonder if Ul might still be alive if I hadn't been so blind… so consumed by my desire for revenge. There's a strong likelihood she would be but I can never know for sure. All I know is that she is unequivocally gone because she was protecting me from my own stupidity."

"…I'm… I'm sorry… I don't know what to say…" Neville whispered.

"There is no right thing to say to something like that," Gray shook his head. "But if you want to say something, you can tell me why this Bellatrix has gotten so under your skin."

Neville screwed up his face but this time he only hesitated for a moment. "My parents were Aurors once, good ones too, and after You-Know-Who disappeared the first time… I dunno why really but Bellatrix and some other Death Eaters thought that they might have some information about where he was. They were wrong. But they were convinced they were right and they… they tortured my parents with the Cruciatus Curse - a spell that inflicts terrible pain through the body - for hours on end trying to get them to give up information they didn't have. It… drove them insane."

"…Shit man," Gray sighed, placing a hand on Neville's shoulder and squeezing consolingly. "Where are they now? Are they…?"

"Yeah, they're alive. But they're in St. Mungos - our country's biggest magical hospital - as permanent residents. They barely know who I am. They barely know what anything is any more. And now their torturer is on the loose again… killing again… torturing again."

"And you want to be the one to take her down, right?"

"Yeah… yeah I do. I want… to be the one… to avenge my family."

"Then you know exactly how I must have felt back then when I faced Deliora. But desires like that… they're double-edged swords, Neville. If you dwell on them too much they produce such tunnel vision that you don't think your actions through until its too late. What if you ran into Bellatrix in the grounds tomorrow evening? Would you charge her, screaming for revenge even though you're clearly not ready to take her on? Or would you do the sensible thing and run?"

"…I don't know. I think… I'd be very tempted to charge her."

"Yeah, I know you would. But if someone else got hurt rescuing you from being a fool you'd never forgive yourself. I haven't. And that pain, that guilt… it never goes away, Neville. It gets easier to bear… and you can push it away when you're doing other things but… it will always come back to you sooner or later. And trust me… you don't want that. Nobody wants that."

Neville found himself rubbing at his eyes, the first vestiges of tears leaking out of them. "I understand what you're saying… but… I just… want to be the one that stops her so bad. I feel like it's my right."

"It's nobody's right. Maybe you will one day get to be the one to put a stop to Bellatrix but there's a very strong chance it'll be someone else. But it's not like vengeance for your parents won't be achieved because whoever does defeat her in the end will be the one that gets it for them. That person doesn't necessarily have to be you, but as long as you fight against Voldemort and his forces then you will still have done your part. And when your parents have been avenged, you want to be happy about it. So don't get yourself or your friends killed in the attempt, or when the victory does finally come it will be a hollow one."

Neville could see the genuine, deep-running pain in Gray's eyes and he found now that he respected the young man on a whole new level, not just for his amazing magic but for the person he was.

"Thanks…" Neville nodded with a smile. "I think I needed to hear that."

Gray stepped away, putting his hands in his pockets as he made for the stadium room. "One way or another… it will come. She will get her comeuppance. Somehow. And when that day comes, we'll make sure its one to celebrate."

"I hope that day comes sooner rather than later nonetheless," Neville stated as he followed on behind, the two entering the stadium just in time to see Beast Soul Elfman heaving a sofa above his head, which had Lisanna, Levy and Evergreen all sitting upon it.

"Aaah, it's nice to be treated like royalty," Evergreen chuckled as she leaned back against the cushions and purred to herself.

"You know that I could pluck you off that thing and toss you across the room, right?" Elfman muttered as he flexed his arms to raise the sofa up and down several times.

Nearby, Lucy was regaling some of the others, including a couple of Order members with what they'd learned from Gemini on the trip to the Ministry earlier that day. "He definitely took in everything that Loke and Capricorn told him. About how life is for us back home and about what we're really like. There's hope that it got through to him isn't there?"

"Very possibly," Lupin muttered, the man looking extremely pale still given the rough night he'd had before. "But a man as paranoid as Fudge is hardly going to change his ill-conceived perceptions in a heartbeat."

"Yeah, this is a difficult situation," Sirius agreed. "I mean, if we turned up on his doorstep with Voldemort or Peter Pettigrew in tow he'd have little alternative but to believe the former's back and I'm innocent. But it's going to be much more difficult to convince him that you guys aren't bad guys, especially since a major component of this belief is his fear of you."

"True," Erza nodded. "But we can hope that Loke and Capricorn planted the seed in his mind for us today. And maybe anything we do in the future will be met with a little more thought on his part than before."

"Let's make sure whatever that is doesn't involve blowing up something important next time," Mirajane smiled.

"Well anyway, you were awesome today, Lucy," Natsu grinned widely, slapping Lucy's back just a little bit too hard which meant Erza had to grab her shoulder and pull her back upright before she could fall flat on her face. "Though I still say I should have been there. We're a team - we should be taking jobs on together."

"I would have been fine, Natsu," Lucy assured him, rubbing her shoulder but smiling gratefully. "Even with Gemini in there I could have still summoned another Spirit if I was in trouble and Alastor was there to get me out if there was any trouble. Besides, I didn't really do anything. It was the Spirits that deserve all the credit."

"Well I'm sure we'll be in the Ministry's good books in no time," Natsu's thumb jerked upright.

"That might be easier if you didn't blow up any more mansions, Flamebrain," Gray snickered.

"OH YEAH!? I'LL BLOW UP YOUR MANSION NEXT, ICICLE BREATH!?"

"THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!"

"I'LL MAKE YOU MAKE SENSE!"

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE EITHER!"

"YOU WANNA GO!?"

"BRING IT ON!"

"OI, YOU TWO! SHADDUP!" Gajeel yelled suddenly from across the room, drawing the attention of the growling duo.

"YOU SHUT UP, IRONBUTT!" Natsu yelled.

"WE'LL TAKE YOU TOO!" Gray agreed.

"NO REALLY! SHADDUP! And look."

Gajeel was standing next to the Fairy Sphere - the same one that they'd liberated from Malfoy Manor when Natsu had vaporised it. And the confrontational atmosphere drained out of the room very quickly when the rest of them noticed what Gajeel had noticed - the Sphere was flickering… like a dying lightbulb.

"It's about to lower," Lisanna gasped as Elfman put the sofa down.

Gajeel backed away as the Sphere's flickering intensified, the rest of the people in the room forming a wide semi-circle around the sputtering light, each of them holding their breath and crossing their fingers - praying for someone they knew to appear on the inside.

But when it finally did lower… they were presented with another large sphere. But this one was blue… scaly… and suddenly unrolled itself to plant four feet upon the ground, yellow eyes narrowing and a gigantic toothy maw hissing angrily at the surrounding humans. It was a massive lizard, about eight metres long from snout to tail and taller than a man and it immediately barrelled forwards right towards Levy.

"YAAAH!" Levy cried, but even as everyone tensed up the lizard stopped in its tracks, took a step backwards and hunkered down demurely. Lisanna stepped forward with her hand outstretched, exerting her Animal Soul over the creature to calm it down.

"What… is that?" Sirius blinked, staring at the huge reptilian animal in amazement. "Some kind of dinosaur?"

"It's a Rollidillo," Lisanna replied, placing her hand between its eyes and stroking it soothingly. "One of the animals that makes their home on Tenrou Island."

"Yeah… I remember this guy," Cana muttered, crossing over to Lucy and slinging an arm over her shoulder. "How long was that guy chasing us during the exam trial do you think, Lucy?"

"Uwaaah… he wouldn't leave us alone for near on half an hour I think," Lucy muttered, remembering well their mad scramble to get away from it and how incredibly close she'd come to getting chomped in its enormous teeth. Which was far from a pleasant image given it was big enough to potentially swallow her whole. "Wish you'd been with us then, Lisanna. We could have really used your help."

"I'd rather have been chased by this than by a giant pig," Evergreen muttered, not even trying to hide her disappointment. "But… I was… really hoping…"

"I think we all were," Erza placed an armoured hand on Evergreen's shoulder, her heavy-heartedness reflected throughout the entire group. "Hoping that someone we knew would be inside it. But I suppose we should be glad that this animal isn't rampaging through a village right about now."

"Small comfort when this means that Freed, Bickslow, Laxus and the Master are still out there somewhere," Evergreen sighed.

"One step at a time, Ever," Gildarts said as he stepped over next to Lisanna to place his metallic hand up against the placid Rollidillo's side. "Our promise to find them hasn't diminished in the slightest. But our next step is to get this creature back to Tenroujima - it definitely doesn't belong here."

"Remus… Sirius… do you think that you can go and fetch the Portkey cage from the beach so that we can make the preparations?" Lisanna asked.

"Of course. We'll be right back," Sirius nodded, gripping Lupin's arm and the two of them hurrying off down the tunnel back to the Hog's Head where they would be able to Disapparate.

"Tenroujima?" Neville abruptly asked as they ran off. "Isn't that the name of the island you guys were on when you were brought here?"

"That's the one," said Gray. "The one brought here with us that all these animals live on."

"And you're going there now?"

"We're going to have to if we're going to take this Rollidillo back home," said Lisanna.

"Oh cool… then… can I come?"

"Can you come?" Mira repeated. "To Tenroujima with us?"

"Yeah. You guys have told me a lot about it and… I really want to see that giant tree," Neville said excitedly. "Herbology's my favourite subject at school - I really love plants. I think they're fascinating. But there's no tree nearly as big as the one you told me about in our world so if its as big as you say… I really want to see it."

"Now hold on, we can hardly just allow you to leave the school premises and come with us," Erza shook her head. "That's not something we have the authority to do."

"Oh go on, please. I'm not the only one who wants to go - there are others who're interested in seeing your island as well. I know Dean would and I'm sure Harry and the others would love it as well. And if you want, we can ask some teachers. I'm sure that Hagrid would be interested. He could be our escort, like he is when he takes us into the Forbidden Forest maybe."

"Ah, go on Erza," Natsu grinned. "It's just Tenroujima after all. I say let 'em live a little."

Gildarts chuckled. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to let them tag along on this particular visit. But Erza's right, it's not our call to make. I say that you go and find a couple of the Professors and ask them. If you can't find Dumbledore then I'm sure McGonagall or Flitwick would do. How about if they say yes then you can come along for an hour or two."

"Great!" Neville grinned, the anger he'd been feeling against Bellatrix earlier having drained from his system in excitement. "I'll go round up some of the others and ask them if they want to come as well. Maybe if quite a few of us ask, McGonagall might actually say yes."

As he hurried away, Lisanna chuckled and said what all of them were thinking - "Looks like we may be leading a school trip to Tenroujima."

* * *

Voldemort stood at the prow of the airship, the clouds that they were flying through parting before they could touch him and sweeping round to either side of him as if he was enshrouded in an invisible cocoon. He was beginning to lose patience - this airship was obviously moving at high speed but with all this cloud in the way he couldn't see where they were going. He hadn't the foggiest idea, no pun intended, as to where he was right now.

But Morgana remained obstinately silent about where they were going.

"Do you think she's right, my lord?" Bellatrix asked as she approached him from behind. "Morgana… do you think that she can really teach us old magic?"

"If it can be taught, then I shall learn it, Bellatrix," Voldemort replied simply. "But I look forward to it. If the Lady Morgana is right and our world's magic has dwindled in power… I can scarcely imagine how powerful I will become if I learn her kind of magic. Especially if her precious Old Religion really is returning as she claims."

"But what if she's lying, my Lord? What if she is trying to trick you into following her with false tales and…"

"Bellatrix," Voldemort interrupted tightly. "If you are concerned that your place as my favourite follower… my favourite woman… is in jeopardy then you can relax. If Morgana and I rule together, you shall not be forgotten. But never again question my judgement. If she was lying to me, I am certain that I would know it. I will learn the power of the Old Religion… and when I do… Harry Potter, Dumbledore, Merlin himself… I will make sure they all cower before me."

"Of… of course, my Lord. Of course…" Bellatrix shuffled backwards, bowing her head low. A few moments later and Morgana emerged upon the prow, followed the the Grimoire Heart members. Bellatrix cast a sour, mildly jealous look Morgana's way as she took up her position beside Voldemort, but if Morgana noticed it she decided to ignore it.

"We're coming up on our destination now," Morgana smiled.

"Then I presume I will finally be let in on the secret?"

"You shall indeed," Morgana waved a hand through the air and whispered, "Wederwolcen áflíecan."

Instantly the clouds billowed outwards away from the ship, dispersing in all directions to leave the ship sweeping through open, blue sky. And as soon as the way was clear, Voldemort saw where they were going. They all did.

"What… is…" Voldemort breathed. "This place… is it another place of the Old Religion?"

"Oh no," Morgana chuckled. "This is in fact the… newest magical place to be found in this world. And some of our present company have been there before, haven't you?"

"Oh yeah, we've been here before," Bluenote muttered, his eyes gleaming. "I didn't realise this place had been brought through to this world too."

"Uh… it didn't exactly go well for us last time though, did it?" Kain Hikari muttered, poking his fingers together.

"This time will be different, I can assure you," Morgana chuckled, sweeping her arm flamboyantly out towards the humongous tree dead ahead. "Lord Voldemort, may I present to you Tenroujima. The sacred ground of Fairy Tail."


	46. To Rise Again

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 46:- To Rise Again**

* * *

The bulbous, twisting trunk of the Tenrou Tree carved a line right up to the sky in a manner that reminded Voldemort of how he imagined the beanstalk in the old fairy tale he heard growing up in the orphanage would look like - the one where some kid named Jack traded a cow for magic beans and ended up climbing the stalk to steal treasure from a giant or however it had gone. And the thick platform of foliage at the top of the tree definitely looked like it could be the home of a giant. It was just that massive.

Despite himself, he was impressed. But he wasn't certain why Morgana had decided to bring them here. And he made his confusion quite evident.

"I do not understand. If this island is the sacred ground of our enemies then why are we going to it? I highly doubt this will make an appropriate base for us given that Fairy Tail are likely to know exactly where it is. For all we know they could be down there right now. And even if they aren't, if we try to claim this as our own they'll launch attack after attack to reclaim it from us once they figure it out. Hardly the ideal place to set up operations."

"It isn't meant to be," Morgana shook her head. "You're quite right. Strategically this is not a good place to make camp. But we're not here to make camp. I have something very different in mind for this island. And in all likelihood we won't be here long."

"Perhaps you wish to make a statement?" Rustyrose asked. "If Fairy Tail were to return to find their island in ruins that would truly devastate them. Aah, their face. My fragment shakes at the thought of their outrage."

"Is that wise though? To antagonise them any more than we already have?" Voldemort asked.

"It would certainly be amusing… but no, I do not wish to destroy it either. When we have successfully eradicated Fairy Tail off the face of the earth, I do believe that this island could be of wonderful use to us, in a variety of different ways. Destroying it now would be folly."

"How have we managed to find it anyway?" Bluenote asked. "Master Hades told us that Tenroujima was surrounded by protective enchantments that made it almost impossible to find."

"Most likely those enchantments were broken when it was pulled out of its own world, but even if they are still in place I knew where it was the moment it landed. I was watching through the crystals in the cave, intrigued by what had just struck my prison, so I believe I could find it regardless. But to answer the most important question of all - why we are here - there's a couple of things on this island that I want."

"Magical artefacts from the dimension of Fairy Tail?" Voldemort guessed. "You would wish to use their weapons against them?"

"Not… quite," Morgana snickered. "Anyway, most likely Fairy Tail aren't there. I've been watching them when I can and its very rare for them to visit the island. So listen carefully - here's what I have in mind."

Not far away, oblivious to the conversation going on at the fore of the airship, Freed was pursing his lips grimly at the sight of the island. He was grateful beyond words to see it in one piece. If Acnologia's Roar had failed to decimate the island then that meant every single Fairy Tail member who'd been on it had been protected by a Fairy Sphere, not just himself and the others back on the ship trailing slowly after them. But on the other hand there was something about it that bothered him. Something… different.

And then he realised… it was the climate. Tenroujima sat in the middle of clashing ocean currents which affected the weather to such a degree that it was effectively summer all year round upon the island. Or at least it was supposed to be. But he could see that that clearly wasn't the case anymore - he could even see a scattering of snow across the rocks on the island. Which could only mean one thing.

Tenroujima had moved! It wasn't where it was supposed to be!

"What in the world happened after that dragon attack?" Freed muttered to himself.

"Attack, attack," said the doll in his lap, which very much disconcerted the green-haired man for a moment because it was usually just Bickslow they copied.

But that was a question for another time. What was more important now was ascertaining if there was anyone he knew on the island. Grimoire Heart's airship was making a beeline straight for it - perhaps intending to launch a second attack upon his comrades. They needed to be warned, and quickly. So Freed somersaulted backwards off the end of the airship, his wings flashing into existence to catch himself in mid-air. He swept out in a wide arc in a bid to avoid being noticed by anyone on the ship, piling on speed to get ahead of the airship and reach the island first.

When he arrived he scoured the island, only to find it devoid of human life. There were still a few animals around - a pack of wolves drinking at one of its watering holes, the enormous Doscadon stretched out across the rocks trying to sunbathe in what limited sun there was and a few Clippers sweeping in at him from the sides to try and peck at him every so often. But no people.

"Where are they?" he whispered to himself. "Where did everybody go?"

Eventually he gave up after calling a few times and swung in low to the ground, watching as the airship came to a surprisingly fluid stop for such a huge vessel upon the southern beach. Landing on a rocky outcropping he peered down at the disembarking group. Most of the people there he didn't recognise but there was one person that caught his eye - that guy with the glasses they'd fought before was there… what was his name… Rustyrose? Yes, that was it. He was down there, looking no worse for wear after their last bout. In fact, he looked completely healed and Freed remembered well how troublesome a mage he had been.

Taking them on now would be a bad idea. Freed wasn't like Natsu - he wouldn't just go charging in without a plan unless absolutely necessary and if nobody was here then there was no reason for him to panic just yet.

"What could they be after?" he murmured. "Last time they were here for Zeref… but Zeref isn't here this time. Or is one of them down there Zeref and they've come back for something else?"

He bit his lip, thinking hard, but then he remembered something. Cana had mentioned how one of the Grimoire Heart members had been trying to find the First Master's grave in order to try and obtain Fairy Glitter. Now, with only himself on the island until the Master, Laxus and Bickslow could arrive, there was nobody around to protect the grave site. Nobody but him.

"You won't be getting your hands on any of our Three Great Magics," he muttered to himself. "Not today."

And he hurried off towards Route E from the first trial. He'd have to work fast to set up the runes to protect the grave but until back-up arrived he would do what he could to stall whatever they had in mind.

And on the beach below, the group began to split up, fanning out to explore the island… and find what Morgana was seeking.

* * *

Professor McGonagall had been far from easy to convince. Dumbledore was currently away from the campus on business for the Order which meant that she was in charge of the school and when Neville came to her with the prospect of visiting Tenroujima, she had been very opposed to the idea.

"Absolutely not!" she'd cried. "No student is to leave the safety of the Hogwarts wards except on scheduled trips to Hogsmeade. Not for any reason."

But Neville had been right. It wasn't just him who was interested in going. As soon as he relayed the information to Harry and the others, they'd been extremely excited at the prospect. After all - they'd all heard the Fairies talking about their sacred ground with reverence and the idea of exploring it for an hour or two… well they were raring to go.

Eventually, after about an hour, McGonagall had relented. But only after Hagrid, Flitwick and Sprout had all been informed as well, and had all expressed an interest in visiting the island themselves. And even McGonagall had to admit she was intrigued. So far only a few members of the Order had had the opportunity to visit it, and always during times where she herself was too busy to attend.

"…Very well," she eventually sighed. "But let me make something crystal clear to all of you. From what I have heard there are some rather dangerous creatures on Tenroujima so if we do this then we do this safely. Under no circumstances are students to go off on their own - everyone must be accompanied at all times by at least one Hogwarts teacher and one member of the Fairy Tail guild. And this will not be a long visit. No more than an hour at maximum. And when we go we will need someone to keep Dolores occupied lest she come looking for any of us."

"Perhaps Severus could help us out in that regard," suggested Sprout. "But perhaps we should come up with a good story for why we're absent just in case."

"Or else prepare a powerful Memory Charm when we return," Flitwick squeaked in assent.

One by one the teachers filed their way to the Room of Requirement in accompaniment with the students of their houses who had expressed interest in going. McGonagall had by far the biggest group - a great many Gryffindors were eager to get a chance to see the Island of the Fairies for themselves. Neville had been joined by Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Dean, Colin, Dennis, Parvati and Lavender. From Ravenclaw, accompanying Professor Flitwick, was Luna, Cho, Terry and a semi-reluctant Marietta - who appeared to have been talked into it by Cho. And all the Hufflepuff members of the DA had decided to join Professor Sprout - Ernie, Hannah, Justin, Susan and Zacharias.

This last member caused a groan or two from the Gryffindors when he arrived into the Room of Requirement. Most of them had been hoping that he'd have no interest at all. Zacharias' critical attitude towards Harry had not abated and he was easily the least popular member of the DA. And he still regarded Fairy Tail with a great amount of suspicion. Some of the DA suspected that the only reason he hadn't blabbed about them yet was that he was afraid of what the other DA members might do to him if he did.

Or maybe what Fairy Tail themselves might do.

But he was there to join the expedition so there wasn't much they could do to turn him away without further alienating him. Which would be quite a bad idea at this stage.

The Rollidillo had been moved into the cage at this point, though it was so large that it only just fit inside, length-wise. Lisanna was in their with it, exerting her magic over it constantly to keep it calm otherwise it would probably be freaking out, while Hagrid had managed to acquire a large slab of meat of some description and was hefting it through the bars for the Rollidillo to snatch it up and scarf it down like there was no tomorrow.

"Amazing," he looked almost tearful in his delight, reaching his enormous hand through the bars to brush his fingers over the reptile's flank. "Absolutely ruddy fantastic. Don't suppose you could lend 'im out to me for a Care of Magical Creatures lesson could yeh, Lisanna?"

"I'm quite certain that Rollidillo's don't really need to be taken care of for the most part," Lisanna giggled. "They're more than capable of looking after themselves after all."

"Well he's a damn fine specimen. Not as excitin' as a dragon o' course but quite magnificent nonetheless."

"Figures you'd like it, Hagrid," Ron laughed as he approached the cage to get a look. "Me, I'm just glad its in there."

"Wouldn' your brother Charlie like to see 'im, Ron?" Hagrid asked. "He's part of the Order. Can he not come with?"

"Bill and Charlie both have Order business to attend to tonight," Remus replied. "It's all hands on deck at the moment considering… recent events," he coughed, remembering at the last second that many of the students in earshot didn't know a thing about Morgana's apparent return. "The only reason I'm here is because last night was rather rough."

"And the only reason I'm here is cos I'm practically useless beyond providing a convenient house for the Order," Sirius muttered. "And even that's not as useful as this place."

"Are we going or not?" Zacharias interrupted, glowering slightly at Sirius but keeping several people between himself and the Animagus. Clearly he didn't particularly trust Sirius either.

"Is there anyone staying behind this time?" Hermione asked. "If there's nobody in the Room of Requirement then we may not be able to transport ourselves back into it when the time comes. It may have reverted back into whatever usual form it takes."

"Yeah, I'm staying," Gildarts raised his hand from where he was kicking his feet back upon a pouffe that he'd asked the Room to conjure into existence. "I've been to Tenroujima more times than the rest of this lot. I'll hold down the fort until you all get back."

"Well then if everyone else is sure they want to go," McGonagall said as she stepped her way to the front. "But remember the rules. No running off on your own under any circumstances, understand? Even if one of you wants to go do their business you don't do it alone, got it?"

"Aye sir!" Happy and several of the DA members cried at the same time - something which perturbed McGonagall greatly, but she nevertheless shook her head.

"Well then if everyone would care to gather round and grip a bar of the cage, we'll get this trip underway. Lisanna, please do keep that lizard calm if you would."

"I'm all over it, Professor."

"I hate this part," Natsu muttered as everyone shuffled for position around the enormous cage.

"At least its over quickly this way," Lucy pointed out to him, smirking slightly as she leaned and whispered, "Unlike train journeys which go on for hours… and hours… and hooouuurrsss…"

"GHMMGH!" Natsu almost barfed right then and there, to the great amusement of most of the onlookers. But that was the precise moment where the Portkey was activated and what felt like half a second later many of the group were lying flat on their backs in sand, having been thrown clear by the powerful jerking motion of their transportation. The Rollidillo clearly didn't like it either as it bellowed and stomped its feet, but Lisanna was quick to calm it once again.

Harry looked up as he scrambled to his feet, and the moment he did his jaw fell open with absolute awe. In that moment, the Whomping Willow back at Hogwarts had suddenly lost its place as the most impressive tree Harry had ever seen. And he seriously doubted there would ever be another that could top this one.

"Whhoooa…" he whispered, a sentiment echoed by many of those around him.

"It's practically touching the sky," Parvati agreed.

"Amazing… a… amazing…" Neville was exulting, clearly as overjoyed by this tree as Hagrid was with the Rollidillo. Maybe more so. "I didn't think it was possible for trees to even get that big. How deep beneath this island must its roots go? Does it… does it have a conscious mind or is it just amazingly big."

Professor Sprout looked similarly excited. "If only we could grow one of those at Hogwarts… oh but wherever would we put it? It's probably taller than the castle itself!"

A faint giggling interrupted her reverie and the group looked up to see Mavis hovering above them. "If you're that enthusiastic about plants then you should meet one of my oldest and best friends. His name's Warrod. He specialises in magic that can grow enormous trees out of nothing in an instant. Even ones that can grow as tall as the Tenrou Tree."

"An instant?" Sprout gasped. "Are you serious?"

"Very serious," Mavis beamed. "I met him on this island you know. This was the place where I grew up before I founded the Fairy Tail guild."

"It was?" said Gray. "I didn't know that."

"I did," Levy smiled. "I read all about the history of Fairy Tail. Isn't it true that one of the founding members of the guild alongside you was Master Makarov's own father, Yuri Dreyar?"

"That's true," Mavis nodded, her smile turning slightly melancholy. "Yuri was an amazing friend. A little exuberant and greedy when we first met but he became a wonderful man. If you like I can take you to the place where I was born, right here on this island. The ruins of the village that was once here can still be seen if you know where to go."

"I'd love to," Levy grinned. "Anyone else want to come with?"

There were nods of assent from most of the group, but not all. "Actually, if its all the same to you guys," Lisanna said as Hagrid hefted the heavy doors of the Portkey cage open and the Animal Soul Mage stepped out, slowly guiding the placid Rollidillo behind her. "I'd like to take this guy out into the forest, make sure he gets settled back in. And maybe check on some of the other animals - this isn't exactly the climate they're used to after all."

"True," Mavis agreed, looking up at the rocks. "I've never seen snow on this island before."

"I'll come with yeh," Hagrid said eagerly. "I wanna see what else this island has to offer."

"Oooh, I'm torn," Hermione bit her nails slightly. "I want to see the other animals on this island but I want to hear about the history of Fairy Tail too… which to go for."

"Well, you can hear about the history of Fairy Tail anytime you like," Ron pointed out. "You've only got a limited amount of time on this island to do the other thing."

"Good point. I'll go with you, Lisanna."

"And so will we," Harry nodded, nodding to himself and Ron.

"Well if you're going, I'm going," Sirius grinned, morphing himself into a dog and running in circles around the Rollidillo, barking loudly.

"Sounds good to me," Natsu grinned. "Lucy and I will come too."

"Eh!?" Lucy blinked, pointing towards Mavis "But I wanted to learn about…"

"RACE YA INTO THE FOREST!" Natsu cried, grabbing both Lucy and Lisanna by their wrists and hurtling across the beach towards the treeline, despite the loud, "WAAAAHH!" sounds that came from both the girls.

"Ah, Natsu," Happy shrugged, before he followed on behind them. "You can't race them properly if you pull them along behind you like that."

"I'm coming too… I want to check out the trees," Neville nodded.

McGonagall nodded. "Well, in that case, Hagrid keep an eye on them. And Remus, would you go too? You're an old teacher so you count as Hogwarts supervision in my book. The rest of us will follow Miss Mavis."

"Of course, Minerva," Remus dipped his head and set off, following the Rollidillo which was now hurrying after the three Fairy Tail mages with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Sirius and Hagrid behind him.

"Well, if the rest of you would like to follow me," Mavis smiled and skipped off in a different direction with the much larger group in tow.

* * *

"We totally missed this part of the island last time we were here," Levy whispered, enthralled as they walked through the wreckage of what had once been a small village, but which had now been mostly consumed by nature.

"Not all of us did," Gray pointed out. "This is where we ended up fighting against Capricorn last time, isn't it Cana?"

"Technically that wasn't Capricorn doing the fighting but yeah, this is the place. Didn't really have much of a chance to explore it though."

"It was here that I grew up," Mavis said from where she was now perched on the roof of a small shack which was now so rickety that if Mavis had actually had any substance to her body it would probably have collapsed under her weight. "The entire community of this island was based around the mage guild Red Lizard. There were very few people who lived here who didn't have at least one family member in the guild."

"And yet something happened here," Luna murmured as she bent down to examine a shattered signpost on the ground. One which just barely read 'd Liza' on what remained of the wood. "Something terrible."

"What makes you say that, Luna?" Ginny asked uncertainly. "Couldn't everyone have just… moved away for some reason?"

"I just get the feeling that this place has seen great sorrow, that's all," Luna shrugged mildly. "That, and a great many of these houses don't look like they've just fall apart. The damage looks consistent with them being blasted by something."

"…You're pretty intuitive, Luna," Mavis said sadly. "Yes… something did happen here."

"Let me guess," Gajeel grunted, placing a finger against a wall and pushing lightly, only for the wall to crumble before him and kick up a small dust cloud. "Another guild was involved? The kind of damage we're seeing here… it had to have been caused by magic unless someone managed to sneak a bunch of cannons onto the island or something."

"You're right Gajeel. This was before the Interguild Dispute Interdiction Treaty that forbids guilds from acting aggressively against one another was formed… mage guilds fought one another quite often over trading rights and Dark Guilds especially were running rampant at the time. Red Lizard had a particularly sour relationship with one such Dark Guild called Blue Skull."

"Yeah, I know about that guild," the Iron Dragon Slayer muttered.

"You do?" Levy blinked in surprise.

"Yeah… Master Jose mentioned it to me a couple of times while I was in Phantom Lord. Blue Skull was led by a man known as Geoffrey… and it was the founding members of Fairy Tail who destroyed Blue Skull before setting Fairy Tail up in the very town where they'd been based. But Geoffrey ended up sloping away to form a new guild of his own with the intention of taking Fairy Tail down. And Geoffrey was Master Jose's grandfather… or possibly great grandfather - can't remember."

"Wait… so… you're saying…"

"Yeah," Gajeel turned to offer Levy a wry half-smile. "The feud between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord ran a lot deeper than a desire to be the strongest or the richest guild in Fiore. Those may have been Jose's main motives for finally deciding to defy the Interguild Treaty when he did, but even without those one of his family might have snapped eventually. Would have happened a lot earlier if the treaty hadn't been signed. Guess it was just… bad luck… that it happened at a time where you got caught in the middle of it, huh?"

Levy bit her lip when Gajeel avoided her eyes. She'd still been avoiding him somewhat over the last few days and now that she suddenly found herself talking to him, she was suddenly kicking herself. She could see at that moment that her refusal to go near him was making him feel more guilt than he'd been letting on.

"I wouldn't say it was bad luck at all," she said before she could think her choice of words through. "After all, if Jose hadn't snapped when he did then you and Juvia might never have become a part of Fairy Tail. And if that was the case… we'd have lost two amazing friends forever without even knowing it."

This response was met by smiles from almost everyone who'd been listening, most especially the other members of the guild. Juvia wiped at her eye slightly, but Levy was only looking to Gajeel, who stared back at her without expression for what felt like a painstakingly long time. But eventually he snorted and said, "Yeah… perhaps." And then he turned around and walked away without another word.

Levy smiled… but as she turned away too she ended up locking eyes with Erza, who had an incredibly knowing smirk written across her face at that moment. Levy suddenly coloured and started shaking her head wildly, but Erza just rolled her eyes and turned away with a chuckle to continue exploring the village with the rest. The Hogwarts students were just as enthralled as Fairy Tail themselves were - poking around every nook and cranny of the village where it didn't look like something might fall of them if they did.

After all, in that moment, they were the ones effectively in another universe instead of the other way around. Tenroujima might now be within the walls of their own dimension, but this was a civilisation born from another. And if any of them had doubted Fairy Tail's word that they were from another universe before… well… those doubts were all very quickly pushed aside in this place.

"The Ministry of Magic would have a field day if they came here," whispered Ernie in astonishment.

"I wish we could have seen it in its prime," Cho agreed.

"Don't wander too far everyone," McGonagall called out, though even she was finding it hard to overcome the sense of amazement settling over her. "Everyone stay where you can be seen by a teacher."

But as the group explored, Gajeel ended up moving to the edge of the village, where paused. His studded brow furrowed and he lifted his nose up into the air, sniffing deeply.

"Oi… little girl…!" he called out behind him. Wendy looked up - even though there were many here who could be described as little girls, she knew that he was talking to her.

"Yes, Gajeel-san?"

"Do you smell that?"

Wendy paused and sniffed deeply as Gajeel did - she'd been too enraptured by Mavis' hometown to pay much attention to her nose. But as soon as she caught a whiff of what Gajeel was smelling, her pupils abruptly shrank.

"Oh no…" she whispered, before she turned around and shouted, "Erza-san! McGonagall-san! We have to get everyone back to the Portkey Cage now!"

* * *

"Magnificent," Hagrid whispered as he watched the Rollidillo waddle its way off into the trees, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief that could pass for a tablecloth. "Returning to the wild where he belongs… I'm glad yeh invited my ter come an' see this. Makes me think o' what Norbert might 'ave looked like when 'e was set free in Romania by yer brother, Ron."

"I'm sure Norbert's happy with his own kind right now, Hagrid," Hermione said, patting the half-giant's huge arm reassuringly.

"I know, I know… but I still wonder if part of his misses his Mummy," Hagrid sniffed, blowing his nose mightily.

"I'm a bit concerned though," Lisanna said as she walked back to the others from where she'd let the Rollidillo go. "It's quite a bit colder than usual and Rollidillo are designed for hot climates. Maybe we should think about setting up spell around the island to keep it warm for its inhabitants."

"If we want to warm things up, I can do that!" Natsu grinned as his hands burst into flames, only for both Happy and Lucy to suddenly yell:- "FIRE WON'T SOLVE THAT PROBLEM!"

"I've got to admit though, this place is amazing," said Harry. "Wish we had a place like this at the end of the campus instead of a dark, dangerous forest."

"Just as long as there are no giant spiders here," Ron muttered. "I'd be all for that."

"Yeah, I don't… think… I'd like that idea much either," Lucy shivered, before she suddenly blinked and said, "Hey… you know, I think I recognise this place. We're not that far from the tunnels where we did the first trial for the S-Class exam. Cana and I took a little swimming break in that lake there."

"Ghhhmm…" Natsu muttered, folding his arms and sulking slightly. "Man, those Grimoire Gits really ruined that exam… wish they were here now so I could blast 'em away all over again."

"There'll always be other exams, Natsu," Lisanna chuckled.

"It's weird thinking of you guys having exams as well," said Ron. "Studying for our OWLs feels like its killing me."

"Are you kidding, Ron? You've barely begun the year," Sirius grinned. "Trust me, it'll get a whole lot harder later on."

"Well our exam isn't really the kind you study for. You only train for it," said Lucy. "But that means we're also not far from the First Master's grave."

"We are!?" Natsu blinked.

"Ah, looks like he forgot you told him that the grave was on Route E," Happy sighed. "Not far from where we fought Gildarts."

"Well then perhaps we should go and pay our respects," suggested Lisanna.

"Why?" Ron frowned in confusion. "I know she's dead but she still hangs around with you every day as a ghost. Wouldn't paying your respects to her in person make more sense?"

"There's just something about a gravestone that inspires reverence I suppose," said Lupin. "Considering Mavis' lifelike complexion, its probably easy to forget that she's dead. A gravestone… well… it's hard to argue with one of those."

"I wouldn't say that," Sirius muttered. "After all, Wormtail got a gravestone, didn't he?"

"I am almost ashamed to admit I used to visit it often," Lupin agreed.

Lucy led the way over the rocks until they reached the rocky uprising riddled with large tunnel openings that marked the end of the catacombs where the first trial had taken place. And it didn't take long for them to find the grave site, not far from a section of the tunnel which looked like it had been the recipient of a meteor strike - the chamber where Gildarts had faced off against Natsu. The gravestone was unmarked and comprised of six separate stones of two differing heights, but despite the fact it had moss and vines growing upon it, it still seemed to command respect from them.

"That's quite an impressive grave," Sirius noted as the mages stepped up to form a line before it, dipping their heads low before it. "Mavis must have been really something when she was alive."

"Very well loved," Hagrid agreed, his handkerchief still out.

"She still is now," Lucy muttered.

"I wonder if her real body is buried somewhere nearby," Neville whispered. "That's a rather… disturbing thought actually."

Happy looked up at Natsu, but blinked when he noticed the Dragon Slayer's face had creased into a frown. He was sniffing the air, looking around in bewilderment. "Something up, Natsu?" the little cat questioned.

"…I smell Freed."

"Huh?" Lucy and Lisanna both looked up at the same time. "Freed?"

"Isn't he one of the few members of the guild we have left to find?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"He was here," Natsu said excitedly, dropping to all fours smoothly and sniffing the ground - which weirded the Hogwarts students out slightly until Sirius morphed into a dog and started doing the same thing. "Just over an hour ago I think."

"Well then he must be on the island somewhere. Maybe the others too!" said Lisanna, equally eager.

"You think you can track him, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to, Lucy?" Natsu grinned. "Course I can track him."

But as Sirius romped around the chamber following the scent of the strange man he ended up bumping his head against an invisible wall, yelping loudly and stumbling backwards. For a moment, purple letters sprung out of thin air all around the gravestone before they vanished into thin air once more.

"What was that?" Neville asked in alarm.

"Those were Freed's runes," Lisanna whispered. "He's set up a protective barrier around the grave."

"But why would he do that unless…" Lucy began but stopped as realisation hit her, Lupin having to finish the sentence for her.

"…unless there was something on the island that might seek to damage it?"

"…Oh crap!" Natsu whispered and a second later he was off, dashing back the way he had come with Harry and Ron having to dodge sideways to avoid being ploughed over. Lucy, Lisanna and Happy all immediately raced after him, and it only took a couple of seconds of deliberation before Harry was doing the same - Ron, Hermione and Neville on his heels.

"Harry! Wait! Don't run off without us!" Sirius shouted as he morphed back into human form and joined Lupin and Hagrid in chasing after the group.

"Hold on, Freed," Natsu muttered. "We're coming!"

* * *

Freed wasn't in danger at that moment but he was starting to grow ever-more nervous. Not for his own safety, but he couldn't for the life of him work out exactly what these people were doing on the island. They'd split up to wander through the forest and there was no way that he could follow them all, so he'd decided to stick with the larger group. And the one that contained the two Grimoire Heart mages he was familiar with - Rustyrose and Kain Hikaru.

But at the moment they were all just… standing around at the base of the Tenrou Tree and doing something which Freed couldn't properly make out from his hiding place in the branches of a tree above them. Several of the men in black cloaks now accompanying them had brought lit candles with them and were placing them carefully upon the ground, while the Grimoire Heart mages looked on quietly, but impatiently.

Freed decided to risk getting closer and swept silently to another tree, where he could pick out some of the conversation between Grimoire Heart and a woman in a long black grab that looked like a combination of a dress and a robe. "…this will work?" Rustyrose was saying.

"Certain? No." Morgana replied with a shake of the head. "But I do know that there is no magic in the world that cannot be broken. That cannot be undone. It's only a matter of finding the right spell and putting enough power into it when cast."

"But your magic isn't exactly the same as our magic," pointed out Bluenote.

"It doesn't need to be. An animal isn't exactly the same as a plant but they can still affect one another whether by eating them, poisoning them or forming a symbiotic relationship with each other. That's all part of nature, and so is magic. So even though I can't use your magic, there's nothing stopping my magic from playing off yours. Now… I think all the preparations have been made. Allow me."

"Good… good luck!" Kain offered a quick thumbs up. "I hope this works."

Morgana turned and strode towards the candles, the Death Eaters falling back before her. Freed pressed himself down against the branches, watching carefully and trying to analyse the situation. It seemed as though they'd set the candles up in a circle around another large multi-trunked tree - considerably smaller than Tenrou Tree of course but still fairly big. And with over a dozen eyes on her Morgana spread her feet wide and inhaled deeply, gathering her strength. Instantly all the candles in the circle flared up, their little flickering flames whooshing into small towers of fire to create columns around the the tree, forcing some of the Death Eaters to step back away from the circle.

But Morgana just calmly raised her arms up to either side as she stepped slowly towards the tree with her eyes closed, beginning to chant loudly in a tongue that none of the onlookers recognised.

"O þrilic gyden, Ic gelaidie þē in ágifian uppan mec ēower scinncræft, ac ālyfan mec tō fulfealdan se wicung bufan þas hæle. Nīwian cræft scéawian hine ac forhwierfan hine eft fram bēam scippien. Hweorfan stefn ac ālyfan hine tō treddian hwīlan mā uppan sep eormengrund. Ic besécan ēow… bregdan hine bæc!"

Nobody had any idea what she was saying but whatever she was doing it was clearly having an effect. The tree was beginning to warp and twist, its thick trunks heaving and convulsing like it was having a seizure, flexing like it was trying to pull itself out of the ground, roots and all. Freed could feel a rush of immensely powerful magic washing over him and he could only watch, wide-eyed as the tree began to shrink. It spasmed the whole way, but it was beginning to sink into the ground or… no… it was looked more like it was… ungrowing - that wasn't even a word but it was the best description that sprang into Freed's mind.

"It's working," Kain whispered, poking his fingers together anxiously. "Woo… woo-wee… I can't believe its working…"

As the tree warped its way downwards it began to take on another shape, the leaves shedding and falling to the ground in a green shower around the lump of wood that was forming upon the ground. And Freed's eyes widened as the wood moulded itself slowly into the shape of a man… a large man. The bark began to recede, revealing dark skin along with green and orange clothing underneath. The wood covering his face was the last thing to peel away… and the man had thick brown hair atop his head and a prominent goatee. And then, with a final rush of magics, the last of the tree roots were sucked into his back.

A tree had just transformed into a man. A man with the symbol of Grimoire Heart on his left shoulder-pad.

His eyes opened.

He sat up.

He looked out at the astonished crowd amassed before him calmly - not a hint of panic or confusion on his face anywhere.

And then he turned to look straight and Morgana and said, "Well, well… this is an interesting development. I suppose I owe you one… whoever you are."

"I am the Lady Morgana. And you… unless I am very much mistaken… are called Azuma, aren't you?"

"I am," Azuma, of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory, got to his feet and folded his arms. "It seems much has happened since I paid the price for overusing my magic. I would appreciate a full update as soon as possible. But first I must ask… how did you know which tree was me. For that matter, how did you know that I had even become a tree? None of my other comrades were around when I transformed."

"Straight to the point I see," Morgana smiled. "I rather like that. And to answer your questions, I've been examining this island through magical crystals from afar for a while now, reading its magic, exploring every inch with my mind. I didn't know who you were, but I could sense your great power and knew that you were no simple tree. After that, all it took was a quick talk to your comrades over there about their fellow members of Grimoire Heart and their abilities to realise what you truly were."

"Fascinating," Azuma stated. "I can sense your great power too… I am certain you would make a worthy opponent if we were to battle. And I thank you for returning my to my original body. Your magic is quite something."

"The capabilities of the Old Religion are practically limitless, if you know how to use them."

"Ah, what fortune," Rustyrose cried as he stepped forward with arms sweeping out wide dramatically. "What joyous fate it is that we met the Lady Morgana for her to bring our team that much closer once more. To reunite us on the same ground that rent us all asunder."

"Well I see you haven't changed much, Rusty," Azuma noted dryly, though his mouth did twitch upwards at the corners ever so slightly. "But its good to see you all once more."

"This is great!" Hikaru clapped excitedly, bouncing on the soles of his enormous feet and causing little tremors in the ground as he did so. "This is wonderful. Can we all go have a celebratory dinner now - I'm famished?"

"Unfortunately now is not the time for celebrations," Azuma said as he strode away from the circle of candles, several Death Eaters moving aside quickly to let him pass. The big man pressed his palm up against the trunk of another tree and closed his eyes, seeming to focus slightly. "When I was a tree, I was part of the land… connected to the magic of the Tenrou Tree but powerless to wield it. But I could still sense things…"

Suddenly he dived straight into the tree-trunk, his body melding with it until he disappeared into the wood. A split second later a giant woody fist sprouted out of the tree right next to Freed and hammered him straight in the back with a mighty blow that took him completely off guard. "GGAAAHHH!" the Rune Mage cried as he was flung from his perch in the tree, dazedly grabbing for his sword before the woody fist lanced downwards to seize him and slam him straight into the ground amongst the Death Eaters, pinning him there.

"…Things like a Fairy Tail mage hiding nearby," Azuma said, from where he was now standing where Freed had been on the branch above.

"A SPY! A SPY!" Kain shouted, his hand jabbing the air accusatorially. "IT'S A FAIRY TAIL SPY!"

"I know this one," Rustyrose grinned triumphantly. "This one's Freed Justine… one of the members of the Raijinshuu I think. He's one of the ones I fought against when last we were here."

"And one of the few that hadn't emerged from their respective Fairy Sphere when I arrived a few days ago," Morgana noted. "My, my, I wasn't expecting to encounter you here."

"But he's not alone," Azuma stated as Freed wrestled with the wooden fist constricting his body, grappling to draw his sword but unable to given how his arms were pinned. "Many other Fairy Tail mages arrived a short time ago. And some other people too… with magic similar to this lot," he gestured at the Death Eaters without looking at them.

"So they came to us," Bluenote clenched his fist. "Then let us bring the battle to them!"

"Come!" Rustyrose cried, gripping the nearest Death Eater - Travers - by the shoulders. "Let us strike now while we have the element of surprise!"

Travers didn't dare argue and Disapparated rapidly, many of the others popping off and taking Kain and Bluenote with them which left Azuma and Morgana alone with the struggling Freed.

"You know you can't beat us," Freed growled, straining with every ounce of his strength only for the huge fist to crush him down even harder against the ground. "You lot lost before… you will lose again."

"He's right about one thing," Azuma looked up at Morgana. "We can't kill them - not yet at least. The barriers hiding the island may have broken but the divine protection upon all those who bear the Fairy Tail mark still remains intact. I can potentially get rid of it as I did before, but it will take me a while to connect with the magic of the land once again."

"Perhaps we cannot kill Fairy Tail at the moment," Morgana smiled. "But we can kill their allies. And we can certainly wound them. Enough to render them out of action long enough to get them off the island, where we can kill them. Speaking of which, would you like to do the honours and dispose of this spy?"

"You are the leader of Grimoire Heart now?"

"More like their guide… to getting what they want. And this will be the first step so its fitting you do it, is it not?"

Azuma smirked. "I suppose it is. Fairy Tail is an amazing guild. Yet if they continue to wage war against Grimoire Heart… my comrades… there's only one clear option."

Freed yelled as the wooden fist suddenly scooped him into the air and flung him through the air. He tumbled over, drawing his sword, but four large tree roots exploded out of the ground around him and pummelled him straight into the trunk of another tree. Freed yelped as the wind was completely knocked out of him and his sword was sent skittering across the rocks nearby. He collapsed to the ground but before he could recover Azuma appeared out of the tree behind to seize him by his long green hair and heave him around, tossing him through the air until skidded to a stop at the base of a pile of rocks.

The Rune Mage looked up, coughing as he tried to catch his breath from the sudden, relentless assault, but Azuma had already raised his hand and suddenly the air around Freed with little sparkling lights. And the Great Tree Mage was smirking triumphantly.

"**BLEVE!"**

**BOOOOOM!**

A huge explosion ripped through the air around Freed, engulfing him in light and smoke. Azuma lowered his hand, waiting patiently to see if it had worked… but he started when he saw that the blast had arced its way around Freed and was being sucked straight into the mouth of someone else that had just barrelled onto the scene.

"What the…" he whispered.

"Natsu!" Freed gasped, pushing himself to his feet and clutching his bruised chest, but there was no hiding the grin lighting up his face as the Fire Dragon Slayer's stomach momentarily bulged on sucking up the last of the tremendous explosion. "Where the heck did you come from?"

"Doesn't matter," Natsu muttered, looking to his comrade with a smirk. "What matters is I just found someone trying to harm one of my friends. And now that I've eaten I'm all revved up."

"Natsu!" a voice yelled from nearby as Lucy and Lisanna dashed into the clearing, Happy overhead, followed closely by Harry and the rest of the group. The lot of them pulled to a stop behind Natsu and Freed when they saw what was going on - Hagrid almost crashing straight into the rest of them because he nearly didn't stop in time.

As soon as Lisanna spotted Azuma a gasp was torn from her throat and her hand lashed up to point at him. "You!" she cried.

"Hoh?" Azuma wrinkled his nose at her. "I remember you. You look like you've recovered well."

"You know this guy, Lisanna?" Sirius asked.

"He's from Grimoire Heart. He's the one who trapped me in roots that were set to explode and defeated Mira-nee. The one who uses tree based magic."

"Then that means he's the one who tried to steal our magic before," Lucy said. "But… I thought Erza said he'd transformed into a tree because he'd used too much magic."

"That's correct," Azuma nodded. "Until I was handily transformed back by this lady here." He swept a hand out towards Morgana, who was watching with what appeared to be great amusement, but not with any obvious alarm.

"I have to admit," she said. "I wasn't expecting to meet you this soon… Harry Potter."

Harry's spine went absolutely rigid. He'd never seen this woman before but that voice had been etched into his memory forever. The moment she spoke he knew who he was looking at and without thinking his lifted his wand and aimed right for her chest warningly. "Morgana," he whispered.

There was an instant reaction amongst the rest of the group. Ron went white as a sheet, Hermione gasped and almost fell over, and both Sirius and Remus instantly put themselves in front of the Hogwarts students protectively. Hagrid whipped his umbrella out from his coat, looking like he was trying to decide whether to try and use it as a wand or a club. But Neville just scared and confused at the exact same time

"M… Morgana… did you… did you just say Morgana? As in… THE Morgana?"

"That's me, Mr. Longbottom," Morgana purred, holding her arms out wide as if inviting Sirius and Remus to try and jinx her. "In the flesh. And I can't tell you how flattering it is that people still fear me this much after even fifteen-hundred years of being isolated. It tells me that I really left my mark upon the world.

Neville looked like he was about to faint, but looked to Harry and whispered, "How can she be here… and… did you guys… know about this?"

"Neville, not now," Harry hissed back. "So… it's true then? You've joined forces with Voldemort and Grimoire Heart."

"It seemed the logical choice," Morgana shrugged. "I knew in advance that I wouldn't be able to approach you or Dumbledore to ask for help in getting me back to my rightful place as Queen over magic and Muggle alike. Voldemort and Grimoire Heart on the other hand… well… we all share the same vision, do we not, Azuma?"

"My desire is merely to have battles with strong people that put the life on the line," Azuma shrugged. "But many of the others of the guild, yes. They wish for magic to reign supreme. And I am not opposed to it."

"Harry, we're getting out of here!" Sirius hissed, grabbing at Harry's shoulder and ushering them backwards but Morgana suddenly thrust her hand into the air and cried, "Gestillan hwā fram lobistan būtan deorc gemælan!"

There was no visible effect other than her irises flashing gold, but half a second later Sirius seized both Harry and Ron while Remus grabbed Neville and Hermione, both of them attempting to Disapparate and take the students with them… but nothing happened.

"What…?" Sirius cried. "What's going on."

"Oh, that was just me casting a spell cancelling all forms of magical transportation off this island," Morgana chuckled. "Well, for anyone other than me and those with a Dark Mark that is."

"Bugger!"

"That magic," Lisanna murmured, "That's the magic of the Old Religion." As the spoke she morphed herself into her Dragon Soul shape, wings sprouting from her back and taking Freed and Azuma completely by surprise, though Morgana took it in her stride.

"Lisanna… what…?" Freed gasped.

"My, my," Azuma said with a smile. "It looks as though you've received something of a power-up since last we met," he raised his fists up in a fighting position, ready for combat to begin. "Care for a rematch? You fought well last time but you were hopelessly out of your league. Allow me to test exactly how far you've come. Perhaps this time you'll provide me with a challenge."

"Hey no fair - I wanna be the one to fight you," Natsu grinned as his fists burst into flames.

"I'll take all comers," Azuma replied simply. "Lady Morgana, can I count on your support?"

"I have other business to attend to," Morgana said, her fingers gently stroking over the edge of the coin that Bellatrix had stolen from the museum as she said it. "Even I cannot kill Fairy Tail here, and I am not the one destined to fight against Harry Potter and his friends. I have my own enemy to prepare for. But do not fret. You'll have back up soon enough. I'll see you soon."

And with a rush of wind she transported herself away into thin air, leaving Azuma alone facing four Fairy Tail mages.

"Well, this should be an interesting match," Azuma chuckled.

"I think we've stood around talking long enough," Natsu growled. "I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!" And without a second thought he thundered forwards, fiery blasts powering his steps to fling himself forwards in an attempt to crash into Azuma headfirst with his Fire Dragon's Sword Horn. Azuma twisted swiftly out of the way swept his hand up, tree roots heaving out of the ground in front of Natsu and dousing him in earth, half burying him under a sudden shower of soil. And from there, everything devolved into chaos as Lucy, Lisanna and Freed all sprang into action as well.

Freed charged across the battlefield to retrieve his sword while Lisanna sprang into the air and blasted fire from her mouth, dousing Azuma with a colossal blast of flame only for him to reveal that the ground beneath him had split open when the smoke cleared, allowing him to drop into the earth and rush through the tree roots to leap straight out of a nearby tree trunk and slam his fist into Lisanna's back. Lisanna went sweeping away just as a sudden flurry of arrows surged in towards Azuma, courtesy of Sagittarius. Instantly tree branches curved downwards and whipped into circles to form a shield before opening up and allowing Azuma to fire a volley of razor sharp seeds in retaliation. The seeds were consumed by flame as Natsu sprang back into the action and sprang into the air, fire forming above his fists as he roared:-

"**KARYUU NO… KOEN!"**

"**BLEVE!"** Azuma yelled again, another fierce blast erupting through the air to intercept the fireball that Natsu flung down at him, the two attacks cancelling each other out. Undeterred, Natsu blasted straight downwards with his fist aflame, pummelling it into the ground with a huge blast of flame that Azuma as able to dodge by having two tree branches whip in from behind him and seize his arms, yanking him out the way like he'd been fired from a slingshot. But even as he flew backwards something else came in from the side to pummel him straight to the face with a metallic fist and send him sprawling across the ground. It was Freed, now clad in black armour complete with a silver face-plate that made him look slightly demonic.

Freed charged forwards with his sword flashing through the air, but Azuma thrust his hand forwards and another huge wooden fist blasted out of a nearby tree towards Freed. This time though he was ready for it and yelled, **"YAMI NO ECRITURE! MOYASHIMASU!"** before slashing his sword against the fist which promptly exploded into shreds. He span about and cleaved the air, leaving a purple glowing rune hovering in space, which glowing pink and morphed into a laser that blasted in towards Azuma, who dodged by warping into another tree trunk with the laser burning through the bark a second later.

"You fight well when prepared for it," he said from above where he was now standing on a thick branch fifty feet above the ground. "Perhaps with all four of you this will be a fight worth remembering."

Lisanna flared her wings up as she drew level with him and defiantly said, "You won't hurt a member of our family again."

"Is that so? Are you going to show me now how much you've improved?"

Lisanna didn't reply. Instead she just said, "Fyllan telga."

Suddenly the branch that Azuma was standing in snapped off the tree like it was a mere twig. Startled, Azuma ended up plummeting towards the ground with it, wide open for Lisanna to swoop in and seize his arm, swing him down and then crash her tail into him. Azuma fell like a stone, but as he fell he spun around and clawed his arm through the air in preparation to send a volley of seeds up at Lisanna, only for his wrists to suddenly be seized by a glowing blue whip. Lucy had unleashed her Fleuve d'etoile and quickly retracted it, bringing Azuma shooting in towards her. Natsu and Loke were standing on either side of her and sprang through to intercept him, hammering fire and light covered fists into Azuma's flank at the same time with a colossal burst of both.

"NNGH!" Azuma grunted as he was flung towards the ground, his clothing smoking and singed. But he was still able to land on his feet and skid to a halt just in time for Lisanna to blast another gout of fire down upon him from her mouth.

"**BURST CLAW!"** he yelled, slamming his fist down upon the ground and several green energy blades lashing out of the ground to cut through Lisanna's flames and crash into her with a vicious explosion. "AAAH!" she cried, as she was knocked back out of the air, but that hadn't hurt quite as much as she'd been expecting, perhaps due to this form's resistance to magical attacks. But Natsu had already sprung forwards, inhaling the remnants of Lisanna's flames and seeming to channel them into his foot, which he lashed in straight of Azuma's head.

"Yes, this is it!" grinned Azuma as he summoned a wall of roots to block the attack and skidded backwards as they exploded, sending three large branches to lash around Natsu's body and pin him to the floor until Freed slashed through them and charged in towards Azuma, dodging several spear-like branches raining down upon him and managing to slice off a bit of Azuma's hair as the Tree Mage dodged aside and slammed Freed away with another massive tree-fist. "This is the high I crave. Show me once again the bond of your guild, just like Erza Scarlet did."

The Fairy Tail mages seemed to oblige as Loke and Lisanna thundered in for another go. And the whole thing was being watched by the astonished Hogwarts students standing nearby. For Ron, Hermione, Neville and Hagrid, this was the first time they'd seen Fairy Tail mages in a real fight, and their breath was being stolen away.

But Remus and Sirius was a little more clear of mind.

"We can't just stand here gawking," Remus eventually said. "We have to find the others. We have to warn them that the enemy is here."

"We can leave this guy to them," Sirius nodded. "We have to…"

Suddenly he stopped, his pupils shrinking slightly as he looked over Harry's shoulder, right at the same moment that Harry felt a burst of pain from his scar. He yelled and keeled over, clutching his forehead. But he already knew what he would see when he looked up and joined the others to see what Sirius had seen.

"Well this is certainly an unexpected encounter, Harry," Voldemort grinned as he strode through the trees towards them, flanked by Bellatrix, Dolohov and several other Death Eaters. "And you brought your friends with you this time. What a pleasure it is to meet them all at last."

"…Oh God…" Ron croaked. Both he and Hermione looked like they were about to wet themselves, but Neville's face had twisted into an odd mix of terror and rage when he saw Bellatrix standing there grinning smugly. Voldemort chuckled and raised his wand with a triumphant sneer.

"I hope you don't expect to get away this time."

* * *

"You're absolutely certain that's what you smelled?" McGonagall asked as she ushered several frightened pupils along, all of the members of the DA surrounded by Fairy Tail and staff members as they hurried back towards the beach where the Portkey cage awaited them.

"Bluenote Stinger is definitely here on this island," Wendy nodded. "I don't know how he found it, but he's here and there's a lot of other people here too. I don't recognise the smell of most of them, but I definitely caught a whiff of him."

"And we know he's joined up with Voldemort," Mirajane agreed. "Which means he could be here too."

Those words sent quite a wave of terror through the DA members and McGonagall cursed to herself. "This school trip was a foolish idea," McGonagall muttered. "I allowed myself to get caught up in my own fascination and put students' lives in jeopardy."

"You weren't to know," Erza assured her. "We never thought they'd find the island so quickly either. This is on us as much as you."

"If we can get out of here quickly enough then they need never know we were here," Flitwick agreed.

"But what of Potter? And the others that went into the forest?"

"We'll worry about them when we can," Gray said. "If only Warren was here… we could really use a telepath right about now."

"I'll go see if I can find them," Mavis said as she arced away through the trees. "The enemy won't be able to see me after all."

"Bring them back safely, First!" Erza called, placing her hands on Parvati and Lavender's shoulders and ushering them quickly forwards.

But just as the beach was coming into sight ahead:-

*CRACK!* *CRACK!**CRACK!**CRACK!**CRACK!**CRACK!**CRACK!**CRACK!*

Almost two dozen Death Eaters appeared out of the air all around them, their faces obscured by their skull masks and their wands raised. Several DA members screamed but Gray was the fastest to react, spinning around and slamming his hands into the floor.

"**ICE MAKE: BARRIER!"** he bellowed and suddenly a wall of ice erupted out of the ground all around the group, catching the Death Eater's first barrage of spells - many of which were green - and protecting the students from attack. "Come on!" he shouted, opening one section of the wall like a doorway to provide a way out. "Let's get out of here!"

Fairy Tail had already sprung into action. Erza, Mirajane and Evergreen surged into the air over the top of the wall to descend upon the Death Eaters with furious force. Erza morphed into her Soaring Armour and zipped across four of them before they could blink, cutting through their wands and sending them flying with vicious kicks at the same time. Mirajane hammered one away with a punch to the gut and blasted another two away with a burst of dark energy from her claws and Evergreen whipped off her glasses and turned another three to stone with a single glance.

Elfman and Gajeel hurtled out through the doorway that Gray had made ahead of the others. The former morphed into his Beast Soul and sprang forwards to seize two Death Eaters in his massive hands and fling them into the distance before leaping a great height to pummel a rocky outcropping another was standing on and reduce it to rubble, sending the Death Eater rolling away. Gajeel clouted three aside with a wide swing of an Iron Dragon's Club and seized another by the front of his robes, slamming their heads together with a solid metal clang that knocked the Death Eater unconscious.

Juvia, Levy, Cana and Wendy and the two Exceed joined the Hogwarts Professors in shepherding the students out and dashing towards the beach with Gray bringing up the rear. But the period where Fairy Tail dominated the battlefield was rather short-lived when suddenly the ice wall was crushed into powder a second after Gray had got himself out of it. The ground beneath it buckled and sank several feet, half the battlefield coming to a standstill as Bluenote made his entrance.

"Quite the gathering of Fairies here," he said as he strode forwards imperiously. "And yet no sign of Gildarts anywhere. I don't know whether to be relieved or disappointed."

"Get out of here!" Gray roared to the Hogwarts students as he belted forwards to release a volley of ice lances from his hands, each viciously pointed tip homing in on Bluenote's torso. The Grimoire Heart ace's eyes flared and the lances were also slammed downwards and crushed and Gray was sent flying backwards over the heads of the students without Bluenote even having to move.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia cried, whipping around and charging towards Bluenote along with several of the other Fairies until they were slammed unceremoniously into the ground by Bluenote's magic, pinning them against the floor.

"You care these children I see," Bluenote muttered. "Well, let's see what happens when I wipe them off the face of the world!"

A huge magic circle suddenly appeared above the students and their legs buckled beneath them as every one of them was squashed downwards by the increasing gravity. Bluenote clenched his fist and the gravity surged to a bone-crushing point, the ground buckling underneath them. But in the same moment, Cana raised a hand and bellowed, **"CARD DIMENSION!"**

Instantly all the students and Professor's alike were warped into two-dimensional space, trapped in little cards and rendered safe from Bluenote's attack.

"You!" Bluenote glowered. "You're the one with Fairy Glitter! Give it to me at once!"

"You still on about that!?" Cana growled, trying to push herself to her feet. "There's no way I'm giving anything to you!"

Bluenote glowered, but suddenly he was cut off from whatever he'd been planning to do next when a stream of water rushed across the ground towards him, running through the cracks in the turf until it was free from the effect of Bluenote's gravity, whereupon it leapt off the ground and flew straight into his face, engulfing him and sending him reeling backwards.

"Water isn't quite so easy to pin down!" Juvia's voice echoed across the battlefield. Bluenote tore his hands into her attack, trying unsuccessfully to peel her away and he lost his grip on his magic, allowing the others to surge back upwards and continue fighting. Mirajane was the first up and she blasted forwards with wings out stretched, slamming herself into Bluenote's stomach to bear him far away from the rest before he managed to kick her away.

Cana decompressed the others from the cards and was met with all round expressions of gratitude, even from Zacharias Smith.

But Bluenote was hardly alone.

Erza spun around just in time to deflect something that came streaking in towards her from the side - something that resembled a five clawed metallic limb. But she gasped as her swords shattered under the blow and she was sent skidding backwards, summoning new ones from the air as she flipped back onto her feet.

"Good instincts," Rustyrose grinned as he swept his new metallic sword-arm out wide. "You must by the Titania… I hear you'll provide me with a good battle."

"You call that a sword arm!?" Gajeel roared as he thundered forwards and sprang into the air, hammering his arm downwards and transforming it into an Iron Dragon Sword to cleave at Rustyrose's head, only for him to raise his other hand and morph it into a golden shield that took the blow with a solid clang and a shower of sparks. Undeterred, Gajeel withdrew his arm and aimed himself at Rustyrose, only for something very large and unexpectedly very fast to charge in from the side and hammer its palm straight into Gajeel's face, sending him crashing across the ground and forming a trench with his body as he went.

"WOO-WEE!" Kain Hikaru bellowed as he stamped his foot and squared his arms against Gajeel in readiness for the next attack, whatever it may be. "There may be less of us this time around but you can bet we won't be going down without a fight!"

"Indeed!" Rustyrose thrust his arm high. "We now have a feel for your strength, Fairy Tail! Now we'll be sure to give you all of ours!"

"I had enough of your weird posing last time!" Elfman yelled as he leapt forwards and crashed his fists down on Rustyrose, only for him to sprout wings on his feet that allowed him to zip out of the way.

"Ah, a re-match born from reprisal, Elfman," Rustyrose laughed out loud, wrenching his arm to slash Elfman across the stomach and knock him backwards. "I don't imagine it'll go much better than last time! For you or your girlfriend!" And to prove his point he whooshed upwards to clout Evergreen across the front with his shield hand and knock her right out of the sky with a scream, before whipping around and bellowing, "Come forth, Devils of Abbadon! Rain you wrath upon the light of these Fairies!"

Instantly about two dozen red devils riddled with black markings with blue wings, sharp noses and miniature horns whipped into existence around him and descended upon the Fairy Tail mages, hacking and stabbing at them with their tridents and whipping their spaded tails into their faces.

Erza was quick to spring up into her Heaven's Wheel Armour and send a volley of swords flying upwards that skewered eight of the devils on the spot as she hammered the blades in her hands against Rustyrose's shield. He was pulsed back and spun around to fire his Jet Black Sword at her and she countered by summoning half of the shield of her Adamantine Armour into one hand and parrying it, but the sword still tore a huge rent in the shield.

"What!?" she gasped.

"Even adamantine can't hold up to the cutting power of the Jet Black Sword," Rustyrose cackled.

Down below Pantherlily had swept himself away from the Hogwarts students to throw himself at Kain Hikaru, sweeping into his battle form at the last second and hammering his fist right into the middle of Kain's face. "WWWAAHHHH!" Kain bellowed as he was knocked over and sent rolling but he was back on his feet and charged back in with frightening speed. Lily didn't have time to pull his sword from his back before Kain crashed into him headfirst and knocked him sprawling. But then he was forced to jump backwards as an Iron Dragon Sword descended upon him and sliced through the rock where he'd just been standing.

"Nobody does that to my cat, pal!" Gajeel snarled as he landed nearby and morphed his arm into a spear. **"TETSURYUUSOU: KISHIN!" **he fired a massive volley of projectiles towards Kain but at the last second the enormous man suddenly transformed into metal, the attacks bouncing off him with loud clanking sounds.

"What!?" Gajeel blinked, but Kain grinned and held up a small doll with a single black hair sticking out of it, except the doll was also made of metal.

"I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Cursey," he said triumphantly. "With my bristle in him, I can change myself to iron when I change him into iron."

"Well you're not the only one who can do that," Gajeel grinned, his Iron Dragon Scales spreading across his skin as he flung himself forwards again, slashing through one of Rustyrose's demons as he went. Kain thundered in to meet him and transformed Mr. Cursey into mist which allowed the charging Gajeel to pass straight through his body, though Kain turned back to normal a split second later and seized Gajeel's ankle, heaving him up and over and slamming him into the ground three times until Gajeel turned his leg into an iron club and extended it rapidly to kick Kain straight in the face with it, by which time Lily came sweeping back in from the side to sweep Kain's legs out from under him with a blow from his huge Musica Sword. Kain landed right on his fat face, but he was still able to roll to his feet again as if nothing had happened.

"THAT HURT DAMN IT!" he bellowed. "NOW YOU'RE REALLY GOING TO GET IT!"

The entire area had turned into a full-scale brawl, and it if it wasn't for the fact that Wendy, Charla and Levy were still ushering the Hogwarts students along they would have been absolutely stock-still, unable to stop staring in amazement at the tumultuous fighting spreading out across the rocks before them. Seeing them train and seeing them actually battling were two very different things.

The Death Eaters were similarly stunned, which was why it took them a while to recover their senses and when they did they quickly noticed that the students were escaping. "Leave Fairy Tail to that lot!" Yaxley shouted as he jabbed his wand at the retreating students. "Get them! Let's take some hostages for the Dark Lord!"

There was a roar as the Death Eaters surged back after the students, some of them running, some of them Apparating to get in front of them. Yaxley himself appeared in front of Ernie and Dean and slashed his wand in a bid to stun them, but McGonagall suddenly got in front of him and deflected his spell with a swift Shield Charm. She retaliated with a two rapid Impediment Jinxes, both of which Yaxley was barely able to dodge before suddenly all the rocks around him transformed into eagles, which flew at him and started tearing at him with their talons. Yaxley screamed and beat at the air, trying to claw them away, but McGonagall took advantage of his distraction and fired a Stunning Spell that smacked him right in the chest, sending him flinging backwards to crash upon the rocks, unconscious.

But McGonagall had no time for a break - she turned around and hit another Death Eater in the side with a spell that turned him into a cucumber right then and there, flicking her wand to send another Death Eater's robes tangling up about his face before she zapped him away with another Stunner.

And she wasn't the only one fighting. Flitwick was proving his status as a champion dueller despite his tiny stature, deflecting two Stunning spells aimed for Padma and Luna right back at the Death Eaters who cast them and diving forwards to avoid a Blasting Hex before flicking his wand at the man who cast it, who promptly started punching himself in the face until he collapsed. And Sprout swept her wand around to knock Terry and Hannah out of the way of an errant Killing Curse and her next spell triggered some nearby grasses to grow at alarming rates and snag at the Death Eater's necks and heave them down onto the ground.

But there were so many Death Eaters and so many students that the three staff members couldn't hope to defend them all.

Which is why it was fortunate they didn't have to.

Ginny whipped around within the throng of panicked school kids and gasped when she spotted a Death Eater crack into existence just in front of Parvati, seizing her by the shoulder and dragging her out of the crowd. Knowing she likely only had a moment before the Death Eater disapparated, Ginny's wand flew through the air and a jet of blue light pelted the Death Eater right in the face. Suddenly snot streamed out of the Death Eaters nose through the holes in his mask and transformed into what looked like ugly green bats that swarmed around him and scrabbled at his face and neck. He yelled and let go and Ginny ran forward to grab Parvati and pull her back into the group.

"What the heck are we all standing around panicking for!" she shouted over the noise of the battlefield. "What's the point of learning to defend ourselves if we panic and run at the first sight of trouble? We're Dumbledore's Army, damn it! Let's bloody well act like it!"

"…That's our sister, ladies and gentlemen!" Fred suddenly laughed and he raised his wand. "Keep on your feet everyone! Just like Harry, Erza and Mira taught us!"

"I got the first one!" George chimed in and grabbed Colin to pull him out of the way out of a wayward Reductor Curse that blew up the ground where he'd been standing. "Expelliarmus!" George cried and a Death Eater's wand flew out of his hand, allowing George to catch it neatly and Fred to Stun him half a second later when he couldn't shield himself.

From there, the DA began to get themselves in order and spread out. They hadn't had the opportunity to learn much duelling in the DA beyond Stunning and Disarming but that didn't mean that they didn't have other spells they could use. Cho managed to hit another Death Eater in side with a Rictusempra spell which made him double over with laughter at the tickling sensation he felt surging through his body. Dean made another Death Eater's toenails grow so quickly they burst out of his shoes and he ended up falling over in a panic and Justin hit another with a spell that glued his eyelids shut, leading him to stumble around blindly like a headless chicken.

Not that it was all one way fighting, far from it. Hannah was blown backwards by a fiery explosion that singed her uniform and left her arm covered in burns, but Wendy was quick to run over and heal it while Charla had to seize Dennis by the back of his robes and hoist him into the air to prevent him from being hit by another Killing Curse.

"That's it everyone, fight on!" Wendy shouted as she pulled Hannah to her feet with some help from Levy. "We have to push our way back to the cage!"

* * *

Voldemort grinned down at Harry as if he'd already defeated him, striding down the slope and completely ignoring the furious battle going on in the background between Azuma and the four Fairy Tail mages. "I must say," he said gloatingly. "I'm rather disappointed in Dumbledore for making this so easy. Does he even know you're here, Harry? Did he believe you would be safe on this island? Did you believe that? You should know by now, Harry, that there is nowhere in this world where you are truly safe from me. Not even Hogwarts."

"Stay away from him!" Sirius growled threateningly, putting himself firmly between Voldemort and Harry, his wand held at the ready.

"Oh look Bellatrix, its your dear beloved cousin," Voldemort chuckled. "What a lovely family reunion this is."

"A filthy blood traitor, nothing less, my Lord!" Bellatrix replied, looking like she was ready to pounce on Sirius at any moment. "I'll take great delight in killing him. Maybe I'll make it slow. Niiiice and slow."

Neville was almost trembling with anger as he glared at Bellatrix but she barely even seemed to notice, preferring instead to focus her attention upon Sirius.

"Harry, run!" Remus ordered firmly.

"You can't expect me to leave…"

"Get out of here now! You can't defeat him!"

"Neither can you!"

Voldemort laughed. "You're both quite right. But you have no idea how much power I am gaining now, Harry. I see you're already semi-acquainted with Lady Morgana's work," he nodded towards Azuma as he knocked both Lucy and Lisanna back with a large tree branch swipe at the same time. "But before I kill you and your precious friends, I want you to see proof. Proof that we will not only defeat you and Dumbledore, but Fairy Tail as well."

"And how are you going to show me that?" Harry spat as he pushed himself back up to his feet.

"Remus Lupin," Voldemort said suddenly. "As I understand it, you taught Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts a couple of years ago, didn't you? Tell me this. How much did you teach Potter and his friends about… Inferi?"

Hermione squeaked and Ron and Neville both looked suddenly terrified. Harry though looked blank and glanced at Remus, who was quick to explain. "An Inferius is a reanimated dead body. A creature like a zombie but not a zombie. It's not really undead - its entirely lifeless. Just a puppet really. It's incredibly dark magic to create one and the only real defence against them is fire because they dislike light and heat."

"Indeed," Voldemort grinned and he stepped aside, the Death Eaters behind him falling away to create a path to the back of the group where a single figure stood in the shadows, rocking slightly from side to side and almost limp in the way it was standing. But quite suddenly it lurched forwards at frightening speed, barrelling through the Death Eaters with an unearthly screech, past Voldemort and towards Harry and the others.

"Stay back, Harry!" Lupin shouted as he and Sirius hurried jabbed their wands forwards and yelled, "INCENDIO!" at the same time. Fire blasted into life around the charging creature's body in a huge burst of flame, drawing the attention of the fighting mages nearby. The creature stopped dead in its tracks, prompting Sirius to lower his wand with a slightly cocky grin.

"Well, that wasn't hard," he said.

But then he stopped… and stared… as did everyone else… when they saw the fire coiling through the air and rushing straight into the creature's mouth in a style very reminiscent of a certain Dragon Slayer they all knew. Natsu himself noticed and his eyes widened… because when the fire fully disappeared they all finally got a proper look at the man. His skin was emaciated and semi-rotten, his face slack and gaunt, and his eyes entirely blank… but the wild yellow hair and his yellow and dark-blue robe made him totally unmistakeable to the Dragon Slayer.

"Zancrow…" Azuma whispered, looking as shocked as Natsu himself.

"May I present to you our newest servant," Voldemort grinned. "Zancrow the God Slayer. An Inferius entirely immune to fire!"


	47. Stand Together

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 47:- Stand Together**

* * *

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Natsu bellowed, but Remus and Sirius barely had any time to react at all before Zancrow burst forwards and seized them both by the necks, carrying them to the floor and hissing as he pressed down with incredible force. Both of them stabbed their wands furiously at the yellow-haired Inferi as he rapidly cut off their air supply, Sirius even including a couple of cutting curses straight to the chest. But even though the spells hit him he seemed to shrug them off entire, even though large gashes appeared in his torso. And yet no blood spilled from them. Not a single drop.

"SIRIUS!" Harry screamed. "REMUS!" he fired an Impediment Jinx at Zancrow while Ron and Hermione were madly trying to Stun him but only the jinx worked, serving to slow Zancrow down just enough to stop him from crushing Remus and Sirius' windpipes long enough for Hagrid to shove Hermione and Neville aside and charge straight in with a mighty bellow. The half-giant wielded his umbrella like a spear, plunging it straight into Zancrow's belly and scooping him off the ground, flinging him away like an old rag doll. But Zancrow flipped over in the air and landed on all fours, not in the slightest bit concerned by the hole in his abdomen.

Had he still been alive, this would have been the point where he would be cackling madly and bragging about how they couldn't hurt him but instead he just stood up, momentarily swaying in a manner that was actually eerily reminiscent of the way he moved when he was alive. But a deep rattling breath was being drawn into his lungs, and he suddenly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that though Inferi could barely think for themselves, they could definitely speak.

"**ENJIN NO… DOGOU!" **he screamed, and colossal blast of black flame erupted out of his mouth and pulsed through the trees towards the wizards, ripping the tree trunks and the ground to shreds as it went. But even as Hagrid whirled around to try and physically shield the students with his body, Natsu surged forwards to intercept the blast.

"**KARYUU NO HOUKOU!" **the Dragon Slayer shouted, belching forth a torrent of his own orange flames from his mouth to collide with Zancrow's attack head on. Black and orange conflagration roiled together for a moment before the black fire pulsed forwards, ripping through Natsu's attack and exploding into him to send him flying with a scream, but Natsu's attack had weakened its power enough that it dissipated before it could reach the wizards.

"NATSU!" several people shouted at once, but Natsu was already twisting around in mid-air to slam his feet into a tree-trunk and rebound off it, shooting himself like a flaming arrow directly for Zancrow's belly. He swung his foot up and over to try and slam it down onto Zancrow's head, but the God Slayer lurched out of the way at the last possible second allowing Natsu's flames to blast a small crater into the ground where he'd been.

"Leave him to me!" Natsu shouted, hurtling after the God Slayer with fists aflame. "I took him down before. I can do it again!"

But despite the fact he was just a dead body now, Zancrow proved to be just as agile as he had been in real life. In fact, possibly a little more so. He swiftly dodged Natsu's three rapid flaming punches normally but when Natsu swung a fiery kick for his midriff Zancrow bent over backwards at an impossible angle, his spine audibly snapping as Natsu's kick sailed over his midriff before flipping over to slam a black-flaming foot straight into Natsu's chin. "GAAH!" Natsu gasped as he was sent tumbling backwards, but where before Zancrow would have gloated now he just came relentlessly back in for the attack, fire exploding out of his foot and seizing Natsu by the neck to drag him away through the trees with him, crushing the back of Natsu's head down against the ground as they went.

"NATSUUUU!" Happy shouted, but the Dragon Slayer was able to slam his hand up to seize Zancrow by the face and shout, **"KARYUU NO… AKUGEKI!"**

Fire blasted from his palm to pummel Zancrow in the face at point-blank range, throwing him backwards and breaking his grip on Natsu's neck, allowing him to hack and gasp for breath. But Zancrow was entirely undamaged by the attack and generated a huge spear of black flame in his hand which he flung down at supernatural speeds straight for Natsu's stomach. Natsu was forced to kick his legs up and flip back onto his feet to avoid being impaled but as soon as the spear hit the ground it exploded in all directions, an omni-directional strike that crashed into Natsu's front and sent him catapulting backwards to crash back-first into a tree trunk.

"GUHAAAH! AAH!" Natsu bellowed the wind was knocked right out of him and he fell to his hands and knees at the base of the tree. Looking up and breathing heavily he could see Zancrow pounding in towards him, sometimes using his hands like extra feet in a mad scramble to close the distance between them, like he was driven by a primal instinct just to attack, attack, attack! This time Natsu waited for him to get close before using a fiery burst from his feet to jump upwards and somersault over him, Zancrow hammering face-first into the tree.

But again that didn't faze him at all and he spun around, only to be met by Natsu hurtling forwards with his body a flame and smashing headfirst into Zancrow's stomach with a Sword Horn attack. The blow blasted them both through the tree, and the next one behind it and send Zancrow carving a deep trench through the earth when Natsu pulled to a stop at last. Natsu pressed hom the attack and sprang up once more, his arms coating with fire as he lashed them down with a great fiery wing attack:- **"KARYUU NO YOKUGEKI!"** But this time Zancrow just sucked the fire straight into his mouth, physically drawing it away from Natsu's arms until he was forced to break off the attack. The God Slayer twisted onto his feet and rocketed upwards to slam his flaming fist into Natsu's stomach, then smash the other into the side of his head and then crash both down into Natsu's back all in rapid succession - a flurry of blows that send Natsu smashing into the ground below stomach first.

"Ghhhnggh… damn it…" Natsu coughed, but Zancrow was already plummeting down towards him feet first like a rocket! The Dragon Slayer had to react quickly and he did so by slamming both of his fists down into the ground and channelling another Wing Attack deep into the earth. Fire ripped through the ground around him like a volcanic eruption, pulsing him back upwards and tossing massive chunks of rock and earth up as well which clouted at Zancrow and threw him off pace which allow Natsu to bounce himself off a falling rock and seize the dead God Slayer by his hair and swing him around, slamming him into a tree trunk, hard. The resulting crash slammed a huge dent in the bark, but Zancrow didn't seem to even feel the blow. Instead, his entire body suddenly ignited, and Natsu yelled as a burst of black flame sent him surging backwards and away.

Both of them were able to land on their feet, though Zancrow dropped down onto his hands as well, splaying across the ground like some kind of lizard. And he didn't even pause before he was throwing himself back into the battle once more.

"Damn it," Natsu grunted, nursing his ribs. "I need to do that thing again… need to create a vessel where I can eat his flames."

But now Zancrow didn't even seem interested in using his flames to attack. He just threw himself at Natsu and punched at him wildly, forcing Natsu to dance backwards to avoid his widely swinging strikes. And he succeeded until Zancrow blasted forwards to hammer his knee straight into Natsu's stomach and knock him onto his back, whereupon the Inferi fell on top of him and seized him around the neck, brutally slamming him down against the ground again and again as he tried choking the life out of his adversary. Natsu burst into flames, the hungry dragon fire swamping over Zancrow's body but he inhaled the flames even as Natsu struggled to inhale anything. Natsu clawed at the back of Zancrow's hands, his nails actually leaving marks there but Zancrow didn't budge an inch.

"Ggghnnghhg… get… off…" Natsu gasped, rapidly starting to see spots and his voice coming out in a breathless croak. But just as he was beginning to black out something seized the back of Zancrow's robe and heaved, dragging the God Slayer off the ground and tearing his hands away from Natsu's throat with an energy born of desperation.

"I WON'T LET YOU!" Happy shouted as he dragged the flailing God Slayer into the air. "I WON'T LET YOU KILL NATSU!"

"Happy!" Natsu gasped, heaving for breath and pushing himself upright. "Let him go! Quick!" But Zancrow's arm had already twisted around at an inhuman angle to seize Happy by the wing and yank him loose, black fire bursting into life to surround the blue Exceed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Happy's scream rent the forest, but Natsu's reaction was instant. He exploded forwards and hammered his fist into Zancrow's nose with such force that he broke it instantly, shoving him backwards and forcing him to drop Happy.

"**MODO RAIENRYUU!"** Natsu shouted, as lightning flashed into existence around him along with his fire. He kicked Zancrow down to the ground and spun into the air above him, falling down with his fist raised and bellowing,** "RAIENRYUU NO… GEKITETSU!" **His entire forearm was engulfed in flame and lightning which he pounded straight into the back of Zancrow's head, a massive blast of both element erupting downwards to the forest floor and carrying Zancrow with it hard enough to tear the ground asunder, slamming the God Slayer down through the gaping hole that opened up beneath him, while the earth collapsed in on top of him, burying him under about twenty feet of soil and rock.

Natsu landed awkwardly beside the crater he'd just made, dropping to his knees and gasping for breath, feeling more than a little drained after that attack. But he was quick to push himself back up and hurry towards Happy, who was lying nearby.

"Happy! Are you okay?" he asked.

"… Yeah… I'm fine…" the blue Exceed winced. Happy's fur was badly singed and he couldn't move well but it looked like Natsu had intervened before any serious damage could be done. Natsu gingerly picked him up and carried him to a tree trunk where he laid him down, right as the ground behind him was suddenly ripped asunder by a torrent of black flame shredding its way up from below. Zancrow blasted his way back up with it and Natsu wheeled around. Even after his Lightning-Fire based attack, the Inferius looked absolutely no worse for wear at all, except for a his robe which had been partially shredded by the lightning to leave him bare chested - which was not a pleasant sight considering he was semi-emaciated.

"Damn it," Natsu snarled. "Damn it all!" He turned to charge in once more but as Zancrow landed he'd already prepared his next attack.

"When you burn down the west… and you burn down the east… **ENJIN NO… KAGUTSUCHI!"**

"GGWWAAAHHHH!" Natsu cried as the humongous ball of black flame that exploded from Zancrow's hands crashed straight into him and pulsed him backwards, searing at his flesh and slamming him into the rocks. This battle was going nowhere fast! Zancrow's resistance to fire had always made him a problem for Natsu but now he seemed to have a resistance to practically everything! As Natsu picked himself up, grunting in pain, he wondered if the trick of merging his and Zancrow's own flames together that he'd used last time would even work on him like this.

But he didn't have time to think about it long because Zancrow was already pounding in towards him once more.

* * *

Only a very small portion of the battle between Zancrow and Natsu was being watched by the rest of their group now. Because very soon after the fighting had been carried away, Voldemort turned to sneer at Harry and the others.

"You see, Harry? You may have thought Fairy Tail would be your salvation, but they will fall too. And you… I almost wish you could see the power that I will attain… learn just how strong I will become. But no, I think this will be the last time we meet. Because now… you will die!"

"Harry, run!" Sirius bellowed, flinging a curse at Voldemort only for the Dark Lord to dodge it while Remus seized Harry by the robes and dragged him away.

"Sirius!" Harry shouted, struggling in Remus' grip when Voldemort retaliated with a huge jet of green light that barrelled straight for Sirius' chest, which Sirius was just barely able to avoid by leaping aside and turning into a dog mid-jump, the curse zinging past his tail to strike at a tree instead.

"We can't fight him, Harry!" Remus shouted as Ron, Hermione and Neville wheeled around and dashed after them. "We're not strong enough to best him! Our only choice is to run! Now go! Get out of here!"

Harry's gut wrenched, a large part of him wanting more than anything to face Voldemort head on in some hope it would buy everyone else time to get away if the Dark Lord focused on him, but Remus' shoving forced him to get moving. "After them!" he heard Voldemort scream behind him as he and his Death Eaters surged forwards in pursuit, some of them Disapparating with a loud cracking noise re-appearing at the sides and in front. One of them made the mistake of appearing too close and Remus dispatched him with a rapid Stunning Spell straight to the chest and another fell victim to Hagrid as the half-giant ran with the group and crashed into him without even meaning to.

"Use the trees as cover!" Hermione shouted, turning around and flinging a Stunner of her own at Bellatrix, who cackled as she send it rebounding back and would have hit Hermione in the face if she hadn't ducked rapidly. The group darted rapidly through the forest, zig-zagging as they went with the Death Eaters in hot pursuit. One appeared right next to Ron and tried to slash at him with a cutting spell only for Sirius to seize him by the leg in his jaws and drag him backwards, snarling and ripping at his leg with his teeth. Curses zinged through the air in all directions, crashing into the ground or the trees, bouncing off quick shield charms or off Hagrid, who took a couple of Stunning Spells to the back but didn't appear to be too fazed by them.

"Split them up!" Voldemort shouted. "I want Harry Potter alone!" he surged forwards in a whirl of black robes and lashed his wand outwards. A huge sandstorm suddenly whipped out of nowhere, and washed over the fleeing group, battering against their eyes and sending them stumbling all over the place. Neville crashed straight into a tree trunk and fell over, dazed, but none of the others noticed because they couldn't see further than a foot in any direction.

"RON! HERMIONE! SIRIUS!" Harry shouted, flailing his arms as he tried to batter his way towards where he thought his friends were but only ended up running in the other direction.

"'ARRY!" Hagrid shouted. "WHERE ARE YEH!" he stumbled blindly, the sand clogging his beard, but the half-giant ended up tripping over a rock and crashing to the ground to go rolling straight down a hill.

"HARRY! JUST RUN!" Remus was also shouting. "GET OUT OF HERE! YOU'RE THE ONE HE'S AFTER!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry's heard stopped at the sound of Killing Curse ripping through the air. Had it hit someone? He had no way of telling through the sand battering at his glasses, but another curse struck against the tree an inch from his ear and spurred him to dodge away. He ran madly through the trees, searching for someone and ended up crashing straight into Ron, the both of them collapsing backwards but Ron able to surge back to his feet quickly and pull Harry up with him.

"They're right, Harry!" he shouted. "Run! Just run!

"I'm not running anywhere!" Harry shouted back, but in that moment the sandstorm abruptly vanished and as soon as Harry could blink the sand out of his eyes he saw what was happening. Sirius was back in human form and duelling furiously with two Death Eaters some distance away, with Remus doing much the same. He couldn't see Hagrid or Neville anywhere but Hermione was not far away, using an Aguamenti spell to try and wash her eyes clear of the stinging sand. But most importantly Voldemort was surging towards him like a bat out of hell.

"RUN!" he shouted, and both he and Ron dashed over to Hermione to seize her arms and haul her to her feet, the three of them dashing pell-mell through the trees with Voldemort hard on their heels. Harry spun around to fling two, three, four Stunning Spells at him in rapid succession, but rapid slashes of his wand meant Voldemort deflected them all easily.

"You won't escape from me this time, Harry Potter!" he laughed. "And I'll be sure to kill your two friends there in front of you, just like that Diggory boy! Just like your parents!"

He raised his wand again and this time fired a large ball of some liquid green substance at the fleeing trio. The substance hit the ground next to Ron and splashed outwards, some of it crashing against his leg. "AAAHHH!" Ron screamed as he fell to the ground, Harry and Hermione gasping when the realised it was acid, which was burning at Ron's leg. Hermione quickly bent down to mutter a counter spell to get the acid out but Voldemort was already firing several others, laughing madly as they homed in towards the hapless trio.

"PROTEGO!" Harry shouted, an invisible shield raising between himself and the approaching Voldemort to protect himself and his friends from the attack. Globs of acid spattered against the the shield and Harry gasped as they began to eat into it, weakening the translucent barrier while Hermione hauled Ron up to his feet behind him. Voldemort chuckled as he homed in on them and raised his wand imperiously, the tip glowing green.

"When we're finished decimating you and your friends, we'll be sure to deposit your bodies back at Hogsmeade village. I can only imagine how Dumbledore will react when he sees you lying there in the street. Perhaps he'll come and hunt me down personally… he's more than welcome to try. But now… the Mudblood first! AVADA KEDAVRA!

Ron immediately tried to throw himself in front of Hermione and push her down at the same time while Harry broke off the shield charm and tried to get in front of both of them, knowing the Shield Charm wouldn't protect them from the Killing Curse. But quite abruptly an arrow streaked through the air to crash into the jet of green light in mid-air, stopping it cold. Another arrow struck Voldemort right in the shoulder and he stumbled backwards with a yell, his wand lashing up to block another two that would have embedded themselves in his chest half a second later.

"What…?" he gasped, staring in disbelief at the man in the horse suit standing nearby. "Who the heck…?"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to harm innocent children, moshimoshi," said Sagittarius, stringing his bow once more and unleashed another arrow right for Voldemort's forehead, which was sent zinging aside with another stroke of the Dark Wizard's wand. Furiously he lashed his arm out and a flurry of twigs and fallen branches lifted off the ground and sharpened themselves into points, firing at the archer Spirit like an entire volley of arrows, but the horseman's hands moved in a blur of motion to fire about a ten arrows from the same bow in the space of five seconds, some of them duplicating in mid-air to strike through all the projectiles and zoom in towards Voldemort. Slashing his wand, Voldemort sent all of them scattering to the side and yelled as he fired a concussive blast from his wand that sent Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sagittarius all flying backwards at once.

But he didn't see Lucy swinging in from the side until the last second. The Celestial Spirit Mage had coiled her whip about a branch above Voldemort's head and used it like a vine, swinging in towards him.

"**LUCY KICK!"** she shouted and the sole of her boot crashed straight into Voldemort's slitted nose, catching him completely off guard and bowling him over with a yell. Lucy swung her way outwards, releasing the whip and landing in a run, dashing over towards Harry and the others as Voldemort tried to recover. Even though he didn't have a proper nose, that had still hurt.

Harry though was stunned. "Did you just… kick Voldemort… in the face?" he said as Lucy moved over to stand next to him.

"Er… seems so, yes," Lucy chuckled. "I kicked the leader of the Phantom Lord guild in the nuts once. Sometimes a good kick can be more effective than any magic."

"You little…" Voldemort snarled, pushing himself upwards and wiping a steak of blood from one of his nostrils. "This is no business of yours, mage girl!"

"That's not true," Lucy glowered. "It became my business the moment that I met these guys. You don't need to be a member of Fairy Tail to warrant our protection. You don't even have to be our friend. You just have to be not our enemy. The difference is, these three definitely are our friends. So yeah… you're our business now, Voldemort. All our business. We're not leaving them."

"No matter," Voldemort growled. "You will still die! All of you will die!"

"STUPEFY!" Harry shouted and flung a red spell at Voldemort but he blocked and fired a Killing Curse in retaliation. Harry dove aside and a flurry of spells crossed the divide between them, red, green, blue, the air filling with colour as jinxes Harry couldn't even begin to guess at came firing at him. He dodged and weaved, just like Erza and Mirajane had been helping to teach them, trying not to block unless necessary just in case something went wrong and throwing back spells of his own whenever he saw a gap. But Voldemort was marching forwards, almost casually flicking Harry's spells aside.

"You should know by now Harry you're no match for me. Not without your mother's protection!"

"He has our protection now!" Ron shouted as he stood away from Hermione and ran forward despite his bad leg. He looked like he was about to soil himself with fear - after all he was facing Voldemort himself, but he hurled a Stunner at him nonetheless. Hermione was right behind him, her bushy hair swirling out behind her her as she fired two quick Impediment Jinxes but again Voldemort blocked them and returned fire, forcing Ron to dive aside as a green jet of light swooshed past his thigh and Hermione to duck behind a tree to avoid another.

"Guys, don't!" Harry yelled, running out in the open in a bid to draw Voldemort's attention and blasting out three rapid Stunning Spells and a Disarming Charm at the same time only for Voldemort to block them again. "Get out of here and leave him to me!"

"We're not leaving you to face him alone, Harry! Not again!" Hermione yelled, jumping forwards and swirling her wand to kick up a whirlwind around Voldemort, lifting the leaves up from the ground as the attempted to plaster over the top of his face. He slashed his wand and send them blasting away to the side instead, allowing him to block Ron's next Stunning Spell and spin himself around in a wide circle, a long tongue of purple flame lashing from his wand in a giant ring around him that pulsed outwards in all directions. Harry was able to raise a Shield Charm to block but the spell flung him backwards anyway while Ron and Hermione took cover, the attack scorching at the trees they crouched behind but leaving them undamaged.

Lucy however swung herself up and over the attack, her whip coiling around another tree as she kicked off from the ground and whipped out another key - Sagittarius having already returned to the Spirit World. "Open!" she cried in the air. "Gate of the Maiden… VIRGO!"

Suddenly the ground exploded underneath Voldemort and the pink-haired maid came flying out from underneath him, crashing her fist into his chin and actually managing to lift him off the ground from the unexpected blow. But Voldemort was able to turn this to his advantage and flared his cloak out, taking flight and veering backwards and around a tree to come for another pass. Virgo sprang up after him and flung her chains out like massive bullwhips but he was able to dive between them and slashed his wand point-blank straight for Virgo's midriff.

"**AVADA KEDAVRA!"**

The spell blasted the maid straight in the chest. Hermione screamed while Ron and Harry both yelled in horror… but Virgo barely seemed to register the attack. She clapped her hands together above her head, taking Voldemort completely by surprise as she cried, **"SPICA LOCK!"** Boulders immediately flew in from all directions, blasting towards Voldemort who was forced to Disapperate to avoid being crunched in between them. He appeared nearby, slack-jawed as the crush of boulders dropped to the floor with Virgo landing easily on top of them, none the worse for wear at all.

"H… How are you still alive!?" he hissed. "I hit you! I hit you with a Killing Curse right in your chest! I saw it!"

"Hee!" Lucy grinned triumphantly. "That's the thing though, isn't it? Virgo's a Celestial Spirit. And Celestial Spirit's are immortal. It's impossible to kill them! Your precious spell won't work on her or on any of the guys I can summon to fight you."

"Princess," Virgo said as she jumped off the boulders. "Does that merit a punishment?"

"NO IT DOESN'T! I LIKE THAT YOU CAN'T DIE!"

Voldemort could feel himself trembling with utter rage. This was the second time… the SECOND… where he'd hit someone associated with Fairy Tail with the Killing Curse - a spell that up until now only Harry Potter had ever survived - and it hadn't worked on them! That was… that was… infuriating! And based on what Morgana had said, the Killing Curse might not even work if he hit the blonde girl with it as long as she was on this island.

"If I cannot kill you," he hissed. "I will make you wish you were dead! And those three," he indicated to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Those three I can kill!"

"Virgo, get him!" Lucy shouted and Virgo instantly tunnelled into the ground at incredible speed. Voldemort threw himself into the air moments before the ground beneath him opened up again and swept across the forest floor and firing rapid Killing Curses at each of the three students, one after the other. Ron and Hermione dodged aside but Harry found himself protected when Scorpio blitzed into existence in front of him and knocked the Curse aside with a swing of his metal tail.

"Oh yeah!" Scorpio grinned. "Let's rock and roll this chump, Virgo! **SAND BUSTER!"**

"NNNGHH!" Voldemort cried as he was engulfed in an explosion of sand from Scorpio's tail and sent rocketing backwards with them stinging at his eyes but moments before he crashed into a tree he Disapparated and reappeared behind Scorpio, lashing his wand and driving a powerful Cutting Curse into his back. Scorpio's tail again took the brunt of it but he still yelled and stumbled forwards with a bloody gash on either side of it, just in time for Virgo to leap over his head and lash her chains downwards, pummelling the ground a mere second after Voldemort leapt out of the way. He fired a burst of chains right back at her and they entangled around her body, snapping her legs together and wrenching her arms behind her back while a cloth pulled its way into her mouth and tied itself off tightly.

"VIRGO!" Lucy cried as the maid fell to the floor in a heap, squirming wildly, but then she saw how much Virgo's eyes were sparkling with delight, moaning gratuitously into her new gag. Lucy facepalmed and muttered, "Oh yeah… you're into that."

"CRUCIO!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Lucy suddenly screeched as pain thundered throughout her entire body, every inch of her suddenly feeling as though it was being pierced by red hot needles over and over again. She fell to the floor, convulsing wildly, but her torture was quickly put paid to when Scorpio fired a barrage of Sand Spears from his tail, showering down upon Voldemort and forcing him to break his curse upon Lucy to redirect them away. The Scorpion Spirit looked suddenly furious and dashed forwards to seize the bound Virgo by the back of her chains and hoisted her into the air.

"Nobody does that to our owner!" he growled and actually threw Virgo straight for Voldemort before firing another Sand Buster in her wake. Even bound and gagged, Virgo began to spin rapidly on the spot, the sand conforming around her as if it passed to her control. She dove underground head first, the chains seemingly leaving her ability to dig entirely unimpeded, and Scorpio's sand swept into the ground with her to fill up the tunnel.

"**SPICA SAND GEYSER!"** Scorpio shouted and suddenly the ground exploded all around Voldemort, a colossal outburst of sand upheaving the ground and firing a sandy blast straight upwards the engulfed him and threw him straight up towards the canopy. He yelled and flailed in the midst of the attack, thrashing his wand down to erect a Shield Charm that protected him from the onslaught until he could clear his eyes enough to Disapparate again.

"A… combo move?" Lucy gasped as she pushed herself upwards, still hurting. "I didn't know you guys could do that."

"Thhrsh rrh llrr rrff frrngsh wrrh ccrhn ddhhw…" Virgo said from where she was sitting in a large hole in the ground, and Lucy didn't understand a word of it.

But this was the point where a huge gout of flame rose up from nowhere nearby, swirling around in a wide circle and forming itself into a massive serpent of fire, fangs and all, searing the leaves off the trees around it. Voldemort held his wand high and thrust it forwards to a screech that tore at Lucy's eardrums, sending the snake blasting straight for her and her Spirits, charring the ground as it went.

**"SAND WALL!"** Scorpio yelled but the serpent powered through the protective barrier of sand he raised and descended upon them, only to crash into a huge Shield Charm that was erected at the last second. Harry, Ron and Hermione had all run forwards to cast the spell at the same time, creating a shield that the serpent snuffed its snout up against but was unable to breach.

"Guys," Lucy whispered.

"We can't have you Fairy Tail guys rushing to our defence all the time," Harry grunted over his shoulder at her. "Sometimes we have to protect you too."

"Water spells on three!" Hermione shouted. "One… two… three!" The three of them cancelled their Shield Charms at once and powerful jets of water exploded from their wands to crash into the snake, dousing it in liquid and pulsing it backwards as it kicked up a cloud of steam in a bid to fight through the blaze. But Lucy's eyes lit up and she pushed herself to her feet a moment later.

"Virgo! Go back to the Spirit World and get someone to unchain you!" she shouted. Virgo pouted around her gag, but vanished in a puff of light while Lucy through herself forwards and plunged another key straight into the watery burst.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"

Suddenly the water broiled and the mermaid Spirit exploded out of it just as the fire snake was successfully put out. Voldemort abruptly swept through the steam but only just managed to dodge the explosion of water from the urn in Aquarius' hands.

"WE ARE!" Scorpio grinned widely. "Nice to see you on the other side again, Aquarius!"

"Scccoooorpio!" Aquarius cooed and immediately swept over to snuggle up to his side. "We get to fight alongside each other again after so looooong. I really missed this. Let's make sure our keys are never separate again."

"…I forgot how weird it is seeing her like that," Lucy muttered, before turning to the three students. "Thanks very much, but let these two take point. They can't die. You can."

"We're staying with you, Lucy," Hermione said firmly. "If you're going to put yourself in danger then we won't run either."

"We wouldn't be proper Gryffindors if we did," Ron agreed.

"Besides, he's my enemy," Harry murmured. "Even if I'm not strong enough to beat him, he'll always be my fight."

As if to prove his point, Voldemort suddenly appeared off to their right screaming, "DIE! DIE! DIE!" and a thunderstorm of Killing Curses shot in towards them so close together they almost looked like a giant, green laser. Ron reacted fastest, his reflexes as a Keeper leading him to stab his wand downwards with a spell that brought the others crashing down onto their fronts so the curses shot by overhead and before Voldemort could correct his aim, he had two Celestial Spirits charging for him.

"Let's do this, Aquarius! YEAH!" Scorpio grinned savagely.

"Maybe I won't even sweep you away this time, Lucy!" Aquarius laughed.

* * *

With Natsu battling the corpse of Zancrow and Lucy having run off to help Harry against Voldemort, now there were only two Fairy Tail mages facing off against Azuma. But there was a momentary lull in the fighting at first, all three of them a little occupied with watching the orange and black flames clashing together nearby as Dragon and God Slayer duked it out once more.

"I don't believe this," Azuma murmured. "I just… don't… believe it."

"It's horrible," Lisanna whispered. "Taking a man's corpse and turning it into a puppet… it's absolutely disgusting."

"You feel sympathy for him?" Azuma raised a brow. "Zancrow was your enemy just as much as he was my comrade. He would have immolated you in and instant if he took a fancy to it."

"But he's still a human being!" Lisanna insisted. "Nobody deserves to have that done to their remains."

"Surely you're not comfortable with this, are you?" Freed looked to Azuma. "I mean… look at it. They're using your friend's dead body as a puppet."

Azuma was indeed looking, his expression entirely unreadable. But then his brow furrowed and he turned to the two mages with a scowl. "Zancrow was never my friend," he said. "He was always a lunatic. And what I see… is one of my former comrades fighting for our cause again even in death. Some people might classify that as a miracle."

"And you're one of those people are you?" Lisanna asked sceptically.

"Enough talking. I have no desire for conversation," Azuma replied without answering the question. "I desire to battle you, though with two of your friends otherwise engaged this fight has suddenly become rather less interesting for me. I doubt you two will provide me with the challenge I seek in my fights."

"It is not wise to underestimate us," Freed glared.

"Maybe its time I really demonstrated what I can do in this form," Lisanna glared.

The both of them took off at the same time, rushing through the air to arc in towards Azuma from different directions at once. The Tree Mage slashed his hand upwards to generate a flurry of roots and branches from all directions, sharpened into vicious spikes that sought to impale them, but the two Fairy Tail mages zig-zagged madly amongst them, correcting their courses in wild dodges with Freed occasionally slicing through the thinner branches with his sword as they approached. Lisanna was the first to reach Azuma and somersaulted over to slam her tail down towards his head but he jumped nimbly sideways and grabbed a tree root, swinging himself around it to jump onto another which he disappeared into. Moments later he sprouted out of another right in front of Freed and hammered the green-haired man in the face, sending him crashing backwards onto the forest floor and launching a volley of wooden fists down upon him.

"Hwearftlian!" Lisanna shouted and suddenly the fists twisted around and lanced straight back towards Azuma instead. He started and redirected them again, this time towards Lisanna, but with a spurt of speed she whooshed through the gap between them so they collided within inches of her tail and reared her hand back, gathering her magic into her palm and yelling, **"BYRNSWEORD!"**

A huge blade of flame appeared in her hand, a curved weapon made entirely of fire that she swung back as she charged straight for Azuma. He quickly raised branches to defend himself but the sword searing through all of them in a single slash, the flames decimating the wood on contact. Azuma tossed himself backwards off the branch as Lisanna streaked overhead, carving a flaming line through the air where he had just been, but he was able to grab hold of the branch he'd been standing on and dive straight through it to seize Lisanna by the ankles before she could fly past and bring her crashing down upon the branch, two more branches seizing her wrists to hold them out and keep her from using her burning sword while he stamped his foot down upon her chest, drawing a scream of pain from deep within her lungs.

"I see, you've improved dramatically. But you have a long way to go before you reach my level," Azuma glared.

"Nnghhh…" Lisanna grunted as she tugged on her wrists, but she met Azuma's cold gaze with one of her own. "I swore… I would never again be as helpless as I was when you trapped me in your roots before and forced my sister to battle you. I may not be as strong as you yet… but I will not let you pin me down again!"

Fire exploded from her mouth and caught Azuma right in the chest, sending him surging out into thin air on a plume of flame that burnt at his skin. Azuma grunted with pain but was able to cancel out the flames with a quick Bleve explosion in the middle of them, clutching at his chest as he saw Lisanna shatter the roots holding her wrists down with a quick spell. **"RAMUS SICA!"** Azuma shouted and a massive barrage of sharpened branches zinged downwards in a rain of spears, forcing Lisanna to leap away and take bat a couple away with her sword, though several of them still managed to tear at her legs and put a couple of holes in her wings. She fought down the urge to scream but suddenly Azuma was in front of her and delivered a huge uppercut to her chin which would have easily broken her jaw if she was a regular human. Azuma followed up with a kick to her midriff that sent her flying back into another branch hard enough to crack it in two and then sent another massive fist at her, intent on crushing her with it.

But that was when Freed re-entered the fray, Lisanna having given him time to recover from the daze Azuma's previous blow had put him into. He rushed upwards at high speed to seize Lisanna by the first appendage he could grab - which happened to be her tail - and yank her out of the way moments before the fist found its mark. He was back in his Absolute Shadow and after depositing Lisanna on a branch so she could recover he launched himself at Azuma. A small electrical orb sparked across his hand as he dodged a couple of rogue branches that Azuma flung his way and he launched the attack right for Azuma's face.

But Azuma took him by surprise by a tree-like fist sprouting right out of his chest just before Freed reached him to hammer Freed straight in the gut. Freed was pulsed backwards by the blow but Azuma launched branches after him that entangled around his waist. **"CHAIN BURST!"** he yelled and explosions ripped across the branches from one end to the other blasting around Freed to tear at his armour and rip half of his face-mask away. But Freed was quick to recover and turned his fall into a dive, looping underneath some of the branches to come up for another pass. His sword was held at the ready as Azuma sent a plethora of other branches flinging in at him and his exposed right eye glowed a dark purple.

"**YAMI NO ECRITURE: KIKA!"** he shouted and whirled himself around in tight circles, touching his sword to each branch that came his way and the moment it made contact a glowing purple rune would appear on the branch before it burst into atoms, totally disintegrating on the spot. Azuma gasped and tried to leap away but Freed anticipated his move and angled his course to slash his sword across Azuma's chest and leave another rune in its wake.

"**BYŌKI!"** Freed announced it, and suddenly Azuma vomited spectacularly, seizing his stomach and heaving even as he fell through the air and crashed into the ground - a very unpleasant shower splattering down all around him. He grabbed as his stomach and coughed up sick profusely, his body breaking out in sweat, a splitting headache forming, and he felt like he was burning up all over as he continued to spew his guts out. And that was when Freed descended upon him with fist raised back and slammed it straight into the back of Azuma's head, slamming it straight into the ground deep enough to create a small crater with the big man's face.

For a moment, Azuma lay still… unmoving… and Freed stepped back, breathing heavily but thinking he'd managed to knock the man unconscious.

But then Freed suddenly noticed that he'd sprouted roots, literally connecting him to the ground and appearing to channel energy into him. Suddenly Azuma surged to his feet, the roots snapping as he did, allowing him to spin around and roar,** "TOWER BURST!"**

A massive tower of flame erupted out of the ground around him and engulfed Freed, bearing upwards off the ground with a roar of pain as the flames rent through the rest of his Shadow armour and burned at his hair. He was carried right up to the canopy of the trees which immediately turned around to ensnare him, the thinner branches grabbing at his throat and seeking to throttle him while the thicker ones punched and pummelled at him like fists.

"That was dirty fighting, using magic to make me ill like that," Azuma growled. "But I can use the energy from the land to restore me when sick, so tricks like that will never affect me for long."

"Gghhnngg… rrhhhff…" Freed yelled, hacking at the branches with his sword only for more to come in and try and smother him. But this time Lisanna came in to rescue him when a flaming sword was hurled through the air to slice through half of the attacking branches, allowing Freed to break free enough to cut the other half away properly with his own. Lisanna herself had dived towards Azuma and slammed her fists into the ground with a shout of **"HWEARFIAN EARD!"** The ground suddenly rose up like a tidal wave and launched itself at Azuma, washing him backwards with a torrent of soil and dirt. But tree roots launched up from the ground to carve their way through it, launching themselves at Lisanna and forcing her to take flight to dodge. The younger Strauss sister hovered her way up to Freed, who was nursing his neck, and the both of them glaring down at Azuma as he tore through the rest of the earthen wave.

"He's strong," Freed murmured. "Very strong. No wonder even Erza almost lost to him."

"We'll lose to him too if we continue attacking him one at a time," Lisanna murmured.

"Agreed," Freed nodded, hefting his sword. "Let's make sure we do it properly this time."

Azuma merged with a tree and appeared from the branches above them, slamming his feet down into their backs at the same time. But this time they were able to twist themselves around and seize his legs simultaneously, heaving him over to crash him down upon another branch and the battle resumed in earnest.

* * *

Neville had scrambled to his feet as soon as he recovered himself from running slap-bang into a tree, his entire world spinning around him as he tried to clear his head. He looked round wildly and was able to see lights flashing all around him. Some distance away down a hill Hagrid was swinging his enormous fists at several Death Eaters that scrambled around him, proving to be surprisingly fast on his feet and clocking one straight in the chest to send him hurtling across a clearing, his ribs almost definitely broken. Not far from him was Lupin, currently in the middle of duelling with three Death Eaters at the same time. Hardly a fair contest, but Lupin was holding his own, weaving in and out of their spell work and his wand jabbing forward repeatedly for quick, efficient shots that they were only just able to dodge or block.

Similarly, Sirius Black was off to Neville's right, locked in a duel with two more Death Eaters. It was still so strange for Neville to see Sirius Black, the very same man that had used his list of passwords back in the third year to sneak into his dormitory with a knife, fighting against the bad guys, but that was exactly what was going on here and he was doing a great job at it. Even as Neville watched he managed to hit one of the Death Eaters with a spell that made his entire body seize up, yelling as muscle cramps developed throughout his entire body and falling to the ground, yelling in pain as he tried to sort himself out, leaving Sirius bounding around in a one on one duel with the other.

Yet there was one Death Eater unaccounted for. Neville felt his guts churn with hatred as his saw Bellatrix running away from the fighting and towards the distant crashing sounds from where Voldemort was locked in combat himself, intent on joining her Master to fight alongside him. Neville acted before he could think and rushed forwards, charging across the leaf litter until he was behind Bellatrix and shouting, "STUPEFY!"

A red spell lanced from his wand, but he'd already made his mistake. If he'd cast the spell non-verbally then there was a chance Bellatrix wouldn't have noticed him and actually been knocked unconscious, but he hadn't learned how to do that yet. And because he shouted it out, she had more than enough time to wheel around and send the spell careening off to one side with a flick of her wrist. She immediately sent a retaliatory Killing Curse at him and Neville only avoided it by tripping over as he scrambled backwards, the light missing his nose by mere inches as he collapsed straight onto his back.

Bellatrix cackled with undisguised delight as she stalked towards him, the Gryffindor boy shuffling backwards and rattling off another couple of Stunners, one of which Bellatrix blocked and the other of which she didn't even need to try and avoid as it went hopelessly wide.

"And who the hell are you then?" she said, her wand pointing straight for his chest. "Did the ickle kiddie think he could be a hewo and stop big bad Bella in her tracks. Not very heroic is it, sneaking up behind someone like that? What would your mother think of that?"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER!" Neville shouted before he could stop himself, rage twisting in on his face again and actually taking Bellatrix by surprise with the venom in his voice. So much so that she allowed him to stumble back to his feet.

"And why ever not?" she asked. "She's some filthy Mudblood no doubt. Or maybe you're the Mudblood here."

"I'm a Pureblood actually," Neville growled. "Not that that means much when a… a bitch like you is also one! You tortured my mother! And my father! You tortured them so much you… you…"

Bellatrix looked momentarily blank but then her eyes lit up, her face splitting into a grin of delight. "You!?" she giggled insanely. "You're the spawn of those miserable Aurors, the Longbottoms?"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Neville shouted and in his rage he forgot all the lessons on movement that he'd been learning in the DA and madly launched about a dozen Stunning Spells at her. The flash of red lights prevented him from seeing Bellatrix Disapparate and he had no clue she was now behind him until she screamed, "CRUCIO!"

"AAHHH! AAAAHHHHAAAAAA! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Neville screamed as he fell flat on his face, every pore of his body congealing with unimaginable pain and leaving him a convulsing wreck upon the floor. Bellatrix licked her lips in delight as she approached him, holding the spell for a full ten seconds before releasing it.

"Like that!?" she crooned. "That was just a taste of what I did to those filthy Blood Traitors you call parents. How are they doing nowadays anyway? Have they kicked the bucket yet? Or are they still teetering on the brink of existence drawing mindless symbols on the walls and drooling all day long?"

"SHUT… UP! STUPEFY!" Neville bellowed, rolling over and launching another spell right for Bellatrix's eyes - a turn of speed that had even her surprised, but she was still able to block it just before it struck her and with a flick of her wand Neville's went flying out of his hand, allowing her to cleanly snatch it out of the air and leaving him utterly defenceless before her.

"That takes care of that," she said smugly. "I'm tempted to take you prisoner… see if I can't do to you what I did to your parents. Wouldn't that be sweet of me? All your family together in one place in St. Mungos all the time. I'd call that considerate of me."

Neville was breathing rapidly, his anger rapidly being replaced by fear. He'd allowed his anger, his intense feelings and desire for revenge, get the better of him. Suddenly Gray's words from back in the Room of Requirement came filtering through his head:- 'Desires like that… they're double-edged swords, Neville. If you dwell on them too much they produce such tunnel vision that you don't think your actions through until its too late.' That was exactly what had happened… and his emotions had been so powerful, it was like that entire conversation hadn't even happened at all.

What was he thinking? He was the biggest idiot in the world! There was no way that he was ready to take on Bellatrix Lestrange after only a couple of weeks of training! And now he'd just doomed himself at her hands! There were many things that Neville had failed at in the past… but this felt like the biggest failure of them all.

And Bellatrix could see the look in his eyes and screeched with laughter. "Aaaww, is baby going to cry!?" she crooned. "Does baby Longbottom want his bottle?"

Neville swallowed, mustering his courage together and looking Bellatrix right in the eye despite the fact he was still trembling.

"Whatever you're going to do, just… just do it… already," he muttered.

"…Just like your parents," Bellatrix sneered. "Defiant at first… but they were begging me to stop way before the end. But I don't have time for you now, so you get lucky Baby Longbottom. A quick death it is! AVADA KEDAVRAAAAAAAAA!"

The green spell crashed into the ground off to Neville's right because at that moment a very large, shaggy black dog had barrelled in from the size to seize Bellatrix's wrist in his teeth and knock the spell aside, dragging the Death Eater around by it as she screamed in pain. She ended up dropping Neville's wand while her fist lashed down to punch the dog in the face twice and get it to let go of her now bloodied arm, but Sirius immediately shifted back into his human form and cast a Reductor Curse at her at point-blank range. Bellatrix was able to lift a Shield Charm but the she was still sent skidding backwards across the ground, her heels forming grooves in the dirt as she went. Neville gasped and looked round to see the Death Eater that Sirius had been fighting before was now slumped unconscious against the base of a tree.

"Sorry, dear cousin," Sirius growled, spitting a little blood out of his mouth. "But you won't be taking any lives today."

"You dare spill my blood!" Bellatrix screeched, waving her bleeding arm furiously. "You DARE spill my precious pure blood! You filthy little… I'll bathe this entire island in your own traitorous blood!"

"Sounds fun! Come and get me!" Sirius half-grinned and sprang sideways to avoid Bellatrix's opening Killing Curse, lashing his wand across to two Impediment Jinxes in rapid succession. Bellatrix caught them on her shield charm and pulsed them back, following up with a wide cutting spell that slashed across the air like a giant wind blade. Sirius conjured a boulder out of thin air to take the hits for him and then banished it towards her, forcing her to dive aside and execute a quick shoulder roll to get back onto her feet. A Reductor Curse lashed from her wand to hit the boulder and reduce it to gravel which she sent flying straight for Sirius like a hailstorm. He lashed his wand down the middle to send the barrage flying out to either side of him and but had to duck under another Killing Curse as he morphed into a dog again and bolted away.

Bellatrix lashed her arm like she was using a whip, blasting green curses after the dog as he zig-zagged wildly from side to side before springing into the air, morphing back to human in mid-flight and conjuring a large iron weight in mid-air right above Bellatrix's head, which instantly obeyed gravity and would have slammed down atop her if she hadn't caught it with a levitation charm, melted it into slag and cast the hot liquid metal at Sirius, who was forced to raise another shield to block the deluge, leaving him open for when Bellatrix cast more Killing Curses that passed through the shield and almost hit him, but he was able to throw himself into a backwards roll at the last minute. But Bellatrix bore down upon him until the air between them was a mess of curses and jinxes rebounding and zinging all over the place in a duel that had them both locked in concentration.

Neville sat watching all this in stunned amazement. Clearly Sirius was a capable fighter to hold his own against Bellatrix like this but he couldn't tell who was winning. And more of Gray's words from before came filtering back into his head:-

"Don't get yourself or your friends killed in the attempt, or when the victory does finally come it will be a hollow one."

And Sirius… well, he couldn't count Sirius as a friend just yet given he barely knew the guy, but he knew he was Harry's godfather and Harry trusted him with his life. That was good enough for Neville, and if Sirius died protecting him he'd never be able to look Harry in the eye again.

That was why he scrambled to his wand and pushed himself upright with a Disarming Charm on his lips. Unfortunately though Bellatrix noticed his movement out of the corner of her eye and whipped around to casting a Killing Curse at him while avoiding Sirius' next Stunner. This time Neville remembered the movement training he'd been doing and practically danced sideways, casting another Stunning Spell as the curse whipped past him that had Bellatrix jumping sideways as she was unable to block it and Sirius' Reductor Curse at the same time.

"Nice to have you on board," Sirius grinned. "Care to help me send this bitch back to… well, not Azkaban… but back to jail?"

"I'll do what I can," Neville nodded. "Let's just make sure neither of us die in the process, okay?"

"Fine by me, kid."

* * *

Death Eaters were swarming the beach as the DA pushed their way through. Flitwick was locked in an intense duel with Dolohov that had the diminutive teacher springing from side to side, while Professor Sprout had taken a wound to the side courtesy of Rodolphus Lestrange, having only just been able to deflect a Cutting Curse moments before it hit Susan Bones, who was now helping her along. McGonagall was also fighting hard against two Death Eaters at once, though she couldn't tell who they were as they still had their masks on, although one of them was quickly taken out of the equation when McGonagall conjured an entire concrete pillar out of the sand, which she then tipped over to smash down upon the Death Eaters. One was able to dodge aside. The other was not so lucky.

McGonagall took the momentary respite to check on how the students were faring… and she had to admit she was impressed with their performance.

Fred and George had effectively taken command of the students in Harry's absence and the twin pranksters were proving to be surprisingly effective commanders, shouting out instructions to the rest of the group and casting shield charms everywhere they could to deflect incoming attacks from the Death Eaters. The rest of the DA were following their instructions quite clearly, forming a circle with two distinct ranks. One rank would cast a flurry of spells straight ahead of them regardless of whether there was a Death Eater there or not while the rank at the back were specifically aiming for certain targets, forcing them to either defend themselves or get out of the way of their spells, which were usually Stunners.

More than one Death Eater was caught out this way, Disapparating away from one spell only to reappear in the path of another one that had been fired at what had previously been an empty spot. And with the mad cover fire, they were finding it difficult to get close to the group as they made their way quickly across the sand back towards the Portkey cage.

Fred and George had managed to turn a group of relatively inexperienced students into a force to be reckoned with.

Now and again though, one of the Death Eaters would get in and firing off an ominous flash of green light that surged towards one of the students like a phantom out of hell. Whenever that happened, whoever spotted it first would scream, "DOWN!" and every single member of the DA would immediately duck down to the floor as low as they could go so the Curse could pass by harmlessly. But that didn't always work, as evidenced when Rabastan Apparated into existence in mid-air and launched a Killing Curse straight downwards before Disapparating again. Ginny was the one to spot it and gasped when she realised it was heading right for Marietta Edgecombe.

"LOOK OUT!" she cried and lunged forwards, grabbing Marietta by the back of her robes and heaving her backwards just in time for the Curse to slam into the sand where she'd just been standing. Marietta gasped, her entire life practically flashing before her eyes in that moment when she realised how close to death she'd just come.

"Th… Thanks…" she whispered hoarsely.

"Just keep your eyes peeled," Ginny patted her shoulder and quickly fired a Stunning spell over Hannah's head at Rabastan when he re-appeared nearby, forcing him to dodge away.

They were approaching the Portkey Cage now, and that was when Charla swept overhead, carrying Wendy with her. The small Dragon Slayer spun around in the air and yelled, "You guys get out of here, quickly!"

"What about you!?" Fred shouted up to her.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine! Fairy Tail members can't die while we're on this island! You can!"

"What about Harry and the others!" George and Ginny both yelled at the same time.

"Send the cage back as soon as you're gone and we'll get them!" Charla cried as she looped around the group, Wendy throwing out her arms and yelling, **"TENRYUU NO… YOKUGEKI!"**

Wind whipped outwards from her arms in all directions, her Wing Attack throwing up deluges of sand and blasting several Death Eaters backwards, while forcing others to duck and cover, giving the students the window of opportunity they needed to make a break across the final distance to the cage, the teachers right behind them.

"Everyone grasp the bars!" McGonagall shouted, though the students didn't need to be told. They crowded around the cage, seizing the golden bars of the domed construct while McGonagall magically keyed the co-ordinates for back in the Room of Requirement once again, slamming her wand down to make the transition.

But nothing happened.

"…What?" she gasped, keying in the co-ordinates again quickly but again nothing happened. "It's not working!"

"What do you mean, it's not working!?" Zacharias shouted frantically, and the other students looked understandably horrified as well. McGonagall's mind raced, deciding that if they couldn't take the Portkey they were going to have to get out of there through Apparition, even though repeated long-distance trips would be draining on the couriers. She quickly grabbed the two nearest students - Dean and Justin - and tried to Apparate to the Hog's Head bar where they'd be able to get back to the Room of Requirement through the tunnel… but again nothing happened. She couldn't Apparate!

"They've cut us off!" she cried. "They've set up some kind of ward the prevents us from leaving the island by magical means!"

Many of the students looked like they were about to panic at this revelation, but before mass hysteria could break out Luna Lovegood stepped away from the cage.

"Well then there's only one course of action to take, isn't there?" she said simply. "We'll just have to keep fighting until we've driven them away."

And she fired a spell that narrowly missed hitting Selwyn in the face. It ended up hitting a rock behind him which transformed into a large kumquat. Selwyn returned fire but the three Hogwarts teachers had already rushed forwards to throw up a combined Shield Charm that they pulsed across the sand like a wave.

"Put the sea behind us!" Flitwick shouted as the duelling began again in earnest. "They'll find it harder to fire at us from the back if we do!"

* * *

Not far away, Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart members were viciously duking it out, shredding the landscape around them in a storm of magic. Mirajane and Juvia had managed to push Bluenote away from the rest of the group but Bluenote had been very quick to turn the tables on them again, slamming his hand down into the ground and blasting a huge gravity wave that affected everything within a one-hundred metre radius of himself, slamming the both of them down into the ground and crumbling the rock itself to pieces, an enormous sinkhole opening up around them with looming high walls as they were pushed deep into the heart of the island.

"NNNGHHH! HHHRMMNN!" Mirajane yelled as her body was put under tremendous pressure, feeling like every bone within her was about to shatter apart at a moment's notice.

"Mira! Hold on!" Juvia shouted, having liquefied herself so her own body was not in danger of being crushed, but before she could make another move a magic circle appeared above her and drove her deep into her own personal sinkhole within the bigger sinkhole, the Water Mage vanishing from Mira's sight.

"Juvia!" she shouted in alarm.

"I'm hardly about to let you take me by surprise again, Water Mage," Bluenote growled. "Under my gravity, even you won't be able to move and sooner or later you'll run out of magic."

"Gnngh…" Juvia grunted, trying to stand up but inexorably pinned against the ground. But her eyes snapped open, fiery with determination. "Underestimate water at your peril!" she shouted and she suddenly lost all human form, transforming into liquid which increased rapidly in quantity, rushing up the sides of the sinkhole like a glass filling up with tapwater. She burst upwards and spread out in all direction splashing over both Mirajane and Bluenote as she began to fill up the larger sinkhole too. Bluenote blinked and leapt upwards, lessening the gravity to allow him to jump out of the hole before he could be submerged. But in doing so he was forced to cancel out his gravity hold on Mirajane, who exploded out of the water and hammered him straight in the chin with her scaly fist before summoning dark energy between her claws and blasting him down across the rocks with it.

But despite the deep groove his body cut into the turf when he landed he pushed himself back to his feet without any difficulty, not looking particularly harmed beyond a sore chin.

"You're strong, I'll give you that," he said, gripping his jaw. "But you'll run out of tricks eventually."

Nearby, Gajeel and Pantherlily were in the middle of a full scale brawl with Kain Hikaru, and were finding him to be quite the hard opponent - literally. Lily swept his massive sword in with all the strength he could muster but Kain was able to sweep one chunky leg upwards and kick the blade upwards before it could hit him, throwing Lily completely off kilter and leaving him wide open for Kain to charge in and hammer him straight in the face with a powerful palm strike that knocked him away. Gajeel came roaring in half a second later to slam his iron elbow into Kain's throat. A hideous choking noise spluttered out from the big man as he stumbled backwards and Gajeel followed up with an Iron Dragon Club aimed at his face, but even when choking for air Kain was able to seize the incoming attack in his hand and use it to haul Gajeel up and over his head to slam him into the ground once more.

"Damn it!" Gajeel growled. "Guy's tough."

He balked when Kain leapt upwards above him and crashed down towards him in a full belly-flopped body-slam, turning Mr. Cursey into what appeared to be rock as he did so. But Lily was able to sweep in and seize him in his arms, re-directing his fall and throwing him away to land nearby while Gajeel somersaulted to his feet and brought an Iron Dragon Sword swinging down atop Kain's back, only for Kain to transform into what appeared to be pure light. The Iron Sword passed straight through him and both Gajeel and Lily were blinding by the sudden intense glare, giving Kain more than enough time to get up and charge forwards once more!

"**SHINING DODOSKOI!"** he yelled, pounding both Gajeel and Lily in the chest with his hands and bombarding them with light energy as he tossed them backwards through the air. But despite this, Lily was able to seize Gajeel in mid-flight and swing him around, throwing him straight back at Kain. The big man evidently wasn't expecting that because he'd just transformed back into his usual self when Gajeel's head slammed straight into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him as they were both sent tumbling over each other.

The loud crashing sound reaching Levy's ear as she hurled a large STONE at a nearby Death Eater. "Gajeel," she whispered, and instinctively hurried off towards their fight.

Rustyrose, on the other hand, was having a much harder time of things. Because he had all the rest of the Fairy Tail mages ganging up on him at once.

"COME FORTH!** DINGIRU NO TŌ!"** he shouted, spreading his arms and successfully engulfing Elfman, Gray, Erza and Cana into the glowing walls of the huge tower that exploded out of the ground around them, leaving the front half of their bodies protruding out into thin air while the rest of them were immobilised within. "Blast these foolish Fairies with all that sadness and return them to dust!" he intoned as it rose higher and higher into the air, gearing up for a massive explosion.

But Evergreen had been able to avoid the attack and swept out above him on her wings, arcing around the tower and sweeping her hands together, preparing to use one of the new attacks she'd learned within the last week. **"YŌSEI GYORAI: UNDINE!" **she shouted, drawing Rustyrose's attention as her Fairy dust swirled around her hands and fired outwards, coming together like a massive torpedo that lanced down towards him. He immediately created his golden shield to take the attack but when it struck the shield it exploded with spectacular force, ripping up the ground beneath him and tossing him backwards.

The Tower of Dingir immediately disintegrated, and as soon as Gray and Erza had their hands free they launched a volley of ice lances and swords down upon Rustyrose at the same time. He was only just able to crouch behind his shield to block in time, but then a card suddenly zinged in from the side to nestle at his feet. Elfman burst out of the card to hammer Rustyrose in the stomach and knock him airborne where Evergreen was waiting with a cloud of Fairy Bombs which went off and immediately sent Rustyrose hurtling into a hillside nearby.

"You're tough, Rustyrose. That much is clear," Erza said as the five of them squared off together against him as he struggled back to his feet. "But this time you're outmatched. Make it easy on yourself and surrender. If you do, we'll be sure to treat you well as our prisoner until we find a way to get back home."

Rustyrose glowered at them wordlessly for a second before his face split into a sudden grin. One that instantly had the five Fairies on the alert as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Yes… alone and outgunned… a hopeless situation for me indeed it would seem," he said with a flourish of his hand. "But not for much longer. Like shining stallions, my guild mates shall ride to my defence."

"Take a look around you, pal," Gray rolled his eyes. "Your guild mates are currently busy fighting our guild mates. You won't be getting any help from them."

"Won't I?" Rustyrose grinned as he placed his fingers to his temples and sneered. "Allow me to shatter your perceptions and drown you in your disbelief."

Suddenly something began to form in the air alongside him… no, three somethings. All five Fairy Tail mages tensed, preparing themselves for whatever creature he was imagining to fight against them next.

…But none of them were prepared for what appeared.

Three figures solidified out of nothingness all around Rustyrose, at first kneeling but quickly pushing themselves to their feet. Elfman and Evergreen had never seen these three before, but Cana, Erza and Gray had their breath stolen away.

"Capricorn?" Cana gasped, staring at the goat man who had appeared to Rustyrose's right, clad once again in the short-sleeved jacket, with yellow shirt and wrist-bands he'd worn while with Grimoire Heart. "But… I thought you were on our side now!"

"You… you're that little girl…" Erza breathed, staring at the girl with short pink hair, golden-wing like ornaments on either side of her head and a long red cloak billowing out behind her. "The one that Juvia and I fought against."

"No…" Gray whispered, his eyes wide and disbelieving at the sight of the buxom woman with long dark purple hair, clad in a skin-tight body-suit and with a large greenish orb floating above one of her hands. "This can't… you can't… what have you done!?" he yelled at the grinning Rustyrose.

"They're not real," Erza said, levelling her sword quickly. "He's created them from scratch with his magic."

"They're real enough! Grimoire Heart stands together even when torn apart!" Rustyrose cackled, lashing his hand out towards the stunned Fairies. "Caprico… Meredy… Ultear… let's take them out!"

* * *

**Alright then, that's the end of the chapter. *grins* Hope you enjoyed it and the next one should be up next Monday as usual.**

**But now I've got a request for all of my readers. During the course of writing this story I have determined that it's a lot harder for me to write combat scenes involving the Harry Potter characters than it is for me to write them with the Fairy Tail members. And this is mainly because its difficult to think of what spell the Potter cast will use next in their fight scenes as I don't want them to just be firing off Stunners, Impediment Jinxes and a few others all the time. I want some variety to their battles and some interesting twists and turns they can take just like the Fairy Tail characters do in their fights. But considering the Potterverse characters can cast spells that have almost any imaginable effect, its tough coming up with new things for them to do, whereas the Fairy Tail characters have much stricter guidelines as to their individual abilities which are easier to follow.**

**So, I'm turning to you lot for help. From now on, if you ever think of a new and interesting spell that you think a Harry Potter character, good or evil, could potentially use at some point in a battle, please do not hesitate to tell me via PM. DO NOT DO SO IN REVIEWS! If I think its a good spell I will log it and then try and use it if I think it works well within a particular scenario! You can send in as many spells as you like. The more the merrier. They may not all get used, but if I think they fit then they'll definitely go in somewhere.**

**Thanks and see you all next week!**


	48. Embodiment of Life

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 48:- Embodiment of Life**

* * *

Gray could hardly believe his eyes… when last he'd seen Ultear she'd given up the fight for evil. The spirit of her mother had revealed the truth to her daughter, the truth that Ultear had long since been missing, which finally explained why Ul had seemingly abandoned her to torture at the hands of the Bureau of Magical Development, having been tricked into taking her there to cure the fever born of possessing too much magical power and then being told she'd passed away. Her eyes had been filled with remorse and guilt and Gray had wished he could stay and help her through it, but with the looming threat of Master Hades he had been unable to do so.

The Ultear standing before him now… none of that remorse was there. In its place was that exact same cruel smirk she'd worn during her battle with him. And at Rustyrose's word she'd already lashed up her hand in Erza's direction and cried, "ARC OF TIME… TO THE FUTURE!"

Instantly the Heart Kreuz Armour that Erza was wearing began to rust away into nothingness, causing the redhead to start and slap her arms in over herself when she realised her clothes were deteriorating as well, leaping backwards and shedding her armour to Requip quickly into her Heaven's Wheel Armour.

"**TENRIN… BLUMENBLATT!"** she shouted, launching a volley of swords out of thin air down upon Ultear, only for a matching volley of glowing pink blades to come lashing out of nowhere from Meredy, parrying them aside and littering the battlefield with the blades. Caprico and Rustyrose both leapt forwards too, the goat-man sweeping out with a wide kick to hammer Evergreen straight in the stomach with a hoof and bowl her away, while Elfman was forced to leap aside as Rustyrose's Dark Sword slashed dangerously close to his flank. Battle was instantly joined between the two sides and Gray immediately made a beeline straight for Ultear.

"Oi, Ultear!" he shouted, slamming a wall of ice across the ground to forcibly cut the both of them off from the rest of the fighting. "Stop this! We made up our differences before already! You told me you were done fighting for Grimoire Heart!"

"Who are you exactly?" Ultear sneered, vaporising the ice wall with a swish of her hand except for several very sharp shards which she sent pulsing in at Gray, forcing him to dodge by creating an ice pillar beneath his feet that carried him up and out of the way. Seconds later the pillar vanished as well, turning to steam, and Gray yelled as he dropped like a stone while Ultear flung her orb at him.

"**FLASH FORWARD!"**

The orb split into at least thirty separate orbs of identical size to the original and pounded into him, sending him crashing into a boulder and bombarding him like a rain of solid punches.

"GWWWAAAAAAHHHH!" he yelled as they crashed into his body over and over again. Quickly he encased his arms in icy spears and slashed some of them into pieces to give him enough breathing room to leap away, but all those that he destroyed immediately fixed themselves and swooped in for him again, forcing him to punch some of them away with his bare hands when the ice spears also evaporated into nothing. They swarmed him from all sides and pounded at him relentlessly, while Ultear herself advanced upon him with a smirk and with a wave of her hand she caused a small cliff nearby to erode enough to cause a rockslide that cascaded downwards towards Gray.

"Gray-san!" yelled a voice from above and suddenly Wendy was there, the Sky Dragon Slayer having been flying around the battlefield thanks to Charla, helping out wherever she was needed. Charla quickly dropped her straight into the middle of the melee of flying orbs and with a yelled she cried, **"TENRYUU NO YOKUGEKI!"**

The wind of her Wing Attack blasted outwards in all directions at once, flinging all of the orbs away at the same time which gave Gray enough time to seize Wendy and pull her out of the way of the falling rocks, diving to the ground out of their path before the both of them could be crushed.

"My, my, you've got some fight in you for such a small child," Ultear remarked, clapping her hands together. "You very much remind me of Meredy."

"Ultear," grunted Gray as he pushed himself to his feet, opening his arms and looking to the Time Arc mage beseechingly. "You don't remember anything we talked about here before? Do you remember anything about me? About Lyon? About Ul… your own mother?"

"What are you blabbering on about?" Ultear sniffed scornfully, summoning her orb back into her hand. "You and I have never met before. And you really think I care about my mother?"

"Of course you care! You told me yourself! Everything you were doing at Grimoire Heart was so that you could be with her again! You're not a bad person!"

"Nonsense. Grimoire Heart is my life! It's always been my life!" Ultear snarled, and she threw her orb again to start another bombardment upon Gray and Wendy, but this time even as they fended off the attacks as best they could she fan forwards as well and summoned a thin, magical sword from thin air which she slashed in at Gray. He only just managed to jump backwards in time to avoid serious injury, but the tip of the blade still carved a line across his chest. Wendy gasped and unleashed a Sky Dragon's Roar that pulsed Ultear backwards, but she was able to dig her sword into the ground and anchor herself from going too far.

Gray growled, clutching his stomach as Wendy quickly tried to heal the damage. It had been naive to think that this Ultear would remember anything about their previous battle. Or that she would even have the same personality or motive. This Ultear had been imagined into existence by Rustyrose - which meant she had the personality and drive that he imagined her to have. Nothing more than a fierce loyalist to Grimoire Heart. She probably didn't even have any memories of Ul, or anything that Rustyrose himself didn't know about.

"You…" he grunted, looking up to fix her eye with his own. "You are but a pale imitation of the real Ultear. You may look exactly the same, but there's nothing of her in you. And in her name… in Ul's name… I'm going to destroy you!"

"You can try," Ultear sneered as the tossed her orb high into the air. "But sooner or later all from Fairy Tail shall crumble before the might of Grimoire Heart. **LUMINOUS MINUTES!"**

The orb replicated again, only this time instead of hammering in at him like normal they swept down like beams of light that smashed and pummelled at Gray once more, tossing him backwards and straight over Wendy's head with a yell. Only this time it felt less painful when they struck him and he felt a surge of strength rushing through his body even as he landed on his feet.

"**ARMOUR!" **Wendy shouted, which explained what had happened - she'd raised both his and her magical defence moments before the bombardment could strike. She quickly thrust her arms out wide and added, **"ARMS! VERNIER!" **and their body's glowed as they felt the added power rushing through them.

"Come on, Gray-san!" Wendy nodded firmly. "I don't know what's going on here, but if you say we should take her down then I'm with you!"

Gray grinned, but balked when he saw Ultear leaping up behind Wendy and slashing her sword straight down for the Sky Dragon Slayer's head. With an explosion of speed brought on by Wendy's enhancements he dove forwards to smash his fist into Ultear's own moments before the blade could strike down, throwing her backwards. She was able to flip neatly back onto her feet, but moments later and Gray had covered the floor with ice which made her slip flat onto her back just in time to see a huge icy hammer descending down towards her. Growling and lashing her hands up, Ultear blasted all the ice around her to vapour and sprang back upwards only for Wendy to suddenly be in her face with her foot swinging forwards.

"**TENRYUU NO KAGITSUME!"** she shouted and hammered her claw attack for Ultear's nose. At the last second Ultear managed to summon her Orb back into her hand and use it as a shield to take the strike, the orb fracturing into pieces as the blow pulsed her backwards, but fixing itself and blasting forwards to hammer Wendy in the stomach a second later, throwing her backwards and away.

Gray leapt up and caught her before she could crash onto her back but a second later the both of them were caught up in the branches of a tree which suddenly sprouted out nowhere, thundering upwards from the ground as Ultear accelerated the time of a little seedling beneath them and swamping them in its branches. The tree aged so much in the space of three seconds that it withered, died and fell over, sending both the mages crashing down towards the floor. Gray sprang from the branches before they could be crushed beneath it, creating an ice slide to allow him and Wendy to whoosh towards the ground. Once again the slide vanished before they could reach it but this time Charla was there, the little white cat sweeping in to catch them and, despite the fact she couldn't carry them both, she was able to provide them with a soft landing, like a feline parachute.

"She seems like she'll be a troublesome opponent," Charla murmured.

"Yeah, but this time I'm not facing her alone," Gray growled as he pushed himself to his feet, just in time to see a volley of orbs come zinging their way once again.

* * *

Elfman wasn't really sure what to expect when a small girl that couldn't have been any older than thirteen, maybe fourteen at a stretch, stalked towards him. He'd seen her be created out of thin air right before his eyes by Rustyrose's magic but he still froze up as Meredy approached, not sure what to do.

"I… I can't do this…" he croaked, stepping backwards nervously. "There's… there's no act more unmanly than to hit a child."

"You hesitate," Meredy whispered, her eyes blank and her expression almost robotic. "Which will make this easier for me. Engaging enemy." She swept an arm out to the side and swung it inwards towards the big man like a sideways karate chop. **"MAGUILTY RAYS!" **she yelled, and about half a dozen streaks of pointed yellow light whooshed out of nowhere to converge in on Elfman's position. Elfman instantly bounded backwards with on large leap to get out of the way, but the rays corrected their course and followed him, all of them lancing towards his chest at the same time and plunging straight through at the same time.

"GGGGGWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Elfman roared as every nerve in his body seemed to scream with intense pain at the content and he crashed down on his back, clutching at his chest. There were no wounds there but it felt exactly like he really had been speared in six places at the same time.

Meredy was quick to capitalise on his fall and sprang forwards, raising one hand above her head and shouting, **"MAGUILTY SODOM!"** which caused several ethereal and glowing blue swords to appear above her head, all of them twisting around to rain down upon him in a manner distinctly similar to Erza's Blumenblatt attack.

"**YŌSEI KIJŪ: LEPRECHAUN!" **Evergreen suddenly swept forwards and sent a streak of dust needles pummelling in from the side, peppering the swords and sending them cascading out in all directions except where Elfman was currently lying. The Fairy Mage twisted around on her wings and threw a punch at Meredy, who was able to catch it by crossing her arms but the blow still knocked her back towards the ground.

"Elfman, focus!" Evergreen yelled at him from above. "That girl's not real! She's a figment of that poser's imagination."

"I know that but…still…!"

"You've got to fight her or she'll make a meal out of you! Nobody will judge you for defending yourself against a child if she's trying to kill you! Especially one that's fake!"

"…Right…" Elfman growled, pushing himself to his feet and activating his Beast Soul. Meredy looked up as the two mages took up combat positions before her, but she didn't show any concern at all.

"Two opponents now," she whispered. "Danger levels have been raised, but it is no cause for me to back down." She looked quickly to Evergreen and added, "Target is capable of turning me into stone with her eyes. Taking necessary precautions."

Those necessary precautions turned out to be closing her eyes, but her body began to glow with a pink aura as she magically enhanced her other senses, sharpening her hearing in particular. But she also enhanced her eyes until she could actually vaguely see through her own eyelids. Which was why when Elfman jumped towards her and hammered his fist down on top of her she was able to see and hear him coming with ease and dive forwards, forward-rolling underneath him and sending a volley of Maguilty Sodom swords racing up towards Evergreen. The Fairy Mage twisted away and dodged violently from side to side to avoid the blades but they were able to twist around and come back towards her from all directions.

"**YŌSEI BAKUDAN: GREMLIN!" **she shouted, spewing dust out of her body which detonated in a volley of explosions all around her, tearing the swords to shreds. Meredy herself was quickly distracted as Elfman descended upon her with a flurry of punches that had her flipping right to left to get out of the way. Elfman's hand swiped in close to her head, forcing her to duck under it and spin away, dodging backwards as Elfman slammed one, two, three punches into the spots where she'd just been and creating large holes in the ground whenever his fist impacted, but his third strike turned into an uppercut clawed up a barrage of earth and stone to bombard Meredy and send her skidding backwards. Elfman leapt towards her with one arm raised for a mighty final swing…

…but then Meredy spread her arms out to either side and Elfman gasped in mid-swing. That was exactly the same pose that Lisanna had been standing in when he'd taken a swipe at her years ago… the same pose she'd been in when he thought she'd killed her! Before he could stop himself he pulled out of the swing and stumbled sideways and Meredy took the opportunity to dive the other way and fling another volley of swords at him. The Beast's hide was tough so the swords failed to cut far into his skin, but for every nick they still felt like they had plunged straight through to the other side.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Elfman bellowed, collapsing to the floor and gasping for breath, swords continuing to rain down upon him as he crashed onto his side, heaving for breath and his body wracked with pain, as if his internal organs really had been sliced open two dozen times.

"ELFMAN!" Evergreen shouted and charged inwards with another burst of machine gun needles that forced Meredy to somersault backwards onto her hands and flip over several times to avoid the shots. Evergreen landed beside the fallen Beast and knelt down beside him to make sure he was okay.

"First target immobilised," Meredy whispered. "Switching attention to the second." She raised her arms and flung ten blue swords out towards Evergreen. She quickly rocketed up into the air to draw the blades away from Elfman, twisting and turning at tight angles to dodge and slip by the blades as they whipped themselves around in hot pursuit. Evergreen quickly turned to dive bomb Meredy, intent on seizing her and forcing her to open her eyes if necessary. But Meredy launched another Rays attack at her to cut off her charge and the moment she altered course to avoid the Rays she ran straight into the swords pursuing her from behind.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Elfman gritted his teeth through the pain, his eyes sparking open and narrowing at Evergreen's screams. "Evergreen," he whispered as he fought through the pain and pushed himself to his feet, flexing his claws and growling. "I failed to protect you before… I will not do so again! If I did… then I could never call myself a Man ever again."

"First target unexpectedly back on his feet," Meredy murmured, more swords conjuring in through the air around her and firing at Elfman, but the Beast let out a terrific roar and thundered towards her straight towards the oncoming storm of blades. He scooped up a massive log as he passed as if it weighed no more than a bamboo cane and twirled it around before him, scattering the swords but for a few that nicked at his shoulders or legs, but ignored the lancing pain and slammed the log down atop Meredy's head. She vaulted backwards to avoid the blow and the log splintered to pieces when it hit the ground but Elfman immediately let it go and sprang forwards to seize Meredy in one hand, spinning around and throwing her hard right for a nearby cliff face. Meredy screamed as she smashed into the rock hard enough to fracture the stone and Evergreen immediately took advantage of her distraction to leap back into the air.

"**YŌSEI GYORAI: UNDINE!"** she shouted, and fired her torpedo attack with devastating force. Meredy gasped and launched another Rays attack forwards, the spells colliding together and exploding in mid-air with devastating force. Meredy leapt away to avoid being engulfed in a shower of smoke from the explosion and pushed herself back upright, squaring herself against the two Mages again.

"For a little kid she's pretty tough," Evergreen muttered.

"Yeah," Elfman muttered clenching his fist and shivering as the memory of how he'd lost control and 'killed' Lisanna played in his head. "And I've had my fill of hitting little girls. But I didn't kill my sister. She's alive. And I will not be killing this Meredy girl either, for the real her is probably safe back in our world. This imaginary girl… she's nothing but a threat. So as a Man, I will fight her anyway!"

"That's the spirit," Evergreen chuckled, before she and Meredy launched a barrage of needles and swords at each other at the same time!

* * *

"**WIND EDGE!"** Cana shouted as she swiped the appropriate card through the air, blades of air peeling away from the slender object to lance in towards the goat-man standing before her. But he didn't even twitch a muscles - the blades completely missed him. It didn't look like they peeled away at the last second or something - they just sliced up the ground around him instead as if they were always going to miss, even though Cana knew full well her aim had been accurate.

"Damn it!" she whispered. "So your power works exactly the same as the original you, huh?"

"You cannot hope to defeat meh," Caprico stated. There was no arrogance in his voice, as far as he was concerned that was just a fact. "There is not a human who can." And quite abruptly he burst forward with a shocking turn of speed to grab Cana's shoulders and hammer his knee straight into her gut.

"KKKAHH!" Cana gasped as spittle flew from her mouth along with most of her air, but Caprico instantly flipped over her and heaved her up behind him, tossing her up and into the air where she was left perfectly vulnerable for a round-house kick straight to the chest. Cana yelled as the goat's hoof hammered in against her, wheezing as she tossed another card into the air even as she crashed to the floor. This time it was a lightning card which exploded around the fake Spirit, but he he just strode through it as the lightning vaporised the rocks on all sides of him.

"I hope meh have shown you the futility of your situation," Caprico said as Cana scrambled to her feet, nursing her bruises and wincing in pain - those strikes had been harsh and brutally swift after all. "Perhaps meh will make you into my subordinate as well. There are many of you Fairy Tail mages that would be ripe for the taking in that regard."

Cana growled, but knew that threat was an empty one - these fakes that Rustyrose had conjured were extremely convincing and there was no denying that his power was vast to be able to create three that could walk, talk and use magic without Rustyrose himself having to direct their every move like they were puppets. But he wouldn't be able to generate them forever and if this Caprico cast his magic over her to make her his subordinate, it would wear off the moment Rustyrose was forced to make him vanish.

Still, with a power like his, there was no way that Cana could hope to defeat him. This was an opponent that even her father might struggle against if his attacks simply refused to connect with the subject. She wondered how Master Hades could have kept him from getting grandiose ideas about taking over, and then she remembered what Lucy had told her about how Hades could create dust devils which would definitely be able to hit him.

…But if a non-human was what it took to win…

Caprico suddenly leapt upwards into a full somersault and brought both feet hammering down towards Cana's head at the same time. Cana quickly threw a card down upon the floor and a sudden billowing smokescreen burst outwards, engulfing her and allowing her to jump away in an unseen direction as Caprico smashed down where she'd just been hard enough to fracture stone. He whirled around in search of her, but Cana had already run out of the smoke and was looking ahead to where Gajeel and Pantherlily were still locked in battle against Kain Hikaru. Kain had just hammered Gajeel into the floor though Gajeel was able to lash up with one iron clad foot and hit him in the face while Lily was circling around, looking for an opening.

Cana flung a card out towards Pantherlily and before he realised what was happening he was sucked right into the card which boomeranged around to return to Cana's hand, where she let him out again.

"Huh?" Lily blinked, looking around wildly. "Cana? What did you…?"

"I don't really have time to explain," Cana cried. "Look!" She pointed to where the smoke was clearing and Caprico was waving it away.

"Isn't that…?" Lily frowned.

"That's a fake version of one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, but it still has the same powers as he did. Human Subordination Magic," Cana explained quickly. "None of us can fight him properly and Lucy's not here to summon her Spirits to battle. That means you're the only one here who can combat him because his magic won't work on you."

"…I see," Lily said, not bothering to question Cana any further - he got the point. Gajeel would have to fight Kain without him for now and he hefted his sword as he prepared for Caprico's next move.

"So you send a non-human to fight against meh instead," Caprico bleated. "A logical decision, but being non-human does not guarantee victory against meh." He sprang forwards in a full on charge straight for Lily who threw himself in to meet him head on and swept his sword in a colossal sweeping arc that carved through the stone like it was paper, but Caprico nimbly leapt off the ground and kicked against the flat of the blade with his hoot, rebounding off it to slam his horned head straight into Lily's face. The big Exceed's head snapped backwards under the blow and he almost dropped his sword, giving Caprico plenty of time to land on his shoulder and hammer both feet upwards into Lily's chest then twist over to sweep kick his legs out from underneath him all in swift, decisive motions.

But as Lily fell backwards he activated his wings and swept backwards, face up, before he could hit the floor. Clearly this guy was an expert martial artist, so he would need more than brute force to finish him - Lily too would have to use his combat skills. Twisting himself up and over in the air he shortened his sword down to a more regular length and flashed back downwards towards the opponent in a full downwards slice. Caprico easily vaulted to the side but Lily swiftly brought the blade up to counter a swift kick and span around with two rapid diagonal slashes and a cleave in across the midsection. Caprico dodged left to right and somersaulted backwards over the final sweep, rebounding off a boulder and jumping over Pantherlily's head, his hands lashing out to grab the Exceed by his small, rounded ears and tried to pull him down with him.

However, despite Lily's yell of pain as his ears were yanked on he didn't let himself get dragged downwards. Instead he jumped into a backflip of his own, rolling with Caprico's tugging to jump over the goat-man's head in turn and as soon as his feet touched the ground he shot vertically upwards into the air before Caprico could let go of his ears, dragging him up into the air with him. When Caprico finally did let go he was already fifty feet up and Lily took advantage of his lack of footing to pull back and hammer a fist straight in for Caprico's chest. Caprico formed an X with his arms to block the blow but it still hammered him down towards the ground and Lily pointed his sword down after him, extending it rapidly as the point chased him back towards earth, seeking to impale him on the rocks as soon as he landed.

Once again though Caprico proved to be insanely agile and was able to land on his hand and flip himself out of the way as the blade pummelled into the ground inches from his fingers. Not wishing to let the opportunity pass him back, Lily rammed the blade deeper into the ground and with a mighty uppercut he swung it upwards, cleaving through the rock and sending debris flying everywhere to batter against Caprico even as he tried to dodge. The goat went sprawling and Lily dropped down towards him, drawing back his sword to take another mighty swing downwards.

Caprico's response to the incoming cat was to sweep a hand up, purple rune like letters trailing through the air from his fingers, and shout, "Open, Hero of Rubengard, San Jiao Shin!"

Suddenly a bearded man wearing a green robe and carrying a very long spear appeared in a flash of red light before him and slashed the spear in towards Lily, countering the sword strike with a shower of sparks. The force of Lily's strike still carried them backwards across the turf slightly but the man was able to bring Lily to a halt and heave the sword away, spinning around to swipe his spear in for Lily's neck. Lily arched his back rapidly so the sweeping blade passed in front of his face, clipping one of his whiskers slightly but he turned the rapid motion into a flip so he could avoid San Jiao Shin's follow up slash for his ankles.

"Hmm…" Lily grunted as he hefted his sword, facing off against both the man and the goat-man as the latter sprang onto his feet. "If he's not real then you're not real either," he said to San Jiao Shin. "Which means you won't mind if I cut you down."

"Bold words," Caprico dusted off his hands. "Let's see if you can back them up."

* * *

Seeing as how Pantherlily seemed to be doing okay against Caprico and Cana could be of no more help to him really, she turned her attention elsewhere. Namely towards where Erza was currently in the middle of a battle with the man who'd conjured all these fake Grimoire Heart members up, Rustyrose himself.

"**KANSOU!" **Erza shouted, her body glowing as she took on the Lightning Empress armour and sprang into the air, her spear twisting over her head like helicopter blades until she lashed it downwards and discharged a lightning bolt from the tip which quite literally thundered in towards Rustyrose on an erratic zig-zag course.

But suddenly an enormous metal rod sprouted out of the ground to act like a lightning rod - the attack diverting to strike it instead and leaving Rustyrose more than open to leap into the air, the wings on his feet carrying him high above Erza to punch down towards her with his Dark Sword arm. Erza instantly switched into her Black Wing armour and evaded the blow with a sideways twist of her wings that threw her into a barrel roll and she spun around to roar, **"KUREHA: GESSEN!"** and sweep her blade through air in an X pattern, huge light blue energy blades generating from the blade and sweeping up at Rustyrose while she barrelled after them, only for all the attacks to be blocked with a solid clang upon Rustyrose's golden shield. Sparks flew as Erza slammed into the shield, putting her full body weight behind the attack, only for the shield to suddenly sprout golden spikes which tore at her armour and forced her to dodge away before it could pierce her skin.

"Your armours are impressive, Erza Scarlet," Rustyrose admitted with a cruel smirk on his face. "But they can only do whatever they were designed to do. My weapons can do anything that I choose for them to do at the time! For instance…" The spikes on the shield suddenly moulded into what looked like a cannon and a gigantic laser ripped loose from the barrel, pulsing across the sky to smash straight into Erza. A swift Requip into her Adamantine Armour allowed her to take the brunt of the attack upon her own shields but Rustyrose quickly pressed home his advantage and swiped the Jet Black sword across, the claw-like fingers lengthening to dash across the shield and tear it asunder. Erza fell towards the ground, switching back into the Black Wing armour to try and catch herself only for a huge iron weight to suddenly appear beneath her, long chains attaching it to her ankles. Gravity took hold and Erza was yanked straight downwards.

But before she could hit the ground, Erza flipped herself over to slash clean through the chain with one stroke of her blade, allowing her to seize the iron weight. She switched armour again, transforming into her yellow Giant's armour and heaving the weight upwards in a colossal throw, pulsing it straight up at Rustyrose, who barely had time to react. He dove sharply downwards as the weight blasted through the space where he'd just been like the world's biggest cannonball and as he tried to recover his trajectory Erza had already shifted into her Morning Star armour and levelled its two spears in his direction.

"**VENUS PHOTON SLICER!"**

"GWAAAAAAAH!" Rustyrose cried as a titanic yellow energy blast fired from the spear tips and crashed into his chest before he could raise his shield in defence. He exploded backwards to like a meteor and was sent thrusting down towards the crowd. For half a second, all three of the Grimoire Heart mages he had created flickered, almost disappearing, but they solidified again a moment later when a jetpack suddenly appeared on Rustyrose's back and fired into life, spinning him around and allowing him to land with a skidding halt on his feet instead of crash landing, nursing his bruised chest.

"My armours may be designed," Erza stated as she stepped towards him. "But that means I know exactly what they can do, what each of their strengths and weaknesses are, whereas you have to keep coming up with whatever you're going to do next in the moment. Which one is the better option when put under pressure I wonder?"

"It is unequivocally mine," Rustyrose growled as he pushed himself upwards. "Your armours provide you with a varied skillset, but you are are still limited in your capabilities. But I can do anything. Everything that I desire."

To prove his point his body suddenly glowed and his clothing began to morph, her torso and limbs becoming encrusted in black armour and a pair of wings sprouting out of his back. Erza's eyes widened, quickly realising what was happening - he was wearing a variation of the Black Wing armour that covered his entire body from the neck down, complete with the exact same sword!

"I can even do what you can do," Rustyrose grinned and blasted forwards, slashing his new sword and roaring, **"KUREHA: GESSEN!" **to blast forth an energy blade attack just like Erza used before.

But Erza just smirked and said, "Bad idea," before shifting into her Soaring Armour and shooting away to the side so the attack went horrendously wide of its mark before she arced back in at incredible speed. Rustyrose yelled as her swords slashed into his new wings, tearing them apart and dropping him to the floor.

"I know my armour's inside and out, like I said," Erza said simply, shooting back round for another pass and raking her blades across his front to tear a rent in the metal over his chest. "I know where all their weak spots are as well. **HISHŌ: SONIC CLAW!"** she added with a bellow, blasting forwards with six slashes at blazing speed, so fast that they created an actual shockwave even as they tore open Rustyrose's armour and pulsed him backwards at the same time. However, he was able to sprout wings on his feet again and arc back upwards.

"Good point," he muttered. "But whatever armour you choose I can still match it!" he slammed his fingers to his forehead and yelled, "Come forth, cheetah warriors! Hunt this woman down and reduce her to meat for your cubs."

Instantly about half a dozen slender looking men and woman with slender bodies, cat ears and tails, golden fur peppered with black spots and each one holding two swords in their clawed hands, appeared before him. Gnashing their fanged teeth they all tore forwards at the same time, so fast they were almost blurs. Erza instantly dashed away, parrying the strike of one and spinning around to catch the blade of a second and grab its wrist, heaving it round to crash into a third and twirl into a spinning duck as the blade of a fourth whooshed over her head. She leapt up to kick her squarely in the jaw but as she did so two more slashed their blades into her from either side at the same time.

She skilfully parried them both, but one of them still managed to nick her side. She grunted and shoved them both away to land with a spin and smash the blades out of the hands of one and uppercut him to the chin, somersaulting backwards over another as he attempted to stab her in the back and slashing him across the back, before another two charged in from the side and kicked her in the side, slamming her away and forcing her to roll back to her feet as they all charged in at her from all angles at once.

All of that happened in the space of about seven seconds, and all anyone could else could make out was a blur of motion and slashing swords that kept going in a full scale brawl between Erza and the six creatures. But neither Erza nor Rustyrose was aware that Cana was watching. And the Card Mage's mind was racing, a thought tugging madly at the back of her mind as she watched the cheetah creatures at work.

What did they remind her of?

And then she gasped… able to practically feel a light turning itself on in her brain. She had an idea. A crazy idea that she was pretty sure wouldn't even work, but well… nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Rustyrose cackled as he watched his cheetah warriors tearing across the rocks and slashing relentlessly at Erza, and as she cut one of them down and threw another two away. "Truly you are a valkyrie, Erza. I can see why even Azuma had trouble with you. But sooner or later I will find something even you can't combat and then…"

"Oh would you shut up?" Cana shouted as she swept a card out to the side that sent several icicle spears crashing out towards Rustyrose's back. Rustyrose span around and was forced to throw himself sideways in a mad-dive to avoid the incoming shards but even as he took to the air he suddenly found another card flapping straight into his face, glowing brightly enough to force him to shade his eyes even through his shades. And suddenly everything warped into two-dimensions as he found himself sealed away inside another card which zoomed through the air to return neatly to Cana's deck.

"Why you little…" Rustyrose growled up at the smirking brunette, pounding his hand against the barrier with made up the face of the card. "What delusion possesses you to think you can imprison me?"

"I dunno, you look pretty imprisoned in there if you ask me," Cana snorted mockingly, shaking the card and laughing as Rustyrose yelled and tumbled about in two dimensions, smacking up against the sides of the cards like the little balls inside a rattle. When she stopped he nursed his head and snarled at her, incensed by her gloating expression.

"You think you can keep me in here?" he growled. "I can destroy you without even leaving this place if I so chose."

"Oh, do enlighten me."

"Look around you, oafish girl? I am in here yet all I created with my Arc of Embodiment moves around unhindered."

And he was right about that. Erza's sword plunged through the gut of another cheetah man while Ultear, Meredy and Caprico were all still locked in heated combat with their selected adversaries.

"But you created them before," Cana taunted. "I highly doubt you'd be able to create something new out here while you're stuck in there."

"We shall see," Rustyrose's head flew to his temples again and he growled, "Sacred Guardian Beast, Gale Belfast!"

Then next ten seconds were a sudden blur of power and light as Cana acted the moment Rustyrose activated his magic, thrusting her hand straight up into the air with three separate cards gripped tightly in her fingers. One was the card Rustyrose was trapped in and as he activated his Arc of Embodiment from inside the card his magic had to traverse its way across the barrier trapping him in two dimensions. It had to pass through Cana's own magic, which was why she was able to latch onto it, channelling a portion of it into herself. Cana roared as she felt a sudden influx of power rushing through her - power foreign to her body just like the Fairy Glitter - and drew it to her centre just as she did with that, knowing she had to act quickly before she lost it.

Which was why she had the second card, which happened to be her Sexy Lady card. This was one of the few cards she possessed which allowed her to summon a solid object into existence - a solid object with a rudimentary consciousness capable of moving and acting on its own or under her direction. The Sexy Lady card was the closest thing she had to emulating Rustyrose's own magic and she activated that magic now.

"What… what are you…?" Rustyrose gasped as he felt some of his power being drawn away. "Stop it!"

But Cana didn't stop. She gritted her teeth and kept going, channelling her magic and Rustyrose's magic together, the two intertwining in what felt like a tight spiral and amalgamating together like strands of DNA. It was not a Unison Raid… it was more like when Laxus had given Natsu his Lightning Dragon Slayer magic and it had fused together with Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer magic to birth something new. That was the principle Cana was drawing upon now with two magics that could create something from nothing, and she gasped as the two magics fused together a blast of power that felt like every nerve in her body had suddenly burst into flame, becoming one under her control!

And with a final shove she channelled the new magic into the third card in her hand…

…which happened to be one of the Magic: The Gathering cards that Dennis Creevey had given her before.

***BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!***

"RRRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRR!"

The entire battlefield momentarily stopped as not one, but two terrific roars rent the air. One belonged to the Gale Belfast beast, a large draconic creature as tall as a tree, with a wide gaping maw, enormous sweeping wings in place of arms and covered in black armour and spikes. But the other belonged to creature that immediately lunged at it and sank its teeth into its shoulder, pushing it backwards with terrifying strength and twisting it around to send it sprawling across the ground with a spray of dirt and dust. The new creature stepped back, lashing its tail and snarling from deep within its gut, preparing itself for another charge.

Even from on the beach some distance away from where the Fairy Tail mages were fighting the Death Eaters and Hogwarts staff and students paused in their bout to look back and see what was going on. And the first person to speak was Dean Thomas, who croaked in an awestruck voice… "Is that a dinosaur?"

And it was! It was an actual theropod dinosaur, two-legged and snatching its three-clawed hands at the air, its huge jaws lined with long jagged teeth, razor sharp and dripping with saliva. Its stomach was a pale white but the rest of its scales were green with blue-black stripes. It had two large black ridges on its head, one above each eye, while a series of smaller ridges ran right the way down its spine all the way down towards the tip of its long, swaying tail.

But that wasn't all. Because on its back was a large saddle that stretched down to allow the straps to loop beneath its belly. Around the base of its head was another strap, to which a pair of reigns had been connected. And sitting in the saddle, feet hooked into the stirrups and holding the reigns, was a rider. A rider with a large spear in one hand and a long green cloak that matched the dinosaur's scales sweeping back from her shoulders.

Cana herself was sitting on the dinosaur's back.

"The Allosaurus Rider," whispered Dennis, recognising the creature immediately from the picture upon his card.

Cana looked down at herself and blinked in amazement. She hadn't exactly expected herself to be the one in the saddle but hey, she wasn't about to complain. She looked badass as hell and the Allosaurus she was suddenly riding was obeying her without question, waiting for her cue to charge at the Gale Belfast again as it began to clamber to its feet, pounding its wings to help get itself upright.

"You… what… what did you do?" shouted Rustyrose from where he had a vague view of this sudden new development within his card.

"I think… I just made a breakthrough," Cana grinned giddily, hefting her spear. "A brand new Card Magic just like I was hoping for! Thank you very much indeed for that leg up. What should I call it I wonder? Your magic's the Arc of Embodiment isn't it? Maybe then this should be something like… Embodiment Card… or something like that."

"…DAMN YOOOOUUUUUU!" Rustyrose shouted and suddenly he exploded out of the card in Cana's hand, tearing himself free with his Jet Black Sword slicing through the dimensional barrier. Cana hadn't expected that and reeled backwards but she hammered her spear upwards to deflect his arm away before he could slash at her with it and the Allosaurus moved on its own to come to her defence, dodging sideways and twisting around to lunge at Rustyrose with its gaping jaws. Rustyrose instantly activated his shield which expanded round his body enough to form a glowing, golden Sphere which the Allosaurus seized in its mouth and flung away with a roar, smashing it straight into the face of the Gale Belfast which reeled back, pounding its wings in disorientation. Rustyrose's sphere dropped to the ground where it unravelled and allowed him to stand up and lash his hand out in the dinosaur's direction.

"DESTROY THEM!" he shouted. "My fragment is shaking for all the wrong reasons! End this now!"

Gale Belfast bellowed and sprang into the air, lashing in for the Allosaurus with claws outstretched. The dinosaur roared back and all it took was a flick of the reigns from Cana for it to thunder in as well, hammering three-toed footprints into the rock as it ducked nimbly under Gale Belfast's gnashing jaw and seized it by the neck, the armour stopping its teeth from going in too far but muscling it backwards towards the cliffs.

Not to be outdone, Gale Belfast's feet came into play, slashing at the Allosaurus' scales and cutting deep gouges into its stomach but the Allosaurus ignored the apparent pain enough to slam the Gale Belfast into a rock face, which gave Cana enough opportunity to lunge forward and bury her spear deep into one of the draconic creature's eyes. Gale Belfast screeched but managed to swing one wing in and clout the Allosaurus across the side, sending it stumbling and forcing it to release its neck. Pressing home its advantage the Gale Belfast sprang upwards and crashed both its feet into the Allosaurus' flank, burying its claws deep into its scales and throwing it away.

Somehow the Allosaurus was able to keep its feet, but it had to twist around wildly to do it and its tail smashed the Gale Belfast right across the face. The Gale Belfast reeled, which provided ample opportunity for the dinosaur to twist its way back around and sink its teeth into the Gale Belfast's wing, dragging it sideways with a furious wrench of its powerful neck. As the draconic creature was thrown to the floor in a spray of dirt, Cana slashed her arm out and yelled, **"RAKURAI NO UNMEI!"** and instantly a bolt of lightning surged from the cards in her hands to crackle its way over the creature's armour. It bellowed in apparent pain, its body smoking, but it still managed surge back upwards and slam a claw into the underside of the Allosaurus' jaw, knocking it for a loop once again.

The Belfast's jaw descended to seize the base of the dinosaur's tail in its teeth and haul it backwards. The Allosaurus howled but and thrashed wildly as it was pulled off its feet, kicking up to slash at the Belfast's belly with its claws. Cana yelled as she was thrown sideways but she managed to keep her seat in the saddle and sent a flurry of cards out that pasted themselves over the Belfast's remaining eye and stuck there, blinding it. Disorientated the creature let go and shook its head only for a spear to suddenly come flying from Cana's hand to bury itself in its neck. It gave out a strangled squawk, and then another when the Allosaurus heaved itself back upwards and rammed its head into the Belfast's stomach.

"Tear them apart!" Rustyrose growled as the reptilian titans brawled furiously. "I will not have my magic usurped in this ma…" he stopped and summoned his shield as Erza crashed into him, garbed in her cloth outfit and wielding the Benizakura. Metal clanged upon metal in a shower of sparks Erza smirked into his Rustyrose's face over the top of the shield as they strained against each other, whereupon Rustyrose noticed that his cheetah warriors had all vanished, cut down by the Titania.

"You're spreading your magic thin, Rustyrose," she observed, trying to push him backwards. "How many more things can you create that move independently of yourself? I'm impressed you've done this much, but even you have you your limits."

"Ggghhnggh…." Rustyrose growled. "Then I guess I'll have to defeat you in person, Titania," he growled and suddenly lifted himself off the ground on his Pegasus wings, Erza donning the Black Wing armour once more to come after him.

* * *

Down on the beach though things were not going well for the amassed students. As they'd hurried to the water to put Flitwick's advice of putting the sea at their backs into action they'd become a little more spread out and the Death Eaters were trying to take full advantage of it, zapping it to cast a spell from a random angle before zapping away again before they could be hit by a retaliatory spell, and already it was beginning to have an effect.

Justin Finch-Fletchley was down, nursing a broken ankle from where he hadn't quite dodged a Blasting Hex quickly enough, and he was now being shielded by Flitwick, who's wand sang through the air to pound out spells that the students could only begin to guess at. Most of them missed thanks to the hit and run tactics the Death Eaters were now employing but one did manage to hit Jugson in the face and promptly made his hands grow until they were the size of dustbin lids, causing him to completely overbalance and allowing Flitwick to finish him off with a Stunner straight to the chest.

But it wasn't just Justin. Terry and Susan had both been knocked unconscious, Ernie was nursing a heavily bleeding forehead, Dean was on the floor clutching his broken ribs and even Cho had a deep cut on her leg which was making it difficult for her to stand. Marietta was standing in front of her, clearly terrified out of her mind but valiantly casting Stunners at any Death Eater who popped in before her.

Dolohov suddenly blitzed in and casting a Killing Curse straight for the two Ravenclaw girls but another spell reached them first - a Banishing Spell from George that knocked them both sideways so the Killing Curse sailed harmlessly by to plunk into the sea.

The twins and Ginny were all taking point, the three Weasleys running wildly between groups to support the teachers wherever they could. Ginny gasped as she tripped over a rock and went stumbling, her lack of balance being capitalised on by two Death Eaters who threw Killing Curses at her at the same time, only for Ginny to suddenly be levitated into the air so the spells missed her. She looked around to see Luna aiming her wand at her and quickly lowering her to the ground, the both of them firing Stunning Spells at the Death Eaters at the same time moments before they vanished into thin air once more.

"Thanks," Ginny said as Luna pulled her in next to Sprout and Zacharias.

"That's alright. It would have been very sad if you'd died," Luna said simply.

"…Yeah, that's one way of putting it," Ginny gritted her teeth and looked out across the beach. "We're not making any headway against them. If we had anti-apparition wards this would be more of a fair fight!"

"AAAHH!" came a voice from nearby and they looked around to see Hannah Abbott being thrown backwards to crash into the tide, her arm hanging funny and making it clear that whatever had just happened had dislocated her shoulder. One of the Death Eaters immediately apparated in over her, wand raised and preparing to cast a point-blank Killing Curse down upon her but before he could cast the spell he was suddenly blindside by Fred, who had taken the initiative to actually charge forwards and physically ram the Death Eater with his shoulder, slamming them both away. The Death Eater looked startled and tried to raise his wand, but Fred was quicker to act and punched him in the face, three times in rapid succession, knocking him unconscious.

"FRED!" George shouted as two other Death Eaters suddenly appeared next to his twin brother and cast spells at him, but Fred dove forwards and dashed his way back towards the surf, using all the lessons on dodging and movement that Erza and Mira had been helping to teach them. George dashed out to meet him and suddenly conjured a large bat into his hand, along with a large iron ball that looked very much like a Bludger, which he smashed with the bat and sent pounding into one of the Death Eater's stomachs. Fred grinned and began conjuring more balls in front of George as he ran, allowing George to swing repeatedly and send more Death Eaters scattering for cover under their bombardment.

At least until a Reductor Curse came out of nowhere and shattered George's bat, throwing him backwards under the force of the blow and hitting his head on a rock, knocking him unconscious. Fred yelled and dashed forwards to repel another spell aimed for his brother's limp body and threw him over one shoulder, hurrying forwards to lay him down behind McGonagall who was locked in a fierce duel with another Death Eater.

The whole place was a mess and while Ginny couldn't really tell which side was winning at the moment she could tell the Death Eaters had the advantage. And the DA still hadn't learned enough in a mere couple of weeks to be ready to take them on. If McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout hadn't been there, she knew they'd probably all have been taken out by now.

"Damn it," Ginny whispered, fear gripping her heart as she hoped George was okay and leaping out to hurl a Disarming Charm at another Death Eater only for him to disappear again before it could hit him. There was no escape for them - the only way out would be to win or force the enemy to retreat and with even the Fairy Tail mages being kept busy nearby, she couldn't see any way out anytime soon.

* * *

Bluenote was chuckling with amusement as Mirajane threw punch after punch at him, occasionally launching herself into a sweep kick and even trying to hammer him into the face with her tail, but he was deflecting each of the blows without too much difficulty. The woman was ferocious, he had to give her that. But in terms of raw power she was no match for him. None of these Fairy Tail brats were any match for him apart from Gildarts and it didn't look like he was even here this time. If he was he would surely have come rushing at him by now.

"Rise," he said, knocking Mira's claws away and thrusting a hand straight into her stomach to knock her backwards. Suddenly Mira felt herself plucked from the ground before she could even take another step, whooshing straight up into the air like she'd been fired upwards from a cannon. She rose fifty feet up in an instant, but then she plunged straight downwards without any warning whatsoever to be slammed painfully into the ground. The air was driven from her lungs but before she could regain it she was whooshing up again, dropping down agains, then again and again and again.

CRASH!

CRASH!

CRASH!

"Guuuhn…" Mira gasped, unable to articulate much else as she tried to recover but her saving grace from this cruel treatment came when Juvia surged herself forwards once more, her body whirling into a cyclone of liquid blades as she pulsed herself in towards Bluenote from the side, leaving a trail of shredded rocks in her wake.

"**WATER JIGSAW!"**

"Mmgh!" Bluenote grunted, slamming his arms up to take the brunt of the attack while simultaneously issuing a gravity wave to pulse Juvia backwards before it could make full contact. Juvia's body was slammed by the force so powerfully that she disintegrated into several flying puddles of water which all came together abruptly to reform the mage's body as she skidded to a halt. Bluenote scowled. This Water Mage was rapidly becoming a nuisance. She wasn't making any more of a dent in his defences than Mirajane but she was rather irritatingly unhurt by their fight so far. Mira was pretty bruised and battered by this point even as she pushed herself back upright, but Juvia didn't have a mark on her.

It was hard to crush water.

"It seems thus far you and I have been trading blows with each other without any visible result," he stated, his coat and ponytail swaying in the wind as he glowered Juvia down.

"You cannot harm Juvia. You do not possess the magic necessary to harm Juvia's water body."

"Is that so?" Bluenote growled, slamming his hands together. "Well then let's see how you handle this one. **BLACK HOLE!"**

Juvia gasped as the purplish orb appeared before her and she felt herself being dragged forwards by the sudden, powerful suction that emanated from the hole. She turned and tried to jet herself in the other direction but though this helped her to fight the pull somewhat it still dragged her inexorably forwards.

Bluenote roared with laughter as she watched Juvia fighting to get away. "Once you're in there, that'll be the end of it Water Girl. The Black Hole will crush you so fiercely that you'll be reduced to atoms and scattered to the wind. Not even water can withstand something like that!"

Juvia gritted her teeth and fought even harder, releasing jets of water from her hands and feet in a bid to increase her momentum and escape the pull, but it made almost no difference at all. A quick look over her shoulder and she saw the water she was letting off be sucked right into the Black Hole and vanish from existence, spurring her to struggle all the harder with absolutely minimal results.

But this was the point where something came sweeping in to hammer Bluenote straight in the nose, almost breaking it and throwing him off his game enough to break his concentration. Juvia collapsed to the floor as the Black Hole spell vanished and turned to stare in awe as Bluenote was slammer in the face over and over again by metal gauntlets and whatever it was that was attacking him was cloaking itself in flames which licked hungrily at his clothes and pulsed over his body with every hit. Bluenote himself was taken aback by this sudden barrage of punches and took more than one bruise to the face before he recovered his wits enough to retaliate and punch the attacker away.

Said attacker didn't land far off but Juvia gaped at what she saw. It was unquestionably Mirajane, but she looked different. She was dressed in a white and blue coat over an equally white and blue bodysuit, held in place with a belt around her waist and another just below her bosom. The coat had a high blue collar and her feet appeared to be actually made out of flames. She wore clawed gauntlets that extended up to her elbows, along with a long, blue cloak. Her hair was wilder than Juvia had ever seen it and her face was framed by brown armour plating that extended into two yellow horns that swept out to either side in place of her ears.

This was Mirajane Sitri. The strongest Satan Soul she possessed… and a form that she hadn't used for a very long time. But like everyone else, Mira had been training hard these past couple of weeks, and now the demonic entity's face was twisted into a vicious snarl as she glared daggers at Bluenote.

"I won't allow it," she growled furiously. "I will not allow you to harm Juvia, or any of my friends. Not now, not ever."

"You certainly have a few tricks up your sleeve," Bluenote rubbed his nose ruefully. "But no matter what form you pull out against me you are still too weak to stop me."

He raised his hand and suddenly the ground beneath Mirajane heaved upwards, a huge chunk of rock lifting up from beneath her and flipping upside down with her still standing on it, smashing her downwards towards the floor with intent to crush her. But Mirajane channelled her power into her feet and an explosion of flames rent through the falling rock, tearing it to powder and launching her forwards towards Bluenote once again. She slammed into him and hooked her arms around his waist, heaving him right off the ground and throwing him down hard enough to fracture the stonework when he landed.

She thundered down towards him feet first, flame pulsing around her like a rocket but Bluenote lashed his hands up at her and she reversed direction, shooting upwards instead. Two enormous boulders, each the size of a small house, uprooted to lance up towards her from either side, trying to smash her between them. Mira's hands lashed out and caught them at arm's length, but she grunted as she fought to hold them off, her immense strength in this form fighting with the intense pressure of Bluenote's magic seeking to crush the rocks in upon her.

Just as her arms were beginning to bend a plume of water rocketed over Bluenote's head to crash into Mira from behind and knock her out from between them rocks at high speed, the rocks smashing together on nothing behind her. The water twisted itself back into human form and Juvia twisted herself around to launch herself back at Bluenote, spinning herself in circles and shouting, **"WATER NEBULA!"**

Huge plumes of water rushed outwards in a helix, homing in on the Gravity Mage. They pulsed over him to send him skidding backwards, digging his heels into the ground as he was soaked to the skin, and as soon as Juvia's attack relented Mirajane was suddenly in his face again, slamming her flaming foot into his chest and unleashing a cascade of hellfire that washed over him, drying him instantly and burning through his coat and throwing him back powerfully enough to force him to perform a backwards somersault to land back on his feet.

Even despite all that though, he appeared to have only minor injuries.

"I grow weary of this," Bluenote snarled and suddenly the ground was rent asunder, both Mirajane and Juvia being slammed into it hard at the same time. Juvia instantly dematerialised into water and rushed through the splinters and cracks in the rocks towards Bluenote, but this time Bluenote was prepared for that and swung his hands around, influencing the gravity so the ground was pushed downwards in the shape of an inverted cone - perfectly smooth slopes all leading down to a single point where Mirajane was currently being crushed downwards. And water or not, Juvia couldn't battle the gravity up the slope and cascaded downwards towards Mirajane. She tried to reform herself back into something solid again but ended up crashing down onto Mirajane while still in a liquid state.

And therefore Mirajane ended up partially submerged inside Juvia's watery body as the both of them tried to fill the same space.

And this included Mirajane's face.

"Glllrrbbrb…" she coughed bubbles into Juvia's back, her eyes widening as she was suddenly robbed of air. Juvia gasped when she realised what had happened and immediately started thrashing, struggling to get up and allow Mirajane to breathe, her movements echoed by Mirajane herself, fighting to stand up or at least wrench her face free of the water but neither of them making any head way at all.

"Mira-san! Hold on!" Juvia cried, and dematerialised, filling up the cone as she gushed towards the surface just like before, but Bluenote just smirked and increased his power, the both of them sinking deeper and deeper into the ground.

"I wager the divine protection upon you Fairy Tail mages doesn't cover running out of oxygen!" he laughed cruelly. "Everybody needs to breathe after all! And now you, Water Girl, it looks like you're about to drown your own comrade. How very unfortunate for you."

Juvia's heart seized with fear as she reformed back into a human shape, unable to solidify with Mirajane inside her. "MIRA-SAN! HANG IN THERE! JUVIA WILL THINK OF SOMETHING!"

"HHHHMMNNGH!" Mira heaved, her Sitri form fading away until she was back in her regular body. Her lungs were rapidly beginning to burn, the air driven out of her under the intense pressure of Bluenote's gravity which was also bombarding her body! Her struggles began to lessen and Juvia noticed, the Water Mage panicking and fighting for all she was worth to pull away from her friend. She was also trying to form an air bubble around Mira's mouth and nose but the gravity was so intense that the air bubbles could no longer form - she was just solid water.

"You were strong," Bluenote conceded. "You would have given any of my comrades a hard time. But you picked the wrong opponent this time, ladies."

"MIRA-SAN! STAY AWAKE!" Juvia screamed as Mira's world began to descend into blackness. "MIRA-SAN! MIRA-SAAAAAAAAN!"

* * *

"Aaagh!" cried Colin Creevey as a stray Killing Curse whizzed by his ear, missing him and his brother by inches. The diminutive boys tried to return fire but that was the point where another Death Eater sent a jet of red light flying overhead, landing at their feet and exploding like a firecracker to send the both of them flying. Dean was quick to catch Colin with a Cushioning Charm while Ernie manually grabbed Dennis, the both of them tumbling to the ground and so far the only one who hadn't sustained at least some form of injury was Flitwick.

Those still fighting were standing in front of the fallen like shields but whenever a Death Eater went down they'd be whisked away by one of the others and would rejoin the fight a few minutes later, a little worse for wear but still going strong. Ginny ducked under another Killing Curse by throwing herself flat upon the ground and Marietta shrieked as a Stunning Spell collided with her own spell almost the instant it left her wand, a small blast from the colliding spells snapping her wand in two before she could draw her hand back. She gasped and stumbled away, and Cho had to seize her and pull her down as no less than three jets of green crashed in through the space where her torso had been.

Luna was still on her feet, but she and Zacharias were both now trying to cover Professor Sprout, who had most likely broken her hip from a Reductor Curse that she had blocked a second too late. But quite abruptly one of the Death Eaters appeared right in front of the startled duo, a mere few feet away. He Apparated away again a second later before any of them could cast a spell… only he'd left something behind.

Nagini.

The huge serpent slithered forwards rapidly for something with no legs and instantly Zacharias screamed and cast a Stunning Spell at her. With a twist of her coils she avoided the spell and lashed upwards at the Hufflepuff boy, striking with blinding speed, fangs agape. Zacharias threw himself backwards just in time to avoid the fangs burying into his leg but in the process he crashed straight into Luna, almost knocking her over and with Nagini motoring after him.

"No! No! Get back!" Zacharias panicked and quite suddenly he seized Luna and heaved her forwards until she was between him and the snake, pushing her flat onto her face in front of the legless reptile. Fear gripped Luna as she looked up and met the snake's eye with her own. Nagini reared, hissing fiercely and baring her fangs as Luna grasped frantically for her wand.

"LUNA! NO!" Ginny screamed.

Nagini struck!

And something clouted her across the snout mere moments before she could sink her venom into Luna's neck, knocking her off course and slamming her flat head against the ground. Luna gasped as she scrambled backwards, pushing herself to her feet and looking around for her saviour… though even she wasn't expecting it to be what appeared to be part of a totem pole, a block of wood with an ugly face floating above the ground as Nagini reared back up and hissed at it.

"Bad snake!" the block of wood said.

"Bad snake, bad snake!" Three more blocks agreed as they swirled in out of nowhere and began firing green lasers from their mouths at Nagini. The snake hissed and screeched, twisting and thrashing around to try and avoid the sudden barrage but she was still struck many times, gaping wounds opening in her scaly flanks. She twisted and knotted her body around, lashing her heavy tail to knock two of the wooden dolls away, but they recovered almost instantly and returned fire.

"What… in the…" Zacharias muttered, a sentiment shared by everyone who was watching what was happening.

"GAAAHAHA!" a high-pitched, raucous laugh cut through the air like a knife and everyone wheeled around to see a tall man with a sallet over his face and a plume of purple feathers atop his head, balanced perfectly atop a fifth wooden doll as he swooped in across the sea. "Go forth, my babies!" Bickslow shouted, leaping off the doll and into the surf. "Let's teach these guys not to pick on children!"

"Bullies, bullies!" the dolls cried and swept in pursuit of Nagini as the snake fled, zig-zagging madly in an attempt to avoid the laser blasts until another Death Eater whooshed in to seize her and Disapparate with her. The dolls didn't even pause for an instant and whooshed around the battlefield, turning and firing lasers the moment a Death Eater appeared anywhere close to them and either forcing them to Disapparate again before they could let loose a spell or in some cases hitting them and throwing them back off their feet. The DA cheered as Bickslow marched up amongst them, grinning like a lunatic.

"Well it looks like we arrived a quite a party, didn't we?" he laughed, raising his hand in the air, **"VICTORY FORMATION!"**

The dolls whooshed upwards and arranged themselves into a V shape in the air, bombarding the beach with a rain of lasers that kept any of the Death Eaters from getting anywhere close to the DA members, forcing them to stay up on the rocks and off the sand.

"Who are you?" McGonagall asked.

"Who am I?" Bickslow smirked, allowing his tongue to loll out and pointing at the jet black mark upon it. "Judging by the fact I can see all my friends fighting over there, I'm guessing you know what this means," somehow speaking perfectly even with his tongue out.

"Fairy Tail… you're a Fairy Tail mage…" McGonagall breathed.

"You bet I am, baby!" Bickslow grinned, and if he noticed McGonagall's shock at being referred to as 'baby' he didn't respond to it. "And I didn't come alone!"

*Stomp!*

The beach shook.

*STOMP!*

The beach and the rocks shook.

***STOMP!***

Everyone noticed the third step including the battling mages, and the DA all noticed that they were suddenly bathed in a shadow. Mouths dropped open as they turned to behold an enormous, elderly looking man walking towards them through the water, surrounded by a blazing yellow aura and getting visibly larger with every step he took until he was easily the size of a giant. Cheers and whoops erupted from the Fairy Tail mages, their fists pumping into the air and tears of joy falling from some of their eyes.

"MASTER!" Erza shouted.

"HE'S HERE!" Levy was jumping up and down excitedly. "OUR MASTER'S FINALLY COME BACK TO US!"

"OH HELL YEAH!" Gray bellowed.

"NOW THAT'S A REAL MAN MAKING AN ENTRANCE LIKE THAT!" said Guess Who.

Makarov Dreyar loomed high above the petrified Death Eaters, the sea around him churning and whipping into a frenzy from his mere presence, his moustache bristling, thick veins throbbing in his head and eyes blazing.

"**THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THE SACRED GROUND OF MY GUILD HAS BEEN VIOLATED BY INTRUDERS!" **he roared. **"BEGONE, OR I SWEAR BY ALL THE GODS THAT NO MATTER WHERE YOU RUN, YOU WILL BE CRUSHED BY THE WRATH OF THE FAIRIES!"**

The Death Eaters panicked instantly and a rain of curses, jinxes and hexes flew upwards from their wands to strick Makarov in the chest - Blasting Hexes, Stunning Spells, Impediment Jinxes, even Killing Curses and Cruciatus Curses. But he didn't seem to notice any of them, his aura burning through the magic lights before they could even touch him and with one great sweeping motion he raised his fist back and drove it downwards like a falling aeroplane right on the rocks the Death Eaters were standing in. All of them Disapparated to safety in time but all of them were thrown to their feet when the re-emerged by the shockwave that ran through the ground from the impact of the punch, the rocks smashing into more sand to join that on the beach beneath his fist. With one great stride Makarov stepped over the weary DA members and smashed his foot down, sending the Death Eaters screaming and scattering for cover as he laid the rocks low around him.

The fighting between Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart resumed in earnest moments later but all the DA could do was stare in disbelief.

"Am I… seeing this?" whispered Flitwick.

"I… I can't even…" Dean was in complete agreement.

But despite her astonishment, Ginny was able to pull herself together enough to march across the beach, grab Zacharias by the arm and smash her fist into his jaw, laying him out flat across the sand.

"There's no damn way you're staying in the DA after what you just pulled, mate," she growled to the unconscious Hufflepuff boy, despite the fact her hand was now smarting quite badly. But she turned her back on him after that and stood up next to Luna, going back to watching with awe as Makarov sent the Death Eaters scattering with mere stamps of his feet.

But of course two of the Fairy Tail mages couldn't celebrate the sudden appearance of the Master - Juvia and Mirajane were still struggling to get up from under Bluenote's power and Mira was fading fast, her lungs burning and just barely clinging onto consciousness, as Juvia screamed and thrashed, desperately trying to pull herself loose and let her dear friend breathe.

"Hmm…" Bluenote muttered, barely even paying attention to his drowning victim. "Makarov's here, huh? Well that complicates things a little… but not enough," he turned back to them and added even more force to his magic. "Because the demon girl will be gone before he even notices she's in trouble."

"NOOO!" Juvia cried, as Mira's eyes rolled up back into her head, the blackness starting to consume her.

***KA-CHHH-BLLLRRMM***

Juvia looked up in shock as the intense gravity was suddenly cancelled out and she lurched upwards, pulling away from Mirajane and collapsing onto her front on the side of the slope. Air swept into Mira's lungs like a freight train and water was forced right out, hacking and spluttering for life-giving air, but even as both panted in relief they looked up to see the enormous lightning bolt that was sweeping Bluenote away to smash him into the rocks hard enough to smash them to pieces and partially bury him in stone as they cascaded downwards atop him.

A lone figure stood where Bluenote had been standing atop the slope, his raised fist indicating he'd quite clearly slammed it into the Gravity Mage moments earlier, lightning crackling over his body and filling his eyes, which were staring daggers at Bluenote even as the Grimoire Heart ace, pushed himself back upright and glared straight back.

"Laxus…" Mirajane whispered. "Thank… goodness…"

"…He saved us…" Juvia breathed, and for the first time since she'd met Gray she felt in that moment like she could kiss another man.

"…You like crushing your opponents into the ground, do you?" Laxus growled, electricity rippling over his knuckles and through his hair. "Well then, I guess I'll be making you the one to eat dirt for a change."

And this time, nothing ruined his entrance.


	49. Never Hurt Me

I would really appreciate it if everyone could stop asking me to make Makarov use Fairy Law. It is not a magic that should be recklessly cast - an absolute last resort. And the reason for that is that it destroys everyone that the caster views as an enemy AT THAT MOMENT! It doesn't just annihilate evil things and spare good things - it works purely on the perspective of the one who casts it at the time.

Imagine if Makarov had successfully cast Fairy Law when Grimoire Heart invaded during the canon story. It affects everything within a very wide radius, which means Ultear and Meredy would both have been destroyed because Makarov thought of both of them as enemies at the time, and then they wouldn't have had a chance to form Crime Sorcière with Jellal. It would have given them no opportunity for redemption. And if Makarov hadn't viewed only Jose as a true enemy and not the rest of the Phantom Lord guild, I'm sure he wouldn't have cast it then either.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 49:- Never Hurt Me**

* * *

Despite the fierce battles raging across the island of Tenroujima, Morgana was currently hundreds of miles away. She strode almost leisurely across soft grass, her bare feet and long robes rustling with each step she took. She was in no hurry, but this was far from a simple stroll through the forest. No… she was most definitely on a mission. And she was turning the coin that Bellatrix had stolen from the museum over and over in her hands.

It was time to make use of it.

She eventually came to a stop at the shore of a lake. But not a normal lake… she could feel the magic of the Old Religion singing all around her in a way that few places left in the world could possibly hope to match nowadays. The water was black - dark as night - and there was not a ripple to be seen anywhere. The wind was sweeping through the glade which should have been disturbing the surface but there was no movement whatsoever from the water's surface.

Morgana smirked. Places like this were few and far between but they persisted still - places of the Old Religion which exuded enough magical force to protect themselves from the development of man - Muggle and wizards alike unconsciously avoided this place. But in this case they all would have a particularly good reason to want to do so.

"The Pool of Nemhain," Morgana whispered to herself, taking a deep breath and allowing the Old Religion's power to sweep through her and wrack her with nostalgia. "Fifteen hundred years may have passed since I was last here… but it hasn't changed at all. Wonderful. This will suit my purposes nicely indeed."

She stepped up to the edge of the lake and without the slightest hesitation she began to wade out into the shallows. Finally ripples stirred the surface of the water around her as she walked steadily outwards, feeling cautiously for rocks and dips with her feet. Much like last time she felt a certain sense of trepidation here, as if the slightest trip could cause her to be dragged down into the depths of the lake never to be seen again. She was certainly not keen to find out what would happen if she lost her footing. Not in a place like this.

But as she walked out, unconcerned for her dress, she held her arms out and whispered, "Bregdan bāncofa hēr." A brief flash of light filled the space above her arms and all of a sudden she was carrying something - something large and swathed in a couple of cloaks that required both arms for her to lift. But she appeared to have little trouble with it and once she was waist deep in the pool she bent over to lay it in the water, pushing it gently outwards and watching it slowly sink beneath the surface, vanishing down into what looked like murky depths, but was in fact only about three feet deep. She could almost feel it bump down upon the bottom of the lake and knew that now was the time to act.

She gripped the coin and allowed her hand to pass over it one last time, feeling the helical grooves carved into the face. The last time she'd had a coin like this it had been given to her by her half-sister, Morgause. And when the Old Religion returned in full force she was going to have to find a way of crafting more of these. They could certainly prove most useful in maintaining her grip on her future kingdom.

Nostalgia over, she flicked the coin up into the air, watching it arc lazily over until it slapped down into the water with a wet plop and vanished from sight. She eased back slowly, waiting patiently, and able to feel a surge of power within the waters of the lake. It was as if the Old Religion had just been prodded into wakefulness and was psyching itself up to come out and play.

And as proof, bubbles started to appear on the surface where she'd dropped the coin, large bubbles frothing up the water like a violent jacuzzi until something else broke the surface in the centre of the bubbles. Morgana's eyes tracked the new object's movement as it rose up and out of the lake, her smirk growing wider and wider until it felt like it spread from ear to ear by the time it had reached its full height.

"How very exciting," the ancient witch purred in delight. "Yes… I have a feeling you're going to serve me particularly well."

* * *

Back on Tenroujima, Voldemort snarled as he flicked his wand and re-directed a gigantic blast of water from Aquarius' urn, twirling the liquid blast around like a giant ribbon and funnelling it straight back towards Aquarius with incredible force. But Scorpio jumped up next to his girlfriend and blasted loose a volley of sand from his tail that intercepted the incoming water and soaked it up. Sodden lumps of wet sand spattering down to the ground between the two combatants as the attacks cancelled each out.

But it was more than enough for Aquarius to vault herself upwards and fire dozens of bubbles from her urn - each one as big and as hard as a cannonball. Voldemort slashed a volley of rocks up to intercept them, each rocks bursting up against one of the bubbles and fracturing both to pieces but Disapparated just as another volley of sand came sweeping towards him courtesy of Scorpio. He re-appeared not far away and slammed a spell into the ground at Scorpio's feet, turning it to tar which the Spirit promptly began to sink into. But before Aquarius could open fire again he vanished once more, re-appearing directly in front of Harry and manually lunging for him with intent to snatch him away.

Harry threw himself backwards instantly, caught by Ron and Hermione to keep him from falling flat onto his back while Lucy slashed her whip at him. A translucent shield formed around Voldemort so the whip coiled around that instead, allowing him to Apparate out and re-appear twenty feet to the left, just in time to funnel aside another cascade of water from Aquarius as it deluged down on top of him.

Unbeknownst to any of the fighters though, they were being watched from the trees. Mavis Vermillion was standing on a branch some distance away and analysing the fight. There was frustratingly little that she could do to help but her mind was racing, trying to figure something out from what she was watching. There was something that she was missing - she was sure of it.

The main question on her mind was why could Voldemort and his followers still get around via Apparition while all of the wizards from this world on their side were unequivocally grounded when it came to magical transportation. This much she'd figured out from watching Remus and Sirius duelling - their opponents were zapping themselves all over the place just like Voldemort, which was making it difficult for the two Order members to keep ahead of the game.

Of course there was obviously a spell at work here. Some kind of magic was preventing her friends from Apparating but to block that ability in certain individuals but not in others… that would require incredibly complex magic. Unless there was some link between the individuals with that power suppressed or one between those that could still do it which the spell was exploiting in order to work. Maybe if she could figure out what that link was, she could find a way of allowing her comrades a chance to level the playing field.

But what link? What did all the members of one side have in common with one another? It couldn't be things like gender, or height, magical power or age - it would have to be some kind of magical link that the spell had been designed to take into account… just like the magic of the Tenrou Tree that prevented all those with the Fairy Tail mark from dying while here but allowed anyone else to…

Suddenly she gasped, smacking herself over the forehead with her palm. Of course - how could she not realise it immediately?! Voldemort and all his followers also had a mark emblazoned upon them somewhere. The Dark Mark… yes, that was what they called it. That had to be the link. The spell was suppressing the Apparition powers of everyone except those with that mark.

But that didn't help Mavis figure out how to actually undo the enchantment. Considering it was not her kind of magic, she didn't even have the first idea where to start a counterspell.

However… she did know something that could possibly help.

The ghostly apparition turned and leapt off the branch, slowly fading away into thin air as she descended down towards the ground. She didn't need to use magical transportation to get off the island as she could technically appear wherever she wished to appear, as long as she knew where that was. And the First Master now had a little mission of her own to carry out.

* * *

Bluenote pushed upright once more, eyeing his sudden new opponent with analytical scrutiny. Unlike Gildarts he was not familiar with this new man but he could sense incredible magical power radiating off him all the same. He could tell that he was not an opponent to be trifled with lightly.

Laxus was staring Bluenote down in turn, the air around both the combatants beginning to supercharge. They exchanged no words. They were only waiting to see if the other would make the first move in the inevitable battle and this gave Juvia more than enough opportunity to check over Mira and draw any remaining water out of her lungs so she could breathe easy once again.

"Mira-san… I'm so sorry… so sorry…" she whispered, trying very hard not to cry.

"It's okay, Juvia… that wasn't your doing, it was his," Mira said insistently, pulling Juvia into her arms and hugging her close as the Water Mage tried to help her to her feet. "I don't blame you at all, don't worry."

"Mira-san…" Juvia whispered, burying her face in the Take Over Mage's shoulder.

"Oi, Phantom Girl," Laxus called down into the pit without taking his eye off Bluenote. "What's your name again… Juvia?"

"…Yes, Laxus-san."

"Get Mira to a safe distance. I'll be the one to knock this bastard down a few pegs."

"A safe distance?" Bluenote snorted, the ground beginning to tremble around him once more. "No matter how far away you get from me I will track you down and crush you eventually. There are only two Fairy Tail mages that can pose a challenge to me, boy. You are not one of them."

"You're right. I'm not," Laxus grinned. "I'm not a Fairy Tail mage anymore."

Suddenly his body exploded into light, electricity surging around him from head to toe as he exploded forwards to swing a crackling fist right for Bluenote's face. Bluenote's instant reaction was to pulse a gravity wave out of his hand that smashed into Laxus and reversed his direction, tossing him backwards while the Grimoire Heart ace charged in after him, his own fist raised. Laxus saw the punch coming and retaliated with his own even while in mid-air, two sets of muscled knuckles crashing together with earth-shattering force. An immense blast of gravity propelled Laxus away but a the same time lightning coursed through Bluenote's body and tossed him backwards too, the two mages flew in opposite directions from the force of the other's attack.

Bluenote ended up crashing onto his back but with another wave of lightning Laxus turned himself around before he could collide with anything, zig-zagging madly through the air surrounded by lightning and literally thundering back down upon Bluenote.** "RAIRYUU NO… TEKKEN!"** he bellowed as he smashed his fist down towards Bluenote's chest. The Gravity Mage blocked with his arms at the last second but a huge pulse of lightning exploded around them as soon as Laxus' fist made contact, rending the ground asunder and driving Bluenote down into it. But a second later and Bluenote's foot came up to smash into Laxus' stomach. Laxus was propelled upwards through the air by the force of the blow, rising a good two-hundred feet upwards in the space of two seconds. But he was already preparing his next blow, raising his hand in the air as a humongous ball of crackling lightning formed above his head.

"**RAGING BOLT!"**

Bluenote had no time whatsoever to dodge the attack as Laxus hurled it down towards him like a huge, electrified wrecking ball. It struck him head on and the shockwave of the blast threw Mira and Juvia off their feet. Bluenote roared as the electricity crashed through his body, the rocks around him rending to pieces and falling in on top of him, entirely burying him under the rubble and turning the pit into a veritable grave. Laxus landed on his feet nearby and stared down his nose at the spot where Bluenote had vanished, even the remnants of his colossal attack were still fading away.

"…I knew Laxus-san was powerful," Juvia whispered, awestruck. "But… still…"

"It's no surprise really," Mira chuckled. "Even if he wasn't the grandson of our Master… he's Laxus. Much like the lightning he wields… he's a force of nature."

Laxus' lip twitched, having overheard Mira's comment. He was rather gratified by it… extremely so in fact… after all part of his old frustrations had been that everyone attributed his power to the fact he was Makarov's grandson, as if they were giving his grandfather all the credit for his great deeds. He didn't really give a damn about that now but it was nice to hear Mira say it.

But he didn't for a second think that the battle was over and he was quite right. The rubble burying Bluenote erupted outwards like a volcanic blast without any lava and Bluenote burst outwards with the force of a rocket taking flight. Laxus instantly shot himself up to intercept him but Bluenote had already raised his hands above his head and slashed them downwards. Laxus was instantly caught in the grip of the most intense gravity he'd ever felt, sending him crashing vertically downwards to smash into the floor chest-first even as that floor splintered and sank, everything within a hundred foot radius smashing downwards and being driven down, down, deep into the heart of the island. Trees became splinters, rocks became gravel and Laxus bellowed with pain as he could feel his bones and organs straining to hold their shape - unable to even lift his head which meant his face was driven down against the floor.

Bluenote landed beside his newly formed pit and closed his hands into fists, intensifying his power even further and leering, practically able to hear Laxus' body trembling. "I've had enough out of Fairy Tail," he bellowed down upon his prey. "I will crush you! All of you! I will render you to nothing but bloody pulps! I will… GGWAAAHHNNNH!"

His rant was cut off by the lightning bolt which suddenly cannoned into his chest and flung him away like an arrow from a bow. Just like Juvia, Laxus had entirely dematerialised his body to transform himself into lightning and fired himself upwards to slam straight into his opponent with ruthless force, and as they both soared through the air he reformed and slammed his fist into Bluenote's jaw, punching him straight back down towards the ground with another lightning burst that carried him all the way down until he crasheed with a blast of thunder.

"Wh… what…?" he coughed, his body slightly numb as he spat up blood and pushed himself back up. "How… how did you… escape my gravity…?"

"That's science 101, pal," Laxus smirked. "Lightning's almost weightless. Not entirely, but almost. Gravity affects lightning same as it affects everything else, but only to an absolutely minimal degree. Allow me to demonstrate! **RAIRYUU HOTENGEKI!" **He bellowed and hurled a colossal lightning spear - the same kind he'd thrown at Natsu at Kardia Cathedral - right for Bluenote's stomach. Bluenote lashed out with a pulse of gravity intended to redirect the attack but it slammed forward regardless, forcing Bluenote to decrease the gravity around himself so he could leap up and over the attack, the spear singing the tip of his long ponytail as he forward flipped over it.

"So there is a man who can properly move under my gravity after all," he growled to himself. "Very well… then I will use other methods to defeat you."

"Bring it!" Laxus growled and the two of them surged in towards each other like charging elephants. Bluenote smashed his fist into Laxus' cheek but Laxus recovered quickly to nail Bluenote in the chest with his elbow. Bluenote's instant response was to spin around around and deliver a spectacular round-house kick to Laxus' nose, pulsing gravity with his foot to smash Laxus onto his back, his head crashing down against the rocks and blood spurting from his nose, but as soon as Bluenote tried to bring both his fists smashing down on Laxus' chest the Lightning Dragon Slayer rolled out of the way. Bluenote's fists still crashed into the ground and the shockwave heaved Laxus into the air, but he used it to skid back onto his feet and gather electricity in his mouth, unleashing it in a massive roar attack.

"**RAIRYUU NO… HOOOUKOOOOUUUU!"**

"Mmghhhh!" Bluenote grunted, shielding his face as the electricity washed over him, numbing at his body, but he was able to intensify his own gravity to root his feet upon the ground, preventing the attack from blasting him away as Laxus hoped. But the lightning still battered at him, wracking him with pain, until he swept his arm up and the ground Laxus was standing on folded in on itself, dropping him into the earth and seeking to crush him in the middle.

Laxus snapped his arms out to hold back the earth and blasted his way upwards and out of the trap with a burst of lightning from his feet, only for Bluenote to leap in and sink his fist into Laxus' stomach, an enormous explosion of gravity blasting out of his fist and blowing Laxus back into the nearby cliffside. Laxus gasped on impact, the blow almost certainly having broken one of his ribs, but even despite that injury he rocketed himself back to hammer his electrified foot into Bluenote's chest.

But even as Bluenote crashed back onto his shoulders and vaulted back onto his feet with a backflip he used his magic to turn Laxus into the centre of gravity for everything around him. Instantly rocks and bits of wood came flying in towards Laxus and pummelled at his body, smashing him one way then another and one block of wood crashing into his face. He gritted his teeth and fired a pulse of lightning out from his body in all directions to tear the oncoming objects to pieces but Bluenote was allowing himself to be dragged forwards to, fist raised and channelling immense power into his knuckles as he went.

That was when a powerful jet of boiling water hit him in the side, propelling him away with a bellow as the scalding liquid seared at his skin. He twisted around in mid-air just in time to see a flaming demoness come arcing in towards him, seizing him by the other arm and physically spinning him around to toss him into the cliff. Laxus looked up to find himself flanked by Juvia and Mirajane, both the girls battered but ready to continue the fight.

"You should be resting," Laxus grunted at Mirajane, who turned back to give him a smirk.

"Maybe… but a member of Fairy Tail doesn't leave another family member in the lurch. You may not be a member anymore, Laxus… but Fairy Tail is in your blood. That means you're still family. So Juvia and I are hardly going to sit back and watch when we can help you out, are we?"

"Juvia considers it an honour to fight alongside Laxus-san," the Water Mage agreed.

Laxus blinked a couple of times, looking from one to the other. But then he closed his eyes and chuckled amusedly. "Guess I can't really expect anything else, can I?" he said.

"Not really no," Mira smiled warmly. "Besides, I owe you one for saving my life."

"How touching," Bluenote growled as he stepped forwards, the ground splitting around his as he went. "But saving your life was ultimately meaningless. After all, I'm still going to kill you."

"Yeah, whatever," Laxus drawled. "Let's see what you two ladies can do then shall we?"

And with a blast of lightning, water and fire, all three of them rushed in towards Bluenote at the same time.

* * *

Sparks flew as Pantherlily caught the blade of San Jao Shin upon his own, the huge Exceed digging his claws into the ground to prevent himself from being pushed back and activating his wings, using them to thrust forward with extra power and swing his sword with such force that he slammed the handle of Shin's spear into his own chest and smashed the bearded human into the air. Lily motored up after him and seized his ankle, spinning around and heaving him into the distance. But even as he let go, Caprico had actually run up the blade of his huge sword and crashed his hoof into Lily's chin, sending him flipping over until he crashed back onto his feet, glowering at the goat-like opponent.

"You have impressed meh with your swordsmanship," Caprico said simply. "I believe that you are a match for any of meh subordinates in this particular regard. But…" he brought his hands up, the white fingers glowing pink and all of a sudden Lily found himself facing no less than twenty men. Some looked like members of Fiore's Royal Army, some looked like Rune Knights from the Magic Council. But others looked like more of a big deal, wielding sword and shield and in one case a bow and arrows - this last immediately drawing the bowstring back and firing three arrows simultaneously. Lily slashed upwards to block two of them while the third nicked his arm, but he grimaced as all twenty men bore down upon him at once.

"**LINE FORMATION!"**

Lily blinked as five wooden dolls suddenly swerved around in front of him to stack on top of each other and merge their power to fire a green energy blade that fired outwards to carve a line through the ground and force the men to scatter before it. The archer immediately strung his bow again, readying his arrows to fire upon the dolls but Bickslow fell from the sky to kick straight through his bow and hammer his foot into the archer's face. Lily immediately took advantage of the opportunity and swept past the wooden dolls, his huge sword sweeping most of the twenty men aside all at once while they were distracted. The panther closed in on Caprico himself but the goat nimbly dodged the downward cleave of his blade, somersaulting backwards four times in rapid succession to land in a crouch and gaze upon both of his opponents dourly.

"You lot sure picked a good time to come back," Lily observed, flinching slightly at the sound of Laxus' lightning crackling in the distance.

"Kya-ha! The Raijinshuu always did like showing up out of nowhere," Bickslow grinned, turning to catch Evergreen's eye for a moment and salute her. Evergreen grinned right back, relief flooding through her face before she dodged a flying sword from Meredy and returned to her own battle.

"You should get out of here, Bickslow," Lily suggested, nodding to Caprico as the goat stood up straight once more. "This person has the ability to turn humans into his subordinates. That's why I'm the one battling him."

"You call that a person?" Bickslow asked, raising his sallet and glowering at the goat-man. "This guy doesn't have a soul. Neither do the pink-haired girl or that hot woman with purple hair fighting with Gray and Wendy. This is just a doll of that dude Rustyrose isn't it?"

"Doll or not, my abilities still stand," Caprico raised his hands, a blackish aura radiating off them to swarm in towards Bickslow. "I can make you my subordinate without breaking the taboo. **"HUMAN SUBORDINATION MAGIC: HUMA RAISE!"**

"BICKSLOW, LOOK OUT!" Lily cried.

But Bickslow made no attempt whatsoever to dodge. Instead his eyes glowed a bright green and he shouted. **"SEITH MAGIC: HITOTSUKI!"**

The black aura swamped Bickslow just as the green rays from Bickslow's eyes washed over Caprico. The goat man gritted his teeth and grunted, flexing his fingers as he tried to exert his power over Bickslow. Bickslow grinned and did the same, the two of them staring each other down… and not much else. In fact, the battle seemed to have completely ground to a halt which left Lily looking from one to the other, confused, as the battles of everyone else raged around them.

"Er… what's happening?" the Exceed eventually asked.

"Suspected as much," Bickslow chuckled. "He's just a soulless doll so normally I would be able to take control of him. But he's just used a magic to try and take control of me. Our abilities are cancelling each other out - neither of us can control the other."

"Ghnng… how very vexing," Caprico grunted. "I've never come across a human I could not control before."

"I thought that your possession magic didn't work on people with glasses on," Lily frowned, looking to the sunglasses adorning Caprico's face.

"That's only with my Figure Eyes, which I use to take control of a person with a soul. I don't need to make eye contact with a puppet like him to control them."

"Ah… I see," Lily mused, before his mouth twisted into a savage grin. "Well then if he can't control you or me would you care to assist me in taking him down?"

"KYA-HAHA! It would be my babies' pleasure!" Bickslow raised his hands above his head and his five dolls swept upwards to form a circle and begin spinning round and round, glowing with green light until they formed an energy ring in the air. **"BARYON FORMATION!" **Bickslow shouted and a huge green beam thundered forth from the centre of a ring like a laser cannon, crashing down upon Caprico's head.

He sprang upwards just in time to for his hooves to clear the attack but the ground exploded beneath him and sent rocks showering up towards him. He was able to kick himself off from one of them and flip over with intent to fall upon his opponents but Lily was already in his face with sword in mid-swing. Caprico dodged the massive swing by tucking himself into a ball as the blade swept through the air beneath him, one hand lashing out to seize Lily by the face and push off from him, flipping over Lily's head and dropping down towards Bickslow. But three of Bickslow's dolls lanced forwards to pummel him in the chest and stomach, throwing him back towards the ground while the other two rained laser fire down upon him, blasting him off his feet and sending him crashing onto his back.

"Those things are really beginning to piss meh off," he growled, rolling sideways and flipping easily back onto his feet as they tried to blast at him again. He sprinted forwards at high speed, flipping and dodging erratically as the dolls swarmed around him, trying to blast him. He seized one and threw it into another like a discus, kicked another over his head and vaulted over a fourth, homing in rapidly on Bickslow himself.

"**X FORMATION!"** Bickslow shouted and the dolls all suddenly swerved back around to converge in front of him, one in the middle and the others slapping in around it so they easily formed an X-shape, taking the full force of the kick that Caprico had thrown at Bickslow's stomach. But the kick was strong enough to slam the dolls back into Bickslow himself and knock the Seith Mage onto his back. He skidded across the turf as Caprico flipped over, stamping his foot down towards Bickslow's unprotected face.

But Caprico wasn't the only one with incredible athletic ability - Bickslow was a master of it too and prove it backwards rolling himself into a handstand so Caprico's kick stamped down upon empty ground, then spinning himself around on his hands to sweep his legs out in a kick that broke Caprico's sunglasses. Yet at the same time Caprico had powered another kick into Bickslow's midriff which meant the two of them were sent crashing backwards and away from each other.

Which was all the opportunity Lily needed to swoop back down, levelling off over Bickslow and ramming his shoulder straight into Caprico with the force of a battering ram, tossing him backwards like a rag doll. The Exceed hefted his sword high above his head and sliced it down upon the goat man. He rolled to the side to try and avoid the blow but this time Lily was prepared for it and twisted the blade over onto its side, enlarging it so Caprico found the enormous flat of the blade still crashing down on him. He would never be able to dodge that in time so instead he summoned another human from thin air - a bulky man that looked particularly strong. The newcomer tried to catch the sword but such was the power of the blow that it still smashed him down into the floor, but he was able to slow it just enough to give Caprico the chance to dive out of the way before he too was struck.

"Hhnnn…" Caprico gritted his teeth when suddenly he found himself surrounded by Bickslow's dolls and was forced into swift, dodging leaps once more as they fired a storm of lasers in on him.

"You've got to give it to him - even without being able to wield any power over us he's a tough opponent," Lily muttered. "I've seen few people as skilled in hand to hand combat as him."

"Maybe so, but my babies and I are still just warming up," Bickslow smirked. "And the sooner we take him down the sooner we can help everyone else! Come on, let's get him!"

* * *

Tenroujima was rapidly becoming a war zone - with barely a single person on it not currently involved in a battle. Screams, roars and bellows rent the air from all directions along with the clang of swords and the crushing sound of rocks being torn to pieces by the flurry of attacks.

Gray, Wendy and Ultear had to relocate their battle when Cana's Allosaurus came charging through their midst with its teeth in the Gale Belfast's neck. Elfman had to catch a falling boulder torn from a cliffside by one of Rustyrose's attacks and threw it at Meredy, only for her to skip nimbly aside. And over on the beach, the Death Eaters were fleeing in terror before Makarov - the twenty-five foot tall Fairy Tail Master shrugging off everything they threw at him and sweeping his arm out, light trailing from his fingers to form several spheres that glowed with such intensity they were like miniature suns, huge beams of light firing from each one to bombard the area around him like rain. Over two dozen Death Eaters were sent flying as the beach was rent asunder and most of them were knocked unconscious almost instantly.

It seemed in this area, the tide was beginning to turn in Fairy Tail's favour.

The same could not be said for those fighting in the forest.

"NNNGH!" Natsu yelled as he was pounded into a tree trunk so hard he left a Natsu-shaped hole in the bark, and moments later Zancrow's fist smashed into his chest and knocked him the rest of the way through. The tree tripped over as its trunk was snapped like a twig threatening to crash down on top of Zancrow, but the God Slayer sprang upwards and seized the falling tree before it could hit the ground, lighting the entire thing up with black fire and hurling it down towards Natsu with inhumane strength.

"Damn it… just go down already…" Natsu croaked as he rolled upright and shot upwards to intercept the tree, channelling all of his fiery power into this fist and smashing the incoming projectile head on, the flames ripping through it and splitting it into plank-sized pieces. But still Zancrow's consumed him and he bellowed in pain as it wrapped around his body, searing at him as if it was trying to melt his very skin. And through the black blaze Zancrow himself rushed in and seized Natsu by the arm, hauling him up and over to try and bring him smashing down on his head. Natsu's foot smashed into Zancrow's nose before that could happen, tearing the Inferi loose and allowing him to turn his fall into a forward roll, but Zancrow took a millisecond to recover from the blow and blasted a Flame God's Bellow from his mouth that caught Natsu full in the back.

"GWWWWAAAAAAAAAAH!" Natsu yelled as he was fired across the forest, the trees around him crumbling and dying as Zancrow's flames washed over them.

Not far away, Azuma was still locked in combat with Lisanna and Freed, one of his branches having successfully snagged Lisanna by the tail and swinging her bodily around until she crashed straight into Freed like the world's scaliest bullwhip. The both of them tumbled towards the ground and Azuma propelled himself downwards after them, slamming his hand into Lisanna's stomach and shouting, **"BLEVE!"**

"AAAAAAH!" Lisanna cried, and Freed was no different, the blast enveloping them both to send them smashing back down upon the earth, with a huge tree fist smashing in towards them from above for good measure. But despite burns across some parts of her skin, Lisanna was still good to go and pushed herself off Freed to charge in towards the fist and raised her hand to shout, **"SCRINCAN!" **And almost immediately the fist shrank until it was the size of a regular human hand, allowing Lisanna to catch it easily in her own palm and set it on fire with a thought, sending it and a volley of other fireballs shooting towards Azuma like a meteor shower. He countered with a Folium Sica, the two attacks smashing into each other and peppering each other to pieces, which gave Freed more than enough time to get back to his feet and charge for Azuma again.

"**YAMI NO ECRITURE: ZAN!"** He shouted and a huge stream of purple runes rushed out of his sword to form what looked like a long, thin blade made of purple letters which he carved in towards Azuma's chest. Instantly several huge roots sprouted out of the ground between him and Azuma, creating a barrier several layers thick but the slicing sword cleaved through them all in one blow. However they slowed it down enough to give Azuma time to leap backwards so it only nicked his chest and moments later a tree branch struck Freed and Lisanna in the stomach at the same time and knock the breath right out of them as they flew backwards.

And as for Sirius… he'd been duelling fiercely with Bellatrix for a good five minutes, moving faster than he had in a long time in his bid to get the better of her and yet she still seemed no the worse for wear. No matter what spell he cast she was able to turn it aside with relative ease and mostly the same could be said of her own spell-casting, but every now and then there came a jet of green that he was forced to dive away from.

If Neville hadn't been there, dodging around the battlefield and throwing Stunning Spells, Sirius was certain Bellatrix would have gotten the better of him by now. Every time he was forced to leap away she would try to double her attack on him while he was momentarily defenceless and Neville was able to keep her at bay enough for Sirius to recover and add his own spells to the fray once again.

"WHEN WILL YOU JUST LIE DOWN AND DIE!?" Bellatrix shouted, sweeping her wand out and generating a cloud of daggers in the air above Sirius and Neville, all of them dropping down point first. Sirius was forced to morph into a dog and dash over to Neville, leaping upon him to knock him backwards and out of the way and the both of them rolling almost uncontrollably down a hill as the ground where they'd just been was peppered with knives. "WHEN WILL YOU REMOVE YOUR STAIN ON OUR FAMILY TREE!?"

"Stain is it?" growled Sirius as he turned back into human shape and banished many of those same daggers back towards Bellatrix only for her to vanish them into thin air before they could reach her. "Far as I'm concerned, I'm making the stain that is our entire family smaller by just being me."

"Look out!" Neville cried as another Killing Curse streaked in at Sirius, making him have to drop onto his stomach so it whistled past his hair.

But Sirius wasn't the only one caught in the middle of a duel - Lupin was in the middle of a raging battle with another Death Eater close by. And it was a Death Eater that Lupin recognised well as soon as his lost his mask - Walden McNair. And he was certainly living up to his position as a executioner, as he generated an axe in mid-air with his wand and brought it slamming down towards Lupin as if he was on the chopping block, only for Lupin to transform the axe into a bunch of flowers before it could strike him and casting two rapid Stunners and Petrificus curse, all three of which were dodged as McNair ducked behind a tree.

"Should have known you'd be a part of Dumbledore's precious Order, Lupin," McNair called out to him mockingly from behind the trunk as he caught his breath. "If by some miracle you manage to escape this island with your life I'll be sure to drop a line to Fenrir Greyback. Tell him to spread the word amongst the werewolves that you can't be trusted. Maybe the next time you two meet he'll finish what he tried to do to you when you were five!"

"You won't bait me, Walden," Remus said calmly, though he was admittedly seething. "And the werewolves will never join your cause."

"With the power that Morgana can offer them on the table… I think they will," McNair smirked before he suddenly Apparated behind Lupin and fired a Killing Curse at his back! Remus heard the tell-tale crack though and threw himself aside and around… but before he could think of a spell to fire back at the gruff Death Eater something came barrelling out of the trees and sprang on top of McNair, taking him completely by.

"AAAHH! AAAAAHHH! GGAAAAAAH!" McNair cried, staring wide eyed up at the grey wolf pushing him down against the forest floor and trying to tear out his throat, only one arm against the wolf's neck holding it at bay as lines of spittle from the wolf's snapping jaws spattering over McNair's face. Lupin stood there, slack-jawed and momentarily stunned, but when he saw McNair fumbling for his wand and pointing it at the wolf he seized the moment and Disarmed McNair with a flick of his wand. McNair's immediate reaction was to try and use his suddenly wandless hand to try and push the wolf away only for its teeth to bite down upon his fingers and draw another earsplitting yell from the man.

Lupin ran over quickly and as he approached the wolf sprang backwards and away, giving Lupin the opportunity to Stun the Death Eater before he could recover, blood streaming from his hand. The werewolf breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at the wolf, who was regarding him with head cocked.

"You… did you just… come to help me…?" Lupin whispered. The wolf said nothing of course, but Lupin's ears caught the sound of rustling behind him and he turned to see other wolves emerging from the trees, all of them staring at him. There was no question that this was the same pack that had acknowledged Lupin as the alpha back in the Cairngorms. This was their island after all but Lupin was still astonished that they were actually here. Could it be that they'd caught his scent, heard the sound of battle and come roaring in to help their alpha?

Either way it didn't matter. What mattered was that Lupin was now surrounded by wolves, all of which seemed to be waiting on him to decide what to do next.

"GAAH!" came a shout from nearby and Lupin whirled around in time to see Sirius fall backwards, the front of his robes torn and a bloody gash visible against his chest. Bellatrix cackled and lashed her wand out for another blow, a plume of purplish fire lancing from her wand once, twice, thrice in rapid succession to carve through the air like a blade and Sirius' desperate dodge to the side ended up with his skidding painfully on his shoulder. Neville darted forwards launching as many Stunners as he could muster at Bellatrix in a bid to give Sirius time to recover his wits, but Bellatrix blocked them all with ease and cast a spell that sent the leaves on the ground swirling upwards around Neville, pasting themselves over his face. Neville yelled and stumbled backwards as he was swarmed by the leaves and it was pure luck alone that allowed him to avoid Bellatrix's next Killing Curse. If he hadn't tripped on a fallen branch and landed flat on his back it would have hit him full in the chest.

Lupin was already moving before he could think about it and the wolves seemed to get the idea and bounded in around him, overtaking him and charging towards Bellatrix en masse. So preoccupied was she in her apparent victory that she didn't hear the wolves until they were almost upon her, whirling around and screaming when a set of fangs came flying right for her face! She smashed the wolf aside with a Banishing Curse at the last second but leapt aside to whip ropes from her wand that ensnared another two coming in from either side and send them rolling away, thrashing to escape, but the fourth and fifth were already upon her and Bellatrix screamed when one of them pounced upon her and sank its teeth into her arm while the other latched onto her ankle and started pulling like it was trying to tug her foot off.

The rest of the wolves converged instantly, but with an ear-splitting scream of rage Bellatrix managed to Disapparate. The two wolves biting her ended up being transported with her but the unfamiliar sensation made them let go, reeling away. Bellatrix rolled herself upright, almost falling as she tried to put weight on her bloodied ankle, but just before she could cast the Killing Curse at the wolves that had dared attack her she was forced to stop a hail of jinxes that came her way from Lupin and Sirius both, the latter having successfully got up.

Sirius twisted his wand and several branches above Bellatrix's head snapped like twigs and fell in a shamble down towards her. She tried to dive aside but it became an awkward fall and roll as pain lanced through her ankle. Her bedraggled hair matted across her face as she looked up, only to see the wolves dashing in for another assault en masse. With her ankle half mangled like this there was no way she could properly fight any more.

"You and your disgusting friends will taste my Killing Curse one day, dear cousin!" she spat out a parting shot before Disapparating, leaving the battlefield behind. The wolves all milled around, trying to pick up her scent, but it was no use. She'd gone.

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief and turned to grin at Remus. "So… these are your buddies now are they?" he said.

"It would seem so, yes," Remus shrugged. "I didn't ask to take over their pack but apparently they didn't forget about me."

"Well its a damn good thing they were here. I reckon I'd have been a goner then otherwise."

"…First time me being a werewolf has actually helped save someone's life."

"Not true. If you weren't a werewolf I'd never have become and Animagus. And if I couldn't transform into a dog, I'd have gone stir crazy in Azkaban a long time ago. Hey kid, are you alright?"

"I… I think so…" Neville grunted as he sat up, only to find a wolf's face directly in his own. "AAAH!"

"No! No, don't!" Remus ran forward before the wolf could potentially do anything. The wolf didn't get the words but understood the tone and quickly backed off, the pack gathering around and waiting for their next move.

"Remus! Sirius! Neville!" shouted a voice nearby and they turned quickly to see Hagrid dashing towards them out of breath. "'Urry up over 'ere. Harry and the others are fighting You-Know-Who! We've got teh go help him!"

"If he harms one hair on Harry's head," Sirius growled, dashing off in the direction of the bright flashes in the distance, with the rest hard on his heels.

* * *

"GGNNHG!" Gajeel cried eloquently as the back of his head smashed into a large boulder… again! Kain Hikaru came rushing towards him with all the ferocity of a charging rhinoceros and Gajeel was forced to heave himself into a backwards roll over the top of the boulder just before Kain could kick it and splinter it to pieces.

The Iron Dragon Slayer smashed both his arms out in a double Iron Dragon Club attack, smashing one straight into Kain's face and the other into his neck, but the big man had already changed his little doll into cotton by this point so the attack sunk into him without seeming to do him much harm. It threw him backwards certainly but he flumped to the floor like a dishcloth instead of crashing into it painfully. Gajeel tried to press home his advantage by leaping up and slashing down with an Iron Dragon Sword but again Kain changed his body to become water so the blade slashed straight through him harmlessly, allowing him to roll out of it and punch up at Gajeel, becoming normal again a microsecond before his fist connected with Gajeel's face. If Gajeel hadn't had iron skin at that moment it would have shattered his nose.

"FUCK!" he shouted as he was sent somersaulting backwards, landing on his feet able to prevent himself from crashing onto his back by turning his feet into iron poles and burying them in the ground. "DON'T COPY JUVIA DAMN IT!"

Kain gasped, wide-eyed and pointed at Gajeel accusingly. "You just swore! You used a nasty word! Don't you know how impolite that is! And I don't copy anyone ever! I'm entirely original in my battling techniques!"

"Oh shut up," Gajeel muttered, rubbing his chin and scowling. "Got admit, that damn dolly thing of yours is annoying as hell."

"Your friend the Fire Dragon Slayer would never have been able to defeat me if that blue cat of his hadn't stolen Mr. Cursey from me," Kain grinned. "And I'm not going to give you the chaMMGHH!"

He yelled because a large IRON word had suddenly dropped right on top of his head with a solid clang, sending him reeling about with his ear ringing. Gajeel blinked and turned across to look at Levy, who was standing nearby and conjuring up another word even as Kain recovered from the last one. **"SOLID SCRIPT: DRILL!"** she shouted and the word that appeared before her twisted around and fired at Kain, spinning around and sharpening itself into an actual drill shape as it went. But Kain was able to recover in time and smashed the word aside without even changing form.

"That hurt, damn it!" he shouted angrily. "And it was an absolute cheap shot! Oh, I'm going to make you pay for that!"

"Like hell you will," growled Gajeel, summoning his energy and taking a couple of steps forward to put himself firmly between Levy and Kain. "You want to get to her you're going to have to go through me!"

"…Oh… am I?" Kain smirked knowingly, and held up Mr. Cursey. Gajeel thundered forwards, his feet smashing the ground with each step and both his arms morphing into Iron Dragon Swords but as he went, Kain removed the black hair from Mr. Cursey's head and pushed another one in… a much longer black hair.

And as soon as it was in Gajeel stopped moving, instantly freezing in the positon he was in as if he'd been put in suspended animation, although quite clearly he hadn't been because he gasped and yelled, "Guh… what the…?" while his limbs trembled as he strained to move them. "The hell did you do?"

"You've got such long bristles," Kain smirked as he held up the doll and manipulated it in a way that its fist hit its own face and suddenly Gajeel ended up punching himself in the cheek and knocking himself over. "You were practically begging me to steal one."

"…Oh fuck…" Gajeel grunted.

"STOP SWEARING! IT'S NAUGHTY!" Kain yelled like a petulant child, but then his sinister grin returned and he said, "You said I had to go through you to attack your friend? I don't have to do a thing! You'll be the one attacking her!"

"WHAT!?" Gajeel shouted but Kain had already turned his body around and sent him shooting through the air right towards Levy, not even running - he was quite literally airborne. "LEVY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" he screamed as Kain made him smash one arm down at the Solid Script Mage… and his arm was still in the shape of an Iron Dragon Sword.

"HWAAAH!" Levy screamed as she dove frantically to one side, the sword cleaving through the ground where she'd just been like it was wet paper. She turned to look back but Gajeel had already twisted around to cleave his other arm through the air at her and she only just managed to block in time by throwing up a large GUARD word in front of her. It took the brunt of the blow but it still cracked and Gajeel's swords pummelled against it over and over again until it smashed straight through. Levy threw herself backwards just in time for one of the swords to shave through the ground between her legs. She backed away hurriedly and Gajeel sprang after her… or at least he tried to. But his feet had transformed into clubs which punched their way down into the floor and sprouted iron bars to keep himself anchored in place.

"Hey!" Kain shouted, pointing at Gajeel accusingly. "That's cheating! You're not supposed to do that!"

"Nnghh…" Gajeel grunted, even as his limbs thrashed wildly around out of his control, attempting to slice Levy in half with Kain additionally jerking the doll up and down in an attempt to heave Gajeel's feet loose from the rock, but he held himself firm as his arms transformed back from swords into their regular shape. "Damn doll controls people's bodies but it can't control their magic. Levy, get out of here quickly! I'll…"

But he stopped when he got a look at Levy's expression, pure terror radiating across her face as she lay paralysed, trembling with fear before him. She could see it… the brutality of his motions… the speed and ruthlessness… swinging her way. It was like the memory of the night they'd first met was pasting itself over the top of what she was seeing now, and her mind rang with the echoes of his cruel laughter.

"St… stay away…" she croaked, grabbing her head in her hands and curling into a ball. "STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

"…Levy…" Gajeel whispered.

"What's this?" Kain blinked. "That's not the behaviour I was expecting… unless… oh my… have you beat her up before?"

"SHUT UP!"

"You have, haven't you?" Kain gasped. "That's monstrous, Dragon Slayer. But it's very fitting I think, if she's suffered at your hand before. This time, let's make it even worse for her shall we?"

"YOU FUCKING…" Gajeel bellowed but suddenly his body changed into cotton, including the iron clubs embedded in the ground. Kain easily ripped him up from the ground with a swing of his doll and then transformed him back to normal to slam him down towards Levy with ruthless force. She saw him coming and rolled herself swiftly back onto her feet, making a break for it as he crashed down behind her but he'd barely touched the ground before he was shooting at her and his fist slammed straight into her back, right atop the guild mark on her left shoulder blade.

"AAAAAAH!" Levy screamed with pain as she sent crashing to the ground on her front.

"LEVY!" Gajeel yelled, but even in mid-yell and as Levy tried to push herself back upwards his foot hammered out to smash into her stomach from below and heave her off the ground, tossing her up into the air with all the breath driven from her as she crashed down on her back, heavily bruised and gasping for breath. But she didn't get much before Gajeel's foot stamped down on her chest repeatedly, pressing her down into the ground again and again and again.

"AAAAHH! AAAAH! GGAAAAAH!"

"LEVY! HOLD ON, LEVY! STOP IT! JUST STOP IT! I'M FUCKING BEGGING YOU, STOP IT!"

"I'm not doing anything," Kain sneered. "You're the one kicking your stuffing out of your little lady friend, not me. Must be pretty nostalgic for the two of you, right?"

"DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU TO HELL, YOU BASTARD!"

But through the blur of pain as Gajeel's foot slammed down upon her chest once more, Levy was able to squint up at her attacker. His anguished roars were a direct contrast to the raucous laughter from the past ringing in her ears. His face was different too - she remembered the barbaric smirk and the bared fangs twisted into a ferocious leer but now… she'd never seen him look so guilty as he did at this moment. So wretched and filled with … fear. He looked terrified! Levy couldn't remember ever seeing Gajeel look so afraid.

Afraid of hurting her.

And not just that… she could see a flicker of self-loathing running through him as well. It was plain as day… and suddenly Levy could see everything clearly. The day Gajeel had attacked her wasn't just haunting for her… it was for him too. Perhaps even more so, for he had carried out the repugnant act and guilt was a far worse thing to carry than fear. And ever since then he'd been trying to make it up to her without actively saying so. He protected her from Laxus, he volunteered to be her partner at the S-Class trials not just to try and help her through but to try and protect her from harm… and now that he was being forced to turn on her again it… it was one of the most horrifying experiences he'd ever been put through.

And worst of all, Levy's fear of him was eating him alive. He usually didn't show it, but now in this moment of vulnerability and helplessness, it was clear as day.

Even as his foot stomped down on her stomach and she screamed in pain, Levy's heart went out to Gajeel. Ironically, the direct contrast between his emotions while attacking her between then and now became the final straw to make her cast the last vestiges of her fear of him aside and she knew then how she really felt. She pulled her emotions together… she gritted her teeth… and she whispered, "Don't worry, Gajeel. I… I promise… I'll save you."

"Huh?" Gajeel and Kain both said at the same time, a lull appearing in Levy's beatdown in Kain's momentary confusion. Barely able to move and aching everywhere, Levy lashed her arms upwards and a huge STONE suddenly smashed Gajeel in the face, knocking him backwards and allowing Levy to scramble out of the hole, clutching her chest and grimacing in pain, but thankfully unable to find any broken ribs. Perhaps Gajeel had been able to hold back himself just enough to prevent more serious damage.

"Heh, that was a cute attempt at rebellion," Kain smirked, readying the doll. "But you're laughably weak. There's nothing you can do to keep your friend from crushing you. Oh, wait - he's not your friend is he? He's beaten you up twice now after all."

"No… Gajeel is my friend," Levy whispered as she slowly pushed herself to her feet. "He's one of the best friends I've ever had. And I've not told him that enough. Ever since I got to this world I've been pushing him away, consumed with fear reawakened in me by those Dementors. Fear because he hurt me.

"But I know how guilty he feels about what he did. That day has effected him even more than it did me, turning him into the kind, caring man I know him to be. I know how hard he's trying to put it right ever since. And that's why I know he'll never hurt me again. It's the one thing he would never, ever do. At least not of his own free will. And maybe that's why… I can let my guard down around him. Why I know I can trust him. Why… I think maybe one day… I could even fall in love with him."

"…" Gajeel stared, his brain suddenly freezing. Even if he hadn't been controlled by a doll he probably wouldn't have been able to move at that moment. Surely… he must have misheard that. There… there was no way… that Levy could… that she could…

But the little bluenette turned to look back at him, her cheeks flushed red but her smile genuine.

"Erza was right," she whispered. "I wasn't afraid of you because I was worried you'd hurt my body, not for long. I was afraid… that you might hurt my feelings. And yet all this time I've been hurting yours because of that fear. I'm sorry, Gajeel. I mean it. You're one of my best friends but… I won't deny… I've thought about whether we could be more one day because there's nobody else I trust more than you. I don't know whether that's something you'd be interested in and if you're not, I'll understand. But I swear I'll never hurt you again. Just as I know you'll never hurt me. I swear it on the name of Fairy Tail itself."

"…Levy…" Gajeel whispered, struggling to comprehend what she was saying. The very idea that she might have feelings for him seemed utterly ridiculous and yet here she was saying that she did. It was stupid. It was senseless… how could she ever fall for the guy who beat her and her two teammates half to death and bolted them to a fucking tree!?

And yet she'd just explained exactly why she could. And… to Gajeel's surprise… it actually made sense.

But what the hell did he feel in return?

"WOO-WEEEEEEEEEE!" Kain yelled, chewing on his cape angrily and interrupting Gajeel's thoughts before he could come to any decision on that score. "Acting all lovey-dovey in front of me! How dare you! How dare you, damn it! If that's the case I'll make your beloved crush you to a pulp in a single blow!"

"Jealous?" Levy smirked. "I'm guessing you don't have a girlfriend, but no girl worth having will ever want you as long as you continue to delight in hurting people. Besides, not even the Iron Dragon Slayer can kill me as long as we're on this island."

"WE'LL SEE! Change Mr. Cursey to cotton!" Kain shouted as he thrust the doll up into the air, sending Gajeel shooting upwards until he was at least two-hundred feet up and directly above Levy's head. "And now I change it to iron! I'll have him crush you with his own Dragon Slayer element. How do you like that!?"

He smashed the doll downwards towards the ground and Gajeel plummeted straight for the battered and bruised bookworm. "LEVY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" he bellowed. But Levy didn't move an inch. She swept her arms up in front of her, grinning triumphantly. She knew casually mentioning Gajeel was the Iron Dragon Slayer would make Kain choose to turn the doll into iron - he was fairly predictable like that. And that's exactly what she'd been banking on when she cried:-

"**SOLID SCRIPT… MAGNET!"**

As soon as the metallic words appeared in the air before her Kain's hand was suddenly wrenched forwards in its direction, the iron Mr. Cursey yanking its way out of his fingers before he realised what was happening. "WHA!" he cried as the doll clanged up against the magnetic word, it's sideways motion flinging Gajeel backwards as well so he crashed to the ground some distance behind Levy instead of landing on top of her like he'd been about to do. Levy darted forwards as fast as her bruises would allow, seizing Mr. Cursey as the magnet disappeared and wrenching Gajeel's hair out of it.

"See!?" she grinned. "Told you I'd save Gajeel."

"YOU LITTLE…! YOU LITTLE…!" Kain roared, slamming his arms up and down and stamping his feet like a gigantic toddler in the middle of a temper tantrum, but before he could say much more Gajeel suddenly leapt over Levy's head, his eyes afire with rage.

"YOUMADE ME HURT HER!" he bellowed, lashing an Iron Dragon Club down to strike Kain full in the face and knock him backwards a couple of steps. He landed in front of Levy and seized the iron doll from her hands, ripping its head off in a single bite and swallowing the rest of it down with three distinct chews. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S ABOUT TO GET BEATEN TO A FUCKING PULP!"

He thundered forwards to spring into a flying kick that smashed both his feet into Kain's stomach before he could block with his hands and knocked him flat onto his back, the Iron Dragon Slayer rebounding off his stomach to somersault over and land on his feet. The moment he hit the ground he clapped his hands together above his head and summoned as much of his magic as he could.

**"METSURYUU OUGI!"** he shouted, his hands merging together into a single iron blade that shot upwards until it was even longer than Pantherlily's sword. **"GOUMA: TETSUJINKEN!" **His roar shook the rocks as he brought the blade thundering down on top of Kain's head, pile-driving him to the ground and cleaving the rocks open into a huge ditch that Kain fell several dozen feet down into. The Grimoire Heart man bellowed in pain, but at the last second he'd been able to grab hold of the sword in both his hands and hold it back a bit with his great strength which significantly reduced the impact upon his own body, though it still hurt like hell. Rocks cascaded in on top of him but even though he was left temporarily stunned when Gajeel withdrew the sword and separated his hands, he was still able to push himself into a sitting position.

"That… hurt…" he growled, which was certainly true.

"Not done, huh?" Gajeel snorted. "Good. Wouldn't have been satisfying if I'd ended it with that blow alone."

"Well you'll be wishing it finished me soon enough," Kain grunted, producing another doll from an inside pocket of his cloak. "I can learn from my losses - I spent the last few days making more Mr. Cursey dolls to be sure I'd never run out."

"That right? Well I'm shave my bloody head before I let you get your mitts on another one of my hairs," Gajeel growled, activating his magic to turn his skin metal once more and even turning his hair into iron to make sure Kain couldn't pull another one out when he wasn't paying attention. Hethe turned back to the bookworm who had flopped down onto her backside behind him. "Levy… you were epic just then. Take it easy for now while I rip this shithead a new one."

"Language, Gajeel," Levy grinned lopsidedly. Gajeel smirked and turned back around. Until this battle was done he had no choice but to push what Levy had said to the back of his mind. For now, he had to focus, and he barrelled forwards once more as Kain came rushing into to meet him as well.

* * *

While battle raged on Tenroujima, Severus Snape sat quietly in his office, perusing the homework he had to mark for the new first years by tomorrow. Nobody had disturbed him since McGonagall had told him that she and the other Heads of House were planning on taking a little field trip with Fairy Tail and some of the DA members to that island that the Fairies called sacred ground. He'd been half expecting Umbridge to come waddling down and demand to know where the other teachers had gone, but she did nothing of the sort. Unbeknownst to Snape, she'd spent the evening locked in her own office, afraid to come out lest the mysterious werewolf tried to strike at her in the darkness.

But just as he was giving one of the Gryffindor students a low mark for the work, a foot appeared on the parchment.

"What the…!" he gasped and careened backwards, looking up to see Mavis was suddenly standing on his desk and looking down at him earnestly. "You… what are you…?"

"Severus, I don't have time to explain in detail," Mavis said earnestly, crouching down to look him directly in the eye beseechingly. "There's an attack in progress on Tenroujima right now. Voldemort and the Grimoire Heart members are attacking the teachers, the DA and my guild, and they'd set up a sort of barrier preventing anyone from using magical transportation means unless they have a Dark Mark. They're doing well - they may even be able to pull out a victory but I would rather throw everything we have at them to make sure. We need Gildarts, and at the moment you're the only way he can get to the island in time to help."

"…I see," Snape stood up, getting swiftly to his feet. "But you will no doubt be aware that if the Dark Lord or any of his subordinates see me on that island, suspicion that I am not truly on their side will be raised, will it not?"

"Yes, it will, but all we need you to do is Apparate Gildarts to the island and that's it. Done. You don't need to go anywhere near the battle until its over and we've driven them away. But you have to hurry. When last I left there was still high percent chance that somebody will die and Harry was under attack from Voldemort himself and…"

Something changed in Snape's demeanour in that second, his face going pale and his pupils shrinking. Then he was running, rushing around the desk before Mavis could finish speak and sweeping out the door with a whirl of his robes. Mavis blinked in surprise - from what she knew of Snape he did not like Harry at all and yet the moment she mentioned him being attacked he looked panic-stricken. That was rather odd. But she was not about to complain and swept after him as he all but ran towards the seventh floor.

Along the way though they ran into a significant bonus. As Snape cleared the fifth floor, suddenly none other than Albus Dumbledore stepped out from a corridor just behind them.

"Ah, Severus," he called. "You wouldn't happen to know where Minerva is would you? I seem to have returned to a castle with a surprising lack of teachers in it."

"There's no time, Headmaster," Mavis turned around urgently. "Minerva and the others went to Tenroujima after our Fairy Sphere lowered, and they took some of the students with them, including Harry. We don't know how, but Voldemort and Grimoire Heart found the island. We didn't think they'd be there but they're there right now, and it's become a warzone where only those with Dark Marks can Apparate in or out!"

Dumbledore's face became ashen and for such an old man he moved at high speed, not even bothering to ask any further questions as he hurried after Snape. The three of them ran together to the Room of Requirement door and quickly summoned it, charging straight through to the empty stadium where Gildarts was sitting reclined upon a chair.

"Oh it's you lot," he said casually. "Thought that the others would be back by know. I guess they're enjoying…"

"Cana's in danger!" Mavis shouted.

That was literally all she needed to say for Gildarts to leap onto his feet and stare at her wildly. "What!? Who!? How!?"

"We'll explain later. Come on, let's move!"

Gildarts too fell in step behind the others as they dashed down the corridor that led right the way through to the Hog's Head, bursting out from behind the portrait of Ariana without any warning, making Aberforth jump right out of his skin. "What…?" he spluttered. "Albus, the hell do you think you're doing!?" he shouted. "You can't just…"

"Leave that door open for us, Aberforth," Albus instructed as both he and Gildarts grabbed hold of Snape's arms at the same time. "We'll need it in order to get Fairy Tail back into the castle when this is all over."

"When what's all over!? What are you…?"

*CRACK*

And Snape was gone. Mavis sighed in relief before she too vanished.

* * *

She re-appeared high above the island and lowered herself down in search of the entry point that Snape, Dumbledore and Gildarts must have taken… but her eye was quite quickly drawn to something else. A gigantic elderly man upon the beach bombarding the area with his fists and sending black-robed men flying or fleeing, or both. Mavis gasped, a flush of joy filling her up at the sight of him.

"Makarov," she whispered. "Yuri's son… oh thank the fairies you're okay."

Makarov didn't hear her of course. He was too preoccupied and she was too far away. But as she descended towards him she saw Dumbledore and Gildarts running towards the recovering teachers and DA members. Snape crouched behind a rock, though he really needn't have bothered. The Death Eaters were still too preoccupied with screaming, running or being unconscious to notice his presence, but Mavis dropped down next to him all the same and whispered, "Thank you."

"If you need me later, come and tell me," Snape said curtly, before he Disapparated once again.

"Albus!" McGonagall gasped as the Headmaster approached, a wave of relief rushing through her at the sight of him. "I honestly don't think I've ever been more pleased to see you. But I… I'm so sorry that I…"

"I'm afraid we're going to have to talk about taking students on impromptu field trips another time, Minerva," Albus said, looking around at the students and relieved to see that all of them in the area were alive even if most of them were injured. "Where is Harry?"

"In the forest with some of the others. I haven't seen him in a while but he has Sirius, Remus, Hagrid, Natsu, Lucy and Lisanna all keeping an eye on him. I'm sure he'll be okay."

"Whoa, is that my daughter!" Gildarts suddenly gasped, pointing across the gap to where Cana and her Allosaurus were smashing the Gale Belfast creature up against the cliff face repeatedly. "That's… it is! That's my daughter! That's my daughter everyone! Look at her, look at her riding that thing! That right there, that is awesome. Er… though where did that thing come from exactly?"

Nobody had a chance to answer his question before Makarov stepped back and away from the Death Eaters. Those of them that were still conscious had either successfully fled or could now barely move and the Third Master of Fairy Tail nodded in satisfaction before turning back to the group. He glanced across to where the other Fairy Tail members were still fighting ferociously, but he could see that they seemed to have a handle on things despite the brutality of their combat, and the spell upon the island should protect them from death. He didn't need to go rushing to their aid immediately - the strangers behind him were his primary concern at the moment.

Makarov stepped carefully towards them, shrinking rapidly in size as he went. Staff and students alike stared in amazement as the enormous man descended down, down, down… and then even further down than they were expecting until when he finally stopped he was only just taller than Professor Flitwick.

"Gildarts," he said gruffly, but with a smile. "I am relieved to see you and so many of the others safe… relatively speaking."

"The feeling is very mutual, Master," Gildarts chuckled.

"Perhaps though you would like to introduce me to these strangers who seem to have found their way to our island. Which unless I am very much mistaken is in a completely different location to where it's supposed to be."

"It is indeed, and the long version will take a while to explain. But the short version is that we all survived Acnologia's attack but were somehow all sucked into another universe, kinda like that Edolas place that Natsu told us about but not that world. This is Albus Dumbledore. He's Headmaster of a school for magic, which is the closest thing this world has to wizard guilds, but he and his friends have been the ones who've been looking out for us since we arrived. Giving us room and board, helping bring us back together, trying to help us stay out of trouble… and failing."

"…Well that's something that I can sympathise with," Makarov muttered, even as he dipped his head to Dumbledore. "But if that is true, then you have my unending gratitude for watching over my children when I could not, Dumbledore-dono. My sincerest apologies if they turned out to be… a handful."

"That's one way of putting it," Dumbledore said, a slight twinkle in his eyes. "But it was my honest pleasure - your children are all extremely fascinating people and I am elated to make your acquaintance at last. They have mentioned many good things about you, Sir Makarov. But we will have to wait before getting to know each other better. Some of my students are still out there and I need to hurry and find them."

"Quite right," Makarov nodded, turning his head towards the distant battlefield. "My brats are locked in battle as well. Our highest priority is to drive the enemy from this island and keep all our respective families safe. Let's go."

But he'd barely taken even one step forwards before a whirlwind erupted out of nowhere a short distance down the beach, between them and where the other Fairy Tail mages were fighting. Sand was thrown up in all directions, forcing many of them to shield their eyes, but by the time the wind died down their path was blocked by a young-looking woman with long, raven-black hair and a haughty smirk written across her face.

"It appears that the proverbial gang is all here," said Morgana, flicking a little of her hair over her shoulder. "Albus Dumbledore… what an honour it is to meet you I'm sure. After all you're the most powerful magic-user born into this world in centuries. I should know. I've been watching it all this time."

Dumbledore's face became noticeably ashen, stepping forwards next to Makarov in order to very deliberately place himself between this woman and his tired students. "Then may I presume you are who I think you are?" he asked curtly.

"If you are thinking that I am Morgana Pendragon, or Morgan Le Fay as many people like to call me nowadays for some bizarre reason, then yes, that is me. How very flattering that you recognise me. Not that I am surprised. After all, Harry Potter does seem to tell you almost anything, doesn't he? Such a sweet young boy… I imagine he's having some trouble fending off dear Voldemort right now."

These words did not go unnoticed by those students who were still conscious, which was the majority of them. There were some very mixed reactions, from incredulity to near-panic - every one of them struggling to comprehend what they'd just heard. Morgana Pendragon… _the_ Morgana… was standing in front of them now?

"So you're her, are you?" Gildarts said, as he stepped up beside Makarov and Dumbledore, as if the three of them were forming a physical barrier between the ancient witch and her potential prey. "Somehow I pictured you to be a little more… extravagantly dressed."

"Extravagant dresses can wait until I have resumed my birthright as ruler of this country, Mr. Clive," Morgana smiled. "But how very exciting it is, to see the headmaster of Hogwarts and the Master of Fairy Tail side by side. Makes me wish I had a camera on had to capture this historic moment."

"I don't know who you are, but I would ask you to please step aside," Makarov glowered. "I have no quarrel with you unless you make one with me."

"Oh, but I do have a quarrel with you. You see, you righteous Fairy Tail mages are hardly going to sit back and do nothing while I try and take over, even if you are completely alien to this world. That's just not the kind of thing you can do, which is why I came to your sacred alien to recruit two fallen Grimoire Heart mages I knew to be resting here so as to further combat you."

"I see… then if that is the case," Makarov glowered as he began to glow yellow, a blazing aura of light appearing around him. "If you make yourself a threat to my family, I have no other alternative but to crush you as well."

"I thought you'd say that," Morgana chuckled. "And that is exactly why I went to the Pool of Nemhain as well. Against someone of your calibre… I knew I was going to have to get myself even more help."

She raised one hand high into the air and a second whirlwind spring into existence beside her, flinging more sand up in all directions. And in the midst of the swirling wind another figure began to appear… tall, cloaked… and when the wind died away, horribly familiar. At least to Makarov… and to Mavis.

"Oh no…" Mavis whispered from where she was still hovering far above the battlefield, clapping her hands over her mouth.

"…You… again…?" Makarov breathed.

"You look surprised to see me, boy," said the man, his armoured arms folded across his chest and his cloak and long white hair billowing out behind him in the dying remnants of the wind from the transportation spell. His long white beard was tucked in beneath his arms, and his one visible eye narrowed with obvious amusement while the other eye was hidden beneath a thick, black patch. "From your perspective it shouldn't have been that long since we last encountered each other."

"…Precht…?" Mavis whispered, unable to believe her eyes. "But… how is this possible? Wasn't… Zeref… was he supposed to have… killed you?"

But despite what she'd heard it was unquestionably him. Hades, the Master of Grimoire Heart, was standing before them alongside Morgana, the both of them smirking with obvious satisfaction at the dumbfounded faces before them. Unlike Zancrow, he was no Inferi. To all intents and purposes… he was alive.

But that was impossible surely… there was no spell that could simply raise the dead in either world! There was the R-system from her world, but that was a magic item that would take years and years to construct, along with an insane amount of magic power and a sacrifice. There was no way he was alive!

And yet… here he was.

"…So this is Master Hades, is it?" Dumbledore eventually asked. "I have to say… Wendy might have had a point when she said there was some resemblance between us."

"You believe so, do you?" Hades raised his hand, a magic circle appearing beneath his palm. "Well then, if you'd be so kind as to hold still, I'll put out your eye and make that resemblance a little stronger, shall I?"

And with a burst of magic two hooked chains erupted from his hand and swept across the beach towards them.


	50. Fire in the Sky

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 50:- Fire in the Sky**

* * *

From the moment that the chains burst out of Hades' palm, Makarov was already in motion. He leapt straight into the path of the attack and seized both the chains in his hands just behind the hooked ends, bringing them together and heaving them to one side. His arms grew suddenly massive - completely disproportionate to his body - and the muscles in them bulged as he swung the chains like a massive whip. Hades' feet left the ground, propelled towards the end of the beach by Makarov's swing but he was quick to cut off the attack so the chains vanished into thin air, allowing him to spin gracefully through the air and land on his feet.

"You wish to battle me again, boy?" he snorted. "You may recall that didn't go so well for you last time."

"That matters not," Makarov glowered, stepping forward to confront his old Master away from the others. "You may be more powerful than me but that is no reason for me to back down and allow you to harm my brats. To allow you to further besmirch the name of Fairy Tail. To allow your darkness to mock my father, who was your friend right up until the day he died."

"Hmm?" Hades raised a brow in apparent bemusement. "Your father? Whatever are you talking about?"

"…Excuse me?" Makarov blinked, having expected a snide comment but not that. "My father, Yuri Dreyar. He was one of your partners, was he not? From even before you became one of the founding fathers of the guild."

"I have not the faintest idea who you mean," Hades grunted, raising his hand and pointing two fingers at Makarov like a gun. "But it matters not. You are a fool if you think the outcome of this battle will be any different to our last, but let us see if you can do better against me this time, shall we?"

Makarov was momentarily confused as hell. Surely Hades had not forgotten about Yuri. Fairy Tail had been such a big part of his life once… descending into darkness had done nothing to alter his memories of that time and yet now he claimed he couldn't remember one of his closest friends. There was something extremely odd about that.

But he didn't get a chance to contemplate it for long because a flurry of small purple energy bolts came pulsing out of Hades' fingers like bullets. Makarov swung his arm, magnifying its size to sweep them aside, ignoring the angry welts they left on his skin on contact, and sent his arm thundering down on top of Hades like a falling mountain.

Hades' hands lashed out and more chains erupted out of them to ensnare around Makarov's gigantic wrist and allow Hades to swing himself out of the way before whirling around and heaving on the chains, so this time he was the one who pulled Makarov off his feet. He swung the little Master around into the nearby rocks crashing and scraping him against them as he passed before tossing him down the beach and releasing the chains. Makarov created a ditch in the sand as he skidded across it and Hades mercilessly fired a beam of purple energy from his hand which lanced down the ditch and slammed into Makarov, consuming him in smoke from the resulting explosion.

But it turned out Makarov had protecting himself with a glowing spherical shield of light at the last second, and even before the smoke cleared he'd thrust his hand right down into the sand. A colossal wave of light energy surged through sand to concentrate beneath Hades' feet and erupt upwards in a huge spherical blast that mushroomed upwards like a nuclear bomb. But Hades remained entirely unaffected because he too thrust his hand downwards at the last second and allowed dark energy to leave his own hand, forming a shield that carried him upwards atop Makarov's attack and then absorbed it moments later.

Hades' hands danced into an erratic pattern which caused three large purple rings to appear in the air high above Makarov, on top of the other with the highest being the largest. They looked like they were made of glowing letters like Freed's runes - but these were not runes. They were seals. Hades crushed his fingers into a fist and shouted,** "AMATERASU GOJŪSAN SHIKI!" **And instantly a titanic blast of purple energy lanced downwards with the force of a lightning bolt, except far larger and creating a shockwave that threw everything around it flying.

Makarov retaliated instantly with a hand gesture of his own and sent an equally large blast of light shattering upwards in response, a great pillar of light energy that entirely enshrouded his body and struck the falling attack head-on. The two strained against each other with such force that nearby rocks a good fifty feet away crumbled to pieces under the resulting shockwaves until they eventually exploded together. The shock of the blast knocked Makarov backwards and forced him to dig his hands into the beach and enlarge them to bring himself to a skidding halt. But Hades was already upon him and his chains seized both of Makarov's feet, hoisting him up and into the air and crashing him down against the rocks, whereupon a storm of energy bullets from Hades' fingers followed and blasted into him.

"GGGGOOOOWWAAAAAAHHHHH!" Makarov yelled as they ripped into his robes and the bandages which were still covering his body from before. Unlike most of the other members of his guild he still had not had enough time to fully recover from the wounds inflicted on him by both Hades and Acnologia and now Hades was tearing into him once more. But he diligently refused to give up and fired energy out of his feet to vaporise the rocks around him and pulse him up and out of the way of Hades' bullet attacks, his hands slamming together in front of him and three magic circles forming in front of him. Each of them blasted a huge ray of destructive light upon Hades, two of them curving around to come in from the sides.

But despite his advanced age, Hades remained as agile as he ever did and gracefully sprang into a backflip that allowed the light blasts to smash together in front of him. The gigantic burst they emitted carried Hades away but once again the chains burst forth like grappling hooks, sinking deep into the cliffs on either side of Makarov and allowing Hades to reverse his trajectory and come hurtling forwards, his foot outstretched and aiming for Makarov's chest. Due to the remnants of his own light attack, Makarov almost didn't see him coming. But when he did, he didn't run. Instead he burst forwards, growing exponentially until he was the size of an elephant and ramming Hades aside with one sweep of his massive fist.

This time Hades hit the ground hard and rolled a couple of feet, grunting in pain. But it was a smooth transition back to his feet all the same, and he pulled nonchalantly on his beard to get some of the sand out of it. "Hmm," he said. "It appears you've learned a little from our last encounter, boy. But I'm afraid it will not be enough."

"You cannot hit me with the same attack you hit me with before that ended our bout," Makarov noted as he shrank back to normal size. "The blast from something like that would also hit your comrades over there. And whatever has become of you, I believe you still care about your comrades somewhat, do you not? Even if you have chosen different comrades now."

"Heh. Quite right," Hades nodded. "I will not make a move that would strike them down. But I will not have to make that move. There are many other spells that I can hit you with instead, which will keep collateral damage to a minimum."

Once again his hands flew into motions that Makarov almost couldn't follow with the eye and he cried, **"AMATERASU NANAJŪHACHI SHIKI!"** and abruptly four more circular seals appeared in the air above Hades' head. But suddenly one of them span rapidly and fired out towards Makarov like a gigantic discus or buzzsaw. Makarov leapt upwards so the spinning seal tore a line in the sand beneath him but it also detonated with storm of energy that smashed into Makarov and sent him arcing away along the beach, his clothes steaming. Twisting around in mid-air, Makarov was able to land on his feet but another of the seals was already roaring towards him, with the other two in hot pursuit.

Gritting his teeth, Makarov bulged upwards at incredible speed, growing to the size of a large whale in the space of three seconds and his body blazing once again with that yellowish aura. The three seals crashed in towards his right foot which Makarov was able to lift out of the way before they could strike it but the massive explosion of energy that followed when the three of them hit the sand was still enough to knock him for a loop and send him stumbling backwards into the surf, the ground juddering under his massive footfalls. And suddenly Hades was up in front of him, slamming his hand into Makarov's chest right atop the red guild mark at the base of his ribs.

The storm of energy that fulminated out of Hades' hand was enough to lift even the enormous Makarov off his feet and sending him smashing down onto his back in the sea with enough force to create a miniature tidal wave, swamping half the beach and soaking many of the DA members watching the battle to the skin. But even as he fell, Makarov's foot came up to smash into Hades and send him sailing back into the cliff-face hard enough to fracture the rock with the mere impact of his body.

And yet still he was able to get up and brush himself off, wincing slightly but none the worse for wear while Makarov sat up and clutched at his ribs, grimacing with obvious pain.

"My apologies, Makarov," Hades said, as energy began to accumulate in his palm once more. "To have to beat down down a second time like this. But I assure you, there will not be a third."

"No matter how many times you beat us down, Fairy Tail will continue to get back up," Makarov growled. "Did not Mavis Vermillion teach you that back when she was alive?"

"I am grateful to Mavis and to Fairy Tail for starting me on my path," Hades replied simply. "But now I am the teacher, not her or you. And I shall teach you when the time to give up truly is."

Makarov frowned. So he did remember Mavis but didn't remember Yuri… there was something very odd indeed about that. But he didn't have much time to debate because another huge cannon blast of Amaterasu magic came hurtling his way and he was forced to shrink back to his regular size to dodge it.

* * *

"Oh my, looks like they're really going at each other," Morgana observed casually. Even she was secretly impressed with the astonishing display of power both sides of the battle where displaying but she had long since perfected the art of not allowing her true feelings to reach her face. "Not that I can blame them. From what I gather there's quite a bit of history between those two."

"What did you do?" Gildarts demanded. "I thought that Master Hades was supposed to be dead. How could have possibly…?"

"Hush," Morgana raised her hand, without even looking Gildarts' way. "I'm not speaking with you right now. It is Dumbledore that I wish to speak with at this moment."

"And what would you have to say to me?" Dumbledore asked. "If you would be so kind as to lift the barrier preventing Disapparition of this island that would be remarkably appreciated, but I am guessing that is not on your agenda."

"Indeed not," Morgana chuckled. The Headmaster of Hogwarts was currently exuding an aura of power the like of which he rarely displayed to anyone under any circumstances but Morgana stared him right in the eye, entirely unflinching. "I believe that I know the answer to this already, but nevertheless I felt should ask… have you considered joining me, Albus?"

"Joining you?"

"Yes. Allying yourself with me ever since you learned that I might be coming back. It would be a wise course to take and you are a wise man, but that is not the main reason I ask. I intend to rule this country once again, and perhaps begin a new and magical empire that spans the world with Albion… or Great Britain or the United Kingdom or whatever it's calling itself these days… at is heart. I wish to create the world I longed for back in the days of Camelot… a new world order, with benevolent magic users as the overlords over all, including the Muggles. A world where those with magic no longer have to hide themselves away in fear of persecution. Does that sound… familiar… to you?"

Gildarts glanced sideways at Dumbledore and noticed the elderly man had gone remarkably stiff, his guard noticeably lowering and his face looking almost stricken.

"That is what you wanted once, isn't it?" Morgana asked. "Don't think I didn't know that - like I told Tom Riddle, I've been keeping my eyes on promising magical individuals all these years. I had hope that you and Gellert would actually achieve what I could not while I was locked away in a cave, you were both such talented young men, especially for this day and age. How frustrated I was when that brother of yours got in the way like that."

"Aberforth… was right," Dumbledore said quietly. "My ambition and arrogance back then - it drove me too far."

"But can you not see that your morals were in the right place?" Morgana asked. "You wanted a world free from division, free from cruelty and xenophobia. The very same kind that caused your little sister so much damage and got your father sent to prison. That's what I am trying to achieve so why stand in my way? At the very least if you're not willing to join me can you not just stand back and let me do what needs to be done… for the greater good?"

Dumbledore winced visibly, his eyes screwed shut and his hands momentarily trembling, anguish written right across every wrinkle in his face before finally he said, "Your intentions… seem noble on the surface. I have always desired the world you speak of where wizard kind and Muggles can live together in peace."

His eyes slowly drifted open, his gaze locking upon Morgana's own as his robes began to swirl beneath him in an unseen wind. "But while that may be a strong motivator for you, your true desire is power for yourself. You were not the only one who worked to bring about a kingdom where magic and Muggle could live together in peace back in Camelot. Merlin did the same and you fought him and King Arthur every step of the way because you wanted to be the one on the throne.

"Yes, it is true I wanted to create a world where magic held dominion, but I only ever wanted that power to protect my loved ones. Never for myself. But you _do_ want it for yourself. You have nobody you want to protect. And I could never dishonour the memory of my sister… by throwing in with someone like you."

"A pity," Morgana sighed, shaking her head. "You would have made a powerful ally indeed. I suppose I shall have to destroy you now. You will never get to see a world where magic and Muggle can live together in peace."

"Maybe not," Gildarts suddenly piped up, drawing both of their attentions his way. "But he knows people who do come from one. My world is a world where magical and non-magical live and prosper together. And we do so without grand magical overlords - we work together with the people to achieve what we would struggle to do alone. Heck, our own King isn't even magical in the slightest."

He pounded his chest and grinned mightily. "Fairy Tail is living proof that we don't need your way to build a better world, my Lady. You should be the one joining us, not the other way around… and may I say for a fifteen-hundred year old woman would do look particularly fine."

Morgana scowled. "You have no right," she growled. "You're an alien to us - you haven't seen what the magical have been put through at the hands of the Muggles in my world. You have no right at all to tell me how I should do things. And you, Dumbledore… you leave me little alternative. Allow me to show you just how out of your depth you are against me."

Dumbledore was the first to react and swished his wand through the air, the sand from the beach instantly lifting up and plastering in all around Morgana's body, forming a tight cocoon that began to encase her from the ankles up towards her neck like a crust. Morgana's eyes flashed yellow and the cocoon shredded to pieces before he could finish, her hand punching forwards with fist clenched, the sand forming into a dozen javelins and slamming through the air at incredible speed, forcing Dumbledore to lash them out to the sides and send them shooting away. But the spears turned around almost as soon as they were deflected and came back again, until they were disintegrated into nothing with a blast of Gildarts' Crash Magic.

Bolting forwards, Gildarts lashed hand down into the ground and a tremendous wave of magic thundered across the beach, splitting it into squares that were thrown up in all directions like a gigantic wave. But Morgana leapt upwards and flung her arms out to either side, hovering in mid-air as if she had suddenly become absolutely weightless and bringing her hands crashing together before her. Instantly the sky erupted with a dozen massive lightning bolts that streaked down around her to pummel the ground around Gildarts and Dumbledore, one of them striking Gildarts full in the chest and actually lifting him off the ground to send him crashing onto his back, blasting a huge hole in the beach beneath him by accident as he did so.

Dumbledore was able to evade the attack though by conjuring four huge metal pillars out of the ground around him which attracted the lightning and sent sparks racing up and down the metal constructs, only for him to uproot them and send them lashing up towards Morgana like a the world's biggest spears. Morgana's fist clenched and the pillars all rusted away to nothingness before they reached her, flakes of orange falling to the ground like snow, but Dumbledore had already followed up with a spell that conjured up multiple balls of fire that warped into the shape of birds, each one looking similar to a phoenix but twice the size, which swept in towards Morgana from multiple angles at once.

Apparently unconcerned, Morgana conjured a watery sphere around herself that pulsed outwards in all directions like a shockwave, extinguishing the birds and smashing straight into Dumbledore. Though the elderly man was able to produce a shield at the last second the force of the water wall was enough to toss him backwards and send him sliding back through the sand, but before he'd even come to a stop Morgana had conjured a wall of fire right along the length of the beach from the edge of the water to the cliffs. Lashing her hand outwards, the flaming wall swept across the sand in a veritable firestorm, consuming everything in its path and bearing down on not just the combatants, but the students nearby.

But Gildarts was up and on his feet and he ran forwards, sweeping his arm up and splitting the fire wall into pieces with a flex of his fingers. He concentrated an explosion of Crash Magic beneath his feet which sent him hurtling upwards to seize Morgana by the front of her robes and hurl her down towards the beach. He raised his fist and muttered, "Don't really like hitting ladies but in your case…" and a huge blast of Crash Magic was sent thundering straight down after her.

But Morgana had already clasped her hands together and vanished into thin air before she could hit the ground, the magical attack vaporising a huge section of the beach but otherwise hitting absolutely nothing. Gildarts gasped as he felt the telltale rush of magic and turned around to find Morgana had re-appeared directly above him and had just generated what appeared to be a gigantic cone of rock that resembled a massive drill, which she fired down at him, spinning wildly as it went and seeking to tear him apart. Gildarts lashed one arm up and punched the oncoming projectile, smashing it to smithereens with a single blow, but suddenly all the pieces of rock pummelled in around him, smashing into him over and over and pile-driving him into the beach, completely burying him under what looked like a small mountain of the stuff.

Morgana landed nearby and spread her hands out, transforming the rocks on top of Gildarts into ice and fusing them together, hoping to encase him in the freezing material, but before she could complete the task Dumbledore had rejoined the fray. Morgana spotted him twirling his wand and forming what appeared to be a dozen arrows mad entirely out of acid and flinging them at her. Unconcerned, Morgana raised a magical shield to defend herself but was taken off guard when she was struck in the back instead, burning at her skin and the back of her dress and flinging her forwards onto her face. Grimacing she immediately pushed herself to her feet and passed a hand over her back, the wound and the dress both fixing over rapidly as she sent a huge windstorm out of her hand at Dumbledore only for it to unfaze him entirely. She blinked in momentary confusion, but as he twirled his wand to ready his next spell she realised what was going on.

"Oooh, I see. You've warped my sense of reality so I can see you somewhere you're not," she said, watching as Dumbledore swirled his wand in a circle to conjure up with looked like a massive stunning spell. "That's clever to be sure. But I see through it."

Dumbledore fired the spell with incredible force but Morgana turned her back on the incoming attack and smashed her hand against what looked like thin air. The spell suddenly rebounded back at Dumbledore and as he blocked Morgana swung her arms up and tore the spell on the area apart, the real Dumbledore suddenly appearing in front of her. She swept across the gap between them, turning aside an enormous flaming sphere he sent her way and snapping her fingers, which caused Dumbledore's half-moon glasses to suddenly turn completely opaque. He stumbled backwards, half-blinded, but he only just had time to tear the glasses away before Morgana seized his hand and wordlessly caused him to sink into the sand right up to his knees, jamming Dumbledore's wand up against his own throat.

"You think having this wand makes you powerful enough to face me, do you?" Morgana smirked at him. "Oh, yes I know exactly what this wand is and I know it's allegiance will pass to me when I kill you. But not even the Elder Wand is comparable to the true might of the Old Religion. You yourself proved it wasn't unbeatable when you took if from dear old Gellert after all."

"Truly, you are mighty," Dumbledore grunted. "But even if I stand no chance against you I will protect my students until the very end."

"Your students wouldn't need protecting if you joined me. Now if any of them die it will be on your hands. Think about that in the afterlife."

Dumbledore shut his eyes and almost immediately a searingly bright flash of light erupted from the tip of his wand. But that's all it was, just light, and it made Morgana stumble backwards, suddenly half-blinded herself, which gave Dumbledore the chance to hit her with an incredibly powerful Battering Hex which sent her rocketing back across the beach just as Gildarts exploded up out of the icy prison she'd attempted to trap him in. Huge pools of Crash Magic erupted out of his hands and curved to form two huge wrecking balls of swirling white energy that smashed in towards Morgana from either side. As she pulled to a halt, she was able to take control of one and reverse its trajectory, forcing Gildarts to thrust his hands out and rip through his own magic, the resulting explosion heaving him into the air and forcing him to backflip to land next to Dumbledore. But the other Crash sphere descended on Morgana and erupted upwards into a great pillar of energy that made half the island shake as soon as it made contact.

Both Gildarts and Dumbledore stood side by side, waiting form the smoke to clear and find out what had just happened. But before that could happen another whirlwind ripped into existence between them and the Crash site, Morgana appearing right in the middle of it with her hair frazzled and the sleeves of her dress slightly tattered, but otherwise none the worse for wear. She'd thrown up a shield to defend herself and then transported herself out of the way just before her shield could be overwhelmed.

"I was quite right. You are both very powerful indeed," she smiled at them, genuinely congratulatory. "But allow me to show you what being a High Priestess of the Old Religion really means."

And suddenly the air erupted around Dumbledore and Gildarts - cloud, sand, wind, rain and lightning lashing and crackling in at them from all sides, blasting into them like a super concentrated storm had just sprung up right in their immediate vicinity. Both of them shielded their faces with arms and Protego spell alike but they were both very quickly hefted off the ground and sent swirling round and round the storm, yelling as it battered against both their bodies with absolute ruthlessness. Fortunately Dumbledore managed to hit Gildarts with a Banishing Charm that sent him flying out of the attack and Gildarts managed to seize Dumbledore's wrist and yank him along for the ride, the both of them tumbling to a stop a short distance away. Gildarts quickly heaved himself up and helped Dumbledore up to his feet, only to find the storm to already descending upon them again.

"Jeez… she's tough," Gildarts muttered. "I don't know what I was expecting but she's damn strong."

"She is the most powerful sorceress ever to exist on my world. It is no surprise really," Dumbledore remarked.

"Then I suppose the real question is, how much of her power is she using?" Gildarts observed, standing up and creating a ball of Crash Magic inside the Storm Sphere to tear it apart from the inside. "Is she going all out against us or is she still toying with us?"

"Difficult to say. It could be either."

"Then I suggest we find out, don't you?"

"Indeed."

* * *

Mavis watched from up above with eyes wide, a tumult of emotions tumbling through her ethereal body all at once. She could barely wrap her head around what she was seeing - she knew that Precht had fallen to darkness but to see him like he was right now, tearing into Makarov with what looked like absolutely no remorse whatsoever… it burned at her heart. Precht has always been the most standoffish of the other three who helped found her guild, a little bit more of a loner than the other two, but he'd always been a good man. And somehow Zeref had managed to make him fall into darkness without even wanting or trying to do so.

She was sorely tempted to go down there and intervene - reveal herself to Precht and beg him to stop. But she knew that would do no good. He'd fallen too far to listen to even her now and she would also reveal her existence to the enemy if she did. Morgana seemed to know a great many things so it was possible she already knew about Mavis' presence as well, but if Mavis understood Morgana's history correctly then she knew all this stuff from staring through crystals for thousands of years. And even through crystals, Morgana shouldn't be able to see Mavis' astral body unless Mavis specifically allowed her to. Which she hadn't. That meant there was at least a ninety-five percent chance that Morgana and the rest of the enemy didn't know Mavis was there.

It would be a poor decision to change that. Even for the sake of a former friend.

Her mind raced. She knew full well that Makarov could not defeat Precht by himself and she calculated a strong likelihood that Morgana was not using all of her power at the moment, though she was using a considerable amount. Based on what Mavis could feel of her magic, she would guess that Morgana was not as powerful as Precht but she was definitely stronger than Bluenote. But she didn't have enough data to know whether Gildarts and Dumbledore could prevail against her, especially since it looked as though Morgana's magic was capable of just about anything.

And with the DA next to exhausted nearby, they were dangerously close to two great battles and had nowhere to go.

"We need to regroup," Mavis realised. "All of us together. We're all spread apart at the moment but if we can create a united front, maybe together we can push them back."

Her mind made up, the First Master swept into action, rushing away from the intense battles upon the beach and rushing into the forest where she knew some of the others were still battling.

* * *

"GWWAAAAHHHHHH!" Scorpio yelled as he was sent thundering backwards. Voldemort had appeared in front of him and fired some kind of sticky gunk from his wand that plastered itself over the Scorpion Spirit's tail cannon and rendered it useless, then following up sharply with a curse that would have shattered every bone in his body if he had been a human. It was enough to fling the Spirit off his feet and crash into his side against a nearby tree.

But before Voldemort could take advantage of the gap in the defences he'd just made he was forced to turn aside over a score of rapid Stunning Spells and Disarming Charms from Harry, Ron and Hermione, all firing upon him at the same time as Lucy hurried over to check on Scorpio. And that gave Aquarius enough time to sweep in towards him and swing herself into a watery tornado that poured from her urn and almost engulfed Voldemort, ensuring he had to Disapparate to as the liquid pulsed out in all directions.

"YOU DARE STRIKE MY BOYFRIEND LIKE THAT!" Aquarius raged, several veins in her forehead twitching and her expression what could only be described as livid. "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU NO-NOSED FREAK!"

"I'll see you and your boyfriend sinking to the bottom of the sea where your kind belongs," Voldemort sneered, retaliating against the water with a huge heat-wave from his wand, the air turning so hot that the water began to turn to steam.

"Scorpio, are you okay?" Lucy asked as she knelt down beside him.

Scorpio grinned and made his usual pincer hand-gesture, though he was obviously in pain. "We are… I'm good, yeah. But I don't know if I'll be much more help to you today I'm afraid."

"I understand," Lucy nodded. "You did great. Have a break, okay?"

Scorpio nodded and vanished into thin air and Lucy stood up, trying to decide whether to call out Loke or Taurus to continue the fight alongside Aquarius. She had to pick carefully - she'd increased her magic enough to summon two Spirits but she still had a way to go before she could summon Spirits continuously without fear of her magic running out, and she'd already summoned a bunch today. The next gate she opened would be the last one she'd be able to open for a while.

But before she could make a decision, the fight was suddenly interrupted by none other than a pack of wolves, which surged out of the woods and leapt upon the startled Voldemort before he could blink. He yelled as two of them tore at his robes and one of them ripped their teeth into his arm but with a loud CRACK he Disapparated, taking several of the wolves with him. When he re-appeared some distance away he swung around with a wide Banishing Charm that threw the wolves away from him, firing rapid Killing Curses their way.

But the wolves proved to be quick on their feet and ran in circles around him, the rest of the pack joining them to make faux charges at him and leap away when he tried to retaliated. Voldemort Disapparated again, but the pack picked up his scent the moment he reappeared and charged for him again, with Aquarius getting quickly in between the Dark Lord and his chosen targets.

"Harry!" Sirius cried as he, Lupin, Neville and Hagrid all hurried out of the woods together. "Thank Merlin, you're alright!"

"Don't think we would have been if it weren't for Lucy and her Spirits," Harry muttered, though his own relief that the others were alright was palpable. "Voldemort… he's just too powerful for me to fight."

"He's too powerful for almost anyone from our world to fight, Harry," Lupin said, glancing up to watch Aquarius and the wolves keeping him busy. "We should take advantage of this opportunity and get out of here while we can."

"I couldn't agree more," said Mavis as she whooshed in upon the group. "Almost everyone on the island is fighting, and the destruction is growing. Morgana has joined the battle herself… and so has Master Hades."

"Hades!?" Lucy cried in alarm. "But… but I thought…"

"As did we all," Mavis interrupted quickly, biting her lip. "I don't know why he is back, but he is. Fortunately Master Makarov has arrived as well, along with Laxus and Bickslow, but at the moment there are many injured and I honestly don't know who will prevail. But if we are to oppose them, we should do so as a united front and if worst comes to worst… I need Fairy Tail together. I'll need the power of our bonds to help me create another Fairy Sphere to protect those who can't run away. It's a last resort… but not even Morgana or Hades will be able to harm the children in there so it's something. As of yet nobody has died, but how long before that remains the case?"

"We need to get back to others," Ron agreed, his face white. "Ginny… Fred and George… we can't let them die."

"Agreed," Hermione nodded. "Come on, now's our chance. Let's run! We'll pick up the others on the way!"

"But what about Voldemort?" Harry hissed. "He'll chase us as soon as we run and we can't outrun him while he can still Apparate and we can't."

"Open!" Lucy raised up a new golden key. "Gate of the Twins, Gemini!"

"Piri piri!" the twins cried as they popped into existence before them. "We seem to be getting used a lot these days," one of them remarked.

"Take Harry's shape," Lucy instructed them. "Then go and help Aquarius with Voldemort. With any luck, he'll think you're the real Harry and make you his priority."

"Gotcha!" the twins said together and touched Harry's shoulder, poofing into smoke and re-emerging as an identical copy of Harry, including clothes and the cuts and scrapes he'd attained in the fight so far. They immediately ran over towards Voldemort while the rest took the opportunity to run, Hagrid taking the initiative and running behind Harry to screen the real one from Voldemort's view.

"STUPEFY!" Gemini-Harry shouted as they ran up beside Aquarius and lashed their wand out. Voldemort easily parried the blow and grinned sadistically at him.

"Just as reckless as ever I see, Harry," he crowed. "I was wondering how much longer you would hide behind your friends."

"You won't be killing any of them today," Gemini-Harry growled, in a very convincing impersonation. "You won't be killing anyone that I care about ever again!"

"You are mistaken, Harry. I have every intention of being kind to you after I kill you. I will send everyone you know and love to join you in the afterlife. Is that not thoughtful of me? AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Gemini-Harry dodged to keep up the charade and Aquarius swept her urn across again, cannoning water bubbles at Voldemort once more while the others made their getaway relatively unnoticed.

* * *

Natsu hammered his fist straight into Zancrow's chin and spun around to deliver a gut-busting blow straight to the Inferi's gut, a blast of fire erupting from his hands to add power to the punch, but Zancrow managed to remain on his feet even as he skidded backwards. His blank, sightless eyes rolled backwards in his head, but it only took him half a second to recover and his hands blazed with swirling black flames that morphed themselves into what looked like a pair of enormous jaws. Natsu tensed, recognising this attack - it was the one Zancrow had used on him before, trapping him in the black flames and seeking to turn him to ash.

This was Natsu's chance to try and eat Zancrow's flames once again, like last time. He had no idea if the combination of dragon and god flames would work on this… undead creature… but right now he had no further options. So he braced himself for the incoming attack, readying himself to empty his magical power once again.

But just as Zancrow lunged forwards and brought his powers crashing in towards Natsu, something seized Natsu by the back and hoisted him into the air and out of the way, Zancrow's attack smashing together beneath him instead.

"Phew, that was close," Happy breathed, the cat having recovered enough from earlier to whisk Natsu up and away.

"Happy, what are you doing? I was about to try something on him!"

"Orders from the First, Natsu. We're all regrouping at the beach - we got to help the Master against Hades and Morgana."

"Gramps? He's here too!? What about Laxus and Bick… wait, did you say Hades!?"

"Questions later, Natsu! We're being chased!" Happy shouted and Natsu looked down to see Zancrow bounding after them at alarming speed, black flames spewing out of his feet to allow him to rocket across gaps between the trees as he leapt from branch to branch in rapid pursuit of the Exceed. Happy whisked himself in loops around the trees in an attempt to lose their pursuer but Zancrow was persistent, and the way he would sometimes scramble across the thicker branches on all fours was almost inhumane.

But up ahead, Natsu could see Azuma locked in a full scale brawl with Lisanna and Freed - his fellow Fairy Tail mages holding their own but looking considerably more exhausted than Azuma himself all the same.

Abruptly Lisanna looked up, as if able to sense Natsu coming their way. Her expression hardened slightly as she cried, "Freed! Quick! Switch opponents with Natsu!"

"Huh?" Freed blinked, just dodging another sweeping branch from Azuma and gasping when he noticed Natsu and Happy rocketing in towards them with Zancrow hard on their heels. He got the message and grinned, veering off just as Azuma sent a volley of four branches racing upwards towards Lisanna in the hope of ensnaring her limbs once again.

But this time Lisanna saw the attack coming and all four of said limbs lashed out at the same time, seizing the branches in her hands and the claws of her feet and holding them back, her strength enhanced by her draconic form. Azuma blinked in momentary surprise but he started the chain reaction of explosions down the branches all the same. But even as he did so Lisanna blasted fire from her jaws straight down the middle of the branches, and the moment she did so Happy swung Natsu through the gap and let him go. The blue cat shot out of the way the moment Lisanna's breath attack struck Natsu and simultaneously engulfed him propelled him forwards towards the startled Azuma.

"**KARYUU NO KENKAKU! **Natsu bellowed, igniting his body with his own fire that melded with Lisanna's to create a massive fireball. Azuma hurriedly erected a couple of other branches as a shield but Natsu came in at a literally blazing speed, slamming into them headfirst with a colossal explosion as his and Lisanna's flames shredded through the branches and sent Azuma flying away, his chest blackened and smoking and his goatee singed. The branches had shielded him from the full brunt of the attack but it was still large enough to cause some severe damage nonetheless.

Freed, meanwhile, arced towards Zancrow and readied his sword. Zancrow lobbed a huge ball of black fire at him, but with one eye glowing dark purple he cried, **"YAMI NO ECRITURE: KYOZETSU!" **He slashed the blade across the incoming attack and a bright rune appeared across the surface of the fire for a split second, sending it crashing back the way it had come to wash over Zancrow and propel him backwards to the ground, skidding himself to a halt by digging his fingers into the turf. But even as he stood up, Freed was already upon him, taking advantage of his brief opportunity to carve his sword down with an additional cry of,** "METSU!"**

Zancrow's hand lashed out to seize the sword blade, the weapon cutting deep into his palm. But even though that didn't seem to affect him much the huge blast of purple energy that erupted from the blade a split second later did, tearing his hand free and sending him hurtling away to dig a trench through the ground with his body as he went. Freed didn't stop to wait and see where he ended up - instead he veered himself back up to rejoin Natsu and Lisanna as the Dragon Slayer was seized by Happy before he could fall.

"Come on! This way!" Natsu cried, as Happy steered him away.

"What's going on, Natsu?" Freed asked, even as he and Lisanna fell into line behind him without a second thought. "Are we retreating?"

"Regrouping," Natsu replied. "Apparently the First wants us to meet up with the others on the beach."

"Who?" Freed blinked, having not met the ghost of Mavis yet.

"They're coming after us," Lisanna noted without answering the question, looking over her shoulder. It seemed that their dual strikes had given them a headstart on Azuma and Zancrow but the both of them were still going strong and were chasing after them now - the God Slayer motoring across the ground at high speed while Azuma transported himself rapidly from tree to tree.

"Look, there's Lucy up ahead!" Happy shouted, and indeed he was right - they were catching up with Lucy and Harry's group as they barrelled towards the beach up ahead.

"They're not going fast enough to evade those two behind us," Lisanna pointed out. "Quick, let's take a detour, make sure they're not attacked."

"Good idea," Natsu nodded as Happy arced away to the side, with the others in pursuit, drawing Zancrow and Azuma the long way round as they went.

* * *

Voldemort leered as he spun himself around unleashed a powerful shockwave from his wand that crashed straight into Aquarius and floored her, the Water Bearer crashing down onto her back and rolling away a short distance. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Dark Lord surged forwards towards Harry, turning aside his attempt an an Impediment Jinx and seized him by the neck, his wand arcing up and over to point straight between Harry's eyes.

"I'd rather have an audience for the moment I finally kill you, Harry Potter," he sneered. "But don't worry - I'll be sure to present your corpse to Dumbledore when I am done."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Harry grinned, and Voldemort blinked in surprise as his eyes turned black and he suddenly popped loose of Voldemort's grip by poofing into two small blue creatures outside the reach of his fingers. "I think our job keeping you distracted is done," Gemini said, before they vanished back to the Spirit World.

It took Voldemort a second to process the fact he'd been tricked.

Then…

"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed in frustration, his hand squeezing his wand so hard it was a wonder he didn't snap it in two. Moments later and he was struck head on by a tidal wave from Aquarius' urn that heaved him backwards, tumbling over and over in the flood and thrashing to break free and get some air. Aquarius watched him go with a smirk but Voldemort was eventually able to right himself and Disapparate, vanishing from the wave and from Aquarius' sight.

The mermaid shouldered her urn and chuckled. "Well that was satisfying," she said. "But I guess there's not much more I can do here either."

She turned to look in the direction that the others had fled, a sombre smile on her face.

"Good luck, Lucy," she murmured, before she vanished in a shower of sparks.

* * *

Things were still as violent as ever back on the rocks next to the beach. Bluenote had taken his battle up into the sky, using his gravity mage to keep himself off the floor, but Laxus, Mirajane and Juvia had all followed him up there, swirling all around him and striking at him from any angle they could.

Wendy caught Ultear in a windstorm before the Time Mage aged the ground beneath Wendy's feet and caused her to tumble into a deep pit, before whirling around the manually block a punch that Gray had sent her way and grunting as it encased her arms in ice, only for the ice to melt a second later.

Meredy leapt into a backwards somersault to avoid Elfman's fists smashing down upon her and swung a volley of swords at him, only for Elfman to turn to stone thanks to Evergreen's eyes so the swords bounced harmlessly off him, the Beast returning to normal as soon as the attack stopped.

Caprico had managed to grab hold of two of Bickslow's dolls and was allowing them to lift him into the air, his legs lashing out to kick the other dolls away until Pantherlily swept his blade up from beneath him and he was forced to heave himself out of the way and twist aside as the two dolls he'd been holding opened fire on him again.

Gajeel was slammed onto his back by a powerful blow from Kain but even as he did so his feet lanced out as Iron Dragon Clubs to crash into the big man's stomach at the same time, knocking him back with the wind smashed out of him, though he was still able to defend himself from a volley of Gajeel's spears but turning himself into what looked like diamond.

Cana's Allosaurus had latched its teeth around the Gale Belfast's neck and pinned it down against the cliff, allowing Cana herself to leap from the saddle and run up the dinosaur's neck to thrust her spear into the roof of the Gale Belfast's wide mouth.

Rustyrose leapt backwards just in time to avoid a flaming sword from Erza in her Flame Empress Armour, but the Titania gracefully spun around and Requip into her Purgatory Armour, ruthlessly slamming her spiked sword down atop him and driving him down into the ground beneath the shield he'd managed to conjure just in time, though she was forced to dodge away a second later as his Jet Black Sword arced out from behind the shield and sought to impale her.

And it was all this that Mavis Vermillion flew over next as she rushed back towards the beach.

"FAIRY TAIL TO ME!" she shouted, her voice registering with all the Fairy Tail mages (and Laxus) but unnoticed by anyone from Grimoire Heart. "FALL BACK TO THE BEACH! WE HAVE TO PROTECT THE STUDENTS!"

As one, the Fairy Tail mages backed away from their opponents and looked over to the beach, the colossal explosions tearing their way across the sand from the two simultaneous battles going on there. Morgana ripping the air asunder in her ferocious duel with Gildarts and Dumbledore while Hades hurled Makarov backwards with a spectacular blast of Amaterasu Magic. Most of them had been two pre-occupied to notice Hades' return to the island but what drew their eye the most were the terrified students huddled together in the surf, most of them cowering under the relentless bursts of magic that pounded down dangerously close to them from almost all sides. McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout stood at the fore with wands out, but they all knew that if either of the battles got too close there wasn't a thing they could do to defend their charges from such spectacular firepower.

Erza kicked herself off from Rustyrose's shield and raised her sword high. "To the beach!" she yelled. "We must drive them back before someone gets killed! Come on!"

And without another word she rushed forwards, clad in her Soaring Armour, and whooshed across the rocks towards the beach. And with various degrees of reluctance the other Fairy Tail mages hurried after her, abandoning their previous battles. But not without a couple of parting shots, as seen when Gajeel slammed himself into Kain one last time before scooping the injured Levy up in his arms bridal style and dashing after Erza, or when Laxus hammered both his hands into the top of Bluenote's head and sent him crashing back towards the ground while the Lightning Mage himself twisted himself through the air and away. Gray formed an ice slide across the ground that allowed him to rush away before Ultear could stop him while Evergreen and Pantherlily seized their respective battle partners and took them to the air. Not to mention Cana's Allosaurus thundered through Grimoire Heart's ranks, forcing Rustyrose to dodge away to avoid being squashed underfoot.

But the Grimoire Heart mages were quick to let them go, mostly because they were rather distracted themselves. Rustyrose and Kain in particular were staring, wide-eyed, in the direction of Master Hades.

"I… I don't… believe it…" Rustyrose whispered, unable to fathom what he was seeing. "He's… He's really here."

"That's not one of your imaginary creations then?" Kain asked, with what could only be described as desperate hope.

"No… that's the real deal!"

"She did it," Kain whispered. "She fulfilled her promise. She brought him back from the dead! Woo-wee! She said she was going to but… I didn't dare… I didn't think…"

"None of us did," Bluenote growled as he strode forwards, nursing the top of his head and limping slightly but not out for the count yet by any means. "But if Master Hades is back, there's only one thing for us to do. Come. To the aid of our Master!"

And with that, the Grimoire Heart mages - real and imagined alike, hurried forwards as one in pursuit of Fairy Tail.

* * *

Another burst of chains from Hades' hands that sought to wrap around Makarov's neck was stopped short when Erza streaked in from the side and slashed clean through them. The Titania whipped around at blazing speed and flung herself at Hades, but despite the unexpected interruption to his battle he moved with speed, seizing both of Erza's twin swords before she could hack them in at him. He heaved Erza around and threw her away, then wrapped a chain around her feet before she could land and dragged her in a full circle across the sand, until something fiery came crashing down on him from above.

"HAAAAAADEEEEEEEESSSSSS!" Natsu cried as he slammed his fist down on the back of the Second Master's head. Hades was bent double by the attack and released his grip on Erza, but he twisted around sharply and hammered his elbow into Natsu's gut, knocking spittle out of him before seizing him by the face and tossing him away. Both Natsu and Erza were able to roll back to their feet even as Makarov pushed himself back up as well.

"Erza… Natsu…" Makarov grunted, clutching his stomach and smiling despite his extremely battered body. "Thank Mavis you're both alright. Is everyone…?"

"We're all fine, Master," Erza nodded with a wide smile. "Every one of us is alive and well."

Hades raised a brow and smirked, leaping backwards to dodge a dual strike from behind from Lisanna and Freed, the both of them skidding to a halt alongside their companions (with Makarov blinking in surprise at Lisanna's new form) even as Azuma and Zancrow bounded down the rocks behind Hades. Not far away, Morgana found herself under attack as well as Wendy swept in, carried by Charla, and aimed a wind-fuelled kick for her face. The witch blocked it easily with both her arms, but it pulsed her back a little and she was forced transport herself out of the way as Juvia, Gray and Mirajane all struck attacks down on her at once.

And at about the same time, Harry and his group finally emerged from the trees, pausing momentarily to watch as the Fairy Tail mages began to bunch together, forming a protective semi-circle around the other students. Seizing Harry's arm, Sirius cried, "Come on, let's get down there quickly. Before…"

*CRACK*

Voldemort appeared not far away and looked around quickly, spotting Harry and the others and raising his wand in a bid to cast a fatal spell before any of them could react. But a loud crashing sound rent the air and he only had a split second to realise that a huge blast of lightning was careening down towards him and he Disapparated again moments before it struck the spot where he'd just been.

"You lot better move your asses," Laxus suggested as he landed next to them. Harry blinked, gaping openly at the huge lightning shaped scar that cut its way across Laxus' face, but both Ron and Hermione seized his arms and pushed him forwards, with Remus and Sirius leading the way down the rocks and running pell-mell across the remnants of the beach as the other Fairy Tail mages closed the gaps in the semi-circle.

"Harry!" Dumbledore cried when he spotted the young boy and darted over towards him at a surprising turn of speed for such an elderly man. He gripped Harry's shoulder and appeared to check him over for injuries. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Harry nodded. "But Voldemort… and Morgana…"

"I am aware," Dumbledore nodded, ushering Harry quickly into the protective circle only for Harry to turn around and push himself into place as one of the protectors between Lisanna and Lucy. And he wasn't the only one. Ron, Hermione and Neville all did the same, standing shoulder

to shoulder with other Fairy Tail members, their wands drawn and bravely pointed outwards. Sirius, Remus and Hagrid all did the same, as did the other teachers and some of the less injured members of the DA which included Fred and Ginny. The latter ended up next to Harry himself, glowering out defiantly at Hades even though she was quite clearly as scared as most of the other DA members behind her.

"Ginny, you should get back," Harry suggested.

"Are you?" Ginny glanced at him out the corner of her eye. "I'll be damned if I'm just going to stand back there cowering like a little girl. If you're stupid enough to stand up here at the front and defy these guys then so am I. Even if…"

She trailed off when suddenly Voldemort himself re-appeared with a loud crack on the edge of the beach, standing imperiously on top of one of the few remaining large rocks in the area and his blood-red eyes glowering down at the amassed defenders. Ginny trailed off, unable to tear her eyes away from the Dark Lord… and the same was true for everyone else from the DA. They were transfixed, eyes and mouths agape with horror. Most of them had never seen this man before, but they knew on sight who he was.

Harry almost laughed humourlessly. "Well… I guess if there's anyone here who still thought I was making it up when I said he was back… that's not the case anymore."

"Unfortunately their realisation will be short-lived, Harry," Voldemort stated as he moved forward, his wand poised like a serpent ready to strike even as the Grimoire Heart mages began to gather around, forming a wall of their own to stand directly across from the defenders. "Not a single one of them will be leaving this island to tell others about it. Tell me, was it your idea to bring them all on this fun little field trip? I rather hope it was. All their deaths will be on your hands if that's the case."

Neville visibly winced, trying his absolute best not to melt into a puddle of fear. He would have almost certainly fallen to his knees if Gray hadn't gripped his shoulder to both reassure him and hold him up.

But after that there was something of a lull in the fighting for the first time. It was not lost on any of the Fairy Tail mages that even though every single one of them that had been on Tenroujima when Acnologia had attacked was now reassembled for the first time, before them stood every member of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory, also reformed for the first time right before their eyes, along with the Master and Ace of the guild. Granted not all of them were real… or alive… and Fairy Tail outnumbered them by almost two to one. But they'd already proven well on two separate occasions that even with lesser numbers they would not be easy opponents to take down.

The air was gradually supercharging, each side now waiting to see if the other would make the first move.

And the first to move turned out to be Morgana, who strode out away from her compatriots to stand alone before the assembled defenders.

"Mages of Fairy Tail," she smiled, opening her arms wide and almost invitingly. "I now offer you a choice. Again, I feel I know what the answer will be, but I feel that I must offer it all the same."

"And what choice would you have to offer us exactly?" Makarov asked, taking a single step forward and speaking on behalf of his entire guild.

"Quite simple. You can continue to resist us, or you can step aside. This may be your island on which we stand right now but it is not your world. You have no place here and its affairs do not concern you, which means you have no reason to fight for it. Especially since you are currently fighting to stop the Queen from assuming her own rightful throne. If anything that makes you rebels in a world you do not belong in.

"If you step aside now, and do not resist us in any way then I promise you all amnesty. Not a single one of you will not be harmed. Not only that, but I have made a promise to find a way to send Grimoire Heart back home as soon as I have accumulated enough power to do so. And I offer you the same. I will not ask you to fight for me, but as long as you don't fight against me I will allow you to go home as soon as I find a way to let you. But continue to fight me and I will see to it that each of you will remain in this world forever… buried in its earth."

"You would let us all go in peace?" Makarov raised a brow, before his gaze turned to Hades. "And what the assembled men and women of Grimoire Heart lined up behind you? Are they so willing to offer us the same terms?"

Hades' moustache twitched as he smirked. "The Lady Morgana and I have already discussed this, Makarov. And I happen to agree with her judgement."

"Master? What are you saying? Should we not crush them while we can?" Rustyrose protested, but Hades raised a hand and cut him off before he could say any more.

"Fighting in the name of vengeance is nothing but petty, Rustyrose," he said gruffly. "Our previous quarrel with Fairy Tail was only because it was their island upon which Zeref was hiding himself. Had that not been the case we would have had no need to start war with them. Now the situation has changed and if anything, Fairy Tail has the same goal as we do now. To go home. Why fight each other when we both want the same thing? It is illogical. Which is why I suggest you comply with the Lady Morgana's terms, Makarov. Whatever fight exists between Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart… it could be put on hold until we are both back where we belong. You only need to say the word."

Makarov's brow furrowed, clearly sceptical. But before he could say anything or even think it over, Natsu took a step forward, his teeth bared and his scarf billowing out behind him a rush of heat that enveloped his body.

"Fat chance of any of us taking your stupid deal, Hades," he growled. "Sure I wanna get home to the guild but we've already made friends with the people of this world. People these bozos want to grind into the dirt beneath their heels," he jabbed a finger accusingly at Morgana and Voldemort. "No way we're gonna abandon them to them. And definitely not to you."

"That's right," Lucy agreed fiercely. "They took us in and gave us places to stay when we needed them most. Our place in this fight was cemented the moment they did that."

"Plus it's not just them. There a whole damn world at stake here," Gray snarled. "We'd never sleep easy again if let you run riot through it even if everyone in this dimension was a total asshole."

"And it wouldn't be the first time we've found ourselves in another world and done our part to free it from oppression and make it a better place," Erza declared.

"A Man does not sit back and let destruction happen right in front of him," Elfman growled.

"And we won't be letting you punks off easy after the crap you pulled our island, twice," Gajeel clenched his fist.

"And when we've beaten you all once again, we'll find our own way back," Lisanna nodded. "We don't need that witch's help for that. No matter how long it takes us, we'll find it."

Makarov chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it appears my brats have spoken. But even if they hadn't, I would agree with them. Fairy Tail will never turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, Precht. As a Founding Father of the guild, you should know that."

"Well then, the road ahead is clear," Morgana smirked. "As they say in this day and age, it is your funeral. You stand in our way, so every one of you will be destroyed. I won't even let the cats survive."

Everyone on the battlefield immediately tensed, including several Death Eaters who had regained consciousness and moved to join up with their Lord while the others had been talking. The ground began to rumble as both sides prepared their magic, everyone waiting for the first move to be made and spark an astronomical showdown between both sides, with Mavis invisibly hovering over her side with her hands clasped together, preparing a Fairy Sphere to enclose the injured students if need be.

But just as Natsu was about to make that first move:-

"**HHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRR!"**

Hands slammed over ears as the air almost seemed torn apart by the spectacular roar that echoed across the entire island. Morgana was one of the few who didn't cover her ears but she was instantly on the alert, gasping and stepping back to look around wildly. "That roar," she gasped. "I… I know that roar!"

"So do I," Lisanna realised, her eye instantly being drawn up to the sky. "It's…"

**WHHHOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH!**

A massive plume of fire gushed past the enormous Tenrou Tree like a falling meteor aiming itself right for the beach. But then an enormous shape powered itself out of the flames, great wings beating shockwaves in the air, enormous fangs bared and bronze scales glinting in the light of the sun. Screams tore from the mouths of several Hogwarts students while everyone else gaped in open astonishment as the massive dragon arced its way above their heads to momentarily bathe them all in his shadow.

"KILGHARRAH!" Lisanna cheered. "IT'S KILGHARRAH!"

"OH YEAH!" Natsu whooped, pumping both his fists into the air at the same time. "WAY TO GO, OLD MAN DRAGON!"

"NO!" Morgana screamed, her face creased with fury as the dragon beat his wings to come around for another pass. "NOT YOU! NOT NOW! SOMEBODY ATTACK HIM!"

The Inferious Zancrow bounded forwards and blasted a huge burst of black flames from his mouth up at the incoming dragon. Kilgharrah swept one claw out and brushed it aside as it it was an irritating fly and swooped low over the beach, the slipstream of his wings knocking several people off their feet as he slammed his tail down into the sand, sweeping it towards the Grimoire Heart members, Voldemort and Morgana and forcing them to leap or transport themselves away, but it still struck Zancrow and the fake Ultear head on and smashed them both backwards. The fake Meredy lashed a volley of Maguilty Sodom blades up at him while Rustyrose fired his Jet Black Sword, only for both to bounce right off his scales completely harmlessly as he veered around again.

"Wha-!?" Rustyrose gasped. "But… But my Jet Black Sword can cut through anything! How…?"

**THUD! THUD!**

Kilgharrah swept himself around to land upon the beach, stalking his way back towards the action like world's most enormous lizard, his wings held wide like shields blocking out the light. Bluenote hurried forwards and increased the gravity exponentially and these seemed to have an effect upon the great lizard, squashing him down upon his belly and flattening his wings to the sand, but even as his chin was pushed down to the ground his still belched forth a massive burst of flame from his mouth that rushed down the beach, cannoned Bluenote backwards with a roar of pain and sought to engulf Morgana and all of her allies at once. Morgana desperately threw up a magical shield that funnelled the flames up into the sky like a geyser, though she was obviously hard pressed to maintain it and was pushed to her knees with the effort of doing so.

"DAMN YOU!" Morgana bellowed at him when the flames finally diminished. "DAMN YOU, GREAT DRAGON! WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO MESS WITH ME EVEN NOW!?"

"You should know the answer to that, Morgana," Kilgharrah's rich voice rolled over them all, striking awe into everybody who was actually from this universe. "As long as you continue to fight for your own selfishness, we dragons will be here to do our part in putting an end to it!"

"We dragons!?" Morgana gasped, taking another step back in sudden fear. "Then…!?"

Suddenly she noticed she'd once again been submerged in shadow and her head snapped upwards just in time to see another massive shape come surging down towards them from directly above, dropping down upon them like a dragon-shaped bomb and spitting flames before it as it went. Another shield was swiftly erected, this time aided by some of Azuma's branches, but again the flames were only just barely stopped and they tore through Azuma's defence like fire through paper. The other dragon veered off and twisted itself around in a manner far more agile than Kilgharrah. It was smaller than him but still massive, and its scales were pure white which heavily reminded Wendy of her own Sky Dragon mother, Grandine. But this was not Grandine - it was more lizard-like in appearance and had no feathers.

"…You…!" Morgana growled at her, if anything looking even more angry than when Kilgharrah had appeared.

"Long time, no see. Right, Morgana?" the other dragon smirked in a voice that was quite clearly female. Her long slender neck arced upwards as her nostrils belched smoke. "Would have been nicer if our time apart could have been quite a bit longer if you catch my drift."

"Aithusa…" Lisanna whispered. "That's… she must be the other Old Dragon Kilgharrah mentioned - Aithusa."

"I can't believe it," Hagrid was practically crying. "I can't believe what I'm seeing here."

"Nor can I," said Dumbledore. "And believe me, that's saying something."

_But… why are they here?_ Lisanna thought, extending her mind outwards to tap into her telepathy. _Did you lot have something to do with this?_

_You're welcome,_ Igneel chuckled. _Soon as we realised Morgana and Master Hades had joined the battle we reached out and called for them._

_We didn't expect them to get here quite so fast but that was pretty good timing,_ Grandine agreed. _And since this is an extremely remote location they decided to come and lend a claw._

_Ssh, I'm trying to watch the awesomeness!_ Metalicana chided the others, just as both Kilgharrah and Aithusa flung themselves forwards, half-running and half-flying, to propel themselves in towards the enemy from either side even as Fairy Tail tightened their circle and stepped back into the surf to try and keep the students out of the firing line.

Morgana raised her hand above her head, her teeth gritting as clouds gathered in the air far above her and she magically hurled a cascade of lightning down, bending it to her will and launching it at the incoming Aithusa. She pulled to a halt and folded her wings over her face, just as the lightning hurtled into her at full force. At the same time, Hades stepped forward to face the Kilgharrah, his hand sweeping into a rapid pattern and several enormous seals whipping into existence around the Great Dragon, consuming him in a spectacular blast of purple energy that rocketed skywards to the height of the Tenrou Tree itself and threw most of the nearest people to it backwards even when they were a good fifty feet away.

And yet moments later Kilgharrah stepped from the smoke while Aithusa lowered her wings, both the dragons shaking their heads slightly but otherwise completely unharmed.

"Well, that was unexpected," Kilgharrah noted. "I haven't felt magic powerful enough to give me an itch like that in a millennium."

"But that kind of thing didn't work on us then, Morgana. And it won't work on us now," Aithusa agreed.

"You traitorous lizard!" Morgana growled at the white dragon.

"You're right, I was. The day I healed you," Aithusa's yellow eyes narrowed. Then she surged into the air, Kilgharrah doing the same, and twin infernos pulsing down upon Morgana, Voldemort, and all the Grimoire Heart mages simultaneously, raging torrents of fire on such a massive scale that the heat was almost blistering even to the dragons' allies, making many of them jump into the sea in a bid to cool off.

Split second judgement alone saved the entire group from being melted in the furnace. Morgana whirled around and seized Master Hades, using her magic to transport them both away while Voldemort and any of his Death Eaters still standing Disapparated quickly. That left most of Grimoire Heart in the firing line right up until Rustyrose screamed, "CAPRICO!"

The goat-man clapped his hands together and suddenly all of the Grimoire Heart members vanished into thin air, along with all the unconscious Death Eaters in the area. He sprouted a slender, winged jetpack from nowhere and zipped himself out of the way, carrying the others with him in the same way Erza carried her armours everywhere she went in an alternate dimension. The twin bolts of fire gushed down over where they had all just been a fraction of a second after Caprico zipped out of the way, his tufted tail still catching fire and forcing him to put it out.

"…Jeez…" Gray whispered, trying to create an icy floor in a bid to keep everyone cool only for it to melt almost instantly. "These guys… they're incredible."

"And now I see where my magical resistance comes from in this form," Lisanna whispered. No wonder she had even survived the Killing Curse if Kilgharrah could shrug off such a spectacular blow from Master Hades as if it was nothing. All of Fairy Tail were remembering well how absolutely none of their attacks, even those of the Dragon Slayers, had affected Acnologia at all. It seemed these two dragons of the Old Religion were little different in that regard.

Morgana, who had re-appeared nearby, cursed. She knew full well there was no way that any of the people around her had a hope of beating Kilgharrah or Aithusa. Even together their chances were slim. So instead she yelled, "MAKE FOR THE AIRSHIP! WE HAVE TO RETREAT! PICK UP AS MANY OF OUR FORCES AS YOU CAN ON THE WAY!"

"You heard her!" Hades called up to Caprico as he zinged across the sky above. "We fall back to fight another day."

"Yes, Master Hades," Caprico nodded and zipped his way off through the trees, Aithusa curving around to follow him and her long neck snaking through the branches to snap her jaws down just shy of his hooves and blast flame into the trees after him, which he was only just able to avoid. Kilgharrah descended hard upon Morgana and Hades, and if they hadn't transported themselves away at the last second his foot would had crushed them flat, though it did still cleave a huge pit in the ground with but a single swipe. And Voldemort dashed across the rocks, turning to give one last scathing look at Harry and debating whether to try and make one last attempt at killing him, until Kilgharrah turned his golden eyes upon him and fire billowed from his jaws after him. Voldemort rasped in Parseltongue and Nagini swept out of a nearby bush, allowing her Master to seize them and Apparate back to the airships just as the flames consumed the back of his black cloak, forcing him to put them out with water from his wand when he arrived.

Caprico zinged his way through the trees, scouting out and finding more unconscious or confused Death Eaters and scooping them up into his Recall space before he made his way to the ship, guided there by Rustyrose's thought processes. By the time he arrived, Hades had already got it off the ground, mentally controlling it to rise high and swing around to face the dragons while Caprico landed and released those he'd recalled onto the deck, including Ultear and Meredy before all three of the imagined members disappeared into thin air.

The battle zone was a good distance away from where the airship had been parked but the dragons spotted it anyway and rushed into the air towards him, sweeping in like two enormous homing pigeons and fire cascading from their jaws in preparation for another attack.

But the ship got one in first, Hades thrusting his hand forward to extend the immense Jupiter cannon on the top. The immense blast that erupted from the tip was easily avoided by both dragons until suddenly Kilgharrah realised that its trajectory meant it would crash right into the spot where the wizards, witches and mages were gathered. His immediate response was to veer himself around and get in front of the blast allowing it to strike him head-on and plough him backwards a little, beating his wings furiously to keep it from reaching its target. Aithusa ploughed on ahead but Hades and Bluenote acted together to slow her up - huge chains lashing from Hades' hands to seize her back feet while the other ends fired back to the island and embedded themselves in deep in the rock. This, combined with an intense wave of Bluenote's gravity magic, was enough to jerk her to a halt as the ship turned itself around.

"Fire up the engines!" Hades commanded and Rustyrose and Azuma were quick to do just that. Without further ado the ship rushed into the distance at its top speed which was an incredibly fast pace. And by the time Aithusa had broken herself free of the rocks and Kilgharrah had got himself back into the air - his scales blackened but otherwise fine - the ship was nowhere to be seen.

"They got away," Aithusa grumbled to her compatriot. "Ugh, if we'd only been a bit quicker, you and I could have ended it here and now, gramps."

"How many times must I tell you not to call me that, hatchling?" Kilgharrah rolled his golden eyes. "Regardless, perhaps we could have ended it, but it seems Morgana has not lost her talent from being able to hide from our eyes when she wishes to. And you know as well as I do that…"

"…That everything happens for a reason. Yeah, yeah, I know," the white dragon chuckled. "Still, that was fun even if it was brief."

"Come. There are things we must discuss with the humans," Kilgharrah rumbled, steering himself around and leading the way back down to the beach.

* * *

Even most of the Fairy Tail mages were lost for words as the dragons came in to land heavily in front of them. The enemy that they'd been battering at for ages had been driven away almost instantly by the might of these two great creatures. But their awe was nothing compared to the Order and DA members, all of which were quite frankly gobsmacked.

"That was… just…" Ron found himself having to sit down as they stared down at the humans together. "I… I can't… b-believe…"

"I must be dreaming," whispered Hermione.

"Well I ruddy well hope I'm not dreamin'!" Hagrid yelled, rushing forwards and actually bouncing on the balls of his feet like a five year old in a sweet shop, looking up at the two dragons in unsuppressed delight. "I've been dreamin' abou' this kind of encounter for all my life so please tell me this ain't one of 'em. Are you really dragons from the olden days? Like what Lisanna said still existed?"

"That we are, half-giant," Kilgharrah chuckled. "I am the one who trained her to unlock her Dragon Soul magic myself."

"Yer magnificent!" Hagrid exulted without the slightest hint of hesitancy. "Yeh have ter be the most amazin' creatures I've ever clapped eyes on. I… I'm just… I have no words ter describe this moment."

"Oh go on, do try," Aithusa chuckled, lowering her snout and actually nuzzling at him, crooning as she allowed him to tentatively pat her between her nostrils. "I do miss being praised by mortals and I've decided I rather like you."

Hagrid looked as though he might faint with happiness.

"Thank you so much for coming to our rescue, the both of you," Lisanna smiled as she stepped forwards as well, some of the other, bolder members of the group following behind her at a short distance. "Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't turned up right then?"

"Yeah, but how did you know we needed help?" Natsu asked excitedly, a question which made Lisanna tense nervously, remembering well what Igneel had said would happen if Natsu found out that his dragon father was inside him.

"We didn't," Kilgharrah lied smoothly, also remembering well. "The Old Religion told us to come to this area and when we saw what was happening we reacted accordingly, young Dragon Slayer. A pity it didn't warn us they had an airship to escape the island upon or we would have been sure to find and destroy that first."

_Yeah, we didn't know about that,_ Metalicana's voice echoed in Lisanna's head. _Pity that, would have been helpful to try trapping them here._

"So these are the ones then?" Aithusa asked, regarding not only Lisanna and Natsu but also Gajeel and Wendy - the other two dragon-raised mages having stepped closer to the front as well. "Wow… you're very small aren't you?" she poked her nose in close to Wendy and smiled at her toothily. "Quite a bitesize little Dragon Slayer, ain'tcha?"

"Um… I guess…" Wendy whispered, reverently dipping her head. "It's… it's so nice to meet you. To hear a dragon's voice again after… after so long."

"Eh, Metalicana's bigger than the both of you," Gajeel shrugged. Though he then frowned and murmured, "Although maybe he just seemed it cos I was smaller back then."

"Hey, Lisanna, do you think you could get a Dragon Soul form for this one as well?" Natsu asked excitedly. "Er… what's your name again?"

"Aithusa," the white dragon snorted a poof of smoke into Natsu's face cheekily. "And oh yes, most certainly she could get a form of me, but there probably wouldn't be much point if she did. My magic is exactly the same as Kilgharrah's and… as he is fond of reminding me… he is older and more powerful than I am anyway so it wouldn't really help her any."

"I remind you that I am only fond of pointing out you are younger than I, not that I am stronger," Kilgharrah cleared his huge throat. "Regardless, it is nice to view everyone here with my own eyes at last." His gaze lingered for a moment on Harry, who noticed and took a step backwards. There weren't many things that made him nervous anymore but he was still trying to fathom that he was standing in front of a talking dragon, and that even it appeared to glance specifically towards his forehead which left Harry under no illusion that this dragon knew exactly who he was. "Very interesting indeed," Kilgharrah mused without taking his eyes away from the young boy. "Now I am seeing you all, I think it is clear… that we can expect great things from you."

Harry swallowed. This dragon reminded him of the wand-maker Ollivander. Heck, even his voice sounded slightly similar.

The next to speak was Makarov, the tiny Master clearing his throat and stepping forwards alongside Dumbledore and looking up to the dragons. "Frankly I still don't understand the full extent of this situation," Makarov replied. "But you dragons have my sincerest thanks."

"And mine," Dumbledore agreed. "I would rather not dwell on what could have happened if you had not appeared but I there is a high chance that one if not several of my students would have lost their lives."

"Our pleasure," Aithusa rumbled. "We haven't had a chance to rampage like that for quite some time. Humans and your ridiculous levels of urbanisation mean we haven't been able to find any places to go all out where someone's house wouldn't be destroyed. This island is a refreshing change of pace."

"Indeed," Kilgharrah noted as he lay down upon his stomach, actually crossing one of his front legs over the other casually and lowering his head close to the two elderly masters. "But still, there are things we must discuss. You are Makarov Dreyar and Albus Dumbledore, are you not?"

"That is correct," Dumbledore nodded. "How did you know this?"

"We dragons have the gift of far sight. We know a great many things. Not everything of course, but many things nonetheless."

"Is that so? Maybe I should hire you to teach Divination then."

Kilgharrah chuckled. "Oh I can only imagine the look on the faces of the students. But more to the point… am I correct in assuming that there was one amongst the enemy who really ought not to have been there? Or more precisely… should have been dead?"

"I do not know," Makarov mused, turning back to look at the others questioningly. "Was there?"

"Well…" Lisanna cleared her throat. "We had heard that Master Hades had been killed by Zeref before this whole disaster that sucked us into another world began. But I guess we must have been mistaken…"

"Master Hades," Kilgharrah interrupted. "He was the elderly man with the long beard who hit me with that purple magic?"

"Indeed, that was him," Makarov nodded.

"I thought so. There was no mistake in what you heard. That man most definitely died."

"But how is that possible?" Dumbledore frowned, while Makarov took a step backwards in disbelief, the shocking news that the Second Master had been killed passing through him like a bombshell. "There is no spell that can truly revive the dead."

"Then you have answered the question right there. He has not truly been resurrected."

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me, Headmaster," Kilgharrah murmured sombrely. "What do you know of Sir Lancelot?"

"…You are referring to one of the Knights of the Round Table from the reign of King Arthur?"

"I am indeed. What do you know about him?"

This was an odd question from Dumbledore's viewpoint but he decided to play ball. "Accounts about him differ as with most aspects of Arthurian Legend, but most agree that he was the bravest and most noble of all of King Arthur's knights. One who would lay down his life for his King without hesitation if necessary. But it also says that he was in love with Arthur's Queen, Guinevere, and that the two of them had an affair. Some accounts say that there was no love between the marriage of Arthur and Guinevere so Arthur tried to cover up the affair when he found about it without attempting to stop it. Others say that Lancelot eventually snapped and tried to steal Guinevere away."

"Much of that is correct," Kilgharrah said, almost nostalgically. "And much of it is not. It is certainly true that Lancelot was the bravest and most noble of the Knights of the Round Table. And he did indeed lay down his life for his King and his friends without hesitation. But when it comes to his relationship with Queen Guinevere, the accounts are mostly wrong. He did love her, but Guinevere and Arthur were in love with each other. And though Guinevere did once have feelings for Lancelot, he would never have tried to interfere with the marriage of his King and Queen. Not of his own free will anyway.

But Morgana… she was another story. As you have no doubt observed she is convinced that the throne of Albion is hers by right. And Guinevere used to be her servant girl, back in the days she actually lived in Camelot with Arthur. She was filled with revulsion at the idea that Guinevere would become Queen. And by the time Arthur proposed to Guinevere, Lancelot had already died. Which was why Morgana used a Coin of Necromancy, forged by the High Priestesses of the Old Religion, to resurrect Lancelot as a Shade."

"A Shade?" Dumbledore frowned, his brow creasing in worry. "I have heard of such creatures, but nobody believes they exist anymore."

"That is because they haven't for thousands of years. Necromancy is not only one of the darkest magical arts but also one of the most complex. And a Shade is a resurrected soul that inhabits its former body, but it has absolutely no free will of its own. It is but a servant of the one who resurrected it, following their every instruction without question and to the letter. I suppose you could compare it to the Imperius Curse but it is not the same, as the Shade was literally born to serve.

"That is why Lancelot, who would never do anything to harm Arthur or Guinevere of his own accord, went back to Camelot and made up a story to explain how he was still alive, then used a magical bracelet to enchant Guinevere and have an affair with her while deliberately making sure Arthur found out about it. It was all Morgana's cruel plan to split Arthur and Guinevere up out of pure spite and for a time it even worked. But it left an unfortunate stain on Lancelot's reputation that time has been unable to wash away."

"They didn't realise he was a Shade?" Dumbledore asked.

"At the time, magic was still outlawed in Camelot and Merlin was still keeping his power secret. There was no way he could prove to Arthur that Lancelot was a Shade without magical means, which forced him to keep quiet about it. By the time Arthur learned the truth about Merlin and could finally be told the truth, the damage to Lancelot's memory was done."

"That is excruciatingly cruel."

"But…" Makarov whispered. "Are you saying that Master Precht… or Hades, rather… has become a Shade? Just like this Lancelot person?"

"That is what I am saying, yes," Kilgharrah nodded. "There was a spike in power from the Old Religion earlier today that could only have come from someone gaining access to the Realm of the Dead. The old Hades is essentially gone. What you saw was his real body, and it even had his real soul inside it. But now he is nothing but Morgana's servant. He will mindlessly follow her to the ends of the Earth, if she wills it."

"It was in the news that one of the Death Eaters, Bellatrix, stole a strange coin from a Muggle museum this week," Dumbledore mused.

"But why!?" Makarov growled. "Why would she do this to him?"

"Morgana is manipulative," Aithusa took over the narrative bitterly. "She always has been. She believes herself the unquestionable ruler of all she surveys but she's clever enough not to make everyone around her think the same. Voldemort… no doubt she has promised him that the two of them will rule together, but she considers him nothing but her underling now. She'll use sweet, seductive words to make him think they are equals in her mind and she may even be planning to keep that charade up after she becomes a conqueror. Or she may decide to dispose of him when she no longer has need of his services and install a loyalist in his place.

"As for Grimoire Heart… well… it is likely Morgana realised that they would never agree to become her servants. She wants them to be, but they are powerful enough to challenge her so she wouldn't try to outright suppress them. And that is why she has chosen to resurrect their leader in such a manner. Grimoire Heart follows Master Hades without question… and now Master Hades follows Morgana without question. She's using him as a tool to subjugate Grimoire Heart to her cause without them realising she's doing it."

"…Manipulative doesn't even begin to describe that," whispered Erza in horror, which was echoed across the faces of most of the people around her.

"But… won't they realise what she's doing?" Wendy asked hopefully. "Won't they guess that their guild master is a Shade now?"

"Unlikely," Kilgharrah stated. "Shades possess much of their former personality and if Morgana wishes for Hades to make the others believe that he and Morgana are partners rather than master and servant, that is what Hades will do. The biggest flaw in using Shades in this manner is that Shades don't have perfect memories of their past lives - they remember only what their summoner knows about the people around them. That is how Merlin discovered something was wrong with Lancelot. Lancelot was one of the few who knew Merlin had magic but Morgana did not know, which meant that Lancelot did not know either when he became a Shade. But no doubt Morgana has been using the last few days to surreptitiously grill the Grimoire Heart members around her for information about Hades, quizzing them about their relationship with him and his past, to make minimise the chance of one of them figuring out something was wrong."

"…I see," Makarov whispered. "Then that explains why Precht did not remember anything about my father, Yuri. Perhaps Precht didn't mention him to any of his subordinates so they couldn't tell this Morgana about him."

"Precisely. She is asserting herself as the true leader without publicly stating it," Kilgharrah nodded. "You can't rebel against one leader when you believe that three have formed a partnership. And that is what everyone following Morgana, with the sole exception of her new Shade, now believes has happened."

"I can't believe this," Makarov clenched his fist angrily, his moustache bristling as he was filled with the urge to punch something. "Whether he formed a Dark Guild or not, Master Precht deserved better than this. To have his soul trapped in his own body and used as a mere pawn, there is nobody who deserves such a fate."

"Don't worry, Gramps," Natsu said as he stood up alongside the diminutive Master and smiled down at him. "Now that you're here, we're all back together at last. We were able to take down Grimoire Heart before and we'll find a way to do it again, along with anyone they ally themselves with in this world. Or in any world. Morgana can build the largest army ever and we'll still knock them all back. Because that's what we do, isn't it? We fight."

Makarov turned back to look out at all of his assembled children, all of whom had identical smiles to Natsu's own. Happy leaping up and down on the sand, Gajeel helping Levy stay upright, Evergreen slinging her arms around Freed and Bickslow's shoulders and pulling them in close, Lucy high-fiving Mirajane and Juvia at the same time… every one of them there together at last.

"Of course, you're right," chuckled Makarov. "And we have another reason to take this woman down. For all his faults, Precht was a founding member of our guild. A desecration on him is a desecration on our history, whether it comes from him personally or from an outside cause. And we will take this Shade down, along with all those who follow him and all those he serves. But for now, I think we've all earned a rest. And now that the fighting has died down, I do believe there are many introductions to be made."

And he was quite right. Makarov, Freed, Bickslow and Laxus all had quite a bit of catching up to do on that front. As Wendy hurried over to the DA members to quickly fix up some of the more serious injuries the others began making the rounds, introducing everyone they could to the four newcomers and swamping them with a list of names that all but Freed would take time to remember.

But Gajeel was the one to accost Harry and say, "Oi kid. I told you didn't I? That Laxus has a way bigger lightning scar than you do."

"Yeah… yeah, you did," Harry nodded, unable to deny what Gajeel said. He was currently thanking any god in existence that his scar did not sweep over his eye like that. It looked badass as heck, but it would have been absolutely impossible for him to hide it without some kind of magic to change his appearance.

"Hoh?" Laxus stepped forward, towering over Harry and staring down at him. "You've got a lightning shaped scar too have you?"

"Yes, right here," Harry nodded, pushing back his fringe enough for Laxus to get a look at it. "I've had since I was a year old… it's not as impressive as yours though, is it?"

"Why? Cos mine's bigger?" Laxus raised a brow and his own lightning scar shifted with it. "Size doesn't mean squat with a scar, kid. What matters is how you got them. Which would you prefer, a massive scar across your arm because you walked into a glass door and broke it, or a tiny scar across your nose because you just managed to dodge a swipe from some giant monster?"

"Well… that's true, I guess. But what if you wish the thing that gave you your scar never happened?" Harry asked sombrely.

"Changes nothing," Laxus shrugged. "It happened. Wishing it hadn't isn't going to do you any favours. The scar reminds you of where you came from but as long as you wish for it to be gone, you'll be doing nothing but running away. If you don't embrace the past… you can't move on to the future."

"You… sound like your talking from experience."

"Yeah well, I reckon just about everyone here has stuff from their past they wish hadn't happened. Some of us just have more of that in their pasts than others."

Before Harry could question Laxus any further, Natsu came barrelling out of nowhere to roar, "LAXUS! FIGHT ME! I'M GONNA WHOOP YOUR GWWOORK!" But he didn't get any further because Laxus had swung a lightning-covered fist at him and sent him crashing face-first into the ground.

"Guess some things never change, huh, Natsu?" Laxus smirked without looking down at the floored Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Kya-ha! Which part would that be?" Bickslow cackled as he walked over. "The part where he challenges you, or the part where you smash him down the moment he…?"

The Seith Mage stopped, his body freezing up and his gaze locking on Harry in what could clearly be described as horror. Harry started but before he could react any further Bickslow had moved closer, tearing the sallet away from his face so he could look at Harry clearly and blinking multiple times as if trying to clear his vision.

"Holy crap," Bickslow whispered, his breath rattling in sheer disbelief. "Kid… what the hell is wrong with your soul?"


	51. Voldemort's Soul

Sorry that this is a week later than I said it was going to be, folks. But sometimes real life just gets in the way of fanfiction writing, or in this case fanfiction planning, which meant it took longer than I anticipated. Still, it's all sorted now and I'm back to writing. I will try to update every Monday as I did before, but if for whatever reason I do not do so then I will probably have a good reason for it.

So, without further ado, the second act of this story can now begin.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 51:- Voldemort's Soul**

* * *

*CRASH*

Morgana's fist slammed down on the bannister at the helm of the airship, a little magic leaking into her hand enough to dent the ironwork a little. The ancient sorceress was angrier than she'd been in a millennium, every fibre of her being seething with rage right down to the last hair on her head.

"Those damn dragons," she snarled to herself, her hands trembling with the weight of her fury. "Why do they have to interfere in my business? I would see them ascend to their rightful place as rulers of the sky if I could and yet they continue to skulk in the shadows with Merlin until they wish to oppose me."

"You failed to mention that we would also have two mighty, talking dragons as our opponents as well, Lady Morgana," Voldemort said gruffly, inspecting some of the singe marks on his cloak from where Kilgharrah's flames had almost torched him to a crisp. "I'd never seen or heard of those two before today. They left me alone when I was undertaking my conquest of this country twenty years ago but now they show up because you're here. And you believe the great Merlin will get involved after years of isolation in the near future as well. I'm starting to wonder if this alliance with you is even worth the effort if you bring such powerful beings raining down upon us like this."

"And yet without me," Morgana turned to glower at him icily. "You wouldn't have been able to make allies out of Grimoire Heart. I led you to that island to revive Azuma and Zancrow. I resurrected Master Hades, who is more powerful than any solo Fairy Tail member. Without their support, how long do you expect your Death Eaters to last against Fairy Tail now that all of their members that entered this world have been reunited with each other?"

Voldemort had little to say to that wouldn't wound his own pride, but he still looked angry. The Death Eaters that were still conscious were milling around, watching the staredown between the two powerful beings with rapidly increasing apprehension and wondering if one of them was about to attack the other. It certainly seemed like it was a possibility.

But eventually Morgana sighed and took a deep breath to calm herself. "You are right though," she said. "I should have told you about Kilgharrah and Aithusa. But though my presence has brought them into the fray early, if you had succeeded in conquering the country it is likely they would have moved against you or your descendants eventually."

"Why have they not before?"

"That I cannot say but its likely they don't believe the events of the modern world are any of their business now that most of the world has forgotten or doesn't believe they ever existed. It probably takes a significant event amongst mankind to even get their attention anymore. As to Merlin… well… I've given up trying to figure out what he's thinking a long time ago but I suspect the main reason he's never interfered with anyone is because he feels guilty for failing to protect King Arthur from me. He always did blame himself for a lot, though in this case he is right to. But I never expected for the dragons to make their move against me before he did. I always thought he'd show his face first."

Before the conversation could proceed any further, Master Hades strode out onto the deck, his cloak billowing out behind him and the remaining members of Grimoire Heart moving out behind him. This included Zancrow, who was lolling from side to side and staring blankly at nothing, while the other members of the guild were giving him a wide berth.

"It is quite remarkable," said Hades. "Just as you said, Lady Morgana. When you revived my body you also revived the Devil's Heart at the centre of the ship. I am just as powerful as I ever was now that that has been fixed up."

"Well that is your own heart, is it not?" Morgana smirked. "The resurrection process brings back every part of your body, including parts that happen to be outside the rest at the time. And as I understand it that heart supplies you with much of your phenomenal magical strength. It's natural I want you to be at your best giving the battles to come."

"And I am grateful for that. And for your promised assistance to get us back home… and of course in the fight against Fairy Tail. As I understand it, six years have passed since we last fought against them back in our world. Doubtless everyone will have heard about how we lost to the Fairies by now. Our name will have been sullied, and I will not have us return home until we can undo the damage to it. Which we will do by taking the dead Fairies home with us."

"A grand plan indeed," Rustyrose pushed his glasses further up his nose. "How much my fragment will tremble when we prostrate their corpses before the Magic Council."

"We will really fly on that day," Bluenote agreed gruffly.

"Perhaps, but I must ask," Azuma stepped forwards, raising his arm to jab it accusingly in the direction of Zancrow. "What are you planning to do about this?"

"Planning to do?" Morgana raised a brow.

"Look at him," Azuma growled. "I am grateful that you have revived Master Hades from the grave, but why have you not done the same to Zancrow? I never liked him much, I admit. He was practically insane and had not a scrap of honour. But nevertheless he is still my comrade and this… thing… this is not Zancrow. You have desecrated his body and turned him into this… thing! So back to my question, do you plan on keeping him like this?"

"For now," Morgana replied smoothly. "But you have to understand, my dear Azuma - there is nothing else I can do for him at the moment. I was able to resurrect Master Hades through a special Coin of Necromancy, forged by the High Priestesses of the Old Religion back before I was even born. Such a coin can only revive one soul each, and to my knowledge that was the last of those coins. I made a choice, and Master Hades was the one I chose to resurrect. But I assure you, I have every intention of raising your comrade from the grave properly at my first opportunity."

"You do?" Azuma asked sceptically. "And how will you do that?"

"I shall forge a new Coin of Necromancy of course. But as of now, I cannot do this for two reasons. The Old Religion's power must rise much higher before such things can be crafted once more. But when I have retaken Albion for my own and brought the practice back, this I should be able to do."

"But you intend to keep him a soulless creature until then?"

"Why not?" Hades asked, drawing Azuma's attention "Oh, I agree it is an abomination upon him, but it is still a way for him to help our guild from beyond the grave. To do his part in the upcoming battles even if he is not doing so of his own volition. He will help out our cause still, until he can finally return to us as a complete man once again."

Morgana nodded. "Indeed. If anything he can do even more like this as Inferi are immune to practically anything. Even if someone cut off his head now he wouldn't stop moving, and his head could be re-attached at a later stage easily. But I make yet another promise to you all - I will bring him back when I can."

"…I see," Azuma nodded, disgruntled but placated. "But you are certainly making us a lot of promises."

"He has a point," Rustyrose nodded. "Are you certain that you can fulfil them all?"

"Woo-wee… even Master Hades' magic had almost no effect upon that dragon," Kain pointed out. "Even without taking Fairy Tail into account, how can we beat them?"

"We can't," Morgana said simply. "Not with raw power anyway. They are more powerful than myself or Merlin, or any of you, so fighting them head on will be impossible. But they are not infallible, nor are they omnipotent. For instance, the Great Dragon Kilgharrah spent twenty years chained up in a cave beneath Camelot, unable to leave. And they are not immune to common steel. A completely normal sword thrust into the right place on their chests would kill them. The only problem is getting close enough to do such a thing is next to impossible."

"But when I used my Jet Black Sword it bounced right off him," Rustyrose pointed out. "And that blade can cut through almost anything."

"Because it is a magical blade. As long as an attack is imbued with magic, the dragons will have a strong resistance to it."

"Then what do you suggest we do to combat them?" Voldemort asked dourly.

"I don't know. It was easier in Camelot when magic was still outlawed as Kilgharrah could not openly assist Merlin and Arthur without Arthur trying to hunt him down. And after she was born, Aithusa sided with me for a long time and even though she was never as strong as Kilgharrah she could still help me oppose him when Merlin's magic did become common knowledge."

"I did wonder why you called her a traitor," Voldemort noted.

"Yes, Merlin eventually swayed her against me as well. It all became much harder after that, but when I sealed Merlin in the Crystal Cave for the Battle of Camlann that finally killed Arthur he was left unable to summon the dragons to the fight, which was why it was a success. This time they showed up without Merlin appearing, which is very surprising. But my point is, while I currently have no plan to counter the dragons, I will find one. And you, Voldemort. You can help me do it while I train you and your Death Eaters in the ways of the Old Religion."

"Then you mean to do it?" Voldemort's eyes lit up greedily. "When do we begin?"

"As soon as you are ready. But as well as bolstering our strength we must also bolster our forces. We are not done recruiting yet… far from done."

* * *

"Kid… what the hell is wrong with your soul?"

Harry took two steps backward in alarm. He was familiar with the phrase 'eyes that seemed to pierce the body and stare right into the soul' but never before had he encountered a situation that could so literally represent the phrase. Bickslow's eyes were glowing a slight greenish colour and he seemed to be staring at Harry's chest in abject horror, as if he'd just spotted some sort of terrifying monster within.

"My… my soul…?" he blinked. "What… what do you mean?"

"Bickslow has the ability to see people's souls," Laxus said, looking more than a little perturbed himself as his gaze tracked from Harry to Bickslow and back repeatedly. "But I've never seen him act like this before."

"That's because I've never seen anything remotely like this before," Bickslow croaked. "This is… this is all kinds of messed up!"

"Why?" Harry asked, his throat rapidly drying and his heartbeat picking up. Had this been the first time he'd encountered a Fairy Tail mage he would probably have thought Bickslow was a complete nut job and not taken him seriously. But he'd seen enough amazing things from these guys to believe Laxus' claim and if a Dementor could suck a soul out then why couldn't this guy see them? "What is it? What's wrong with my soul?"

Before Bickslow could reply though, a hand suddenly gripped Harry's shoulder, all but making him leap out of his own skin. It was Dumbledore, and the elderly Headmaster was looking about them urgently. Harry did the same, but it was clear that nobody else but the four of them had really noticed this little altercation - being too busy attending to each others' injuries or recounting what they'd seen to one another. Even Gajeel had turned away to begin a verbal confrontation with Natsu.

"You can see people's souls, you say?" Dumbledore asked in a low whisper.

"Yeah, I can," Bickslow nodded. "And…"

"Don't say another word," Dumbledore cut him off quickly. "Not here. Harry, I understand you must be feeling perturbed right now but just wait a moment. We will discuss this in my office later when there is nobody else around."

"But Professor, what…?"

"Later, Harry," Dumbledore said sternly, before turning to look up at Laxus and Bickslow respectively. "Please, you two. I know that we do not know each other yet but for the moment I will ask you to trust me and keep this quiet. I would like you both to come with Harry and I to my office to talk this over when we return to our school. And nobody else."

"No," said a voice above them and suddenly Mavis levitated down to stand next to them, her expression somber. "Some others may come to, Headmaster. If we suspect the same thing, then I would also like for the third and current Master of the guild to be present at this gathering. And from what I know about these two, it would not be right to exclude Freed and Evergreen either," she nodded to where Evergreen was fiercely hugging Freed, enough to almost literally choke the breath out of him. "They may come too."

"…Very well," Dumbledore nodded. "But nobody else."

"Nobody else," Mavis confirmed.

Harry was both confused and scared, unable to process what was happening. Whatever it was it was clearly something big for both Dumbledore and Mavis to be so cryptic and secretive about it and he felt like he was about to burst at the seams with questions. But for now at least he held his tongue.

Bickslow didn't.

"Who are you?" he asked Mavis with a frown. "You don't have a soul at all. But I saw you fly over the battlefield earlier."

"…I know who she is," Laxus said, his eyes wide and his jaw slack. "Gramps showed me a picture of her once. A photograph… standing next to his own father. This is…"

"The First Master…" said Makarov Dreyar, the diminutive first Master now standing a few feet away, staring openly at Mavis with obvious awe. "Mavis Vermillion… it's… is it really… you?"

"Hello Makarov," Mavis smiled warmly. "It's so good to see you again, it really is."

"Then… was it you? Were you the one that cast the Fairy Sphere that saved us all from the Black Dragon?"

"Kinda. There's a lot of things we need to catch you up on… and now seems to be a pretty good time to do so."

* * *

The hubbub in the aftermath of the battle eventually died down and Wendy was kept busy healing the injuries of the DA members and the teachers. It was imperative that their injuries be treated first, as any sign of this battle had to be eliminated before they returned to the school so Umbridge's suspicions wouldn't be raised. Fudge already believed Dumbledore was trying to raise an army against him and the very last thing they needed was anything that would make him or Umbridge even more convinced that that was the case.

Kilgharrah and Aithusa also made short work of Morgana's spell to disable magical transportation, breaking it within a few seconds so they could make their way back through the portkey cage.

"You know, I rather like this island," Aithusa said, taking a deep whiff of the sea air and stretching her wings out as wide as they could go, blanketing most of the group in shadow in the process. "I think I'll make this place my new home for as long as it stays in this world."

"As will I," Kilgharrah nodded. "Morgana knows where it is and may try to return. Aithusa and I cannot do much to aid you as of yet. For one thing we are rather conspicuous and would draw a lot of attention on the mainland. And that time is not yet ripe for us to reveal ourselves to the world once again. But for now we can remain here and keep this island safe, and if ever you have any questions for us you may seek us out here."

"Thank you, both of you," Lisanna smiled brightly. "For everything."

"Charlie will be over the moon," Fred chuckled. "I was thinking he'd be devastated at missing out on a chance to meet you again if you decided to leave."

"Would have been funny to see his reaction though," Fred snorted.

"Yes, but be warned, if you do ask old Miseryscales here a question he may end up being infuriatingly cryptic with his answer," Aithusa grinned impishly. "Merlin would always complain about that.

"I gave him everything he needed to solve things on his own," Kilgharrah rolled his golden eyes.

"Just please don't eat the wildlife that lives here," Lisanna asked. "I'd like for all of them to get back home as well one day."

"We will do more than that. This island is meant to be a tropical one so we will make sure it stays nice and warm throughout the winter."

"Anything for our little Dragon Lady."

"You guys are the best," Natsu grinned, and Lisanna covered her mouth to hold back a giggle when she mentally heard Igneel gasp while Metalicana laughed at him.

Once everyone was back in the Room of Requirement, Harry quickly gathered the DA back together and left Ron and Hermione in charge of answering the questions that many of them had at this point. He also made the Hufflepuffs promise to keep a very close eye on Zacharias Smith. He'd heard all about how he'd panicked and thrown Luna in front of Nagini in a bid to save his own skin and he'd have to figure out exactly what he was going to do about that later.

For now though, his primary concern was finding out exactly what Bickslow had been talking about. So as soon as he'd made his excuses to Ron, Hermione and Sirius, he allowed Dumbledore to guide him through to his office. Mavis was already there waiting for them, as was Makarov, Laxus, Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow, all of whom had carefully entered through the window under the cover of darkness.

"I apologise for pulling you away from your fellow Fairy Tail mages when you should be enjoying your reunion with them," Dumbledore said when they arrived. "But… if I understand things correctly… what transpires here today must be handled with a very high degree of discretion. For Harry's own sake."

"He's quite right," Mavis nodded. "I know you've only just truly entered this world as of today, Third Master, but the rest of the guild have been fighting for it for some time now.

Evergreen agreed. "Harry has become a trusted friend of ours and if there is anything we can do to help him…"

"…Then we must do it," Makarov nodded sagely. "I understand, First Master. I won't pretend I'm not still a little overwhelmed by all of this, but I now owe you a great debt for taking care of my brats in my stead, Albus Dumbledore. It is only fair that I do my part to take care of your children in turn, for as long as I am here."

"Thank you," Dumbledore nodded with a light smile.

"Can we please just get to the part where there's something apparently wrong with my soul?" Harry blurted out, unable to contain himself for much longer. "What the hell does that even mean?"

Dumbledore took a deep breath and moved over to his desk. "I was hoping that if this day ever came, it would be better handled. And that I would be in possession of all of the facts. But since you have already been soundly disturbed by our new Fairy Tail friend here… we will have to make do with what I already know. I will tell you the truth, Harry - I have considered wiping your memory so you don't remember any of this until the time is right. But… that would be unfair to you so, as they say, here goes nothing. I take it you remember well this particular artefact."

He reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled out a tattered old book with a large hole stabbed through the middle of it and covered with ink stains. Harry recoiled a little at the sight of it. "Tom Riddle's diary," he said. "The thing that possessed Ginny into opening the Chamber of Secrets three years ago."

"The very thing," Dumbledore nodded. "Mister Bickslow, what do you see when you look at this book?"

"…Nothing," Bickslow frowned in bemusement. "Just a regular but badly damaged book. Why?"

"That is what it is now. But a few years ago, this book had a life of its own. It used to be owned by the Dark Lord of this world - Voldemort, back when he went by the name of Tom Riddle. It seems that he was somehow able to preserve a memory of himself in this book which was capable of thinking for itself and influencing the world around it to a certain degree. When this book fell into the possession of a young girl you happen to have met today, it was eventually able to control her actions and make her do terrible things without realising what she was doing, or remembering what she'd done when she'd finished it."

"Much like your own Seith Magic, Bickslow," Freed mused. "You're saying it turned her into a puppet of sorts?"

"Something like that," Dumbledore nodded. "Until Mister Potter here discovered what was happening and killed the memory by destroying its vessel - the book. But when you brought me this, Harry, I was baffled by it. I have lived a long life but never before have I heard of a memory stored in an inanimate object coming to life in such a manner. It was very dark magic, so I set out to find out more about it. And while I have had to make some very educated guesses along the way… I believe I may have discovered exactly what this book was."

Harry wasn't entirely sure where this conversation was going, but it sounded important so he made no attempt to interrupt. His mouth was getting progressively drier though, staring at the diary as if it was about to leap off the tabletop and try to attack him at any moment.

"What is it?" he asked.

"A very dark artefact known as a Horcrux," Dumbledore said, as he summoned another book from across the room to place it on the desk beside the diary, though this one was intact and much older looking, entitled 'Secrets of the Darkest Art.' "Mister Bickslow, explain to me exactly how your branch of magic works, will you? What is making those dolls of yours float behind you like that?"

"My Seith Magic allows me to fabricate a soul out of thin air and implant it into a doll, which I can then control at will." Bickslow explained, his wooden puppets rotating in a slow ring around him as if to prove his point. "The general rule of thumb is that it had to be something with a face though, because while I can control them they still need eyes to be able to properly see where they're going. They're like little life forces in their own right - not exactly alive but definitely conscious. It is a kind of Black Magic, which are usually regarded to be a little sinister in nature, but it is not Dark Magic."

"I see. Well, that principle is very similar to that of a Horcrux, with a few minor differences," Dumbledore said, resting his hand upon 'Secrets of the Darkest Art' wearily. "A Horcrux also involves planting a soul into an inanimate object. But it is most definitely a Dark Magic and any object can be made into a Horcrux. But perhaps the most key difference is the soul inside a Horcrux is not created out of nothing like your dolls. When a Horcrux is created, the soul of the one who creates it is split into two pieces, and it is one of those pieces that gets removed from the creator's body and implanted in the Horcrux. Do you understand, Harry? It was not a mere memory of Voldemort that was possessing young Ginny Weasley…"

"…It was… a piece of his soul?" Harry whispered in utter revulsion. "A piece of his actual soul was… embedded inside the diary?"

"It would certainly seem that way, yes," Dumbledore nodded gravely. "According to the book, Horcruxes can have something of an effect on those in their immediate vicinity. But most of them would not become so strong. The only reason that this one was able to have such a direct influence on its surroundings was because Ginny kept communicating with it, pouring her own soul out to it and effectively giving it a way into her heart. That allowed it to leech off her until it could become the physical presence you saw down in the Chamber of Secrets.

"And I believe Voldemort created this particular Horcrux in his teenage years, which was why said presence still looked like he did when he was seventeen. Because in order to split the soul in such a manner and create a Horcrux, the man in question must first commit an act of extreme evil. He must murder someone. And I believe that this Horcrux was created with the death of your friend Myrtle Warren."

"Warren?" blinked Harry in momentary bemusement. "Wait a minute… is that Moaning Myrtle's surname?"

"Good gracious, you mean she never told you that?" Dumbledore asked, with a momentary twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "I suppose she must have gotten so used to her nickname that it never occurred to her to do so."

"Who's Moaning Myrtle?" Laxus asked.

"A ghost who happens to have made her home in one of the girls' lavatories in this school," Harry explained quickly.

"A girl's lavatory?" Evergreen pushed her glasses up her nose with a smirk. "And whatever are you doing going into a girl's lavatory, Harry?"

"My, my, sounds like someone's being a bit of a peeping tom," Freed grinned, somewhat impishly, and Harry coloured slightly as he beheld the amused and rather suggestive expressions of all the Fairy Tail mages in the room.

"It's… it's not like that!" Harry said. "Nobody ever goes in there because of Myrtle anyway! Look… it's… it's a long story, I'll tell you about it later."

"Yes, best stick to the facts for now," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "Because what's more important is that this diary finally answered a question I had been puzzling over for some time and that is how Voldemort was able to survive the night that he killed your parents, Harry?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, his embarrassment evaporating into dread once again.

"You know full well that it was the protective spell that your mother placed over you when she sacrificed herself for your sake that kept you alive that night," Dumbledore sighed. "It is what made the Killing Curse rebound off you and strike Voldemort instead… but as you know Voldemort himself survived the curse as well. But unlike you he was reduced to a mere shadow of himself. His body was killed but somehow his soul did not depart for the next world like it should do when you die. And ever since I learned that he was indeed still alive, I have been trying to work out how that might have happened. And then you brought me this Horcrux… and I had my answer."

"You're saying this dude was kept alive because a piece of his soul was trapped in that book?" Laxus asked.

"It sounds kinda plausible to me," Bickslow murmured. "If part of his soul couldn't pass on then the rest of his soul could easily have remained anchored into this world."

"Precisely," Dumbledore nodded. "A Horcrux acts like a host body of sorts and as long as one exists, the creator cannot truly die… though most would say that death is preferable. But more questions rose up after that Harry. Because you destroyed this diary before Voldemort regained his body. Theoretically the moment you destroyed the diary then the rest of him should have died too… unless…"

"There's more than one," Harry caught on quickly. "He made more than one of these things."

"Possibly," Dumbledore nodded, his expression . "I cannot say for sure - I have been searching for any evidence that he might have done for some time now. All that I could say for certain was that there was another piece of his soul out there somewhere… and…" in the space of about five seconds his seemed to age by about another hundred years right before Harry's eyes. "I have a theory… about where at least one of those pieces might be."

Harry stared blankly at him but Dumbledore made no further elaboration. He just stared at Harry meaningfully, his eyes flicking down to lock on Harry's chest sadly. And then Harry understood, and it was like a mountain of pure horror had suddenly been dropped on top of his head. He spun around and looked to Bickslow, who was also staring at him gravely now and that look practically seemed to confirm his suspicions right then and there.

But nevertheless he had to ask.

"…Please tell me…" he croaked. "What's wrong… with my soul?"

"Well…" Bickslow sucked his lips against his teeth momentarily. "At first I wasn't too sure what I was looking at but… it's not really your soul that's the concern. It's the small, black shard of a soul that's also in your body, clinging onto your own soul like a parasite that's the concern."

Harry felt his knees buckle underneath him, his stomach heaving as he realised the connotations of what Bickslow was saying. He felt sick… and then he was sick - throwing up all over Dumbledore's carpet right then and there. Dumbledore quickly vanished the sick a moment later but Harry felt like more could be on the way at any moment. In that moment his entire soul had been turned upside down… for now he knew the truth…

…he had a piece of Voldemort's soul inside him.

"Why…?" he eventually forced out, looking up at the ashen-faced Dumbledore with a mixture of anger and terror. "Why!? Why didn't you tell me about this!?"

"Because I was not sure," Dumbledore replied grimly, looking at Harry with pure sorrow. "It was only a theory I had. There were many things that seemed to point to it, such as your inexplicable ability to see through Voldemort's eyes in your dreams on occasion, as well as your ability to speak Parseltongue. You may recall I told you back in your second year, that I suspected that Voldemort somehow transferred some of his powers to you when he gave you that scar? I suspected then that that happened because a piece of his soul had lodged itself in your body.

"But I didn't have any solid proof to back it up, and until I had some I did not want to burden you with this news when it might not even be true. And even if it was true, I didn't want to tell you until I'd found a way to remove the piece of his soul from you without harming you. I wanted to avoid… giving you the reaction that you're having right now."

Harry's emotions were going on a proverbial helter-skelter. A very large part of him was furious beyond words that Dumbledore had kept this from him and he wanted to lash out, hit something, punch something… maybe even try to hit Dumbledore himself right in the face. And yet he could understand Dumbledore's reasons for doing so, and the rest of him was wishing that he'd not found this out at all, desperately wishing for Dumbledore to Obliviate him so he could go back to blissful ignorance once again. And then there was was the fraction of utter revulsion, which came with a rapidly growing desire to thrust his hand into his own chest and claw the piece of Voldemort's soul out of himself, as if that would actually work.

He spent a good two minutes on the floor hyperventilating, trying to get control of himself enough to concentrate through this whirlwind of feelings and make sense of it all. Getting his stomach under control, he managed to shift himself into a sitting position, not yet feeling enough strength in his legs to be able to stand back up again. He needed to know more… he needed to understand.

"So… I'm… a Horcrux then?"

"Yes and no," Dumbledore sighed. "In order to create a proper Horcrux, Voldemort would have had to prepare a specific ritual right after murdering you or one of your parents that would turn you into one. But I don't think that happened here. I think that when the Killing Curse rebounded off you and hit him, his soul fractured on its own and one little piece of it sought out the nearest living thing it could find while the rest of it fled. And that's why it entered you. It is also why you, despite having a piece of Voldemort's soul inside your body, don't have a negative impact on the people around you as the diary did to Ginny."

"But why would Voldemort's soul splinter like that on his death with him preparing the ritual?" Evergreen asked, stepping across the room and kneeling down beside Harry to place her hand on his shoulder consolingly. Harry tried to pull away feebly, but in that moment he was just glad to have the comfort of her presence. "How does that make sense?"

"Most likely it's because his soul had already become extremely unstable," Mavis mused. "It would have to be for it to just… break… like that."

"That probably wouldn't happen if he'd only created one of these Horcrux things out of that book," Bickslow murmured.

"Hmmm…" Makarov hummed to himself. "You're saying its likely he created multiple of these Horcruxes before the night he tried to kill Harry?"

"Certainly sounds that way," Bickslow nodded. "Which means that as long as there is any piece of his soul left outside his main body…"

"He can't be killed," Freed finished. "At least not properly anyway."

"So…" Harry gagged. "Does that mean… that as long as I'm alive…?"

"No," Dumbledore said firmly. "It means as long as there is a piece of Voldemort in you, and in any other object, he can't die. But now that I know that there truly is a piece of his soul in your body, but top priority now is to find a way of removing it from you without harming you. Mister Bickslow, is there any chance at all that you can do that?"

Bickslow shook his head. "My Seith Magic doesn't work that way," he said. "I can place souls I create into a doll to remotely control it and I can take control of other people by possessing their souls through eye contact, but I cannot remove a soul from a person's body. Nor can I put a soul into something that already has a soul. I can't help here."

"Perhaps not," Makarov said, as he stepped forward. "But there might be something that I can do to help."

"What?" Harry looked up sharply, desperate for any kind of good news at this point. "Please tell me, what?"

"I know what you're about to suggest, Third," Mavis nodded. "Harry, you have heard of two of the Three Great Fairy Magics unique to our guild. The protective spell, Fairy Sphere, and the offensive spell, Fairy Glitter… but has anyone mentioned to you the third of our Great Magics?"

"Fairy Law," Makarov confirmed.

"No… no, I'm not familiar with that spell," Harry murmured quietly. "What does it do?"

"It's known as the Absolute Judgement spell," Makarov said. "An ultra-powerful magical light that destroys what is evil but spares what is good from the perspective of the person who casts it, and in an extremely wide radius around him. It's highly advanced magic that takes a great amount of power to cast and it is not a spell to be used lightly, but I can't help but wonder if it could be put to use here. Whether I could use it to destroy the piece of this Dark Lord's soul within your body while leaving the rest of you undamaged."

"…That sounds like quite the spell," Dumbledore said, extraordinarily impressed. "Is it not possible that you could have destroyed most of the enemy on Tenroujima if you had used that spell?"

"It is, but like I said, it is not to be cast lightly because it would work solely on my own perspective," Makarov said. "If I happened to be wrong, if I thought someone was an enemy when they actually weren't or they were not truly evil and had the chance to redeem themselves in the future, I would end up destroying them too. And as soon as Master Precht entered the battle using Fairy Law was out of the question for he has his own variant of the spell - Grimoire Law - which does the same thing. If I tried Fairy Law, he would most certainly have used that spell to wipe everyone on our side out as well. But theoretically… it may work here on getting rid of this… Horcrux within Harry here."

"Well… well then what are you waiting for?" Harry asked quickly, instantly clinging to the coat-tails of this new hope. "Do it! Get this thing out of me, please!"

"Not so fast," Mavis shook her head. "It's not so simple as that. Dumbledore, remind me what needs to be done to destroy a Horcrux."

"The container of the soul must be hit with something that would destroy it in a manner that's impossible to repair magically," said Dumbledore gravely. "Only then will the fragment of soul within it die."

"Yes. And that's what concerns me here," Mavis tapped her chin. "As you say, Third, theoretically it should kill the Horcrux while sparing the host but this isn't just some evil possession. If the host container must be destroyed for a Horcrux to die then what if the spell decides to kill Harry as well, judging it to be the lesser of two evils? Or it could decide that killing Harry is out of the question and therefore do nothing to the Horcrux. Or it could just work perfectly and kill the Horcrux - we don't know. We're dealing with two opposing magical rules here; a spell that should only destroy the evil part versus a spell that can't be destroyed unless the good part dies too. It's like a sword that can pierce anything versus a shield that can't be pierced. Which one would win out over the other?"

"But if Harry is not a true Horcrux then surely Fairy Law would be the one that wins, right?" Freed asked.

"But are we prepared to take that risk?" Bickslow pointed out. "From what I can see that piece of Voldemort's soul is latched onto Harry's pretty tightly. Can we accurately predict the outcome with total certainty?"

"Take the risk!" Harry shouted, surging to his feet so fast that he almost knocked Harry over. "Do it! Take the risk! I don't care if I die as long as this piece of him is gone! Gone as fast as possible!"

"And that is what makes you so noble, Harry," Dumbledore smiled. "But that fact is the rest of us do care if you die. As will a great many other people."

"That is true," Makarov nodded. "If there is one thing that a good Fairy Tail mage knows is that you do not die for your comrades if you can avoid it. You do your absolute best to live for your comrades, because in doing so you spare them the sadness of your passing. Dying should only be done when there's no other alternative. And at present, we don't know if there is no other alternative yet."

"Well… I guess…" Harry said slowly. "But… but… this thing…"

"…Has been doing you no real harm for the last fourteen years you've had it," Mavis pointed out. "We can hold Fairy Law in reserve for now. Dumbledore and I will try hard to find a way to remove the Horcrux within you without killing you, Harry but if all else fails we will try Fairy Law. Who knows, we could be worrying about nothing and it will work fine. But we won't gamble with your life unless absolutely necessary."

"But what if Voldemort finds out about this?" Harry asked frantically. "If I can see into his head because of this Horcrux thing then what's to stop him from looking into mine. Morgana knew that I was watching when she first made contact with Voldemort - she spoke to me directly."

"Morgana knows much but I doubt she knows all," Dumbledore said. "She might have known you were there but she may not have known why. But the thought that Voldemort might find out had occurred to me… that's why I've been so distant with you as of late, Harry. I felt that if I was right and Voldemort found out he might try to use to spy on me if he suspected we had a close relationship. But there are ways that would help to keep him out…"

"Indeed," Freed said, the green-haired man stepping forwards. "There are. If you would, Harry, please remove your shirt."

"Remove my… why?" Harry blinked in sudden, utter confusion.

"I'll explain why in a moment," Freed said. "Just please do it."

"I think I know what he has in mind," Evergreen chuckled. "Go on, Harry. You can trust him."

Harry was a little confused, and frankly a little embarrassed considering both Evergreen and Mavis were watching, but in the end he did as bid and took off everything from the waist up except for his glasses. Freed then stepped around to Harry's back and pressed one of his fingers against Harry's shoulder blades. Harry flinched, but Freed seemed to draw his finger in little patterns across Harry's skin, almost as if he was writing.

Because that was exactly what he was doing. Although Harry couldn't see it, Freed was drawing small purple glowing letters across Harry's back in a language that Dumbledore had never seen before. Eventually though Freed stepped back and said, "That should do it."

"What should do it?" Harry asked, trying to look over his shoulder. "What have you done?"

"Freed here is proficient in Rune Magic," Laxus chuckled. "He can created magical barriers and traps through the use of ancient letters that force anyone who encounters them to obey the rules he sets out in them."

"Indeed," Freed said, steering Harry over to a nearby mirror so that he could look over his shoulder and see the lettering properly. "And these Runes say; 'No presence wishing to cause this boy harm may enter here.' If this Voldemort does find out about his connection with you and tries to use it to look into your mind, he should be instantly repelled by these runes. And don't worry," he snapped his fingers and the lettering slowly vanished from sight until it was like they'd never been there. "They'll keep working even while invisible."

"…Thank you," Harry said slowly, a certain sense of relief washing through him. "Seriously, thank you."

"You're most welcome. If you like, Master Dumbledore, I could also create a runic barrier around the perimeter of this school," Freed suggested. "I understand you already have many wards in place but if you'd like me to add my own then I won't mind at all."

"And in the meantime," Laxus said, hefting himself off the wall he'd spent the whole conversation leaning on. "Sounds to me like we've got ourselves a mission."

"A mission?" Harry asked, as he pulled his shirt back on. "What mission?"

"Well we already established that this Voldemort guy probably made a lot more Horcruxes before a piece of his soul found its way into you," Laxus smirked. "If you want to defeat this guy, we're going to have to find them all and wreck them. And since we've been sworn to keep this whole Horcrux thing a secret…" he looked questioningly at Mavis.

"Yes, the fewer people who know about this the better. It would be good if we didn't let Voldemort know we were onto him."

"Then it looks like we'll have to be the ones to help you do it," Laxus smirked.

"And we're right behind you, Laxus," Freed said firmly.

"The Raijinshuu reunited at last and already with our first job in hand," Evergreen grinned.

"I should be able to recognise a Horcrux on sight," Bickslow nodded. "We'll do whatever we can to find them and ensure that this bastard can eventually be brought down for good."

"What do you say, old man?" Laxus turned to look at his grandfather with a slight quirk to his jaw. "Can I hang around for a bit longer?"

"Hmmm…" Makarov muttered, not really looking his grandson in the eye. "Well…" he said. "We are trapped in another world. I suppose… I have no choice but to let you stay with us. I can't very well send you away here."

Laxus snorted lightly but said nothing else.

"Looks like the two people with the lightning scars will be working together on this," Mavis beamed. "Though having said that, I suppose it couldn't hurt to loop in a couple of your own friends, Harry. Those two, Ron and Hermione, they're like your own personal Raijinshuu right? If Laxus has his own then you should too."

"Yeah… yeah maybe…" Harry muttered. "I'll… I'll think about it. Thank you… for your help."

"Not a problem," Freed said assuredly.

"Good," Dumbledore nodded. "But Harry, I am afraid there is more."

"More?"

"Yes. As we are revealing things… I must now be completely honest with you and tell you everything I know. And that… includes the Prophecy…"

* * *

While all this was going on the Room of Requirement was abuzz, with the last few students getting the wounds healed by Wendy. The Sky Dragon Slayer was exhausted, having used up most of her magic setting everything right for the staff and students, which meant that the other mages were going to have to wait a while before she had enough energy to treat their own injuries.

Perhaps the worst off of them was Levy, who was sitting in the corner and cradling her chest and stomach from where Gajeel had been forced to stamp on it. Gajeel himself was hovering nearby, leaning against the wall and not looking at her, as if afraid to see the damage that he'd caused.

Or maybe there was another reason he couldn't quite look her in the eye.

The both of them knew that they had to talk about what Levy had said back on the island, but neither of them were quite sure how to start doing it. Levy found herself almost wishing she was back in the middle of a fight - the heat of the moment had made it so much easier to let everything loose in one go. Now that things had died down, picking up the conversation where they'd left off was suddenly a lot more difficult.

But since it looked like Gajeel wasn't about to say anything anytime soon, it fell upon her to begin.

"So…" she cleared her throat.

"Hmm?" Gajeel grunted, still not looking at her.

"Well… what do you think?"

"'Bout what exactly?"

"You know what. Those things I said. I did mean it you know. It might seem hard to believe considering how much I've been shying away from you recently, but I really do trust you more than anybody in the world. In any world," Levy muttered, twiddling her fingers nervously. "And… well… I don't… I don't love you but… I mean, if you wanted to… we could always… well… how do you feel about it?"

She finally mustered the courage to look up at him but his expression was inscrutable. He had his eyes shut and appeared to be brooding, mulling over Levy's question with an extremely calm facade. Though Levy was convinced there was just an ever-so-slight tinge of red in his cheeks.

"Jeez," he eventually said. "This is messed up."

"…Yeah, I suppose it is in some ways," Levy sweatdropped slightly. Even though she knew how guilty he felt about it there weren't many girls out there who'd ever consider someone who beat them half to death as boyfriend material. "But… well… look, I'm not asking you to come up with a be-all end-all decision right now. But if I was to ask you if you… wanted to go get something to eat or something one day… would you consider saying yes?"

Gajeel slowly opened his eyes and glanced across at her, wrinkling his nose slightly when he saw her earnest expression. If he was being perfectly honest with himself he didn't really know how he felt. Love was an alien concept to him. Never once during his time at Phantom Lord had he thought about finding a girlfriend. If he had then heck, for all he knew he might have eventually tried asking Juvia out. It was only after entering Fairy Tail that his feelings had started to open up bit by bit… and a great many of them were focused about the little bookworm sitting before him.

But love? Even now that hadn't really been on his agenda until Levy had brought it up. Love was soft and Gajeel was hard. He was the Iron Dragon Slayer… and yet somehow this small girl had managed to get under his metallic carapace.

"Well…" he said slowly. "I dunno… I mean, maybe if there were a few choice spoons I could chew on or something. I… I don't… ah shit, I'm really not good at this kind of mushy stuff," he threw his hands up into the air exasperatedly.

"No, you're really not," Levy said, slightly deadpan. "Especially if you swear in the middle."

"Shaddup," Gajeel grumbled.

"Well… how about I let you think about it a bit more, shall I?" Levy asked with a sigh. "It may be a bit unfair for me to expect an answer so fast after springing it on you like I did." She tried to stand up, but winced visibly at the pain in her chest. Instantly Gajeel was at her side, gripping her shoulder and lowering her gently back down into a sitting position, his hand firm and unyielding to quite clearly tell Levy that she wasn't going anywhere.

The two knelt there together for a moment, their gazes locking and holding each other for almost a minute straight. And looking into Levy's eyes like this seemed to make it a little easier for Gajeel to say:-

"Yeah, I'll think about it. I dunno what my answer would be… but off the top of my head… I probably wouldn't say no."

And with that he stood up and walked away, but Levy felt her insides swell with such a surge of happiness that she almost felt like she was levitating. She hadn't expected such a positive response at all - if anything she'd been expecting him to just let her down gently. But for him to not only not reject her, but suggest he might not reject her again later… maybe Erza was right. Maybe there really could be a thing between her and Gajeel eventually.

Though she did face fault a little when Gajeel marched straight over to Natsu and decked him in the face, evidently trying to get the mushiness out of his system. At least she knew then that if she and Gajeel ever became an item she could throw out every fantasy of a blissful romantic partnership of candle-lit dinners and canoe rides. Gajeel would never be romantic.

But even as she watched another full scale brawl breaking out across the room, she had to admit that she'd always found the romantic novels to be the most boring. So perhaps she could live with that… no, she definitely could.

* * *

In another part of the room even as most of the guys piled onto each other in a flurry of flying fists, Erza and Lucy were sitting with Cana as the Card Mage inspected the Allosaurus Rider card which she'd utilise in her previous battle against Rustyrose.

"So you really have a new magic now, Cana?" Lucy asked.

"Well, not properly," Cana said. "I just sort of… gave birth to it, metaphorically speaking, back there on the island. I channelled my Card Magic with Rustyrose's Embodiment magic to produce a new result. It was quite easy that time because he was feeding his power directly into me. It'll be much harder to do again for now, but I've opened the doorway and got my foot in it to keep it from closing. If I work at this, I should be able to fully develop this new power until it becomes a second nature to me as switching clothes is for you, Erza."

"It was certainly impressive," Erza nodded. "Will we need to go out and get you some more of these Magic: The Gathering cards then?"

"Well I could probably get an idea or two from them, but that won't be necessary," Cana said with a slight smirk. "That guy's Arc of Embodiment allows him to create anything he wants out of thin air, so if I do this right then I might not need to rely on the cards made by other people anymore. It's entirely possible I could design and create my own cards from scratch and then use them in battle later on. Who knows what kinds of things I could come up with for that?"

"So you could technically create anything you wanted just like him?" Lucy asked.

"Technically. But unlike him I wouldn't be able to make something up on the fly. I'd still need a specific card to create a specific effect - after all I could only channel his magic by melding it with some of my own. Which means I'll need to get my thinking cap on and see what kinds of awesome stuff I can come up with," Cana grinned, her expression like that of a cat that had just learned how to use a tin opener.

"You could do all kinds of things with that," Dennis said eagerly, evidently having been eavesdropping on the conversation. "The Magic: The Gathering cards don't just have awesome looking creatures. They also have lots of neat spells, upgrades, traps, weapons… all kinds of stuff that you could give yourself to help out in the upcoming battle."

"Perhaps you could even use it to transform your own body in the same way that he does to give himself that sword and shield," Erza suggested.

"Wow, this could be quite a power up if you utilise it properly," Lucy whispered.

"And it's all thanks to you, kid," Cana grinned at Dennis, stepping over and ruffling his hair gratefully. "I better get cracking. And I come up with my best ideas when I'm roaring drunk. Bring out the Firewhiskey!"

"Of course," Lucy laughed. "I wondered how long you would take before asking for that."

* * *

With Harry absent, Ron and Hermione had to deal with a veritable deluge of questions from the DA as to what they'd seen on the island that day. There was certainly no doubt in any of their minds that Voldemort was alive no - they'd all set eyes on him after all.

But more prominent in their concerns was the presence of Morgana. None of them doubted that it was her - the words of the two dragons had been enough to abolish all of that. What they wanted to know was:-

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ernie was demanding, looking positively affronted just as all the others did. "If you knew that Morgan Le Fay herself had returned to this world then why the heck didn't you tell us about it?"

"Yeah, I thought this whole thing was about learning how to defend ourselves," Dean agreed vehemently. "How are we supposed to do that if we don't know what we're up against?"

"I'm sure they had their reasons," Neville's voice rose above the accompanying din of assent from the rest of the DA. "You did have your reasons, right?"

"Well yeah, but you've all completely missed the point of what we just said," Ron said. "We didn't really know that Morgana was back at all. Not for sure. Yeah, we kinda suspected it but we didn't know. And even if we did, we had no way to prove it."

"Would you have believed us if we'd just told you she was back?" Hermione agreed. "Many of you doubted Harry when he said Voldemort returned and he's a far more recent evil to be inflicted on the world. How would you have reacted if Harry had come forth and told you that another evil from thousands of years ago had also come back. I bet many of you here would have decided he really was just seeking attention after all."

There was some uncomfortable shuffling amongst the crowd at that. Many of them couldn't deny the truth behind Hermione's words.

"What made you suspect that she was back anyway?" Cho eventually asked.

"Harry had a dream about it," Ron said. "That's literally all the proof we had. Not much to go on, is it? The only reason we ever gave it a second thought was cos Harry's occasionally had dreams that have been true in the past, but equally he has nonsense dreams as well just like the rest of us. What were we supposed to do? If we'd told you lot then either you'd have thought we were loopy or we'd cause a panic about something that could a been a load of rubbish?"

"Well, regardless, now that we know she is back, how do we stop her?" Luna asked matter-of-factly.

"We?" Hermione frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I think she means what are Dumbledore's Army going to do to help contribute in taking her down," Ginny smirked.

"What? But… no, hang on," Hermione said. "Dumbledore's Army is just a name. We're not an actual army, we're just a bunch of children that are trying to learn how to defend ourselves considering our government's being stupid enough not to teach us. We're not meant to be doing anything to stop Voldemort or Morgana - we're meant to be focusing on our OWLs."

"And what good are OWLs going to be if Morgana takes over the world?" Parvati asked stoutly.

"So… what… you want to fight?" Ron asked. "But you saw how powerful that lady was, right? She was taking on Dumbledore and Gildarts at the same time and seemed to be pretty evenly matched with them. There's absolutely nothing that we can do to stop her."

"No, but we can help stop You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters," Lavender pointed out. "I think we did pretty well against them today, all things considered."

"But that's not what this was about," Hermione protested. "We brought you all together so you could learn defence, not offence."

"Well too bad," Ginny snorted. "Harry's going to go on the offence when he can, isn't he? That's what he does after all. And if he's going to do that then what would we be if we just let him without backing him up?"

"Yes, but Harry's still in school just like the rest of us are. What happened on Tenroujima was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's not as if the Order is going to take us out on missions with them."

"Well I'd like to see them try and stop us," Fred said confidently. "They won't even let us be members even though we're of age. But there's no way they can stop us from doing our bit if we want to."

"I think that if anyone in Dumbledore's Army wants to stay and just learn how to defend themselves, they can," George chimed in. "But if you want to do more, if you want to take part in the bigger fight, then woe betide anyone who tries to stand in our way."

There were several voices of assent and Ron and Hermione had no idea what to say. After being in the middle of a warzone on Tenroujima, both of them had expected the DA members to go running for the hills. But it actually seemed to be having the opposite effect on some of them. Having been a part of one battle, now they felt directly involved in the war. Even Marietta Edgecombe appeared to be standing a little straighter, though she also looked like she was going to wet herself, as did several of the others.

It seemed that Dumbledore's Army had just been drafted.

* * *

A short while later and the students had dispersed, hurrying back to their dormitories before the after-hours curfew set in and Umbridge could find out that they weren't where they were supposed to be. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting together in the Gryffindor Common Room waiting for Harry to come back from his impromptu trip to Dumbledore's Office. And Ginny was particularly incensed.

"What do you mean?" she demanded quietly, trying very hard not to raise her voice and alert the rest of the Common Room to their discussion. "You're not going to kick Zacharias Smith out of the DA? Why the heck not? You did hear what he did to Luna, didn't you?"

"Yes, I heard," Hermione nodded, "And ultimately I think the decision should be Harry's, not ours. He's the leader of the DA after all. But I don't think we should throw him out. The original purpose of the DA was to let anyone who wanted to learn how to defend themselves do so. We can't deny Smith that just because he happens to be a coward."

"He deserves a lot worse than being kicked out if you ask me," Ron muttered darkly. "But… I think Hermione's right… unfortunately. We can't kick him out, but I think we can all agree that if we ever do get to go on missions with the Order then he won't be coming with us. That spineless sack of crap sure as heck can't be trusted in a fight."

"It is a little unfair to call him that, Ron," Hermione chided him. "Considering what he was suddenly confronted with it's understandable he panicked. If he'd been thinking rationally and he'd still thrown Luna in front of the snake then that would be an entirely different story. But you're right - I wouldn't trust him in a fight after that, but he was the only DA member down there who had no interest in joining the war whatsoever so I doubt that will ever happen."

"Some of the others didn't exactly look keen either," Ginny pointed out.

"Well it's a big thing to ask of them, putting their lines on the line, especially with someone like Morgana as the enemy. And we're not Fairy Tail - we don't possess the immense power and skill that they do, we're not as close-knit a group as they are and we don't all have their resolve and spirit to do the right thing."

"Yeah, but I reckon most of them will be up for it," said Ron.

"Oh yes? And why's that?" Ginny asked.

"Cos we've got Harry as our leader," Ron grinned. "He may not like it, but he's the Boy Who Lived. And I think that when they see his determination to fight, they'll rise up to follow him."

That was the exact moment when Harry finally entered the Common Room again. And when Ron got a look at his face, his grin immediately died.

"Harry?" he asked, getting to his feet. "Are you all right?"

"No," Harry said blandly, his face pale and devoid of emotion as he walked straight past his friends without even looking at them.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, standing up as well and trying to intercept him. "Harry, what did Dumbledore want you for?"

"Stay away from me," Harry snapped and pushed her hand off roughly before she could get a grip on his shoulder and all but ran up towards the dormitory. Hermione stepped back, looking a little hurt, while Ron and Ginny looked to each other in utter bewilderment.

"What the heck was that about?" Ginny voice what they were all thinking.

"Not a clue…" said Ron. "I know today hasn't been the best day in the world but considering what happened… he should be happy right now."

"But he looked thunderstruck," Hermione agreed. "…Just what did Dumbledore want to say to him?"

* * *

Harry sat on the side of his bed, wringing his hands and staring into space, his mind buzzing with the sheer enormity of everything that had just been revealed to him. The words of the Prophecy that Dumbledore had revealed to him through the use of a Pensieve memory, in the same rough voice that Professor Trelawney had used that night in the Divination Tower in his third year, were replaying over and over again in his mind.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…."

It was truly an enormous revelation… an entire Prophecy detailing that he, and apparently only he, could kill Voldemort. Dumbledore had explained everything - how it had to be him thanks to Voldemort's decision to come after him as a child when it could so nearly have been Neville, and how he had had the Order guarding the official record of it kept in the Department of Mysteries until Gildarts had gone and destroyed the place and vaporised the Prophecy with it. But as Mavis pointed out, it was likely that Morgana was aware of the contents of the Prophecy and would most likely have told Voldemort by now, or would soon if she hadn't already… so now they were both fully informed of the fact that it would eventually boil down to the two of them.

Still, this wasn't really that surprising. Given the number of times Harry had faced Voldemort now in various different forms, the idea that their fates were entwined was actually small news. The fact that he apparently had a piece of Voldemort's soul… his parents' murderer's soul… locked inside his body, carried far more weight. And never had Harry felt self-loathing and revulsion as strongly as he did now. He felt tainted, twisted… and he found himself questioning every decision that he had ever made and wondering if that little piece of Voldemort could have been affecting him somehow along the way.

Now, the fact that the Sorting Hat had thought he would fit very well in Slytherin made perfect sense.

For a moment, he even wondered whether the fact that the Dursleys had always been so vile to him was because of the pseudo-Horcrux inside him warping them somehow. But Dumbledore had been adamant before he left the office that the piece of Voldemort's soul had absolutely no effect on him other than connecting him to Voldemort himself and providing him the ability to speak Parseltongue. And that all the good he'd ever done in the fight against Voldemort, along with his ability to pull the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, proved that without a shadow of a doubt.

But Harry still took little comfort from those words, and even the relief of Freed's protective runes keeping Voldemort from entering his head had now worn off. Because they didn't change the fact that ever since his parents died, he'd been carrying a piece of their killer around with him and, in doing so, was helping to keep him alive.

"I'm sorry, Mum," he croaked, staring at the picture of his parents dancing on his bedside table. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

And he kept apologising over and over again, stopping only when he was no longer alone in the room.

* * *

"Do you think that lad will be okay?" Makarov asked quietly as he sat on the Roof of the Shrieking Shack some hours later, watching the sunset. There was currently a party going on in the Room of Requirement, which had started the moment Makarov and the others had returned from Dumbledore's Office, to celebrate the complete reunion of the guild members that had travelled to Tenroujima for that fateful S-Class Exam. It was getting extremely rowdy, in traditional Fairy Tail style, and more than one fight had broken out amongst its members. Makarov had spent a couple of hours catching up with all his brats, hearing the stories of their exploits ever since they emerged from their own protective bubbles, and for some time it had almost felt like he was back at home in Magnolia, where they all belonged.

But eventually he had stepped away from the party. Because there had been one particular person that he had been wanting a chance to speak to alone for some time.

"Harry's a strong-willed child," Mavis said as she stood next to him - her golden hair billowing out in the faint wintery breeze. "But he will need the support of his friends very much indeed now. There is not a person in the world that would not be heavily affected by what they'd just heard. It must have been the shock of his life. But I have every confidence that he'll get through it. Somehow."

"His burdens are many," Makarov agreed. "I hope that we can support him… but equally I hope that we can find a way back home." He glanced up at the ghostly First Master. "Where you are right now."

Mavis' lips tightened - she'd guessed what Makarov had wanted to talk to her about some time ago. "You're referring to Lumen Histoire," she said matter-of-factly.

"I don't understand it," Makarov nodded. "Tenroujima may have moved to another world but from what we know, our guildhall is in exactly the same place it's always been. Which means that you… your real body… should still be enclosed in a crystal in the secret basement, shouldn't it? So how is it possible that you have a presence in this world while the rest of you is not?"

"I do not truly know," Mavis shrugged. "This astral body is my true consciousness. It took me some time for my dormant self to muster together enough energy to let my project outside of myself. Otherwise I would have appeared much sooner. And I have tried to project myself back into our world and return to my body but for some reason I cannot. I am as stuck here as you are."

"But you're still connected to your body, aren't you?"

"Yes. The magic required to project myself in this manner stems from my real body after all."

"Then I would have thought that your presence in this world would have been cut off as soon as the breach that brought us here closed."

"But that's the thing, Third Master," Mavis turned her gaze down to him soberly. "I'm not entirely sure it has closed. Not properly anyway."

Makarov's eyebrows raised urgently. "What do you mean?"

"We know very little about the power that brought us here, but there is one thing we know - and that is that the mages of Grimoire Heart have been brought through to this world one at a time. All of us in Fairy Tail appeared at once, but their arrival here has been staggered. Which means that a breach between our worlds and this one still exists in some manner. And my theory is that that is because of me."

"Because of you?"

"Yes. I believe the connection between my real body and my astral body is actually holding the breach between our worlds open, like a tunnel leading from our world to this one. It should have collapsed the instant that the rift at either end disappeared and if that had happened perhaps the Grimoire Heart members would have been trapped in the space between our world for eternity, like Morgana's Crystal Cave. But the tunnel is being sustained by the magic of Lumen Histoire, except the gates at either end are shut. Whenever one of the Grimoire Heart Mages crash into this universe they are blasted through, but otherwise the ends of the tunnel are closed off."

"But if the tunnel is there… then does that mean there is a way back home after all?"

"It means there is a path. But we can't access that path until we find a way to open the gates. And even though I'm holding open the tunnel I don't have the power to open the gate from this end, and I don't have the mobility or presence of mind to open it from the other end. And even if I had either, I don't know how to do it. Opening portals was one thing I never got the chance to study.

"But I can promise you now, Third Master," she said, raising her hands up and clenching her fists with steely resolution. "We will find a way. The way home is right in front of us - we just need to figure out how to use it. We'll do all we can to help Harry find these Horcruxes and put a stop to Voldemort, but we will not stay in this world forever. One way or another, I will guide you home. I will guide _all of us_ home."


	52. Messages From Beyond

This chapter may not be what you're expecting. But I very much hope you'll enjoy it and it'll be quite the pleasant surprise.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 52:- Messages From Beyond**

* * *

With the help of the Raijinshuu, the clean-up of the whole Tenroujima incident was swiftly carried out by the Order and the Hogwarts staff. Thanks to Wendy, all of the students looked none the worse for wear, although some of their robes had been a little frayed and had to be magically repaired as well, so when the next day rolled around Umbridge didn't suspect a thing. She had no way of knowing that any of the DA members had been involved in a battle the previous day.

The DA members that hadn't been present on the island, such as the three Gryffindor Chasers, were rapidly filled in on what had happened. None of them were quite sure whether they were relieved they hadn't had to endure the experience or disappointed that they hadn't been there to see Fairy Tail and the dragons in full action. It took quite a bit of convincing to make them believe that the latter had even happened.

And the crew members on the ship which had transported Makarov, Laxus and Bickslow to the island in the first place were soundly dealt with, their memories modified to remove all traces of their encounter with the Fairy Tail members from their minds. As far as they were concerned, they'd done nothing but fishing all day yesterday. It was highly likely nobody would believe them if they told others what had happened, but it was best not to take any chances.

There were few secrets that Makarov had to keep from his brats, but now he found himself with two. Not only did he have to refrain from telling them about Harry's true situation, but Lumen Histoire was something that only the Master of the guild was supposed to know about, which was why neither he nor Mavis mentioned anything about their suspicions that it was holding open the tunnel between their worlds to anyone. Mavis also suspected that this tunnel was also allowing a little of their world's Ethernano to spill through, filtering through a tiny little crack like a keyhole which was why they could still replenish their magic here, even though it took longer to do it.

However, that didn't stop them from mentioning their suspicions that the tunnel existed somehow, which was exactly what they did the very next morning when all of the Fairy Tail members had finally woken up. It took a while, as many of them had ended up sleeping on the floor instead of adjourning to their chambers (and the boy's dormitory had grown an extra four beds without needing to be asked) but once they were all up, Mavis shared her belief that there might just be a way for them to eventually return home if only they could figure out how to use it.

"I know we're becoming invested in the struggles of this world," she addressed the amassed audience. "But sooner or later we'll have to go home. Finding a way to do that is still a high priority and when we do… who knows if we'll ever be able to return."

"We can't do that surely," Mirajane protested. "We've made some wonderful friends in this world - we can't just leave them in the lurch. Shouldn't we stay and help them work out their problems first?"

"And what about the problems in our world?" Gajeel asked fairly. "I don't want to just abandon this lot any more than you do but we don't have a freaking clue what's going on back home. What if we're needed more there than we are here?"

"Gajeel has a point," Erza gritted her teeth. "The very last thing that happened before we were frozen in time involved Zeref himself leaving our island to return to the mainland. Who knows what havoc he could have wrought since then."

"Or he could have ended up being transported to this world like us for all we know," Charla agreed. "We just don't have enough information."

"If only there was a way that we could communicate with the rest of our friends," Levy sighed, gazing off into the middle distance. "Jet and Droy must think I'm dead. They probably all think we're all dead. And I really hate sitting here knowing that they think that when we're not."

"It's a horrible experience," Lisanna bit her lip, looking down at her toes. Levy instantly felt guilty, knowing full well that Lisanna spent two whole years living with that feeling. But Lucy placed a consoling hand on Levy's shoulder just as Mirajane pulled her little sister into a hug.

"Levy's right though," Pantherlily nodded firmly. "If we could at least talk to them…"

"You can."

Everyone started at the sudden new voice that entered there midst and several of them moved aside to allow Loke to step through, his hands in his pockets and a warm smile on his face.

"Loke? What are you doing here?" Lucy blinked. "I didn't summon you."

"You didn't need to. I was listening in to your conversation," the Lion Spirit said simply. "And it seemed like a good time to interrupt. Because I happen to know a way that you can do as Levy says and communicate with the rest of the guild."

"How?" Natsu asked.

"Through me of course," Loke smiled. "I can help act as your messenger."

"You can?" Lucy frowned. "But how?"

"Wait a minute," Happy gasped. "Wouldn't it be possible for us to get home by travelling through the Spirit World? Natsu did that once back in Duke Everlue's Palace!"

"I did?" Natsu blinked. "I don't remember that."

"Yeah, yeah, it was when you were fighting Virgo, back when she used to look like a gorilla-woman. You had hold of her, but then Duke Everlue summoned her to where he was and you managed to keep hold of her and pass through the Spirit World with her to appear somewhere else instantly," the blue cat said excitedly. "So… couldn't we also use the Spirit World as a stepping stone to get back to our world?"

"I wouldn't think so," Lucy shook her head. "For one thing the Spirit World is an inhospitable environment for us…"

"That could be nullified as long as you wore clothes from the Spirit World," Loke interrupted. "But that wouldn't help you get home I'm afraid. The Spirit World is a surprisingly fragile place and can be easily influenced by foreign forces. It's very rare for something from any human world to be brought into the Spirit World and when that happens, the Spirit World recognises it as foreign and tries to destroy it - like antibodies against a virus, which is why wearing Celestial Spirit clothing can help stop the effects for a while. And when something does get transported from the human world to the Spirit World, it can only leave via the same gate that it came through. That's why Natsu went from one place to another that time - he went through Virgo's gate and came back through Virgo's gate. And that's why I couldn't at this moment transport you all home."

"He's right," Lucy nodded. "Celestial Spirits can't just appear anywhere that they choose. They have to appear in the vicinity of their Gate Key because that's the item that opens their Gate from the Spirit World. Loke can't open a portal to Earthland anymore because his key is here."

"And if the key in question comes through the gate to the Spirit World, then the gate remains open in the same place until the key goes back," Loke added. "So, if Lucy came to the Spirit World with me, I couldn't send her anywhere other than straight back here. And if she stayed behind and the rest of you came with me, I still couldn't send you anywhere except where my key is. So I'm sorry Happy, but we Spirits can't help you get home."

"…Oh…" Happy's ears drooped slightly. "Well… never mind then."

"It was a good idea, Happy," Charla patted his back reassuringly. "It's just a shame it couldn't work."

"Indeed, but, as I was saying," Loke smirked. "I can still help you communicate with your friends back on Earthland."

"How?" Erza frowned. "If you can't go to Earthland then how could you do that?"

"Because there are other Spirits in the Spirit World who can still go to Earthland," Loke chuckled. "Lucy doesn't have every Celestial Spirit Key in existence after all. There are many more silver key Spirits out there and two other Golden Zodiac Keys that she doesn't have. And the keys to all these other Spirits are still on Earthland."

"…Of course!" Lucy cried, slapping herself in the forehead almost powerfully enough to knock her over. "Why didn't I think of that sooner!?"

"No, sorry, I don't really get it," Natsu frowned. "What does he mean?"

"He means that he's going to set up a messaging system, idiot," Gray grinned. "Whereby we give a message to him and he gives the message to another Spirit who can then pass it on to someone on Earthland."

"That's right, I am," Loke nodded. "As a matter of fact I've already spoken to one of the other Spirits about it. Her name is Libra, the Heavenly Scales and one of the two Zodiac Spirits that Lucy doesn't have, along with Pisces. Their Keys are currently in the possession of a young girl named Yukino Aguria, who is apparently a member of a guild known as Sabertooth."

"Sabertooth?" Gray frowned. "I've never heard of them."

"Juvia hasn't either," Juvia murmured. "They must be quite a small guild."

"Actually no, they aren't," Loke laughed. "They used to be, but not long after you lot were frozen in time they began to rise amongst the ranks. They've become a lot more powerful now than they were. However, that's not important. What is important is that Libra tells me Yukino is a very kind and generous girl. She believes that if we relayed a message from you to her, she would only be too happy to get in touch with the rest of Fairy Tail and pass it on."

"This is wonderful news," Mirajane beamed. "Whyever didn't you mention this before, Loke?"

"Because I wanted to wait until all of you were accounted for before I did so," Loke replied. "I didn't want to start sending any messages back to Earthland until we could confirm that all of you were safe and sound, which we now can."

Without warning, Lucy scrambled upwards and dashed over to envelop Loke in her arms, practically squashing him against her in a fierce hug. Loke looked momentarily startled but it didn't take him long to return the hug, placing one hand on the back of Lucy's head to hold her close.

"Thank you, Loke," Lucy whispered, a few tears of happiness beginning to leak their way out of her eyes and trickle down her cheeks to soak into the shoulder of his suit. "Thank you… I really don't know how to thank you enough."

"There's really no need to thank me," Loke said, stepping back so he could look Lucy in the eye before sweeping his hand up and placing the other on his heart, declaring loudly, "For there is nothing that my love for you would not spur me to do in order to make you happy!"

"…Uh-huh…" Lucy coughed, suddenly feeling a lot more awkward. "Well… yeah… thank you so much anyway."

"He liiiiiiikes you," Happy snickered, which was met by a swift smack to the back of the head from Charla.

Clearing her throat loudly, Lucy tried to pull her focus back to the matter at hand. "Well then I guess we'll just have to figure out what to say in the message."

"And here are the tools to help you do it," Loke said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a roll of paper and a pen. "Objects from the Spirit World like these can go through the gates of any Spirit so if you use these to write down a message then all me and Libra have to do is pass it on. It'd be a more direct way of communication if you write to Yukino."

"Good idea," Lucy beamed, taking the items from Loke's hand. "Well then I'll get right on that. Thank you, Loke."

She hurried away to sit at the table Levy usually sat at to read her books and began to plan out her letter. Several of the others gathered around her to watch her at work, but Makarov and Mavis simply stood together and watched from a distance.

"Truly we are blessed that Lucy ever came to our guild," Makarov said quietly.

"Indeed," Mavis nodded. "And there is further good news to this. Perhaps the people back in our world can be the ones to find a way to bring us back."

"Yes," Makarov cupped his chin thoughtfully. "And do you know… I might have an idea of where to start. But making contact is the first step. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

* * *

It was a considerably less joyful morning for Harry. For a blissful moment when he woke up from a dreamless sleep, courtesy of the draught that had been delivered to him by Dobby the previous evening, he didn't remember all the horrible things that he had learned yesterday. But when they all came crashing back in on him again a few minutes later he almost screamed, but compromised by burying his face in his pillow.

He didn't want to look at the world. He didn't want to face the world knowing that there was piece of Voldemort's soul inside him. He didn't know if that fragment of soul was capable of any conscious thought, but the idea that it might be looking out through his eyes in the same way he could look through Voldemort's was terrifying and threatened to make him throw up again.

And he stayed like that for half an hour before any of the other boys in the dorm stirred. As Neville, Dean and Seamus made ready to head down to breakfast as per normal, Ron watched Harry quietly from his own bed. Worry gnawed at his gut. He hadn't been able to get anything out of Harry when he'd come up the previous night but they hadn't been alone so he hadn't tried that hard.

Now though, he waited quietly for the other three to leave before he sat up and said, "All right, Harry. What's up, mate? You're really starting to freak me out a little bit."

Harry didn't reply. He just lay there with his face in his pillow, and if it hadn't been for the fact that Ron could see him breathing he might have thought that Harry was dead.

"Come on, mate, you've got to tell me if something's up," he tried again. "Mum always tells us that you can't just keep things all bottled up inside. It's not healthy. What the hell happened in Dumbledore's office that made you like this?"

Harry still didn't say anything. Or move.

"Dude, we got two whacking great big talking dragons on our side last night," Ron pressed. "I still can't believe that happened really, but I would have thought that was a reason to celebrate! This is the complete opposite of what you should be doing…"

"Ron," Harry looked up at last and glanced across at his best friend, his expression dead. "I don't… want to talk about it, okay?"

Ron was taken aback by just how… empty… Harry looked. Like something inside him had died. Which was ironic because Harry was at that moment very much wishing that something inside him _would_ die.

"Don't shut us out, man," Ron said earnestly. "It doesn't solve anything."

"Just… please… leave me alone," Harry whispered. "Please Ron… if you're my friend at all… leave me alone."

And he buried his face back in his pillow again, with such an air of finality that Ron could tell immediately he wasn't going to bring it out again any time soon. He watched Harry silently for a few minutes before sighing and getting up to head down to breakfast. Harry listened to him shuffling about nearby, wracked with guild for cutting his best friend out but… he didn't want to tell him. He didn't want to tell anyone… because… he didn't want them to look at him differently.

Mavis had encouraged him to tell his friends but… how could he tell them that he had a piece of the Dark Lord inside him and had since the day they met him? Ron was terrified of Voldemort and Hermione wasn't much better. Harry was certain that if they knew the truth, they would look at him with the same revulsion, fear and horror that he now felt about himself. And he didn't know if he could stomach that. He'd spent a whole year receiving stares like that when people thought he was the Heir of Slytherin in their second year but Ron and Hermione had stuck by him the entire time. If they looked at him that way, he was certain he'd never recover from it.

Especially since all those stares in their second year were well-founded apparently. In a way, everyone _had_ been staring at the Heir of Slytherin when they looked at him.

Eventually Ron moved downstairs where Hermione was waiting to meet him. "How is he?" she asked worriedly.

"Not good," Ron sighed. "He won't talk to me. He just kept asking me to leave him alone and from the looks of things I don't think he's planning to get out of bed all day."

"He'll miss lessons?" Hermione fretted. "Harry's been through some tough things in the past but he's never skived off lessons unless he was sick or injured, though it's not really skiving if that's an excuse. What in the world happened?"

"Do you think we should ask Dumbledore?" Ron asked.

"I doubt he'd tell us. He'd probably say its Harry's secret to tell or something. Should I try talking to him?"

"You can try. But I dunno it it'll work. If you ask me, I don't think there's really a lot we can do about it until he's ready to tell us. And right now I don't think he is."

"Then I hope he'll be ready soon. Or whatever this is is going to eat him up inside."

* * *

Draw back from Hogwarts… draw back from Scotland… draw back from the Earth… draw back from the universe itself and whoosh right across the void between them to enter another and settle down in a field on the edge of a bustling city. And in this particular field, two enormously long eel-like fish are zooming through the air, coiling in and out and around each other in pursuit of two individual humans dashing across the ground beneath them. The white fish streaked in towards a man with spiky blond hair and a single pendant earring dangling from one ear while the black fish arced down upon another man with untidy black hair and wearing a dark cloak.

"GYO-GYO!" the fish cried as they rushed in for the strike, their mouths agape and their tails lashing like the world's biggest bullwhips. But the blond haired man leapt upwards and out of the way of the white fish, rolling deftly onto his shoulder and flipping back onto his feet with his hands crashing together and generating a light of such bright intensity that it seared at the eyes of anyone that looked directly at him.

"**HOLY RAY!" **he bellowed, unleashing a huge multitude of light beams that surged in towards the white fish and pummelled against its body despite its best attempts to manoeuvre through them, sending it crashing down onto its side to flatten the grass and furrow the ground.

Meanwhile the black-haired man had taken quite a different approach, having surged forwards towards the black fish and then destabilising himself into a shadow across the ground that zipped beneath the fist just as it slammed itself face first into the spot where he'd just been, merging with its own shadow and leaping up beneath it, dark energy gathering between his teeth as the fist uprooted itself to search for him.

"**EIRYUU NO HOUKOU!" **he shouted, and a humongous blast of darkness surged from out his mouth to smash the fist right in the face and sending it reeling, smashing it head first into a large rock.

However, the black fish's massive body convulsed wildly like a huge live cable and its tail completely caught the black-haired man by surprise and hammered him straight in the chest, sending him flying backwards across the field. Meanwhile the white fish surged up from the ground with startling speed and arced its body around to home in on the blond man once more. Again he leapt upwards but this time the fish followed him and pummelled him in the chest with its nose, flinging him away across the field. But both the men were able to land to skidding halts on their feet and charge forwards again, the blonde man grinning widely and the black haired man's gaze creased in concentration.

Fish and men danced and coiled around each other, hammering at each other with body and magic alike. And watching the whole thing was a woman in a white minidress and an exuberant white cloak. Her hair was short and snow-white with a blue rose adorning one side.

This was Yukino Aguria, and the two fish were one of her Celestial Spirits - Pisces. And considering the fact they couldn't use any magic in this form, the fish were doing reasonably well against their current opponents.

Sting, the White Dragon Slayer.

Rogue, the Shadow Dragon Slayer.

Collectively known as the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth.

"Go, go, go!" cheered a small russet-brown cat standing next to Yukino. "I know you can do it, Sting-kun! Go on, grill that fish!"

"Lector-sama, that's not a nice thing to say," said Yukino gently. "This is just a training exercise after all, and those fish are my beloved Spirits."

"Fro thinks so too," a green cat wearing a pink frog-suit (for some reason) raised a paw in agreement.

"Yeah, well, I do get carried away when I watch Sting-kun fighting," Lector shrugged. "But that's just because he's so unbelievably awesome that I can't help myself."

"Fro thinks so too," said the green cat again.

"That's not to say that Rogue-sama isn't amazing too, Frosch-sama," Yukino looked down at the frog-cat with a smile. "They're both amazing fighters indeed."

"Fro knows," Frosch hopped from side to side enthusiastically as he watched the fish looping up and over together for another pass. But as Sting and Rogue readied themselves for another assauly, Yukino held up her golden key and initiated a forced gate closure. Pisces were strong but she knew that Sting and Rogue would defeat them if the fight extended much further and she had no desire to see them too hurt. Though it left the Twin Dragon Slayers slightly perplexed when their opponents suddenly vanished into thin air.

"Wha…?" Sting blinked, looking back over his shoulder. "What happened?"

"Apologies, Sting-sama," Yukino dipped her head respectfully. "But I think that's enough for one day."

"Seriously? Man, I was just getting warmed up too," Sting wrinkled his nose. "Ah well, I am getting hungry I suppose."

"Sometimes I wonder if you think of anything else other than fighting and eating," Rogue said quietly, accepting that the training match was over without complaint and making his way back over to Yukino and the waiting Exceed.

"I think about other things," Sting grinned as he walked over with his partner. "But those are the two things I find most fun I admit."

"Maybe we should think about going on another job soon," suggested Lector as the five of them began to make their way back towards the guild together. "That way you'll hopefully be able to fight to your heart's content if we find the right one, Sting-kun. And we're running low on funds."

"Fro thinks so too."

"Might not be a bad idea," Sting mused, walking with his hands behind his head before he glanced across at Yukino. "Gotta say though, those two fish were pretty tough. Keep up the good work, Yukino and you might just be able to help us curbstomp all the other guilds into the ground during the next Grand Magic Games. Again, that is."

"I hardly think so," Yukino said, blushing a little at the praise. "I doubt I'll become strong enough to take the place of either of you two, or Rufus-sama, Orga-sama or Minerva-sama. But thank you all the same."

"You could take my place. I don't really care about the games anymore," Rogue said. "We've already proven we're the strongest guild five times in a row. Do we really need to do it again?"

"Hey now, you can't back out of the Games, Rogue. It wouldn't look good if only one of the Twin Dragons bothered to take part."

"I suppose," Rogue shrugged. "Still, we've got several months before the next games anyway. We don't need to decide the roster for months yet."

Yukino smiled lightly to herself. As guilds went, Sabertooth was very militaristic and Yukino didn't really like Master Jiemma. It sounded bad to say that from her perspective but she couldn't deny it. She'd only been part of the guild for a few months but she'd already watched him boot out three members who had failed the jobs that they'd taken up for the guild. And watched as all of the other guild members watched them go, doing nothing to intervene. She herself had wanted to step in, ask the Master if he would give the unfortunate individuals another chance, but she hadn't had the courage to do so alone. She was very proud to be a member of the strongest guild in Fiore and now that she'd joined she didn't want to risk being kicked out. She'd have nowhere to go if she was.

That side of her guild really didn't sit well with her. But when Master Jiemma wasn't watching the other members of the guild were often quite fun to be around. Granted, they were headstrong, often brash and quite arrogant in their strength, but when they weren't fighting they were friendly enough as long as you were strong. And fortunately for Yukino, she was strong. If she were weak, no member of Sabertooth would even give her the time of day. But she tried not to think about that. After spending so many years alone, she finally had a home in Sabertooth. And despite its many flaws, she would do anything for it.

Sting and Lector were in the middle of bragging about how well they'd done in the last games when suddenly Yukino was distracted by one of her keys flashing. She paused in surprise - it was Libra's key. The little golden object with flickering with a bright light which indicated that her Spirit wanted to be summoned. Which was very unusual indeed, especially for Libra, who rarely ever said anything more than a few words at a time and even then only in response to something Yukino had said first.

"What's that, Yukino?" Frosch piped up, drawing the others' attention.

"It appears Libra wants to talk to me about something," Yukino said. "Please go on ahead. I'll catch up."

The Twin Dragons nodded and strode away, with Yukino letting them get about one-hundred metres away before she summoned Libra. Instantly the graceful Spirit appeared before her, balancing herself on one toe as usual and her expression, though mostly hidden behind the cloth she wore over her lower face, as blank as ever.

"Uh… hello Libra," Yukino smiled warmly. "Did you want something?"

Libra said nothing. Instead, she merely held out her hand and as well as the scale dangling from her fingers she was also holding a rolled up piece of paper. Yukino blinked, completely nonplussed but gently taking the paper from Libra's grasp and unrolling it. It was some kind of letter… which made Yukino even more confused. Who could possibly be writing her a letter that Libra, of all people, could deliver to her?

But as she read through the letter, her eyes began to grow wider and wider, her breath slowly being stolen from her body when she realised what it was:-

**'Dear Yukino,**

**We've never met before but I'm afraid that I need to ask you for your help. My name is Lucy Heartfilia and I am a Celestial Spirit Mage from the Fairy Tail guild. I'm not sure what things are like back home right now but it's possible that you may have heard about an incident six years ago where a black dragon completely wiped out an island containing all of the strongest members of Fairy Tail, including it's Master. But I can now reveal to you - we are not dead. Every single member of the guild that was on the island is alive and well. However, we are currently trapped and unable to return home.**

**Allow me to explain. We survived the attack from the dragon because we were shielded by one of the great magics of our guild, known as the Fairy Sphere - a magical shield that enclosed the entire island at the last second to prevent it from being destroyed. But that shield also froze time itself within its borders, putting us all in suspended animation for the past six years. But unforeseen circumstances arose and we have somehow also been transported to another universe before we unfroze and that is where we are now. We are currently stuck here but we are searching for a way to return home now. However…' (something that looked like the word Loke had been crossed out here) '…Leo, the leader of Zodiac Spirits, suggested using the Spirit World to communicate with people back home. Which is how I come to be writing to you now.**

**I implore you, on behalf of everyone in Fairy Tail, please send a reply to this message as soon as you can so that I know it arrived successfully.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Lucy Heartfilia.**

**P.S. Leo says that Libra will provide you with the Celestial Spirit paper and ink you will need to send a return message through the Spirit World.'**

Yukino was completely blown away. She'd heard of that incident of course - there were very few people that hadn't. But it was of particular significance to her as she had hoped one day for a chance to meet all of the golden Celestial Spirits, as well as Lucy herself, but when she'd heard that Lucy had been on Tenroujima when it was destroyed she'd never thought she'd get the chance. But she wasn't dead… none of them were! And as of this moment, it was likely she was the only person on Earthland who knew it.

"I don't believe it," she whispered in astonishment. "I… I don't… I don't believe it."

Libra smiled - which was hard to see thanks to the cloth over her face but Yukino could tell she was doing it from her eyes. The Heavenly Scales held up her other hand which contained another blank piece of paper and a pen. As soon as Yukino took hold of it she vanished back to the Spirit World, leaving Yukino standing alone in the field, robbed of breath and struggling to process what was going on, for Libra's smile had cast aside all thoughts that this might be some elaborate practical joke.

She'd been sent a letter from an entire other universe from a woman long thought dead. It was like getting a message from beyond the grave. But it wasn't. The woman who'd written to her was very much alive.

Before she even knew what she was doing she'd spun around and was dashing back towards the city, her cloak streaming out behind her as she went. She didn't even know what she would say but she knew she had to do something. There was no way in hell she could ignore this.

She ended up catching up with the Twin Dragons and their Exceed and haring right past them at the edge of the city. "Wha-hey!?" Sting cried as she passed. "Oi, Yukino, what's up?"

"I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry," Yukino turned around and offered them a quick bow. "I'll return to the guild shortly," she promised before turning around and running off again.

"What was that about?" Rogue frowned. "She looked quite excited."

"Must have been something that Libra said to her," Lector murmured. "Dunno what that could be though."

"Fro doesn't know either."

* * *

The moment she got home, Yukino all but leapt onto her desk and unrolled the paper so she could begin writing her reply.

She wrote:-

**'Dear Lucy-sama,**

**I was shocked to the core when I received your letter. You are quite right - everyone in my world believes you and your fellow mages to have perished in Acnologia's attack. I am both extremely honoured and very flattered that you chose me to write to, for I have heard many things about the men and women that were on that island that day and to hear that you are all still alive is a relief beyond words. If there is anything that I can do to help you, you have my word that I will do it.**

**Yours faithfully,**

**Yukino Aguria.**

**P.S. I eagerly await your response.'**

And with that she rolled up the parchment and grabbed Libra's key, summoning the Scales back to the human world once again and passing her the letter.

"Please, deliver this as fast as you can, Libra."

"Roger," Libra nodded, and vanished with a shower of sparkles, leaving Yukino sitting on her chair and fiddling with the coat-tails of her cloak anxiously.

* * *

"She replied! We have a reply!" Lucy cried, waving Yukino's note in the air as soon as Loke delivered it to her. "She's very polite too - she called my 'Lucy-sama.'"

"That's awesome!" Natsu cheered. "Here, let me read it." He tried to grab the note only for Erza to grip him by the shoulder and haul him backwards.

"If you tear it, I will not be happy with you, Natsu," she said warningly, which very quickly stymied his excitement.

Lucy quickly read the letter out loud, and everyone's faces became instantly very sombre when they heard about their supposed deaths, but brightened considerably when they heard Yukino's offer of help. "What a generous girl," Makarov hummed to himself. "It is almost a shame that she is apparently already part of another guild or I might offer her a place in Fairy Tail automatically for this."

"We'll definitely have to find some way of thanking her for this when we do get back," Gray nodded.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia gasped, steam coming out of her ears. "Thanking her? Surely you can't be thinking of… with her…?"

"I DIDN'T MEAN THANKING HER LIKE THAT!" Gray yelled. "NO CHANCE!"

"…Right, well, anyway, I'm going to write a reply," Lucy said as she sat back down at the table. "What should we ask her?"

* * *

Yukino seized Libra's key the moment it started flashing again, like a Muggle anxiously awaiting a telephone call, and summoned her once more. This time the message read:-

**'Dear Yukino,**

**You have no idea how relieved we are that you're willing to help us. I suppose the first thing you can do for us is answer a few questions. Because we're sealed away in another universe we are extremely uninformed when it comes to current events in our world. So, if you could please answer the following two questions for us, we'd be extremely grateful:-**

**1\. I don't know whether you were aware of this but apparently the Black Mage Zeref was on our island that day but he apparently escaped before Acnologia attacked. What has he been doing since then? Has he been causing any trouble?**

**2\. What's happening with our guild? How are Fairy Tail getting on?**

**Thank you so much,**

**Lucy.'**

This time Yukino was a lot more hesitant with her reply. She suddenly felt a little awkward when it came to the second question. After all, she knew that Fairy Tail used to be known as the most powerful guild in Fiore and now… well… that was the position that her guild held now. And the last thing she wanted to do was make it seem like she was rubbing that in their faces so she phrased her next reply extremely carefully.

* * *

Again, Lucy read the reply aloud:-

**'Dear Lucy-sama,**

**Certainly I can answer those questions for you but I'm afraid this is very much a case of good news and bad news. I had indeed heard that Zeref was somehow involved in the struggle on Tenroujima, but there has been no sign of him these past six years. If he did escape from Acnologia's attack then he has been lying low, just as he apparently did for the last four-hundred years. And there hasn't been any sign of Acnologia since that day either, just in case you wanted to know.**

**The bad news is that your guild hasn't been faring that well. You see, after you disappeared the King of Fiore established an annual tournament for mage guilds called the Grand Magic Games, which allowed them to go head to head with the winner being declared the most powerful guild in the country and the other guilds being ranked accordingly. I'm sorry to say that Fairy Tail hasn't done well in this tournament, so much so that they have dropped down to the very lowest rank in the country. The guild currently at the top is Sabertooth, which I myself joined a few months ago. From what I know of Fairy Tail now (which sadly isn't much), they don't get a lot of jobs and don't have many members left. Their current Master's name is Macao, I think, but I couldn't say for sure.**

**I'm terribly sorry to have to be the one to give you this news. But if you can find a way home I'm quite certain Fairy Tail's reputation will instantly begin to climb again.**

**Yours apologetically,**

**Yukino.'**

There was a heavy silence after that. Yukino's message had done it's job - none of them thought for a moment she was showing off about her guild's status. And for many, the fact that their guild was no longer on top was not an issue but the idea that their friends could have been put through some severe humiliation in the course of this tournament was a lot harder to swallow.

"So, Macao took over as guild master after we vanished, huh?" Cana said. "I guess he was a decent candidate for the job out of those that stayed behind."

"It boggles the mind," Mirajane murmured, placing a hand on her cheek. "To think that our guild could have dropped from top to bottom in such a short space of time. I can only imagine what the others must be feeling if they had to deal with that."

"Especially on top of thinking all of us died," Lisanna agreed.

"Yeah, maybe, but there's quite an obvious solution," Natsu clenched his fist and pounded it into his palm, a wide grin spreading across his face. "If there's a tournament to decide which guild is the best then all we have to do is enter it and blow them all away! And Fairy Tail will be back on top in one go!"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Gajeel smirked.

"Tournaments are manly," Elfman chimed in. "And with some of us right here, how could we possibly lose?" he added, his eyes flicking in particular to Gildarts and Laxus when he said it.

"And at the very least, we know Zeref isn't causing trouble yet. That's good," Mavis nodded. "I get the feeling that when he does finally make his move we should be there to counter it."

"So what do we ask her now?" Levy asked.

"Well, it seems to me that there's only one thing we can ask her," Gildarts said. "Oi, Loke… you wouldn't happen to have a camera in the Spirit World we could use, do you?"

"As a matter of fact we do," Loke smirked. "There's a silver key Spirit known as Pictor, who likes to create images through painting and most recently branched out into photography. I'm quite certain I could convince him to let me borrow his camera for a bit."

* * *

This time Libra brought Yukino four things; two separate letters, a camera and a photograph. Naturally Yukino's eye was drawn to the photograph first and she gasped in delight when she saw it. She'd never laid eyes on any of the people in the photograph in person, but she'd seen pictures of some of them before in the Weekly Sorcerer. This had to be them - all of the missing Fairy Tail members standing together and grinning widely at the camera. Yukino actually felt a tear or two appearing in her eyes at the sight of them. It was one thing for disembodied words to say they were okay, but a whole other thing to see it.

And for some reason they were all holding their hands up, the backs of their palms facing the camera with forefinger pointing at the ceiling and their thumbs jutting out to the side, like a backwards L. She wasn't sure what that meant, but it seemed significant to them.

One of the accompanying letters was pretty similar to the first one that had been sent to Yukino, but slightly altered and addressed to Macao. The other letter read:-

**'Dear Yukino,**

**We appreciate your honesty and not trying to sugar coat the fate of our guild from us, but now comes the biggest favour we would ask of you. We implore you to please go to the town of Magnolia and deliver the other letter and this photograph to the Fairy Tail guild. They've spent so long thinking that we're dead and as they have no Celestial Spirit Mage (as far as we know) we need you to change that. And we may wish for you to do this kind of thing again in the future.**

**I realise we may be asking a lot if you happen to be busy but this is very important to us and if you want, we will find some way to repay you for your help if and when we do return home. Tell them that we're doing all we can to find a way home but it certainly wouldn't hurt if they were trying to find ways to bring us back too.**

**Thank you so much,**

**Lucy.**

**P.S. If you could also send us a picture of yourself, that would be nice, just so we can put a face to your words.'**

Yukino paused, biting her lip thoughtfully. Instinct drove her to write back instantly and tell them that of course she'd do that, but there was one thing that made her stop and think… and that was Master Jiemma.

There was no chance that he would approve of Yukino doing something like this. He probably wouldn't even approve of her correspondence with Lucy through letters. Jiemma was insistent that all other guilds were beneath Sabertooth, that they were weak worms that deserved no sympathy and that Sabertooth members shouldn't associate with them under any circumstances. If Yukino went to Magnolia to tell Fairy Tail that their friends were still alive, she risked being kicked out of the guild for 'taking pity on the weak.'

She wrung her hands nervously. She didn't want that. But equally she couldn't just sit on this discovery and do nothing surely. Jiemma might be cruel but Yukino didn't have an unpleasant bone in her body. And in her excitement she'd already promised Lucy she'd do anything she could. She certainly couldn't back out on a promise now.

But that wasn't the only motivator that made up her mind. Her hands tightened when her thoughts settled on her own family who she had lost as a child to an attack from supporters of Zeref… her parents… her older sister, Sorano… she'd give absolutely anything for someone to walk into her life and tell her that they were still alive. Especially her sister.

She could never in good conscience refuse to do the same for Fairy Tail, even if she did get kicked out for it.

"I'll do it," she said aloud to herself. "Of course I'll do it."

"Do what?"

"EEEK!" Yukino screamed, whirling around with eyes wide to see Sting and Rogue both standing in the doorway behind her, watching her carefully. Sting, who had been the one to speak, was looking at her curiously while Rogue looked a little guilty.

"Sting-sama! Rogue-sama… you… you broke into my house?" Yukino gasped.

"We wanted to know what was going on," Sting said. "You looked kinda pumped when you ran past us before."

"I was against breaking in," Rogue coughed. "But Frosch was worried about you…"

"Fro was," the little cat nodded from where he was hovering behind Rogue on his faintly glowing wings.

"You could have just knocked," Yukino pouted. "I would have answered you know."

"Yeah well, we're here now," Sting shrugged as he walked into the room. "So, what are you going to…" he stopped when he spotted the photograph on Yukino's desk. Before Yukino could stop him he bolted forwards and snatched it up, staring at it with eyes wide.

"Natsu-san…" he breathed, staring at the pink-haired Dragon Slayer in the image. "That's Natsu-san… the Salamander."

"What?" Rogue frowned, looking over his shoulder and was similarly shocked when he caught sight of another Dragon Slayer. "…Gajeel…"

"These are all the Fairy Tail members who disappeared six years ago." Sting breathed. "Yukino, where did you get this?"

"…Libra gave it to me," Yukino sighed, knowing she couldn't keep this a secret now. "It turns out that they're all still alive."

"What!?"

Yukino outlined what she'd learned as quickly as she could, leaving both the Twin Dragons absolutely dumbstruck.

"All this time," Sting whispered. "All this time and they were still alive… this is excellent!" he face split into a fierce grin. "This is absolutely brilliant!"

"It is?" Yukino blinked, not having expected such a reaction.

"Hell yeah," Sting cried. "I looked up to most of these guys when I was younger. I always thought they were all so cool. We were still kids when Acnologia attacked their island, weren't we, Rogue?"

Rogue nodded, and Yukino felt a smile creeping onto her face. "I see," she said. "It is indeed wonderful news, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I always wanted to get stronger so that I could face off against Natsu-san one day… so that one day I could take on and defeat the famous Salamander. I made a promise to you, didn't I, Lector?"

"You certainly did, Sting-kun," Lector beamed. "You promised me you'd one day take the Salamander down, in public for everyone to see. To prove everyone who called me a liar for saying you killed a dragon wrong."

"When I heard that they'd died I never thought I'd get to fulfil that promise," Sting clenched his fist. "But if Natsu-san's alive, that means I can. And you can finally face off against Gajeel, can't you Rogue?"

"I'm not interested," Rogue said blandly.

"Sure you're not," Sting rolled his eyes, before turning back to Yukino. "So, what are we going to do?"

"We?" Yukino gasped. "You want to help?"

"Damn straight."

"But… wouldn't Master Jiemma be angry if he found out about this?"

"Probably. So we don't tell him. We can try and find a way to bring them back without him knowing. And when we do, I'll finally be able to keep my promise."

"I know you will, Sting-kun!" Lector cheered. "I have absolute faith that you'll kick the Salamander's ass."

"Uh…" Yukino sweatdropped. "You know there are reasons for doing this besides just getting a chance to defeat one of them in battle. We'd also be doing it to reunite a family that had long been divided."

"Yes, that too," Sting nodded distractedly, which made Yukino purse her lips. She wasn't happy with the fact that Sting's primary motivation for helping was just for a chance to punch one of them. That was entirely an selfish reason and she'd much rather he was doing it altruistically just like her. But at least she'd be getting some help and she wasn't about to push that away.

"What about you, Rogue-sama?" she asked.

"I have nothing better to do," Rogue shrugged, feigning relative disinterest though nobody believed that it was real. "I might as well tag along."

"Fro will too."

"That's the spirit!" Lector pumped his little fist into the air. "Looks like we've got ourselves another job… though we probably won't be paid for this one."

"We can find one where we get paid later," Sting suggested.

"Or you could go and do it now," Yukino countered. "I wouldn't really be doing anything but delivering a message at the moment and I don't particularly need help for that. If we're going to do this without the Master finding out we need to select a real job from the request board. Then maybe you can go off and do that job while I do that and you can join me at Fairy Tail when you've done."

"That's a good idea," Rogue nodded. "The Master would think she's on a mission with us when she's not. Let's be honest, Sting. There's not a lot we'd be able to do to help in returning people from another dimension. I know nothing of dimension travel and neither do you. But if Yukino is required to take repeated trips to Magnolia then we can help by covering for her."

"Hmm, can't deny that," Sting shrugged. "Alright then, let's do it."

* * *

Yukino's reply to Lucy took a little longer than expected, but when it finally arrived Yukino wasn't alone in the picture. She was sitting in the middle, looking a little sheepish, with two Exceed sitting on her lap and two guys on either side of her. One with black hair looking a little indifferent and one with blond hair who was clearly holding the camera and grinning almost savagely. And of course she sent another letter with it:-

**'Dear Lucy-sama,**

**Of course I will be happy to go to Fairy Tail and deliver the wonderful news to them. And as you can probably tell from the picture I sent, I will have some help. As I recall, your guild has three Dragon Slayers in it, does it not? My guild has two and they are the ones in the picture with me. The White Dragon Slayer, Sting Eucliffe-sama, is the one holding the camera and the other is the Shadow Dragon Slayer, Rogue Cheney-sama. The cats are their respective partners, Lector-sama and Frosch-sama, and the four of them have to decided to help out in any way they can in bringing you home.**

**I will send you another message when I have delivered the reply to your guild.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Yukino.**

**P.S. Sting-sama is adamantly telling me to send a message to Natsu Dragneel-sama that he is looking forward to battling him one day. And I get the impression that Rogue-sama is interested in a match with Gajeel Redfox-sama.'**

"What!?" Natsu vaulted over and seized the picture the moment that he heard that. "Two more Dragon Slayers? And they're in the guild that's at the top right now? Oh hell yeah, this has to be some kind of fate." He lit his free fist on fire and forced Lucy to yelp and snatch the photograph back from him before he accidentally burned it to a crisp. "Don't worry, Sting. When we get back home, it is so on!"

"I didn't realise there were any more Dragon Slayers out there," said Gray. "How many more of you lot are going to come crawling out of the woodwork I wonder."

"And they've got cat partners," Lucy agreed, passing the photograph to him. "Guess it must be a recurring thing amongst Dragon Slayers."

"I bet they still got theirs before Gajeel though," Natsu snorted.

"WHY YOU…!?" Gajeel snarled and jumped on him, another fight breaking out right then and there which Erza had to step in to break up.

"Hmm…" Gray blinked in surprise when he examined the photograph.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"Well look. This is Yukino, isn't it?" Gray pointed to the girl in the middle. "The other Celestial Spirit Mage. And… she looks a lot like you, Lisanna."

"She does?" Lisanna blinked.

"Hey, Gray's right, she does," Lucy said as she looked over Gray's shoulder at the picture. "Short white hair, cute face… she definitely looks like you. And she's very pretty."

Lisanna blushed a little at Lucy's compliment and took the photograph that Gray offered her. She had to admit, there was a striking resemblance between herself and this Yukino girl. But oddly enough, that part of the picture wasn't as interesting to her as the two Dragon Slayers that shared the image with her.

_So this is them…_ she mused quietly. _The other two Dragon Slayers that have dragons hidden within their bodies._

_Indeed,_ Igneel rumbled quietly at the back of her mind. _The hosts of Weisslogia and Skiadrum. How fortune has smiled upon us. Now, when you do return home, you won't have to go in search of them. We know which guild they're at now, and they might even be waiting for us when they arrive._

_Can you imagine Weisslogia and Skiadrum's surprise when we tell them we may have found a way to get our lives back?_ Metalicana grinned.

_I'm just pleased that Sting and Rogue have been informed that we're alive,_ Grandine said. _Weisslogia and Skiadrum probably spent the last six years thinking we were dead as well. Thinking that it was only the two of them left to oppose Acnologia. They must be jubilant that we're not dead right now._

_I'm happy for you,_ Lisanna smiled. _I can't wait to meet them._

But she said out loud, "Wow, I kinda look forward to meeting her. I wonder if she has any siblings that bear any close resemblance to you two, Mira-nee, Elf-niichan."

"That'll be the day," Elfman snorted while Mirajane smiled. "Though if there's another person out there that looks like me, he's sure to be a Man."

Lisanna laughed, but decided not to mention his Edolas doppelgänger.

"Well, I guess all we can do now is wait," Makarov said. "Wait for Yukino to deliver our message."

* * *

Yukino's plan went off without a hitch. Master Jiemma wasn't the one that handled the job requests but he was watching when Sting and Rogue took a job and said that Yukino would be coming with them, giving the excuse that they wanted to put her through her paces as a Sabertooth Mage. The three of them left the guildhall together and stayed together until they reached the train station, where Yukino boarded the first train to Magnolia while the Dragon Slayers set off on their own with their Exceed, adamantly refusing to take a train to get to their own destination.

The journey to Magnolia was uneventful, though Yukino could feel her heart hammering the entire time, wondering what would happen when she got there. She had the letter and the photograph tucked safely into an inside pocket of her cloak but she kept checking on them the whole way, as if worried that they might have suddenly vanished.

Yet when she arrived at the large, Fairy Tail building at last she was rather surprised. The structure had once been grandiose and majestic, but quite clearly it had fallen into disrepair - its walls crumbling, its wooden doors rotting and a great deal of ivy having spread across the walls. And though she couldn't be sure, it seemed like parts of the roof had fallen in.

"This is the Fairy Tail building?" she whispered to herself, nonplussed, as she stood before its gates. "It looks so… forlorn… and empty…"

"You look lost, Madam," a voice behind her said and she turned round to see a middle-aged man behind her with his head cocked to the side curiously. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Yes, actually," Yukino said. "Um… is this where Fairy Tail is supposed to be? It doesn't look like anyone's been in that building for a long time."

"That's because they haven't," the man said, a little bitterness creeping into his voice. "Things just haven't been the same in this town for the last six years. After most of Fairy Tail was wiped out…" he looked physically pained to say that. "What remained struggled to keep going. And their losses at the Grand Magic Games decimated their reputation. They ended up getting so little income that they were forced to rely on loans from another guild that set up in the town, Twilight Ogre. But they couldn't keep up with the payments and eventually gave Ogre their guildhall as payment. But Ogre didn't use it for anything - they just left it there to remind anyone that walks past that Fairy Tail aren't the top guild of the town any more."

"That's horrible," Yukino whispered, feeling a little sick. Fairy Tail had already fallen from the top - was it really necessary to drag their name further through the dirt? "But… if they don't live there now then where do they live?"

"They set up a small guild building on the edge of town next to the Eastern Woods," the man replied. "Barely bigger than a barn. And they're still in debt to Twilight Ogre. So little lady, if you were thinking of joining Fairy Tail I'd reconsider if I were you. Unless you want to end up in poverty."

Yukino thanked him and hurried off, making her way through the winding streets until finally she arrived at the edge of the woods. And sure enough, there it was. A cobblestone path that ran down to a ramshackle building of wood and stone, a single tower protruding from the centre with a tattered windmill attached. A few random piles of wood and barrels lay about outside, with some rickety fences to act as chicken pens. If it hadn't been for the banner with the famous Fairy Tail sigil hanging beneath the windmill and the makeshift words 'FAIRY TAIL' made of bits of wood and nailed to the archway above the front door, Yukino would never have guessed who lived here.

As she approached, Yukino spotted one person outside - a woman with deep purple hair, wearing a green and white dress and hanging out some sheets on a clothes line to dry in the wind. When she heard Yukino approaching she turned to reveal a slender, pretty face with dark green eyes and a pleasant, albeit surprised smile.

"Hello," she said.

"Hello," Yukino said in return. "Are you a member of Fairy Tail?"

The woman chuckled lightly. "Not really," she said. "I'm on staff as a waitress and barkeep and general cleaner, but I'm not a proper member because I'm not a mage. My name's Kinana. Who are you?"

"Yukino Aguria," Yukino dipped her head respectfully. "I didn't realise mage guilds hired people who weren't mages as staff members."

"Most don't. But Fairy Tail took me in when I had nowhere else to go and gave me a home, even though I have no magic," Kinana smiled fondly. "The kindness of the previous master, Makarov, was incredible. He could have turned me away but he didn't. And I've stayed with the guild ever since, working only for room and board. Because that is all I really need, along with good friends."

"That sounds wonderful," Yukino smiled. "But I'd like to speak to the current Master if that's okay. It's important."

"Is it? Well that makes a change," Kinana's smile turned a little sad. "We haven't had anything important coming our way for a good long time. But by all means, follow me."

She led Yukino over to the front door and pushed them wide open. "Master," she called as she walked inside. "You've got a visitor."

The inside of the guild was about as bare as the outside - a single small room with wooden floors, a single bar at the end, a request board on one wall… and apart from a few plain wooden tables and chairs that was more or less it. Yukino couldn't help but notice the request board had only two pieces of paper on it, neither of which appeared to be jobs that paid very well. There was a scattering of people inside, all of which turned to look at her curiously. But it was a man sitting at the bar that answered Kinana, his hair and moustache mostly blue in colour but both definitely starting to go grey.

"Well if its someone from Twilight Ogre again, they can tell Banaboster I'm gathering together the last bits of his next payment now."

"Oh no, I'm not from Twilight Ogre," Yukino assured him quickly. "I don't have any affiliation with that guild."

"Thank goodness," said another man with short brown hair and a cigar in his mouth, in a voice that Yukino suspected was supposed to be much quieter than it was. "She's far too cute to be with a bunch of bullies like them."

"Pipe down, Wakaba," the Master said as Yukino blushed fiercely. "Anyway, welcome to Fairy Tail. I am Master Macao Conbolt. What can I do for such a sexy…" he stopped and cleared his throat. "I mean… lovely lady such as yourself?"

"I'm here with a message for you, Macao-sama," Yukino said, pulling the letter out from her pocket slowly. "Well… technically… it's a message for the whole guild actually. Um… is this… is everyone here?" She looked around her at the various faces around her - mostly men but one young boy and a couple of women, including a green-haired one that was currently holding a small child that had to be only about four years old.

"Yeah, this is all of us," said Max Alors with a certain despondency. "Go ahead and rub it in, we've got almost nobody at all left now. Most of the others have upped and left for better prospects and I can't really blame them."

"Oi, Max, don't you dare start to say stuff like that," Warren Rocko chided him. "We may not be the great guild we once were but we've still got to hold up the spirit that we once had."

"Oui," Reedus Jonah nodded in agreement. "If we start to think like that, we'll lose the guild altogether."

"Sometimes I wonder if its just a matter of time before that happens," Jet muttered quietly. "Droy, would you please stop spraying breadcrumbs all over me!?"

"Shut up, I'm training," Droy grumbled, his rotund belly pressing against the table as he chomped down on another piece of chicken.

"Please excuse us if we seem a little down," Alzack Connell said, holding his wife Bisca close to him and offering Yukino a tight smile. "It's really not our intention to make you feel uncomfortable if that's what we're doing."

"Happy thoughts, happy thoughts," cheered the little girl in Bisca's arms.

"You heard Asuka. Happy thoughts everyone," Bisca smiled proudly. "Let's not bog our guest down."

"Oh but that's just the thing," Yukino said quickly. "I believe the message I've been sent to give you will cheer you all up no end."

"Yeah right," Macao's son, Romeo, muttered from where he was drawing little patterns on the table with his finger. But Yukino was undeterred by his pessimism. She hurried across the room to pass the letter to Macao just as he took another swig from his tankard and placed it back on the bar. Macao took hold of the letter but Yukino held onto it for a moment, locking eyes with him when he looked up at her questioningly.

"I promise you," Yukino said to him quietly, but the rest of the guild could still hear her. "This is not a joke."

That most definitely got all their attention, especially Macao's. Yukino let go of the letter and stood back, watching him unfold it slowly and begin to read it. As he did so, his eyes began to get larger… his hands started to tremble… his breathing became noticeably more ragged until he clamped one hand over his own mouth… and tears began to form in the edges of his eyes.

"What? What's going on?" Wakaba asked urgently. "What does it say, Macao?"

"What is the scoop?" Laki Olietta agreed, in a bizarre turn of phrase that made Yukino blink. But Macao didn't answer either of them. Instead he just looked up at Yukino with a hauntingly desperate light at the back of his eyes.

"You are certain this is no joke?" he croaked. "This letter… is it genuine?"

"It is," Yukino nodded, pulling the photograph out of her pocket next and handing it to him. "It came with this."

Macao took one look at the photograph and if he hadn't already been sitting down he would have completely lost the use of his legs. As it was he still almost fell over and had to grab hold of the bar to steady himself, much to the alarm of the others. Romeo in particular stood up and almost ran over to him, but Macao quickly put paid to their alarm by gasping:-

"They're alive… They're alive! THEY'RE ALIVE! ALL OF THEM ARE ALIVE!"

"What!? Who's alive?" Nab Lasaro cried.

"All of them!" Macao said madly, leaping to his feet and passing the photograph to Wakaba, waving the letter around in the air like a lunatic as his face switched from shock to adulation and joy. "Everyone who was on Tenroujima six years ago! They're not dead! They're all alive!"

"WHAT!?"

"THEY CAN'T BE!"

"BUT THE ISLAND WAS GONE!"

"IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" several voices shouted at the same time, while Wakaba's cigar dropped nervelessly out of his mouth and slumped to the floor of the guild hall. A million and one questions seemed to be hurled Macao's way in rapid succession but Macao quickly shushed them and began to read the letter out loud as Wakaba dazedly passed the photograph on to Bisca. The letter outlined everything - what had happened on the island and afterwards, how they'd all come back together in the alternate world that they were trapped in now, and how Loke had suggested communicating via Spirits which was why a Celestial Spirit Mage like Yukino had come to learn of their survival.

Yukino looked around at the tumult of faces and their expressions seemed to be constantly in flux - shock, awe, disbelief, wonder, joy - they couldn't seem to pick one to settle on. But as Macao reached the end of the letter and they all got a good look at the photograph they began to settle on joy. Tears began to flow, streaming from almost all their eyes and as soon as Macao finished they broke into a tumult of excited cheers and babbling.

"I don't believe it! I don't believe it!" Max leapt up and down uncontrollably.

"I never thought this day would come!" Vijeeter Ecor was throwing his hands out and seemed completely unable to contain himself.

"And they all look just like they did when they left!" Nab agreed, clutching the photograph like it was a lifeline.

"LEEEEEEVVVYYYYYYYYYYY!" Jet and Droy screamed at the same time, hugging each other and bawling into one another's shoulders.

"Thank you!" Laki seized Yukino's hands and pumped them up and down enthusiastically. "Thank you so… you have our hat tips until the day that we are all snuffed of life!"

"…Er… what does that mean?" Yukino asked, though her smile was wide, thrilled that she'd been the one to bring such joy to those that had so long been downtrodden.

"She means you have our gratitude until the day we die," Kinana deciphered. "And she's right. Thank you so much. You have no idea what they've been through all this time… I haven't seen them this happy since Asuka was born."

"You're quite welcome, Kinana-sama," Yukino nodded brightly, watching as Alzack twirled his daughter through the air jubilantly. "Do you hear that, Asuka? You're going to meet all those great heroes that we told you all those stories about one day."

"Whheeeeee, hooray, hooray!" Asuka cheered.

But there was one member of the group that was a little more sceptical and that was Romeo.

"How do we know this is real?" he said, his voice carrying over the din. "How can we be sure that this isn't some kind of trick?"

"What?" Yukino blinked. "I promise you, I'm not lying."

"No, she's not," Warren said as he placed a couple of fingers to his head. "I can tell. My telepathy's telling me she's definitely telling the truth."

"Yeah but what if she's being lied to?" Romeo questioned sceptically. "How are we meant to just believe this based on a letter and a photograph that anyone could have written or magically created? I mean, maybe if Loke came to tell us this directly… Natsu-nii and the others have been missing for so long… I need more proof than this."

"Well then, if there's anything that I can do to help you find proof you seek, I will."

Romeo considered for a few moments before asking, "Can you write back? I want to try asking them a few questions. Questions that only they are really likely to know the answers to."

"Certainly," Yukino whipped out one of her golden keys and summoned Libra into the room once again. The Spirit was already prepared with another piece of paper and a pen, and Yukino was very quick to take it and get to work, seating herself down next to Romeo as she did.

"So, what should I ask them?" she asked.

What she ended up writing was the following:-

**'Dear Lucy,**

**I have arrived at the Fairy Tail guild, and I'm afraid I was right. It has seen better days. The old guild building that you remember has been abandoned and what remains of the Fairy Tail members now use a much smaller guildhall by the forest. I was right, the current Master's name is Macao Conbolt, and the other members are as follows:- Wakaba Mine, Laki Olietta, Jet, Droy, Max Alors, Warren Rocko, Nab Lasaro, Reedus Jonah, Vijeeter Ecor, Alzack and Bisca Connell (and their daughter Asuka) and lastly Macao's son, Romeo. The waitress you took in, Kinana, has also stayed with the guild. They are overjoyed beyond measure to hear that you are alive, but some among them wish for a little more proof as to your identity. They'd like to ask you the following questions:-**

**1\. What did Lucy-sama name her pet Canis Minor Spirit?**

**2\. Where was Lisanna-sama for two years when people thought she was dead?**

**3\. What are the names of the dragon parents of each of the three Dragon Slayers?**

**4\. Who did Elfman-sama partner with in the S-Class exam you were on when you vanished?**

**5\. What are the favourite foods of all three Exceed?**

**6\. What did Macao-sama turn himself into so he could pretend to be Natsu-sama when the real Natsu-sama wanted to slip off to save Erza-sama from her arrest at the hands of the Magic Council?**

**We eagerly await your reply and we've enclosed a photograph of the guild members on this side.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Yukino.'**

The photograph in question mirrored the one that the others had sent, with each of them holding up their hands with their hands in the strange backwards L shape from before. When Yukino had sent Libra off with the message she turned to Kinana and asked, "That sign… what does that mean?"

"It's a Fairy Tail thing," Kinana smiled fondly. "It's a message… meaning that no matter where you are, even if we can't see you, we'll always be watching over you."

"That's beautiful," Yukino beamed. "I wish Sabertooth had something like that. I can't help but wonder if I'd have joined this guild instead had it been the same as it was six years ago right now."

"Eh? You're from Sabertooth!?" cried Jet and Droy at the same time.

"…Didn't I mention that? Oops."

* * *

It wasn't long before they received a reply, which Yukino read aloud to them all.

**'Dear Yukino and everyone at Fairy Tail,**

**Oh my goodness, look at you all! We didn't know what to expect after six years but most of you look really different. Macao - Master Makarov sends his congratulations at succeeding him as the Master of the guild. Romeo, you've gotten so much bigger! Kinana, you've really matured too. And Droy… well… never mind. But I think we were all stunned beyond belief to hear about Alzack and Bisca's news. Erza practically flipped out when she heard you were married now! And you have a daughter! Congratulations to both of you from every one of us! Your daughter's so cute - we absolutely can't wait to get home so we can introduce ourselves to her properly!**

**To all of you now, we give a massive apology that we haven't been able to be there with you for the last six years. We've heard about this Grand Magic Games that started up after we left and it seems that several of us are very keen to enter it as soon as we get back and blast our way back towards the top. No offence to you of course, Yukino. But a tournament's a tournament, right?**

**But it's understandable you'd be sceptical after a stranger walks in and declares something you've known for six whole years to be wrong. So, here are the answers to your questions.**

**1\. Plue**

**2\. Edolas**

**3\. Natsu's dragon parent was Igneel, Gajeel's was Metalicana and Wendy's was Grandine**

**4\. Evergreen**

**5\. Happy's is fish obviously, Charla claims Darjeeling tea is her favourite thing (even though that's not a food) and Pantherlily currently has a very strong craving for kiwi**

**6\. A lizard**

**Does that sway any of the doubts you have?**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Lucy and everyone else.**

**P.S. Alzack and Bisca have a daughter!? My mind's still reeling. Also, Levy says she can't wait to reform Team Shadow Gear again.'**

"Are those all the right answers?" Yukino looked up at Romeo when she'd finished reading.

"…They are," Romeo whispered, his breath practically being stolen from his body. "They even got the one about you right, Dad… and nobody knew that apart from us surely."

"You see, Romeo?" Macao knelt down and gripped his son's shoulders, his smile feeling as broad as a barn door. "It is them. They really are okay."

"They're okay…" Romeo whispered, his lips twitching as a smile began to stretch into existence. The first smile that Macao had seen on his son's face in the last six years. "They're okay! They're really okay!" And he leapt forward to hug his father tightly, tears beginning to stream down from his eyes as with most of the other people in the room. Yukino too could feel herself choking up at the sight of the joy enveloping what had been such a forlorn little place a mere hour ago.

"This calls for a party!" Macao eventually shouted when he could stand up again. "Kinana, can you bring out some of the best booze we have left!? We're going to be going for quite a while I think!"

"Yep, and as soon as that's done we can start searching for ways to bring them home," Wakaba agreed. "There's got to be one out there somewhere."

"We should let some of the other guilds know immediately," Bisca suggested. "Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale in particular would probably be all too willing to help us out. If we all pool our resources together I'm sure we can come up with something."

"Good idea," Macao nodded. "Maybe we should even approach the Magic Council about this."

"Hmm, maybe, but they never exactly held us in high esteem," Laki pointed out. "They might not be too raring to help us. It might be better to keep things hushed, lest Twilight Ogre try and make things onerous for us because of it."

"We can worry about that later," Max grinned as he grabbed a tankard and made his way to the bar as Kinana pulled out a large bottle of sake from underneath it. "For now, we party in proper Fairy Tail style once again!

"TEAM SHADOW GEAR REUNITED! TEAM SHADOW GEAR REUNITED!" Jet and Droy cried.

Yukino watched with a bright smile as they danced and whooped and cheered like there was no tomorrow. She may have come here for completely altruistic reasons but she had to admit she was very happy that she'd been the one to cause this. It was as if all the worries and fears which had been bogging them down for the past six years had flown away at once, even though they were still in poverty and still had to find a way to bring their friends back home. If Yukino hadn't been determined to help before she was now. She would do anything within her power to bring this little family back together where they belonged.

For now though she sat herself down to write out one more reply.

* * *

"Alzack and Bisca have a child," Erza muttered as she stood in the corner, with her head pressed against the wall and repeating the same phrase over and over again. "Alzack and Bisca have a child. Alzack and Bisca have a child."

"Good gods, I think she's broken," Cana observed.

"It's amazing to think about it though," said Wendy. "And its a sign that not everything's been terrible for those we left behind if they have such a young child to look after."

"What I can't get over is how Droy managed to get so fat," Gray snorted. "I mean… I barely recognised the guy! No offence to him but I hope that never happens to me."

"It could never happen to Gray-sama. Gray-sama has a perfect physique!"

"Which he is currently showing off to everyone," Charla said dryly. "Put some clothes on before you lose your boxers as well will you?"

"GAH! WHEN DID I…!?"

"So now that we've got a way to contact them what's the plan?" Happy asked.

"Well, to be honest, this doesn't really change a lot in the short term," Mirajane pointed out. "After all, it's very unlikely we'll be able to find a way of getting back that soon. But I suppose we can send the regular updates to let them know what's happening if Yukino is willing to do that. And we can just hope that one side of us can work out a way of crossing the dimensional barrier between our worlds."

"Whichever way you look at it, that's still a very big ask," Freed acknowledged.

"But it'll happen," Natsu said adamantly and nonchalantly at the same time, his hands behind his head and a contented grin on his face. "Even if we have to freaking punch our way back to our own world, we'll get there."

It was at this moment that Loke popped in again, carrying with him another reply from Yukino, which he passed to Lucy.

**'Dear Lucy-sama,**

**It seems the answers to your questions have allayed their suspicions and they are currently celebrating, very loudly and very energetically. There was talk of getting some of the other guilds that are on good terms with Fairy Tail, such as Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale, involved when it comes to searching for a way to bring you back. I hope that meets with your approval.**

**However, I can't stay with the guild for very long I'm afraid. I didn't get permission from the Master of my own guild to come here - I don't think he would approve of what I'm doing very much if I'm honest. So while I am happy to continue carrying messages between you and your friends here, I don't think I can do so at any time. I can probably stay for about two days this time though so if there's any more that you want to say to them, now would be a good time.**

**I hope things work out and I'll be able to meet you all soon.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Yukino.'**

"Her Master wouldn't approve?" Makarov frowned slightly. "Of a relief mission such as this? If that's the case then I have a feeling I would not get on very well with this man."

"Indeed," said Erza as she peeled her head away from the wall. "But at least Pegasus and Lamia would make good allies. Maybe Hibiki can find something in his Archive that might be useful."

"Then I suppose I'll get cracking on a letter detailing exactly what's been going on since we got here," Lucy said brightly. "Phew… this is going to require a lot of ink."

"I'll head back and fetch you some," Loke said. "But if I may, Lucy, can I suggest something?"

"What?"

"I think that there's another letter you might want to consider writing. Of everyone here in Fairy Tail, you're the only one who still has family left outside the guild if I recall correctly."

Lucy froze, every muscle in her body stiffening when she realised what Loke was suggesting. "Papa…" she whispered. To be perfectly honest, she'd been so caught up in the excitement of writing to the guild members, the idea of writing to her father had completely passed her by. But now Loke had brought it up, she felt suddenly uncomfortable. Last time she'd spoken to her father they'd parted on… reasonably good terms but still… the idea of writing to him was more than a little nerve-wracking.

What should she say? What could she say? Hey Dad, guess what I'm not dead? How would he even respond to that?

But even as she felt her throat tightening Loke laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly, a gesture that Lucy was instantly profoundly grateful for.

"He deserves to know," Loke said. "I know you've had… difficulties… with your father in the past but if he finds out you're not dead and you had a method of communicating with him to let him know you're alive but that you didn't use it… well… the chances that the two of you can repair your relationship would probably plummet after that. You don't have to do it straight away of course… but I really think you should think about it. Right?"

"…Yeah…" Lucy nodded slowly. She knew he was right. And she did want to fix her relationship with her father. After watching Gildarts learn who Cana really was and asking for the right to love her, she had been seized with an immediate desire for something like that with her own dad. Could now be the time to get that kind of relationship at last? How had her father felt when he heard she'd died, as he surely had? How would he feel when he learned she was alive?

…She guessed there was only one way to find out.

"Thank you, Loke," she whispered, giving him a grateful smile. "I keep thanking you today it seems… but I do mean it."

Loke nodded. "And I meant what I said earlier. I really would do anything for you, Lucy."

Lucy felt her cheeks colour a little, unable to tear her gaze away from his own for several moments before he stepped back and vanished back to the Spirit World to fetch the extra ink.

"He liiiiiiMMMGHH!"

"Shush!" Lucy cried as she seized Happy by the face to cut him off before he could finish that sentence. "There's nothing going on between Loke and me, understand, cat?"

Happy squirmed his way out of Lucy's grip and coughed slightly before saying, "Maybe not now, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind. I actually think he might really like you, Lucy."

"Oh come on," Lucy shook her head. "You realise this is Loke we're talking about right. He's said that kind of thing to hundreds of girls before."

"Aye, but I'm never seen him say that kind of thing as sincerely as he did then to anyone else."

"…Really?" Lucy blinked, before shaking her head quickly. "Well regardless… it's not worth thinking about it. He's a Spirit and I'm a human. Neither of us can live in the same world as the other for very long without dying, or at least not feeling horrible. There's never been a relationship between human and Spirit before, because they just wouldn't work."

"Has anyone ever tried?"

Lucy hesitated. She didn't know the answer to that question. Had anyone ever tried to form a relationship between a human and Spirit? Had anyone ever tested something like that out to see how plausible it really could be? Might anyone in the future?

Wait… why was she thinking about this anyway?

"It doesn't matter," she said. "Loke's an outrageous flirt. He's been with lots of human women but never in a proper relationship. He knows they wouldn't work out well just as much as I do so… there's no point thinking about it…"

Though she did keep thinking about it as she sat back down at her desk. At least until Loke returned with the ink and her thoughts switched track to focus on her next letter. And what she would say to her father when the time came to write that one.

* * *

**Hehehe. Well this chapter was mostly focused on the Fairy Tail side of things but not to worry - most of the next few chapters will focus much more on what's going on in the HP world and how Harry deals with what he's learned. But, this isn't the last we'll be hearing from Yukino and co. Every so often we'll have a chapter that focuses on what's going on in the FT world, much like this one, but mostly the story will stay in the HP world. I hope that you will all look forward to both.**


	53. War of the Half-Breeds

Thanks everyone for the extremely positive response to last chapter - I'm immensely pleased that you all enjoyed it so much. You can bet that we will definitely be seeing more of the characters left in Earthland in the future. But for now, its back to focusing on the events of the Potterverse.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 53:- War of the Half-Breeds**

* * *

To say that Charlie Weasley was dumbstruck was an extremely drastic understatement.

Just as the members of the DA that had not been on Tenroujima during the battle had been informed of what had happened, so to had the other members of the Order. Molly Weasley had almost blown her top when she'd heard about how every single one of her children that were still in school had been there, and had almost gone haring off to Hogwarts to both make sure they were okay and probably yell at them for leaving the safety and security of the school. Only quick assurances from Remus that they were all absolutely fine and Sirius casually pointing out that they'd been under protection when they did it, and it had been assumed that Tenroujima was a safe location, prevented her from doing so.

But when they heard about the sudden interruption by the two dragons, it was Charlie's turn to freak out, expressing rabid disbelief that he had missed out on yet another chance to meet the ancient dragon that had taught Lisanna her new magic… at least until Sirius grinned and added:-

"Actually they're still there. They've both decided to take up residence on the island.

"…They what?"

"You heard me."

"…I'M GOING TO TENROUJIMA!"

And so he had, along with many of the others. And when they'd Apparated into existence a mere few feet away from where Kilgharrah was basking on the beach, their breath had been stolen away. His enormous frame seemed to glitter slightly in the light of the sun. And they could see Aithusa above them, doing circuits around the base of the Tenrou Tree with a mouth full of fire, which was melting the snow away from the turf below to make things easier on the local animals just as she'd promised Lisanna she'd do.

"Good morning, young master Black," Kilgharrah said when they arrived. "I see you brought friends."

Charlie fainted. He literally fainted. And Bill could feel a comment about how he'd never seen his brother act this way for any reason bubbling at the back of his throat, but his jaw had gone too slack to form the words with his mouth. His expression was mirrored by both his parents, Tonks, Kingsley, Fleur… and even Mad-Eye didn't appear to be able to think of anything to say for a while.

But once they'd got over their shock and Aithusa came sweeping down to land neatly on the other side of them, the questions began to flow and they spent some hours just sitting there on the beach and talking with these ancient behemoths with reverent awe.

"You're kidding me, right?" Tonks asked Aithusa - who she discovered she particularly got on well with. "Dragons used to be allies of Trolls? I find that… incredibly hard to believe."

"To be honest, so do I," Aithusa snorted, shuffling her wings lightly. "Most of that kind of thing happened before I hatched, but Trolls used to be very different back then. Now they're mostly just great, lumbering brutes with incredibly low brain function but back then they were the same size as humans, much cleverer and more magically powerful. But they were also absolutely filthy creatures that could only eat flesh or fruit if it was rotting, and had a taste for dung and riches… in one case literally and in the other case metaphorically. But it was that fascination for riches that made them allies of Dragons in times past. While there's a great deal of falsehood about dragons in the myths of Muggles, it is true that some of our kind had a fascination for gold and gems and liked to hoard it. Those that did allowed Trolls access to their hoards in exchange for guarding it when they weren't around."

"Indeed," Kilgharrah rumbled. "Though I never cared for the practice. The Dragons that did that sort of thing were amongst the vainest of our kind and believed that hoarding treasure made them somehow better than others. Which is ludicrous. What good is gold to a dragon anyway? Wealth is only wealth if you can use it and all a dragon can do with a hoard is look at it. Utterly useless."

"So what happened to the Trolls to turn them into what they are now?" Charlie asked eagerly, drinking in every word they said. "Lisanna told us about how wizards experimented with wyverns to make modern day dragons? Did something similar happen to Trolls?"

"No, nothing like that," Aithusa shook her head. "Trolls became the way they are now on their own. They despised most other forms of life and kept to themselves, and after the death of Arthur when magic started to come under threat again, they withdrew even further from the world, bunching together in deep caves in Scandinavia and never coming outside. As I said they were creatures that loved their squallor… and I think it's extremely likely that a fair amount of inbreeding went on over the generations, which minimised both their magic and their brainpower. And eventually they ended up evolving into enormous idiots that wander around Europe today."

"…I kinda feel sorry for them," Sirius muttered. "In a strange way."

"I wouldn't be too sorry for them," Aithusa snorted. "They brought it on themselves really. Especially considering King Arthur briefly had one for a stepmother."

"HE WHAT!?" Tonks cried, just as Kilgharrah belted out laughing. It was a sound that sent deep thrumming vibrations through the chests of everyone present and it lasted quite a while.

"He laughs like that every time I bring that up," Aithusa grinned. "But it's true. There was a troll that used a special potion to give herself the appearance of a human woman and used a little charm magic to make Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, fall in love with her. He became totally besotted, so much so that even after Merlin messed with her potions so she turned back into a troll before the eyes of everyone in the court he didn't seem to notice and threatened anyone who called her a troll. It took quite a lot to break the spell she had over him but I think it's safe to say that if everybody hated trolls before that, they really hated them afterwards."

"I do wish I could have seen it for myself," Kilgharrah laughed. "Of all the bizarre adventures that Merlin and Arthur went through I'm certain that one's my favourite." He cleared his throat and finally managed to keep himself from laughing. "But Trolls aren't the only things to change drastically from Merlin's time. Goblins used to be very different too."

"Really?" Bill asked, instantly intrigued. "What were they like back then?"

"For a start they were a lot more gangly. And they possessed a few magical tricks that they've lost over the years, such as the ability to possess people. But the biggest change is that they were extraordinarily mischievous creatures. The only thing they liked better than playing pranks on people was gold."

"A lot of creatures back then seem to like gold," Remus observed.

"Only a few, but Dragons, Trolls and Goblins are the main ones, alongside humans of course," Kilgharrah added. "But the Goblins changed their ways on their own, becoming far less mischievous when the concept of banking was introduced and they realised humans would let them look after gold for them if they didn't play pranks on them. Which is why they've now become a lot more officious and serious, though their love of gold remains."

Aithusa continued, "But because they've become much more serious, now they want a much more equal relationship with humans than they once did. Most humans think that they're okay being second-class magical citizens and that certainly used to be true as long as they could look after gold. But it's not anymore, yet many wizards refuse to see it."

"This is an absolutely fascinating history lesson," Charlie beamed. "From right out of the mouths of those who've seen history unfolding before their eyes. Is there anything else that's different between now and then?"

"A few things," Kilgharrah nodded. "Unicorn magic has been drastically reduced for one thing. Like we dragons they are creatures of the Old Religion, and their magic has greatly diluted down the generations along with it. In the past whenever one was killed a terrible curse would befall the person who killed it. Nowadays, someone has to drink it's blood to receive a curse, and even then the effects aren't as bad as they once were. The only reason Aithusa and I haven't been weakened by the decline in the Old Religion is because we were born when it was strong."

"Manticores are different too," Aithusa added. "They used to be solely residents of the Spirit World and…"

"Sorry, wait…" blinked Tonks. "The Spirit World? As in… the place where Lucy can summon her Celestial Spirits from?"

"Oh, not that Spirit World." Aithusa shook her head. "_Our_ Spirit World… which is akin to our Underworld, where the souls of the dead go. But there are other inhabitants of the Spirit World and Manticores were one of them. Although rather similarly to Lucy's Spirits, they couldn't remain in our human world for very long since their life force was tied to the Spirit World. Merlin and his mentor Gaius were once able to kill a Manticore by destroying its portal back home while it was still in the human world. It died almost immediately."

"So what changed there?" Molly frowned in confusion. "Why do manticores live in our world now?"

"Another case of human meddling, like the wyverns," Kilgharrah snorted. "Except this time it was just one dark wizard - a man called Herpo the Foul. The same man who created the first Basilisk. He lived in Ancient Greece, and he wanted to use Manticores to his own benefit. He was one of the few people capable of controlling a manticore rather than the other way around, but keeping them in the human world was a hassle given how they couldn't stay there long. So, he magically altered their biology so they no longer needed to live in the Spirit World, as well as making them much larger and more physically powerful than they originally were. And after he died, his manticores escaped to live in the wild."

"Of course there are still manticores that are the same as they used to be living in the Spirit World," Aithusa finished. "But since nobody knows how to summon them anymore, nobody's seen one for thousands of years. And do you know, Herpo the Foul is indirectly responsible for creating hippogriffs too. Griffins used to be creatures that only be created by magic and killed by magic, until Herpo created many griffins and they bred with each other to produce mortal griffins - nobody had ever kept griffins around long enough for them to breed before that. And future generations magically bred those mortal griffins with winged horses to create the first hippogriffs."

"Okay, maybe you guys should come and teach Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts," Charlie said immediately, enraptured by all these amazing facts about magical creatures that he was hearing. "Or at least a History of Magic."

"That's the second job offer we've had," Aithusa laughed raucously. "But again we have to decline. Besides, I wouldn't want to displace that lovely half-giant from his position."

"So much has changed since the time of Merlin," Tonks murmured, her voice glazed in slight awe. "And we've forgotten so much. If you guys weren't still alive, we might never have learned any of this stuff."

"Believe me," Kilgharrah chuckled. "There is much more for all of you to learn about Merlin and the magic of his time. Much… much… more."

* * *

Ron's prediction turned out to be right. Harry didn't move from his bed the entire day except for a couple of trips to the bathroom and to get himself a drink of water. But he didn't eat anything, he didn't speak to anyone. He just lay there, semi-catatonic and trying to come to terms with what he'd learned.

But how could he possibly get over this. It was bad enough that Voldemort had used his blood to bring himself back to his real body - Harry was repulsed at the idea that some part of him was currently running its way through the Dark Lord. But it was a billion times worse to find out that there was a significantly larger piece of Voldemort inside him.

Ron and Hermione both made a couple of attempts to talk to him, as did Ginny and even Neville when the latter detected that something was wrong… which wasn't exactly hard to do. But Harry rebuffed them all. There was no way that he could tell them about this… not ever. He didn't deserve to have any of them as friends. He didn't even deserve to be a Gryffindor.

Still, there was one line from Hermione that sunk in just a little:-

"Harry, please… I don't know what's going on right now but you can't just lie here forever. You have to get up and face whatever this is. And you certainly can't miss lessons like this. Whatever's just happened you've still got your OWLs to prepare for. You've still got to secure your own future."

Harry had almost laughed. What future? The only way they were one-hundred percent sure they could get this piece of Voldemort's soul out of him was to kill him. Granted they said they'd try but what if they didn't? Harry had always been at peace with the idea that he might die fighting Voldemort but never before had it felt like such an… inevitability.

Still, she was right. And it was a combination of this and hunger that finally drove him out of the dormitory the following day to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. But he still refused to make eye contact or talk to anyone, as if he was somehow afraid that if they got a good look at him now, they would see the piece of Voldemort just beneath his skin.

Breakfast was an awkward silence. Ron and Hermione were sitting on either side of him as he stabbed his bacon half-heartedly. Harry could feel them glancing repeatedly at each other, asking the other without words if they had any idea what they were supposed to do. But there was nothing they could do. Not now.

"So… did you hear, Harry?" Ron asked slowly. "Apparently," he looked around and lowered his voice a little. "Fairy Tail managed to find a way of communicating with their friends back in their own world."

"Really?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time in hours. That remark did genuinely interest him though he still sounded like a zombie when he said it.

"Oh yes," Hermione agreed. "I heard that they used Lucy's Celestial Spirits as couriers to transport letters to another Celestial Spirit Mage back in their world. Isn't that fascinating? It's like… the most distant pen pal that its possible to have."

"And they reckon there might be a chance that someone from their world will think of a way to get them back home."

"Cool," Harry said blandly. "Hope something comes of it."

And that was all he said. Ron and Hermione both felt their throats tighten. If not even a topic like that could bring Harry out of this funk that he'd managed to lapse into… what could? Harry had had some pretty violent mood swings over the past few months but this was jut frightening, and neither one of them could think of a reason he'd be like this unless someone had died. But nobody Harry cared about had died recently, or they'd have heard about it. So… what?

They could only watch with increasing frustration and anguish as Harry wandered through the school like he was half-dead to the world, trying to pay attention to his lessons but continuously pausing and staring off into the middle distance.

If any of the teachers picked up on Harry's unusual behaviour that day, they didn't show it… or at least most of them didn't. Because the final lesson they had on Friday's was Defence Against the Dark Arts. And after Harry spent a good five minutes staring at the floor rather than at the pages of _Defensive Magical Theory_ as he was supposed to, a small but incredibly irritating noise broke through his reverie.

"Hem, hem…"

Harry's sour expression instantly became much worse as he looked up at Umbridge with a mask of open fury. He really couldn't be asked to deal with this woman today. Not right now. "What!?" he asked harshly, and instantly everyone in the room went stock-still, not looking up from their pages but quite clearly no longer reading them either.

Umbridge didn't look her previous smarmy self though. Or rather, she did, but it was very obviously a strain to give Harry a condescending smile when she was constantly having to resist the urge to look up and make sure there wasn't something about to jump on her, like an ugly meerkat. But clearly Harry was enough to make her force her ever-increasing paranoia down for a moment because she said, "A more polite tone should be used when speaking with your Professors, Mister Potter. I notice you are not reading your textbook. Do you have something on your mind that you'd like to share with the rest of the class."

"No," Harry said sullenly, flinching slightly as he wondered again what his classmates would think of him if they knew the truth.

"Well clearly you must have because you haven't actually been moving your eyes for a good five minutes," Umbridge said. "I do hope that you're not planning out another tall tale with regards to He Who Must Not Be Named, Mister Potter. You know full well how I feel about those, don't you?"

Harry could feel his fist tightening, beginning to tremble with pent-up rage. Umbridge's claims that he was lying had always stung but now they did so more than ever. He was living proof that Voldemort was still alive and yet he had no way of proving it, and even if he could it was the one piece of proof he had no desire to make public.

"Were you about to tell us all another lie, Mister Potter?" Umbridge asked sweetly.

"They're… not… lies…" Harry growled, all the pent-up fear, anger and frustration beginning to rise up to the surface at once. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Harry," Hermione hissed at him, but Umbridge's tutting overrode her.

"Dear, dear, I thought that you'd moved past this - I really did. I thought you'd learned your lesson about making things up just to be the centre of atten…"

"I'M NOT MAKING IT UP!" Harry exploded, surging to his feet with such explosive force that he knocked his chair straight into Parvati's desk, which made the poor girl yelp in alarm. Despite the fact Harry was far from tall he was still able to look down at Umbridge and he roared straight into her startled face. "YOU DON'T HAVE A DAMN CLUE WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH, YOU OLD HAG! YOU WEREN'T THERE! YOU DIDN'T SEE WHAT I SAW - NOBODY DID! YEAH, I KNOW I DON'T HAVE ANY PROOF BUT AT THE VERY LEAST THE MINISTRY SHOULD BE INVESTIGATING INSTEAD PUTTING THEIR BLOODY FINGERS IN THEIR EARS AND TRYING TO SMEAR IT ALL AWAY!"

"Harry, stop!" Hermione cried, but Harry was on a roll now.

"YOU HAVE US SITTING HERE READING THIS CRAP WHEN VOLDEMORT'S OUT THERE PLOTTING TO KILL US ALL! AND EVEN IF HE WASN'T THIS ISN'T GOING TO PREPARE US FOR ANYTHING! BUT HE IS OUT THERE, YOU FLABBY LITTLE TOAD! I KNOW HE IS! BETTER THAN ALL OF YOU I KNOW IT! I'VE SEEN HIM, I'VE FOUGHT HIM, THE DAMN GUY'S PRACTICALLY A PART OF ME! HE'S A… A DAMN SHADOW OVER ME THAT WON'T GO AWAY! ALL MY LIFE… ALL MY LIFE…"

He trailed off when his throat tightened and he found himself leaning over his desk, gasping for breath as his body tried to cry and seethe at the exact same time. Nobody was looking at their books anymore. Most of the people in this room knew for themselves that Voldemort was back now but they were all staring at him open-mouthed. Even Seamus seemed to be paying attention after that.

Umbridge was still as a statue, mentally reeling and attempting to regain her composure - so taken aback by Harry's outburst that she needed a full half a minute to recuperate. But when she did, she actually bared her teeth, fury at his defiance taking over as she screeched:-

"THAT'S IT, MISTER POTTER! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU LEARN YOUR PLACE! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU LEARN TO STOP SPREADING THESE VILE STORIES! YOU'LL BE RECEIVING A DETENTION NOW FOR EVERY REMAINING SCHOOL DAY THIS YEAR! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!?"

Harry spun around with his fist raised and he was about to hammer it with full force in towards Umbridge's face but he was stopped from doing so when both Ron and Neville surged to their feet and jumped on him, holding him back. Harry and Umbridge glared at each other, wild-eyed, but then the clock chimed five, indicating it was the end of the lesson. Without another word, Harry turned around and stormed out of the room, but not before Umbridge shouted, "Be back here by seven, Mister Potter! Or I will make sure you regret it!"

* * *

Harry was halfway back to the Gryffindor Tower before Ron and Hermione caught up with him.

"What the hell was that?!" Ron cried. "You almost punched her! Don't you realise she could have gotten you expelled if you did!?"

"I don't care!" Harry snarled, not looking at him. "I'd sooner be out there hunting Voldemort down than stuck in here anyway!"

"Harry, what is this? What's gotten into you!?" Hermione pleaded. "You haven't been the same since we got back from the island and whatever's going on, it's making you act completely unlike yourself. Please, don't shut us out. Tell us and maybe we can…"

"You can't," Harry said, stopping without warning so Ron and Hermione continued on another couple of steps before they stopped themselves. "You can't help me. Not… not with this."

"How do you know? You can't know until you tell us what it is," Ron protested.

"Just… leave it. Please, just leave it alone," Harry shook his head. "I… I don't want to talk about this with you… I don't want you to know…"

"Why not?" Hermione pressed.

"I… I don't want you… to think of me any differently," Harry whispered.

"Well that's a problem then, Harry, because we are thinking of you differently right now," Hermione pointed out. "You're not acting like yourself. You're letting whatever this is swallow you up and it's not healthy! We promise, we won't view you any differently…"

"Yes, you will," Harry cut her off. "You may promise you won't. But you will. You won't be able to help it. So just… please… let it go."

And he swept between them and away, leaving them both standing their in the corridor and looking helplessly at one another. It truly seemed that if Harry was going to keep acting like this, there was nothing that they could do.

* * *

Despite their worry for Harry, both Ron and Hermione had their own things to get on with. All three of them sat doing their homework in the Common Room with Harry facing away from the other two and trying to do it by himself until the time came for his newly allotted detention. When that happened he got up and wandered out of the Common Room as if he was marching to the executioner's stand. It looked like all of his previous anger had drained out of him and he just looked so… empty. He was drawing a lot of attention from the rest of the House, but whenever one of them asked Ron and Hermione what was wrong it only made them feel worse because they couldn't answer.

"His mood just keeps changing…" Ron whispered. "And he looks like he's going through absolute hell."

"Then we have to assume that he is."

"What can we do if he doesn't want our help?"

"We can help him as best we can until he's ready to talking about it… but that's all really," Hermione sighed. "Until he tells us what's going on… there's really not a lot we can do except keep an eye on him."

Neither of them could particularly concentrate on their homework after that, though Hermione certainly tried. After a good half an hour of writing about one sentence she got up and announced she was going to the library, hoping that it would help her concentrate. But it didn't really. She spent another half an hour writing just one paragraph, and spent most of her time fidgeting with the tip of her quill, wracking her brain for a way to get Harry to talk that didn't involve Veritaserum or something else against the school rules.

"Dear lord, Granger. You look like you've eaten Bubotuber Pus."

Hermione jumped violently, looking up to see that Daphne Greengrass had walked into her study area with an Arithmancy book under each arm. So absorbed in her anxiety had she been that she hadn't even heard the Slytherin girl approach.

"Yeah… well… I've got… a lot on my mind."

"What else is new?" Daphne rolled her eyes as she settled down into an armchair and opened one of her books. "I heard that Potter blew his top in your Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson earlier."

"How did you hear about that?"

"You do live in this school, right? Stories about things like that spread like wildfire around here, especially where Potter is concerned. I heard he was practically roaring in Umbridge's face."

"…Well he was, yes," Hermione sighed. "And he's already paying the price. He's in detention right now, probably being subjected to that… amphibian's vile torments all over again. He doesn't deserve this, he really doesn't."

"Yeah well, you'd think he'd learned his lesson about tip-toeing around the Senior Underbitch by now. He must be denser than I thought if he's still willing to mouth off to her."

Hermione couldn't stop a little quirk to the side of her mouth at Daphne's impromptu nickname for Umbridge. She seemed to be one of the few Slytherins who thought of her in such a manner, but then again having yourself thrown in front of a werewolf, even if it wasn't really there, was a very good way to get yourself out of someone's good books. But the rest of her was stung by Daphne's tone.

"It's not his fault! Not really! He's just… just… well, I don't know what happened to him but whatever it was, he's not coping with it well. He's really struggling right now."

That caught Daphne's attention. "What? Something happened to him? When was this?"

Hermione blanched when she realised what she just said, and to a Slytherin of all people. "When was what?" she said weakly, but that just made Daphne raise her brow.

"Oh no, no, Granger, you can't back out of this one. What's going on?"

Hermione hesitated, but she really needed to talk to someone other than Ron and… maybe the fact that Daphne wasn't one of Harry's friends made it easier to speak because she was less likely to be worried after she finished or something.

"Well… like I said I really don't know what's happening. It's just a couple of days ago Dumbledore called him into his office to talk to him about something and when he came out again he was… different. He was despondent… ashen… he looked physically ill. But he was completely normal before that so whatever it is that's tormenting him it happened in Dumbledore's office. And he won't tell us what happened in there. And Ron and I are desperately trying to get him to open up to us so we can help him but he won't… and now… I'm worried that if he keeps on like this he'll end up trapped on a path of self-destruction fuelled by anger, fear and whatever other emotions are rampaging through him right now. And that foul woman Umbridge's smarmy jibes and punishments are only going to make this worse."

"Seriously?" Daphne frowned. "This is Harry Potter we're talking about? The same guy who kept going even though everyone thought he was petrifying people in our second year? The same guy who put up with taunting for being in the Triwizard Tournament without letting it get to him? He's fallen into depression? Doesn't really sound like him."

"It's not like him - that's the point. He's gone through a lot of tough times but he's never had a reaction this severe to any of us. What could be so horrible that he's not even willing to tell me or Ron about it?"

"Beats me," Daphne shrugged. "Least I know why Draco's been depressed and worried these days, though sometimes I feel like I'm the only other Slytherin who notices it. But aside from You-Know-Who being back I dunno why Potter would be like that, but that can't be the reason or he'd have been like that before."

"Exactly," Hermione nodded, and the both of them lapsed into silence, momentarily lost in their own thoughts. But when Hermione looked across at Daphne she could see some very clear worry lines across her face, which took her a little by surprised. Surely she wasn't worried about Harry… no… this was something else…

"Have you heard from your parents lately?" she probed, which made Daphne look up at her sharply.

"No," she said testily. "I haven't."

"But something's happened," Hermione pushed despite the hostile glare Daphne was sending her way. "Since we last talked a couple of days ago, there's been some kind of new development hasn't there?"

"I fail to see how that's any of your business, Granger."

"Well whatever it is that's bothering Harry was hardly any of your business either, Greengrass," Hermione huffed. "And yet I still told you about that, didn't I?"

The two of them stared each other down for a moment, daring the other to look away first. And Daphne certainly knew how to stare - her eyes boring into Hermione's in a manner that slowly made the Gryffindor girl feel extremely uncomfortable the longer the gaze went on.

Daphne would probably be very good at intimidating a prisoner.

But just before Hermione gave up and looked away, Daphne sighed and rubbed at her eyes bitterly. "Fine," she muttered. "I dunno why I'm telling you this but fair's fair I suppose. Yeah, something did happen. Yesterday actually. Draco got a letter from his parents."

"Oh…" Hermione muttered. "And… you got to read it?"

"I saw his face when I read it," Daphne said shortly. "And you I told you before that both of us are worried about our families, didn't I?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well then naturally I asked if something was up and he showed me. The letter was a little stingy on the details and it was written in code so the casual reader wouldn't really get it… but essentially it said that the Dark Lord had acquired some very powerful new allies recently and that, when preparations were made, even Fairy Tail wouldn't be able to stop them yadda yadda yadda… you get the idea."

Hermione frowned. "Surely that would mean Draco would be less worried, if his father thought they had a chance at victory."

"Clearly your parents aren't soldiers, Granger," Daphne snorted. "Of course that's not what he thought. Draco was holding onto the hope that his parents would try and minimise their involvement in any fight against Fairy Tail after they destroyed his house. And if Mr Malfoy believes they can win, that means he's more likely to be closer to the front lines. And even if they can win against those Fairy Tail people somehow, there's still a very high chance Draco's parents would be killed while doing if they did fight them."

Hermione had to stop herself from pointing out that Fairy Tail tried not to kill their opponents unless absolutely necessary, or so they had told her. "I see," she said slowly. "And… how does that worry you."

"Because the letter also said they still had some pretty major recruiting to do," said Daphne sourly. "And you know where that's going to lead, don't you?"

"Your parents," Hermione stated.

"Duh," Daphne confirmed.

"Are you still worried they'll threaten you and your sister to try and get your parents to cooperate?"

"Of course," Daphne nodded. "I don't want my parents getting mixed up with that lot. And if they came after us… well… it's not like I'd be able to defend myself against them, is it? Cos FrogFeatures Umbridge isn't letting us learn any proper fighting spells, is she?… Ugh, why am I even telling you about this? It's not like you can do anything to help, is it?"

"…Not… really…" Hermione said slowly, her mind working at a million miles an hour. "Not unless we can think of way of getting Umbridge kicked out the school I suppose."

Daphne laughed harshly. "Well if you think of something then for god's sake, do it. Most of my house may love her, but I think Hogwarts is better off without that leech sucking the life out of it."

"I will," Hermione nodded, the inklings of an idea beginning to come to her. "Trust me… I will."

* * *

Ron could no longer focus on doing his homework than Hermione could at this moment, but he took a rather different approach - he just gave up and decided to do it later. Instead of heading to the library he made his way down to the Room of Requirement. Fairy Tail were almost always in good spirits after all, so he hoped they could pass a little on to him.

It turned out he wasn't the only one who'd dropped by. Fred and George were both sitting at a nearby table with Cana when he entered, the three of them poring over several pieces of parchment in a way that Ron had only ever seen the twins do when they were working on something for their joke shop. Which would definitely be what he needed.

"I hope you're not doing something that will make Hermione badger me to try and make you stop," he said as he walked over. "Cos I really think I get enough of that."

"Nothing like that, Little Bro," George chuckled. "As a matter of fact we're actually making ourselves useful for a change."

"Oh now hold on Georgie," Fred snorted. "I'd say what we usually do is devastatingly useful… for fellow pranksters and lazy students."

"That it is, that it is."

"They're helping me create some new cards so I can try advancing my new magic," said Cana. "It's all well and good having magic that allows me to summon things from cards but there's no point to it unless I actually have some cards to use it with."

"Oh right," Ron nodded. "You've still got that dinosaur thing though, right? That guy was cool."

"Like I'd give that one up," Cana snorted. "Dennis gave me special permission to keep it - apparently he has about four anyway."

"He should start collecting Chocolate Frog cards if he hasn't already," Ron noted, before he eyes suddenly widened. "Wow, what if you could actually use your magic on some of those!?"

"Okay, I have to admit that would be pretty neat," said Fred.

"Chocolate Frog Cards?" Cana frowned.

"We'll bring back a batch of sweets from Honeydukes next time we visit so you can see for yourself," said George. "But packets of chocolate frogs each come with a card that features a famous witch or wizard throughout the ages. Most of them probably wouldn't be that useful in a fight but you never know, some of them would."

"Yeah. And if you did it right, you could theoretically have two Dumbledores running around on the same battlefield," Fred barked with laughter. "How amazing would that be?"

"Certainly sounds cool," Cana snorted. "But for now let's stick with what we're doing."

"Can I help?" Ron asked.

"Sure," George grinned. "Let me run one idea we had by you. We were thinking of designing a card that would give Cana that ability to summon a spider the size of a house, with twenty legs, fangs the size of scimitars and…"

"SHUT UP!" Ron shouted, which drew the attention of a lot of people while he went deathly white. "Don't you dare do that! Don't you freaking dare!"

Cana and the twins just laughed before getting back to what they were doing. Designing cards was a lot more interesting than homework so Ron was able to occupy himself for a little while… but not for long. Soon enough his thoughts drifted back to Harry and his current emotional turmoil, which meant he ended up staring blankly at the parchment before him, rather like Harry had during his Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

And just as with Harry, it was noticed.

"Is something the matter, Ron?"

Ron looked up to see Mirajane looking down at him with obvious concern across her face. She'd come over with a few drinks - evidently even here she still enjoyed being the waitress - and settled them down on the table before them. Ron accepted the tankard of Butterbeer gratefully but he could only shrug in response to Mirajane's question

"I really don't know," he said. "Something's up with Harry. He's been acting up ever since he visited Dumbledore's Office two days ago and he won't tell us why. But whatever it is, it's completely zonked him."

"Yeah, we noticed something was wrong as well," said Fred. "Though we're kinda used to Harry going all brooding and unhappy these days that we just thought it would pass quickly."

"Well it hasn't… and from the looks of things its not going to," said Ron. "I really don't get it. Harry tells me and Hermione everything. I can't even remember the last time he kept something from us. Heck, he told us he was hearing voices in the walls when the Basilisk was on the loose three years ago. If he'd tell us that, what won't he tell us now?"

Mirajane frowned, before looking up and calling across the room. "Laxus? Can you come over here for a second?"

Laxus had been in the middle of putting the Raijinshuu through their paces in some serious training, and Ron reflected on how rapidly he'd gotten used to blotting out loud crashing and banging noises that emanated from the rest of the room as the big man came stride over - Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen in toy

"Yeah?" he asked. "What is it?"

"Didn't you go to Dumbledore's office when Harry went two days ago?" Mira asked. When Laxus nodded in response, she added, "Well then, you must know what happened in there to upset Harry so much then surely."

"Oh yeah I know," Laxus nodded sombrely. "But you won't be hearing anything from me."

"Why not?" Ron cried. "If you know then you've got to help us. Harry's in a right state and there's nothing we can do to help him."

"If you knew what I knew," Laxus fixed his eyes on Ron's coolly. "Then you'd know exactly why I and everyone else who was in that room won't be saying squat. Whether Harry's in a state or not, we have no right to pass this information along without his consent. And if he's not willing to talk about it with you, then you need to convince him otherwise."

"Laxus is right," Freed nodded sagely. "It's a rather… sensitive subject. We did urge him to tell those closest to him but it seems he didn't heed our advice."

"Not that I blame him, given the circumstances," Bickslow muttered.

"That sentence really doesn't help," Evergreen rolled her eyes.

"But we have to do something," protested Ron. "It's like its getting worse by the hour! Not to mention whatever it was made him snap at Umbridge in Defence Against the Dark Arts and now she's gone and thrown him in detention every evening for the rest of the year…"

"Say what!?" Fred asked sharply.

"Are you serious?" George agreed.

"Yeah, I'm serious. He's there right now, probably getting the back of his hand sliced open by that disgusting quill of hers. Are we meant to just stand back and let that happen?"

"No we damn well aren't," Fred scowled. "Angelina's going to bust a gut when she hears this. If that happens then Harry's not going to have any time for Quidditch practice except at weekends."

"…I didn't even think about that," Ron groaned.

"Well then our course is clear," George said as he got to his feet. "Even without her interfering with our Quidditch practices we're not just going to sit back and let Harry suffer for the rest of the year. Now we've got a greater reason than ever to want Umbridge out of this school."

"Absolutely," Fred nodded. "We need to step up our game. The werewolf we've been terrorising her with so far's all well and good, but now we really need to hammer the message home."

"This is the teacher that's trying to usurp control of the school is it?" Laxus asked, his face very carefully blank. All three of the Raijinshuu members glanced at each other, as did Mirajane and Cana. But Ron didn't notice their sudden unease, because he just said:-

"Yeah. Royal bitch keeps trying to pull more and more control out from under Dumbledore's feet. You just know she's set her sights on being the next Head of the school and remoulding everything in her ugly image. And if she can make Harry's life miserable now, just imagine how much she'd do it if that happened. Doesn't bear thinking about."

Laxus wrinkled his nose, his teeth and his fist both clenching at the same time. But before he could say or do anything more, Mira laid her small hand on his thick bicep and looked up at him earnestly.

"Laxus," she whispered. "I know what you're thinking but trust me, you're not like this woman."

"Yeah?" Laxus grunted. "What makes you say that?"

"I'm not going to try and defend what you did," Mira said. "It was wrong, no question about that. But in your own way, you were trying to make the guild better. She's just acting out of her own personal ambition. And at least you were up front in your challenge. This woman is forcing her will upon this school through unfair play."

"Do you call making friends fight each other fair?" Laxus raised a brow. "Cos I wouldn't. And desiring to make the guild into one that nobody would ever challenge with myself at the helm no matter who tried to get in my way sounds a lot like personal ambition to me."

"And yet when it came down to it, your heart wasn't in it," Mira said. "Freed told me about what happened when you tried to cast Fairy Law. It failed for a reason, Laxus. And I bet you anything, that if Umbridge could cast Fairy Law right now, everyone in this school would be wiped out. You deluded yourself. She's not."

Laxus didn't respond to that immediately. But when he did, it was with a sigh and small smile at the same time. "Have I ever told you that you're too damn nice sometimes, Mira? I miss the old you."

"No you don't," Mira beamed. "But I could be persuaded to find her if she'd snap you out of the guilt you're oh-so-obviously feeling, even though you try your best to hide it."

"Yeah, yeah," Laxus grunted boorishly, but he was grateful for her words nonetheless. He looked over to Ron next, who was now looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"I struck a nerve, didn't I?" the Gryffindor asked. "I do have a habit of putting my foot in it."

"You didn't know," Laxus shrugged. "But it is true that I did once try and take over Fairy Tail from my grandfather. That's why he was forced to kick me out. And rightly so, by my reckoning."

"You got kicked out?" Fred blinked.

"So you're not actually a Fairy Tail mage then?" George asked.

"No," Laxus shook his head. "I'm not. Only reason I'm here was cos I happened to be close to Tenroujima when Grimoire Heart attacked it. And now I find myself in a conversation about another who's trying to take over an establishment from an old man. Well…" this time his smirk was much wider. "Then we should ensure her subterfuge ends the same way mine did, shouldn't we?"

"You're saying you'll help?" Ron asked eagerly. "To get Umbridge thrown out the school."

"I don't particularly see how much help I personally could be without revealing myself to her," Laxus said. "But my Raijinshuu on the other hand…"

"KYA-HA!" Bickslow whooped. "I'm liking where this is going."

"I'm certain that I could rustle up a few things that might be useful," Freed smirked.

"I fear I don't have as much to bring to the table as you boys do this time," Evergreen chuckled. "But it's quite the reversal, considering we were the ones who tried to help in the take-over last time. And I have an idea or two that someone else might be able to pull off for us."

"Count me in too," Cana grinned. "Umbridge should make an excellent test subject for some of these news cards. Oh and you two," she pointed to Fred and George. "Remember how you asked us if we had any resident pranksters when we first met? Well, I think you'll find this guy to be the closest thing we've got to it," she pointed her thumb at Bickslow with a wolfish grin.

"Well what good's life if you don't have fun with it, right?" the Seith Mage cackled.

"Awesome!" Fred grinned. "Well then, I guess we should begin the planning then shouldn't we?"

* * *

Umbridge's smug smile could have cracked a mirror as she watched Harry leaving her office some time later, the back of his hand opened, raw and bleeding once again. Despite everything that had been going on recently for her, she could always rely on humiliating and torturing the Boy-Who-Lived to lift her spirits. She wasn't entirely sure what the hollow, dead look in his eyes throughout the whole process had been for, but she liked to imagine that it was the idea that he'd be doing this every night for the rest of the year.

Maybe she should see if she could impose an Educational Decree that would force him to stay over the Christmas and Easter holidays. This would be a very good way of ensuring that he didn't have the time to pass his OWLs too. And seeing that through was enough to even make her forget about the phantom werewolf that had been after her in the past few weeks.

Still, she had a few more things to get done before she went to bed and began to go through the laborious task of marking some of the essays from the first years by candle-light, as it had long since gotten dark outside.

If it had been light out, she might have noticed the dark shadow shooting in towards the window a little earlier.

***CRASH***

Umbridge screeched as the window was suddenly shattered into a thousand pieces when something smashed into it from the outside, a shower of glass shards peppering the room as instinct drove Umbridge to leap aside, but not fast enough. She got a glimpse of white feathered wings unfurling and heard an unearthly shrieking noise before massive talons seized her by the arms and yanked her off the floor. The apparition swept right back outwards through the window and into the night sky, carrying the screaming Umbridge with it, flailing and kicking wildly as she went right up until she saw how high up she was.

Looking up wildly, Umbridge's heart practically stopped when she realised what she was looking at. Her attacker's torso and head were that of a viciously ugly woman, garbed in ragged cloth with pointed ears, wild brown hair and jagged teeth filling her leering jaws, but the rest of her resembled a great eagle - sweeping wings instead of arms, taloned feet, splayed tail feathers - everything! She was being carried by a harpy!

But harpies didn't exist! While there was an element of truth to many ancient myths of magical beings, harpies were one of the ones that weren't true! Sure they had a Qudditch Team named after them but she knew all the half-breed races that did exist and harpies weren't one of them!

And yet one was carrying her now and swooping down towards the Forbidden Forest with her in its clutches.

"TSSSEEEEEEEEER!" The harpy screeched, eyeing her eagerly as they swung in towards the trees.

"UNHAND ME!" Umbridge cried, dread betraying her attempt at authority. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO AT ONCE YOU FILTHY HALF-BREED! LET ME AAAAHHHHHH!"

She wailed as something else came swooping in from the side and crashed into them both - another harpy with brown-feathered wings. Its talons tore at Umbridge's cardigan as it tried to snatch her out of the grasp of the first and the three of them went spiralling down towards the ground together. Umbridge yelled and kicked in pure terror as they went in for a crashlanding but at the last second the harpies lost their grip on her and she went tumbling down a slope while they clashed and battered at each other with wings and talons alike.

When Umbridge came to a stop, smearing with dirt but miraculously unharmed she scrambled to her feet and reached for her wand, only to find it wasn't there. She'd set it down on her desk back in her office and hadn't had time to grab it, which meant she was utterly defenceless.

The two harpies rolled over each other in their mad battle, ticking up the turf and screeching into one another's faces furiously until finally the white winged one swatted the other away and swept off from the ground, swooping in towards Umbridge again. "GET AWAY!" she cried, ducking just in time to avoid being snared in its talons again only to be suddenly seized in another pair half a second later. A third harpy, with black wings this time, heaved her off the ground and swung her around, and as Umbridge screamed and looked around she realised there were two more - red and grey winged respectively, clattering in towards her. All of them apparently determined to make a meal out of her.

"DIRTY SAVAGES! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?" Umbridge screeched, driven by panic as the black-winged one zigged and zagged madly through the others, a rollercoaster of feathers careening through the air like piranhas in a feeding frenzy as they all tried to get at her at once. "I'LL HAVE YOU ALL EXECUTED FOR THIS! I'LL… GGAAAAAHH LET ME GO LET ME GO LET ME GO!"

The brown-winged harpy had suddenly managed to grab hold of her ankles and motored backwards, so now Umbridge was being held in the grip of two of the feathered creatures at once, their powerful wings beating the air as they tried to pull her away from the other. Umbridge screamed, the centrepiece of a tug-of-war and feeling like she was about to be pulled apart, but then the red-winged harpy's talons snagged at her clothes from above and yanked upwards as well. All the harpies lost their grip at the same time and Umbridge went plummeting down towards the ground… or rather towards the water, because by this time they'd managed to fly over the Hogwarts lake.

***KAPLOOOSH!***

Umbridge sank at least ten feet beneath the surface, flailing wildly as she tried to regain her equilibrium. She may have looked a little like a toad but she certainly didn't take to water as well as one. And when she looked down into the inky depths beneath her she only panicked even further. There were merpeople in this lake, more disgusting half-humans, and she had no desire to meet any of them today. Not to mention the Giant Squid that also swam these waters.

Scrabbling to the surface she heaved for breath and yelped as a pair of talons arced in towards her face, ducking under the surface just in time to avoid being snatched up again. The five harpies were in the midst of a full-scale aerial brawl with each other, like gulls fighting over a fish, and Umbridge frantically made her way towards the shoreline, the freezing water making her efforts sluggish.

But it seemed her attempt to slip away from the harpies unnoticed was a successful one, for when she still finally hauled herself out onto the rocky shoreline they were still fighting each other some distance away. Soaked to the skin and shivering, Umbridge pushed herself to her feet - her fear overcoming her weariness enough for her to make a dash towards the castle. It was very dark out here so several times she almost tripped and fell flat on her face… and then she did.

"AAH!" she yelled as she crashed onto her front, winded and groaning. Her foot had caught against something that she assumed to be a fallen log… until suddenly she felt it move against her leg.

Instantly she froze, going completely still and not even daring to breathe. A guttural growl filled the air beside her, like the rumbling engine of a vintage car only much deeper. Umbridge felt her gaze tracking sideways in the direction of the noise but in the darkness she couldn't really see much. She could definitely hear though. The sound of something heavy getting slowly to its feet.

And then the new moon came out from behind a cloud and cast just enough light for Umbridge to make it out.

Her heart almost stopped.

Because she was looking at a massive bipedal creature that had the basic shape of a human but was almost big enough to match Hagrid in size and was most definitely not a man. It was covered in dark green scales from head to toe, paler green on its belly, and with jagged black spikes running down its bulky arms, its back and its tail, which had clearly been the thing that Umbridge had tripped over. Its face was blunt and had a large black plate of armoured scales covering its forehead, and a long mane of white hair went cascading down its back. Its jaws had teeth even sharper than those of the harpy and it had massive claws adorning each of its thick fingers.

Umbridge had never seen anything like this creature before but she instantly gave it a name in her head.

A Lizardman!

And it was staring right at her.

"HHHWRRRAAAAAAWWRRRRRR!" it suddenly bellowed, its mighty fists raising high above its head and powering towards Umbridge like a pair of enormous sledgehammers. Only a desperate roll to the side allowed the Senior Undersecretary to get out of the way in time, all but diving through a thorn bush in an frenzied dash to get away. The Lizardman snarled and motored after her. It was not fast but its stride was enough that it was able to keep pace with her easily enough, it's claws snatching for her with great swings of its arms.

"SHOO! SHOO! GET AWAY, UNGODLY BEAST!" Umbridge shouted over her shoulder. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME! WHERE ARE ALL THESE HALF-BREEDS COMING FROM!"

It almost seemed as though the Lizardman took offence to that remark, because it roared again and suddenly sprang up into the air, clearing a great distance with one great bound and falling towards Umbridge with toothy jaws agape. Umbridge could only scream and duck down, covering her arms to prepare for her doom when suddenly the Lizardman was blindsided by a swinging branch. They'd gotten within range of the Whomping Willow which had instinctively lashed out with one of its heftier limbs to clout the Lizardman aside. But the Lizardman appeared to be completely unharmed by the strike and it easily rolled back onto its feet, raising its arms to protect its head and taking a couple of other powerful strikes from the angry tree as if they were love taps before seizing another limb in its great claws and shoving it backwards and away.

This distraction was enough for Umbridge to get up and make a dash back towards the school once again, bedraggled and filthy but driven forward by unquenchable fear. She could still hear the Harpies screeching in the distance but when she glanced back over her shoulder she couldn't actually see any of them - it was too dark out. But now she was getting close to Entrance Hall of the castle and if anything her speed increased, desperate for the comparative safety its walls would provide…

…but then something emerged out from the shadows ahead just in front of the door that drew Umbridge to such a spectacular attempt at a halt that she skidded straight onto her back, gaping with uncontrolled horror.

Because she was looking at a demon!

A creature slightly larger than an average man with dark grey skin and black fur, pointed spikes on its elbows and two massive horns protruding up on either side of its green hair. It had thick scales all around its right eye, which was almost entirely dark blue and didn't match the left one. And as Umbridge gaped in horror, the demon snarled and sprouted a pair of wings that looked like they were made from dark purple energy and instantly fired itself towards her.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Umbridge could no longer muster any words - too terrified out of her mind to do anything but scream. She turned around but the demon was already upon her, seizing her by the front of her cardigan and heaving her through the air to send her tumbling back across the courtyard. Immediately it chased after her and seized her by the front of her cardigan, wrapping its thick hands around her neck and pressing her down into the ground. Umbridge hacked as her windpipe was immediately closed off, her protuberant eyes bulging even more than usual as the demon loomed over her, its teeth inches from her face and its rancid breath all but punching her in the nostrils. And she could feel it literally choking the very life out of her, every attempt at sucking in a breath just making its grip tighten slightly. If it did so much more it would definitely snap her neck completely.

She was rapidly beginning to black out.

But then with another screech one of the Harpies came zinging out of nowhere and seized the demon by the back of its shoulders to haul it backwards, ripping it away from Umbridge to leave her a coughing, spluttering wreck in the courtyard. Instantly the demon howled and spun round to claw violently at the Harpy, punching it away and and forming a sphere of dark energy in its hands, pitching it like a cricket ball. But the Harpy zinged out of the way and made for Umbridge again, and she could see the shadows of some of the others fast approaching.

There was absolutely no time for her to waste and she didn't. With one last push to her feet she motored towards the doors as if she was being chased by the devil himself, which she almost was. Slamming herself into them she was able to push them open and squeeze herself through the gap, slamming them shut behind her mere moments before the Harpy smashed into them…

…or should have done… but there was no crashing noise. In fact there was no noise at all. The moment she was behind the doors everything went suddenly and very eerily quiet, except for Umbridge's own ragged attempts to breathe. But there was no screeches to indicate that there were any Harpies flapping about out there, no sounds of a struggle between them or that demon, and no sign that either of them were making any attempt whatsoever to break in.

Just silence.

Until the sound of footsteps up ahead made her jump and she looked up to see that the caretaker, Argus Filch, had appeared at the top of the marble staircase up ahead and was hurrying down towards her with his broom in hand.

"Mistress Umbridge," he gasped as he approached and saw the state of her. "Are you all right? What were you doing out there at this time of night?"

"Filch," Umbridge said urgently, her eyes wild. "I was just dragged out of my office by a flock of harpies!"

"…You were what?" Filch blinked.

"You heard me! Harpies! They dropped me in the lake and chased me… disgusting half-bred chickens were planning on eating me, I'm certain of it!"

"But… Mistress Umbridge… there's no such thing as harpies," Filch stared in bewilderment. "They're make-believe."

"Do these look like make-believe claw marks to you!" she screamed, pulling at her cardigan. "They're outside these doors right now, waiting to pounce on me again no doubt!"

"But they can't be… they're…"

"IF THEY'RE IMAGINARY THEN WHY DON'T YOU GO OUTSIDE AND MAKE SURE OF IT!" Umbridge hollered, pointing wildly at the door. "GO ON! DO IT! DO IT NOW, IF YOU'RE BRAVE ENOUGH!"

Filch was looking very disconcerted at this point but he did as instructed, though Umbridge scrambled over to the nearest door and prepared to bolt through it at a moment's notice before he swung the front door open… to an empty courtyard. There was not a harpy in sight, nor was there a demon. Not even any feathers which might have given away the fact that something was there. They were all just… gone…

"Er…" Filch muttered, glancing back across at her. "There's really nothing there, Mistress Umbridge."

"But… but there were… they were just…" Umbridge blustered, slowly stepping back up towards Filch to get a better look. which caused Filch himself to back away from her rather substantially. She stared in complete confusion - why on earth would such terrifying creatures just disappear. She knew she wasn't imagining things - she'd felt the demons hands around her neck, watching the talons of those harpies tear at her clothes… they_ had_ been there. And now they… weren't. The courtyard was empty.

…For about ten seconds.

Because then something dropped from above to land splayed on all fours in the middle of the courtyard. And despite the low light, it took Umbridge a mere second to see… it was the werewolf!

"IIIYYYAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Umbridge whipped around and pelted up towards the stairs, knocking Filch as she went. But the werewolf pelted after her at terrific speed, shooting straight through the front doors and leaping onto the banister, scaling it easily until it was able to jump off and land with a thump right in front of Umbridge, so close to her that in her panicked state she actually crashed straight into it. She collapsed backwards, throwing out her hands to keep her from tumbling all the way down and all but frothing at the mouth with fear as she stared up at it. She'd felt its hair on her face when she hit it… and now it towered over her, taking slow and meaningful steps downwards towards her with a hungry gleam in its eye.

"Stay away! Get back! Don't you realise what will happen if you kill me!?" she whimpered as she backed slowly down the stairs on her backside, her throat too raw to scream at it now. "Your kind will be persecuted even more than they already are! You'll be hunted down and executed for this… please… please don't kill me!"

The werewolf's response was to lunge at her, its teeth snapping shut a mere inch from her face. And for the first time, Umbridge fainted. She just fainted dead away, sprawled out across the stairs and her world going completely black.

* * *

"…And she was begging and squealing at absolutely nothing. I really don't know what to make of it all, Headmaster. I though maybe she was having a fit maybe, but she was definitely talking to something. At first I thought it might have been Peeves and he'd just gone invisible, but it looked like she could see whatever it was so now I'm not sure…"

Umbridge's world slowly returned to clarity at the sound of Filch's voice. She was now leaning against one of the stone columns at the base of the stairs' banisters and as she looked up she realised she was surrounded by other members of the Hogwarts faculty, all looking down at her with various degrees of curiosity… though admittedly not a lot of concern.

"AAH!" Umbridge cried, springing to her feet and looking about her wildly. "WHERE IS IT!? WHERE IS IT!?" she yelled but there was nothing. Once again, the werewolf had completely vanished.

"Where is what, my dear Dolores?" Dumbledore asked kindly. "You seem to have had quite a turn."

"The werewolf! Where is the god damn werewolf!?"

"Werewolf?" Professor Sinistra snorted. "What werewolf? There's no way that a werewolf could get into the Hogwarts grounds without authorisation."

"WELL THERE HAS!" Umbridge screamed at her. "AND… AND I WAS ATTACKED BY HARPIES TOO!"

"Excuse me? Harpies?" McGonagall raised a brow. "Come, come now Dolores you know there's no such thing!"

"THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN ONE OF THEM FLYING THROUGH MY WINDOW AND DRAGGING ME OUTSIDE THEN!?"

"Oh I can explain that right enough. It didn't happen!"

"OF COURSE IT HAPPENED! I'M BEING HOUNDED BY MONSTERS AND HALF-BREEDS AND OTHER FILTHY CREATURES! IT WAS JUST THE WEREWOLF AT FIRST BUT NOW THERE ARE MORE! THEY ALL KEEP COMING AFTER ME!"

"Dolores, please calm down," Dumbledore said soothingly. "I'm sure if we just take a step back and think about this rationally…"

"WHERE'S HAGRID!?"

"Hagrid? What does he have to…"

"Tell me where that DISGUSTING HALF-GIANT is right now or I swear to you, Dumbledore…"

Dumbledore's eyes flared and Umbridge suddenly found herself unable to continue as a flash of fear spread through her. "You may be a member of staff here, Dolores, but that does not give you the right to freely insult other staff members. I would please ask that you keep a civil tongue, if you would be so kind."

"Also, Hagrid just went to go back down to his hut five minutes ago," Professor Sprout said. "He's been out in the greenhouses with me for the last couple of hours, helping me to apply Flesh Eating Slug Repellent to all the plants. They'd started to intrude upon our Herbology lessons you see."

"He can't have been! He's involved in this - I know it!" Umbridge seethed. "That werewolf attacked me during an inspection of one of his lessons!"

"When you speak of this werewolf, are you actually referring to one in a transformed state?" asked Snape from where he was standing in the corner. "Because the full moon was a few days ago now so there couldn't have been…"

"SO EVERYONE KEEPS TELLING ME!" Umbridge shouted. "BUT I KNOW WHAT I SEE! I KEEP BEING ATTACKED BY A TRANSFORMED WEREWOLF, EVEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BLOODY DAY!"

"Is there anyone who can verify this story?" Dumbledore asked.

"…NO!" Umbridge cried, a massive wave of frustration filling her up. "But… but go and check my office! The window will still be shattered after that harpy broke in!"

"Dolores, really. Harpies don't…"

But Umbridge ignored McGonagall and hurried up the stairs as fast as she could through her tiredness, several of the staff members reluctantly following on after her. And yet when they reached her office, Umbridge's jaw dropped. Everything was in perfect order - the window completely restored, her desk intact… no sign at all that anything had broken in, let alone a mythical half-bird creature.

"But… but this… this doesn't make any… sense…" she blustered.

"Dolores, I think it might be best if you went to the Hospital Wing for a bit," suggested Dumbledore.

"I DO NOT NEED ANY DAMN MEDICINE! I'M IN MY RIGHT MIND!"

"You certainly sound it," McGonagall rolled her eyes.

"Just… just get out!" Umbridge growled. "If none of you will believe me… I'll have to find a way to get to bottom of this myself!"

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes! Now leave me alone!"

"As you wish. Good night, Dolores."

But as they left, Umbridge still heard McGonagall say, "She's gone completely loopy if you ask me," right before the door closed and she was left in her office on her own. Her fists slammed down upon her desk in outright fury. Why did nobody believe her!? Surely someone must have noticed or heard something that was going on outside! And why could only she see that damn werewolf!? Even Filch, who had been very sycophantic to her since she'd arrived, now thought that she was losing it.

She had to prove it! She had to prove that something was going on! And she was certain that Hagrid was responsible. It all made sense in her mind… yes… this was a man who supposedly created Blast-Ended Skrewts… those were half-breeds too if the rumours were correct weren't they? Maybe he could somehow create harpies as well! And lizard men! And whatever that demon thing was! They all had to be his pets and now he was out to get her! Him and all his half-breed friends… yes… yes… it all made so much sense in her mind!

She had to find him out! Had to catch him in the act somehow…

But how?

And oh goodness what if the harpies attacked her again? They could come smashing through the window at any moment! Snatching her wand she ended up conjuring wooden planks and chains from thin air which she used to board up and secure the window… and then the door… and then the fireplace, completely sealing herself in. There… now nothing could get in… but what if they could? If there was a werewolf that was somehow invisible to most people then what if also had other tricks that would allow it to get through all this.

There was nowhere safe.

Danger around every corner.

Oh lord, what should she do?

And she ended up curled into a ball in the corner, rocking back and forth slightly and biting on her nails and jumping at every shadow. Completely unaware of the invisible purple symbols which formed a ring around the edges of the room.

* * *

"That was GREAT!" Cana laughed about ten minutes later back in the Room of Requirement. "I know it sounds mean to say it considering we were essentially mentally torturing someone, but it was GREAT!"

"It certainly went down an absolute storm," Fred agreed, grinning widely. "Wonder what she must be thinking right now."

"Remind me again what those runes you set up said, Freed?" George asked.

Freed chuckled. Almost as soon as Umbridge had been scooped out of the window by the Harpy, he and Fred and George had entered the office - the twins through the door and Freed through the window. The twins had fixed it up quickly while Freed prepared the runes around the border of the room which read:-

"All Defence Against The Dark Arts teachers that enter here will be gripped by extreme fear and paranoia for as long as they are inside."

"Brilliant. Just brilliant," Ron snickered. "That'll keeps things going even when we're not there to actually freak her out. And I had no idea you could become a demon as well, Freed."

"It's not a true demon. It greatly enhances some of my magical abilities while in that form but its very draining to maintain. Mirajane's demon forms are much more authentic though."

"Thank you," Mira smiled. "And you two did well out there as well, Cana, Bickslow. You make a pretty good tag team."

"Yeah, I guess we do," Cana snickered - she'd been the one to summon the harpies from the first new card that Fred and George had helped her make, and since they were essentially lifeless creatures like Rustyrose's creations it had allowed Bickslow to implant his souls into them and direct them across the field in the script they carefully laid out beforehand. "I don't know if I could have controlled all five harpies quite so well on my own."

"Maybe not but can you imagine them running amuck on the battlefield in future," Bickslow snickered. "I massively look forward to seeing that!"

"I still can't believe you had another Full Body Take Over besides your usual Beast locked away in there, Elfman," Evergreen glowered at him, for they had managed to rope him into participating in their scheme to terrorise Umbridge. "Don't you think that Lizardman thing would have been useful during the S-Class trial or against Grimoire Heart the first time?"

"I've already told you - I've never used a Full Body Take Over on the Lizardman before!" Elfman retaliated. "All I've ever done for that thing was the arm before that. I didn't even know if it would be possible to spread the power from that to a Full Body Take Over."

"Couldn't you have at least given it a try? Did it ever occur to you in that thick skull of yours?"

"A Man knows when to test his limits and trying something that could drain my power in the middle of an important exam would have been stupid."

"Oh, so you're saying my idea's are stupid?"

"You just said I had a thick skull! Isn't that technically calling me stupid too?"

"What an excellent base you two are starting to build a relationship on," Laxus rolled his eyes dryly.

"WE'RE NOT BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP!"

"Sure. Just warn me before you get to the part where you're stealing kisses from each other at every possible opportunity," the Lightning Dragon Slayer snorted. "I'd prefer to avoid the sappy part."

"Oh, don't say that Laxus," Cana smirked. "You never know. You might find a girl to reach that stage of a relationship way before these two knuckleheads get there."

"I highly, highly doubt it. Nonetheless I think we can call the events of this evening an unmitigated success, wouldn't you say, kid?" Laxus looked over to Ron.

"Definitely," Ron beamed. "You all did great, and you did as well as ever at the final part there, Lily."

"I have to admit I'm starting to enjoy playing the part of a savage animal," Pantherlily chuckled as he popped another piece of kiwi into his mouth.

"If we keep this up we'll really have Umbridge on the run," Ron concluded. "And when she's gone, I bet that at the very least will get Harry to perk up."

* * *

It was past curfew by this point so the twins had to lead Ron back towards the Common Room via some of the secret passages they knew to avoid detection, although they probably needn't have done given that Umbridge was currently trying to hide under her desk in her office while Filch was busy brooding about whether he might have made a mistake to idolise her so much. But Hermione was waiting for him when he got there, clearly still deep in thought. She told him that Harry had gone straight to bed with a bowl of Essence of Murtlap that she'd prepared for him as soon as he got back from Umbridge's detention.

But before she could say anything else, Ron launched into the story of what had happened, in great detail. By the time he'd finished, Hermione couldn't decide whether to laugh or feel ashamed for wanting to laugh.

"Oh, I have to admit, I really wish I could have seen the look on her face through… all of that!" she eventually settled on laughing. "We're really pulling all the stops against her now. If we keep it up we may even be able to get her out of the school before the Christmas holidays."

"Here's hoping," Ron nodded. "We're certainly wearing her down, but we may still need one big major play to serve as our checkmate."

"Maybe. But we'll come to that later. There's… actually something that I've been thinking about lately."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Well… you remember Daphne Greengrass?"

"The Slytherin girl that follows Pansy Pugface around and giggles at every snide comment she makes?" Ron frowned.

"That applies to all the Slytherin girls in our year really," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Though like I told you and Harry before, she's been doing that a lot less. But still, my point is - I've had a couple of conversations with her while we were both working in the library."

"Jeez, that can't have been pleasant."

"Actually aside from a couple of insulting comments they've been really intriguing. It seems Daphne's very worried about her parents right now." She quickly outlined what Daphne had told her about the possibility that her family might get absorbed into the ranks of the Death Eaters, willingly or not."

"Doesn't surprise me," Ron shrugged when she'd finished. "They are a Pureblood family. If it weren't for the fact they know my family's tight with Dumbledore they'd probably try recruiting us too."

"I'm so pleased you put it like that, Ron," Hermione smirked.

"Eh?" Ron blinked.

"You're right, they would try and recruit the Weasleys if they didn't consider you Blood Traitors, even though every one of you was in Gryffindor. Which is why I'm thinking… Daphne wants to learn to defend herself and her family… she hates Umbridge and doesn't want to throw in with Voldemort… I think we should ask her if she wants to join the DA."

"SAY WHAT!?" Ron bellowed. He had to wait a couple of minutes after that for everyone in the Common Room to stop paying attention to him after that, but when he felt he could speak again she hissed, "Hermione, have you gone nuts? She's a Slytherin! We can't invite a Slytherin to join our illegal group? How do we know she wouldn't rat us out in a second? It's bad enough we've got a git like Zacharias Smith involved and he's a Hufflepuff! Inviting a Slythering would be nothing but trouble."

"Would it though?" Hermione mused. "I think it would be fine. Like I said, she hates Umbridge so I highly doubt she'd report it. And Snape already knows about it so if she went running to him it wouldn't do any good. And anyway, I don't think she would do that. She's desperate to learn to fight so she can defend herself and her sister. Heck, we could invite Astoria as well."

"But Hermione, they're Slytherins! The same people who call you Mudblood. And every single member of Voldemort's Death Eaters was in that house!"

"Not every single member," Hermione corrected him pointedly. "You should know that better than most Ron given that you had a non-Slytherin Death Eater as your pet rat for years."

"…Well… yeah… but…"

"Wormtail was a Gryffindor and he betrayed his friends. Daphne is a Slytherin and she wants to learn to defend herself against Voldemort. And as you said, Zacharias Smith is a Hufflepuff and he's a thoroughly unpleasant person. The point is Ron, you shouldn't judge what someone is going to be like solely based on what house they're in. People are more complicated than that. And Dumbledore's Army is about teaching anybody that wants to learn to defend themselves. We said all this the other day when we decided not to kick Smith out. Why should we let him in but keep Daphne out?"

"But… but…" Ron blustered. "But… Slytherin…"

"Ron," Hermione said slowly. "Do you think Pureblood prejudice against Muggle Borns is wrong?"

"Of course I do!" Ron said instantly and vehemently.

"Right. Well, isn't it also wrong to hold a prejudice against someone just because they're in a particular house? I mean, granted, most Slytherins are horrible people. I'm not even going to try and contest that. But is it really fair to lump them all in one basket without giving them a chance?"

"…I… I guess not…" Ron looked down at his shoes. "But you know… they've been asses to us all so many times… I still can't forget that song from the Quidditch pitch…"

"I understand. There's an ingrained mistrust. Believe me, I'm having doubts about this too, but I need to trust myself and I want you to trust me as well Ron. Besides, remember what the Sorting Hat sang at the start of the year, about all of us pulling together? And remember what it sang in our very first year? About how Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin used to be best of friends?"

"Yeah…"

"Well then, think of it as our way of honouring that our house founder by reaching out to someone from the house of his old friend, even if we've become bitter enemies over the years. I've made up my mind, Ron. I'm going to invite Daphne Greengrass into the DA."


	54. Reformation

Apologies for not updating last week. Things came up that made it a bad week for writing, but like I said before Monday is my go to update day, so I'll only post on another day if I happen to be almost finished when I miss the deadline. Anyway, I hope you enjoy another round of the story.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 54:- Reformation**

* * *

Hermione had been hoping that Harry would be in a better mood the following morning so he could bring up her idea about Daphne. Not particularly hopeful, but still hoping nonetheless. But it was a vain hope - Harry was absolutely no better. In fact he was even worse. He ignored all of Ron and Hermione's attempts to speak to him and just brushed by them as if they weren't even there. Even when Ron whispered to him some of the things that they had done to Umbridge the previous night, he only gave the absolute vaguest of smiles. Other than that, nothing.

He walked through the day like an Inferi, almost completely directionless and unfocused on what he was doing the whole time. Whatever was on his mind was beginning to consume him, leaving him unable to think about anything else. And it wasn't long before some of the others started picking up on his unusual behaviour. Fred and George had a go at getting him to open up, as did Neville, Parvati and Lavender. But they had no more effect than Ron or Hermione had.

As it was a Saturday, everyone was taking the opportunity to catch up on their homework in the morning so they could have the afternoon off, and since it wasn't a school day that meant that Harry was fortunate enough to not have a detention with Umbridge that evening. So Hermione decided to organise another DA meeting that evening, hoping that getting back to teaching others self-defence would take Harry's mind off his current problems.

It didn't quite work out like that.

"What!?" Cho Chang gasped, along with many of the others, when they'd gathered in the Room of Requirement that evening. "What do you mean you're stepping down?"

"I mean exactly what I said," Harry said firmly, refusing to meet anybody's gaze and focusing on the tips of his shoes as he addressed his stunned audience. "I can't teach you guys anymore."

"Why-ever not?" Ernie protested. "What's brought this on, Harry? You've been a fantastic teacher so far and we've really only just got this thing started. You can't just back out and leave us now."

"Yeah, especially after what happened on Tenroujima," Susan agreed. "We saw you were telling the truth with our own eyes Harry. We saw You-Know-Who. We even saw Morgan Le Fay herself. We need you to teach us now more than ever."

"No you don't," Harry shook his head. "You don't need me. We've got the support of the Order now anyway. Professor Lupin or Tonks could teach you easily."

"Maybe, but they're not always here are they?" Dean pointed out. "They're off doing their own thing quite a lot and you're always here."

"Is this about the detentions?" Ginny asked. "McGonagall's already working on getting that ridiculous demand of making you take them all year overturned. And even if she can't, we still have weekends where you're free to teach us."

"It's not the detentions," Harry shook his head dully.

"Well then what is it?" asked Michael Corner.

"Are you just afraid of facing responsibility?" Zacharias asked with a slight sneer.

"Out of everyone here, I think you are the least qualified to accuse someone of being afraid, don't you think?" Ginny growled at him quickly, and the bombardment of glares he received after that shut him up quickly.

"Harry," Ron insisted. "If this is about whatever it is that's been bugging you then you've got to know we all believe in you. We really do. You faced You-Know-Who on that island the other day once again and you came out of it alive once again. How many times is it that you've faced him now? I've lost count."

"He's right. We need you Harry. There's nobody better amongst us to be our leader and we're the ones that elected you," Hermione insisted. "That hasn't changed at all."

"Well things have changed for me," Harry turned away. "I can't teach you."

"Why?" several people asked at the same time. Harry's response was about five seconds of silence, his hands tightening into a fist at his sides and his whole body visibly shaking, before he finally said:-

"Because I'm not worthy of your trust."

"What!?" Fred snorted. "Are you bonkers, mate? I don't think there's anyone here who's more worthy of that."

"And besides, aren't we the ones who should decide if you're worthy or not?" George agreed.

"You don't understand," Harry suddenly growled. "I'm not worthy of it! For more than one reason - I don't deserve your trust and you don't deserve me as your leader."

"But why!?" Ginny insisted. "You're not telling us why!"

"I just don't, okay? Can we not just leave it at that?" Harry said firmly. "My decision's final - I'm stepping down from the DA. You can pick another leader. You can learn from some actual professionals. But I can't teach you anymore!"

And without another word he stormed out of the Room of Requirement, slamming the door shut behind him to a shocked silence. Nobody quite knew how to process what had just happened. Eventually though Cho ran to the door herself and said, "I'm going to talk to him," before hurrying out in pursuit.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Terry Boot asked in shock. "Yeah, sure, he was still finding his feet as a teacher I think but he was still doing a good job of it. And he was certainly inspiring me to try my best."

"But now its like he's just… lost it," Dean agreed. "He's lost the will to even try or something… I don't know."

"We've been trying to figure out what's wrong," Hermione confessed, wringing her hands in obvious distress. "But he just won't tell us. I really hope this is just temporary. He may not believe it but I think we need him."

"I saw something weird earlier actually," Lee Jordan spoke up. "I was heading to the toilet and Harry was already there washing his hands and looking at himself in the mirror. And the way he was staring at his own reflection… it was almost scary. It's like he hated what he saw. He had self-loathing and disgust written all over his face and he actually looked like he was going to throw up at any moment."

"Is he sick?" Justin asked.

"Not physically," Luna suddenly said. "But quite clearly his opinion of himself has changed rather drastically all of a sudden. He is not worried about You-Know-Who or even Morgana or any other external force - his struggle is internal. Harry has never had any illusions that he is some kind of great hero. He believed himself to be a relatively normal person, which is a very good quality in a leader. It keeps him grounded and makes him more considerate to those around him. Now he no longer thinks of himself as normal. I think that he's discovered or realised something about himself which he doesn't like."

"But what in the world could that be?" Ron asked. "Harry's right - he is just an ordinary guy really, except for the fact that he's been put through a lot and come out of it alright. He's got flaws, but I reckon those parts of him are outweighed by all his good points so… what?"

"It's probably not got anything to do with his personality," said another voice, and for the first time everyone realised that Mirajane was also in the room. She and both of her siblings were standing by the door, probably having been listening for some time. Mirajane stepped forward and said, "Whatever it is, it's most likely something physical that's bothering him."

"What makes you say that?" Hermione asked.

"Because he's acting very similarly to how I acted when I first got my magic," Mirajane said sadly. She lifted up her arm and suddenly it warped into a twisted, brown limb covered in purplish limps like giant blisters. "The first time I ever used Take Over on a demon was by accident, and it gave me this," she said. "I thought the demon had possessed me, and so did everyone else. My family was driven out of our hometown and forced to go and find a new home, which is how we eventually ended up at Fairy Tail, where Master Makarov told me that I hadn't been possessed after all. I just had the power of a demon now."

"That sounds awful," Ginny whispered.

"It was," Lisanna nodded sadly. "Everyone was so cruel. The demon had been terrorising the town for weeks and they turned on Mira-nee instantly even though she'd been the one who tried to put a stop to it all."

"We were the only ones who stood by her," Elfman nodded. "All those people, none of them were worthy to call themselves Men. Especially since Nee-chan was only twelve when it happened. They drove out three orphaned children to fend for themselves in the wild. Bastards!"

"And I thought they had a right to," Mirajane nodded. "I hated myself. I was absolutely disgusted by what had happened to me. Even after I learned that I wasn't possessed I still found the new power I had to be repulsive and dirty. It got to the point where I wanted to run away and leave Elfman and Lisanna with Fairy Tail where they'd have a happy life, because I didn't want them to be associated with something as horrible as me. I don't know what's wrong with Harry, but he's reached that stage himself and he's done it incredibly rapidly. I believe he's trying to distance himself from everyone because he thinks its the right thing to do. He thinks it's for the best for all of you."

"So, why didn't you run away? What stopped you?" Hermione asked earnestly.

"We did," Elfman smirked proudly. "We showed Nee-chan that we loved her even with the power of a demon by learning the same magic as her. That's why we all use Take-Over. We did it so she wouldn't be alone any more."

"And we swore that we'd always be together," Lisanna smiled. "And that we'd all use our new magic to look out for each other and protect each other."

"And despite bumps in the road, we've always done our best to live up to that promise," Mirajane said. "And here we stand, still together. You need to now convince Harry somehow that you're going to stand by him too. Whatever's wrong with him, he's afraid you'll be like the people in our village and you'll want him gone."

"Of course we would. We'd never leave him," Hermione said vehemently. But Ron suddenly looked extremely awkward, which Elfman noticed.

"What's the face for?" he asked.

Ron coughed uncomfortably before he said, "There… there was a time where Harry and me… we had a rocky start to our last year. It was when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, selecting him to be a participant in the Triwizard Tournament. I got so jealous of him… it just seemed to me that he always got the attention and the fame and… well, I didn't exactly handle it well. We got past it eventually but we weren't really speaking for at least a couple of months. So I guess you can kinda say that I did abandon him then."

"I wouldn't say that," Mirajane shook her head. "I'd certainly call it a falling out but not abandonment."

"Yeah, well I would," Ron muttered sullenly. "Harry didn't want to be in that tournament and I got so jealous I refused to listen to him when she said he didn't. He needed moral support because he'd just found himself in a competition where people had died participating in the past. And I just turned him away. He may have forgiven me for that but… maybe he's worried that we'll abandon him because I've already gone and proven I'm capable of it."

"Maybe," Elfman said gruffly. "But from what I saw, I think he'd be worried about it even if you'd stuck by him the whole time. And you admit that you were in the wrong back then, don't you?"

"Of course, yeah."

"Good. It takes a real Man to admit when he's wrong," Elfman thumped a fist over his heart enthusiastically.

"And it takes a real man to admit his flaws too," Lisanna chuckled lightly. "Yours was that you were jealous of him, right? But from the looks of things, that doesn't look like its going to be a factor in this situation. Whatever's bugging Harry doesn't sound like the kind of thing you'd be jealous of if you knew what it was. At least I'd be very surprised if it was."

"You've grown since then too," Mirajane pointed out. "You made mistakes, and you can learn from them. Find a way to make him know that you won't abandon him no matter what, the way Elfman and Lisanna did for me. If you can do that, then he just might open up to you after all."

Ron and Hermione looked to each other, a newfound determination alighting in the back of their eyes. Mirajane was quite right. Harry had said himself that he wasn't going to tell them because he didn't want them to think of him differently. They had to prove that they would not… but how?

* * *

"Harry!" Cho called out as she followed him through the corridors at a run. "Harry, wait up, please!"

Harry appeared to try and walk a little faster in an effort to break away from her without outright running, but she closed the distance between them quickly and got in front of him, effectively cutting him off.

"Please, Harry… can't you tell me what's going on?" she asked concernedly, trying to look him in the eye only for his gaze to instantly swing about to wherever her face wasn't in a blatant attempt to avoid looking her in the eye. "This is so unlike you. Quitting the DA… I'd never have imagined you doing anything like that in a thousand years."

"Yeah well, you just saw me do it, didn't you?" Harry muttered sullenly. "And I've already made up my mind, Cho. Talking about it isn't going to change anything."

"It might do if you'd actually give someone a straight answer," Cho pleaded, taking hold of his hand and grasping it despite a sudden attempt to pull away. "You can't just leave us behind like this."

"Yes I can. You don't want me as your teacher."

"We all voted for you, didn't we? We believe in you, Harry… we really do. And the Harry I know wouldn't just turn his back on people that need him when things get bad. You're the last person in this school who should be doing something like that because its not in your nature."

"What do you know?" Harry growled, pulling his hand out of her grip and storming to the window to stair out into the crisp winter air over and the light snowfall settling in over the top of the Hogwarts grounds. "Nobody in this school knows anything about me, not really."

"We know you're brave," Cho said adamantly. "We know you're generous and believe in fairness for everyone. We know that you care about the people around you. And despite what all the papers are saying we know for an absolute fact that you're not just trying to grab everyone's attention…"

"It's not about that."

"Well it's about something. And if it's not that then what?" Cho pleaded, tears beginning to well up in the corner of her eyes now. "I know you don't want to just leave us when we need you, Harry. After all, you were the one who told Cedric about the dragons from the first task of the tournament last year because you believed you should all be equally prepared for them. That shows how fair you are, just like you showed it again when you let Cedric take the Cup alongside you so that you could both be the winners at the end."

At this point tears were started to flow freely down her cheeks.

"So do you really think it's fair to just up and abandon us now when we need you the most? To stop teaching us when You-Know-Who is still out there just waiting for a chance to strike at us all? It's not fair at all, Harry, no matter what you're going through. And I know you know that. Just like I know that if you can do something to keep all the rest of us from ending up like Cedric…"

"Oh, it's always about Cedric, isn't it?" Harry snapped before he could stop himself, spinning around to lock eyes with the suddenly startled Cho. "Everything always comes back to Cedric with you."

"…What…?" Cho gasped in a strangled voice, obvious hurt spreading right across her face. But in that moment, Harry barely cared. Every time she'd mentioned his name in her attempts to make him see sense had inadvertently battered at his consciousness. Because the man who owned the fragment of soul he was carrying around inside his own body had done far more than just killing his own parents. Cedric had been murdered on his orders, as had hundreds of other people. And while his parents' deaths were arguably the closest to him, Cedric's was the one freshest in his memory.

Not only had it effectively been his fault that Cedric was there that day, as Cho had just pointed out without meaning to, but he was carrying around a piece of the man who had ordered his death! He'd always felt responsible for Cedric's death… but now it felt like he might as well have cast the Killing Curse himself.

And in that wave of grief, he lashed out! Hard!

"I said it always comes back to Cedric with you, doesn't it?" he yelled. "What are you thinking, Cho? You weren't interested in me when he was alive, but now it feels like you might be. Why's that exactly? Do you think that getting close to me would be like staying close to him because I was there when he died or something? Or are you just hoping for details on what happened if you hang around me long enough? You want details, I'll give you the details! We were transported away, Voldemort appeared, Cedric died! That's all there is to the story! Does that satisfy you?"

"Harry…" the older Ravenclaw girl choked out, so shocked by this sudden change around that she actually stopped crying for a few moments. "That's… that's not fair… I was just trying to help you…"

"And you think blubbering over Cedric's going to help with that?! Well, guess what, it doesn't! I don't need you bringing up another time I failed every time we talking to each other, Cho! I couldn't protect Cedric and you still all rally behind me. Well I don't deserve that, okay? You say that you know me, but you don't know me at all! So leave me the hell alone and stop talking about Cedric!"

Cho's horrified expression remained locked on him in silence for about five seconds before her tears started to flow again. She spun around and fled down the corridor with her face in her hands, sobbing loudly. Harry instantly felt guilty - no, more than that - he felt completely disgusted with himself. How could he have said something like that? And to the girl he had a crush on of all people? What the hell was wrong with him?

Other than the piece of Voldemort lurking inside his body that is.

God, what if it was influencing him to make him do that? Dumbledore had said it held no power over his actions but the thought was bone-chilling.

But ultimately, it was probably for the best. Cho would be better off staying as far away from him as possible. Everybody would. None of his friends deserved to be friends with a Horcrux anyway. And they certainly didn't deserve one as their leader.

So, despite his intense guilt and loneliness, Harry simply turned around and continued walking away, unaware that the entire exchange had been observed by the blond-haired ghostly girl hovering outside the window.

* * *

"It's not going well for him at all, just like I predicted," Mavis shook her head as she sat next to Fawkes the Phoenix on the windowsill of Dumbledore's office, stroking the top of the huge scarlet bird's head absent-mindedly. "It's like he's starting to blame himself for everything that Voldemort's ever done since the night his parent's died. It would surprise me if he was even blaming himself for the things that happened before it as well. He's falling apart, Albus - he really is."

"I was afraid that this would happen," Dumbledore ran a hand over his forehead with a heavy sigh. "This was exactly the reason why I didn't tell him about the Prophecy. I thought that in itself would be a terrible burden for him to bear. But learning he's a Horcrux too… it must be ripping him apart."

"Is there anything at all that we can do?" Mavis asked. "Perhaps wiping his memory really would be the best option right now. At least until he's ready."

"He'll never be ready to learn about this," Dumbledore sighed. "And wiping his memory won't change the fact that he will have to learn about this eventually. It's possible I could wait until I actually found a way to destroy it without harming it and told him after I'd done it… but I have no guarantee that will even happen. No, I fear that Harry will have to sort this out now."

"I have faith that he will," Mavis smiled. "After all, he does have his friends even if he is trying to push them away."

"I hope that they will be enough."

"You really care about him, don't you?" Mavis cocked her head to one side, and Fawkes spread his wings and trilled loudly in agreement before Dumbledore could even reply.

"I do, yes."

"Why? I understand that Harry is under your protection and that there's a lot riding on him for the fate of the world, but why is it you care about him as much as you do when compared with all the other students in your school? What singles him out?"

Dumbledore sighed, trailing his hand lightly through the top of his Penseive. "There are a number of reasons," he said. "But I believe the most prominent one is that I feel… in part way responsible for the death of his parents."

"Really?" Mavis' eyes widened in shock. "Why? You had nothing to do with that surely."

"Not directly," Dumbledore shook his head. "I had always liked James and Lily Potter, but when I heard the prophecy about the one with the power to destroy Voldemort and learned that he had selected their son as his equal, I made it my mission to protect all three of them. I was the one who set up the Fidelius Charm on their house. But there was one thing I did that I shouldn't have done… I asked James if I could borrow his Invisibility Cloak."

"What for?"

"…The whole story is a rather long and complex one," Dumbledore sighed. "But the short version is that I had heard a story about three incredibly powerful and ancient objects that had very special properties, one of which was an Invisibility Cloak. Not a normal Invisibility Cloak that can lose its power over time, but one that provided complete concealment and could hide someone for their entire life if they chose to wear it that long. I suspected that James' Cloak might be that very artefact so I borrowed it to examine it and see if it was. And I still had it in my possession the day Voldemort attacked and killed them both. If they had still had that cloak, perhaps they could have escaped under it. It would certainly have hid them from even Voldemort. But they didn't… so they couldn't. They died… and it all could have been avoided were it not for my own curiosity."

"…That is quite the burden to bear," Mavis said. "But Dumbledore, you are wise enough to know that even if they did have the Cloak, there's no guarantee that they'd have had time to escape under it. You don't know what could have happened. There's a high likelihood that they would have left the cloak somewhere where they would have had to get past Voldemort to reach it. You can't blame yourself for that."

"And yet I do," Dumbledore sighed. "My search for the ancient artefacts of which the Cloak is one has led to nothing but misfortune. It is the source of most of the things that ever went wrong in my life. And then it became the source of misfortune for everything that went wrong in Harry's. Or at least that is the way it feels.

"Because of it, Harry had to go and live with relatives that hate magic and made his life a misery until he could finally come to this school, just to protect him from vengeful associates of Voldemort that might come after him. Because of it he also grew up without his godfather, for if James and Lily had survived they would have been able to tell people that they'd switched their Secret Keeper to Peter Pettigrew.

"And that, Mavis, is why I cared for Harry so much, at least in the beginning. Since then he had flourished and become a brave young man who is bombarded with further tragedy and hardship, all while he is still supposed to be under my protection as the Headmaster of this school. He keeps sorting out my problems for me and eventually he will have to sort out the ultimate problem of Voldemort himself. And right now I feel almost powerless to help him."

"That isn't true," Mavis said as she got to her feet and strode across the room to hop onto his desk and look him squarely in the eye. "You have plenty of power to help him, even if its simply finding all the bricks to build the path he needs to make his way to defeating Voldemort. You've certainly got much more power to help him that I currently have to aid my guild."

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore frowned. "You've been extremely helpful to them so far. You saved them all from being destroyed by that black dragon, I believe."

"And yet I cannot lead them home, I have next to no magical power in my current state, and I have been having little success with one of my main abilities. Did you know they used to call me the Fairy Tactician?"

"I have heard that, yes."

"That is because I use my mind to determine the most likely course that the enemy will take and find a way to counter it. I run through countless scenarios and simulations in my mind, and I hope you will not find it arrogant of me to say that I am rarely ever wrong. And yet this time I have not a clue what will happen next. This fight against Morgana and Voldemort is far from a simple battlefield. They could be anywhere and about to do anything, and I can't anticipate it. There are too many possibilities, and this world is still so alien to me that I don't know a quarter of things they could try. You command presence and have great power. Whereas I am effectively useless right now."

"I wouldn't say that," Dumbledore shook his head. "Perhaps you find strategising to be more difficult than usual but you receive a great deal of admiration and respect from your guild. They all look up to you and admire you. And most importantly they trust you to lead them home. It's fair to say a great many of my students don't look up to me in that same light. Many believe me to be as crazy as the papers make me out to be."

"But you don't mind that do you?" Mavis said matter-of-factly.

"No, I don't. In the end, I don't mind what anybody thinks of me as long as I can keep them safe."

"That's all anyone in our position can do," Mavis placed a small reassuring hand on his arm. "We watch over those in our care as best we can."

"Indeed. And I have every confidence that you will succeed."

"Right back at you. We will find a way to get that Horcrux out of Harry. But for now, it's up to his friends to bring him back from the edge he's wandering towards. After all, we may watch over them, but we can't do everything for them."

"Agreed. We all make our choices, for better or for worse," Dumbledore nodded. "Let's hope Mister Weasley and Miss Granger get through to him before Harry makes too many wrong decisions."

* * *

Aside from sending letters to Yukino and the other members of Fairy Tail back in Earthland, Lucy and Loke both had other matters to see to. Or rather, just one major one:-

Further attempts to get the message across to Cornelius Fudge that working with Fairy Tail would be far more productive for the Ministry than trying to hunt them down.

Once again, Lucy was escorted to a restaurant outside not far from the entrance to the Ministry of Magic by a member of the Order - this time Kingsley Shacklebolt. And once again, Gemini was sent on a little excursion through the security and into the heart of the Ministry itself and made their way down towards Fudge's Office.

Since Loke and Capricorn's last visit, Fudge had upgraded security around himself again. Now the guards no longer waited outside. Instead there were four of them posted inside his office to keep an eye on him at all times. The only time he wasn't being escorted around was when he needed to use the restroom.

But it was still relatively simple for Gemini to enter the office, disguised as Kingsley, and quickly strike down all four guards and the Minister himself in the about half a second, stunning them all and then modifying their memories to make sure they wouldn't remember what just happened - it would be no good if Kingsley got arrested for this later.

This time instead of hiding under the desk, Gemini had brought Moody's Invisibility Cloak with them. So when they switched into their Lucy form, it was a simple job to hide beneath it and summon Loke into the room. And since they wanted a different Spirit to accompany Loke every time, this time he was accompanied by Aries.

After all, who could look less threatening than sweet little Aries?

"Minister," Loke banged on the unconscious Fudge's desk while Aries used a little of her wool magic to coat each of the guards, in a bid to keep them immobilised even if they woke up. "Minister, wake up."

"Hhhng… whu…" Fudge grunted, blinking his eyes multiple times as he attempted to clear his head. As soon as he realised what was going on though he leapt to his feet, backing away toward the wall.

"You!" he cried, looking around him in disbelief. "What did you do to my guards!?"

"I'm sorry!" Aries cringed at his sharp tone, dipping her head to him repeatedly and shuffling awkwardly on the spot. "We just wanted to have a private one on one talk with you so we knocked them out - I'm sorry!"

Fudge seemed a little taken aback by how timid this intruder was, which was exactly the point. It allowed Loke time to step in before he attempted to flee or something. "They'll be fine. We are not killers after all, Minister. A fact that I am certain you must realise. Has anything that I said to you before had a chance to sink in?"

"You honestly expect me to believe people who continue to sneak into my office like… like prowling hyenas?" Fudge asked with gritted teeth.

"We only continue to sneak in because there is no other way we can feasibly talk to you," said Loke calmly. "You know full well that we are not here to harm you. I hope you don't take offence when I say that it would have been rather easy to dispose of you by now if we had. Even in our first encounter."

"Well… that is true," Fudge conceded rather reluctantly.

"We really just want to have a heart to heart… I'm sorry if that's inconvenient for you," Aries trembled. "Maybe we should come back another time…"

"I think now would be more than convenient," Loke chuckled, before placing his hands on the desk and leaning forwards urgently. "So, Minister… have you had a chance to think any further about what I said last time?"

"…I have," Fudge said slowly. "And if you think that you can fool me, you are mistaken good sir. I don't know how it is you keep sneaking in here, but you are quite blatantly allies of Fairy Tail. This is another blatant attempt to get me to lower my guard. The more I do so the less prepared I shall be for when they finally decide to make their move."

"I was afraid of that," Loke sighed.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Aries shuffled forwards a couple of steps. "Wouldn't it be possible for us to all just get along. I'm sure if you gave us and Fairy Tail a chance we could all work together happily… I'm sorry… I don't want to speak out of turn."

"…You're a rather twitchy girl, aren't you?" Fudge blinked again.

"I'm sorry."

"Anyway, if you think another conversation is going to change my stance where Fairy Tail are concerned then you are mistaken," Fudge said with apparent firmness. "You can't fool me into believing with all they have done that they are not menaces to our country and our way of life. Fairy Tail are public enemy number one and it is going to stay that way, understand?"

"If that's how you want it to be," Loke shrugged. "There's not a lot we can do to change your mind. But we did not come here today to talk about Fairy Tail actually. No… we came here to warn you about something else entirely."

"Oh yes?" Fudge asked, suddenly very wary. "And what would that be?"

"You aren't going to believe me when I tell you - that much I already know," Loke sighed. "But nevertheless, you deserve to be in possession of all the facts. What you do with them is up to you. And when what we say is proven to be right, I hope that you will be able to deal with it."

"What? What is it?"

"I take it you are familiar with a woman named Morgana, are you not?"

"Morgana?" Fudge's brows shot up. "You are referring to Morgan Le Fay?"

"The very same. And I have to tell you Minister - she has returned."

"…WHAT!?"

Fudge bristled like a cat who was trying to make himself look bigger, utter disbelief and disdain crossing his face as he did so.

"It is true," Loke said. "She was never dead - simply trapped in a prison beyond the boundaries of time and space. But now she has returned to the land of the living, and it making plans to take control of this country once more."

"This time you go too far, Lion Spirit," he snorted derisively. "Everything you've told me so far with regards to Fairy Tail's innocence, to Voldemort, to Sirius Black… all of that pales in comparison to this! It's absolutely ludicrous! Morgan Le Fay lived over fifteen-hundred years ago and nobody could have lived that long. Not even the great Merlin, the greatest wizard ever, could live that long! And if he couldn't then Le Fay certainly can't!"

"I thought you'd react like this," Loke said tightly. "But I am not lying. She has since joined forces with Voldemort and with the Dark Guild Grimoire Heart - who come from the same world as Fairy Tail but are most certainly not on the side of your people."

"This is an insult!" Fudge cried. "For you to stand there and spout such nonsense as this and expect me to believe a single syllable of it - it's an insult to my very intelligence. And now you bring me a nameable enemy from the same world as Fairy Tail too - just so you have somebody else to blame whenever Fairy Tail strikes. You would invent as many enemies as possible to make me cower in fear and seek help wherever I can. Yet you cannot bring any evidence to the table that any of these parties even exist at all."

"We're sorry," Aries whimpered, small tears appearing in the corner of her eyes. "We know we're asking for a lot but we're just hoping you'll at least take it into account. We don't want people to get hurt… I'm sorry."

Fudge's tirade ground to a halt instantly, which was surprising considering he looked as though he could have gone on for a while ten seconds previously. But he felt suddenly very uncomfortable for apparently scaring the woolly Spirit before him, as if he'd just gone and kicked a puppy. Which gave Loke more than enough of a chance to interject before he could think of something else to say.

"This conversation has gone pretty much the way that I expected it to. And you're right, we don't have any evidence… not really anyway. But ask yourself this, Minister. What if we are telling the truth? What if Morgana really has returned? If there is even the slightest chance that she has, can you really afford to just sit here mindlessly believing you're right. What's the phrase? 'Hope for the best and prepare for the worst' or something like that, I believe. I hope you consider that food for thought. Because if you don't… well… you may regret it in future."

He began to glow, signifying that he was about to return to the Spirit World. Aries followed suit, and Fudge watched silently as they disappeared into a poof of sparkles each right in front of him, before the glowing lights also filtered into nothingness. Quietly he took a seat, drumming his fingertips against the surface of his desk thoughtfully. As with their last conversation he was still almost completely certain that this was some elaborate ploy from the enemy, but Loke's words had still struck a chord within him.

The idea that Voldemort could be back was bad enough. Fudge didn't even want to think about it. But the idea that Morgana could be back as well. It was a terrifying thought. The stuff of nightmares in fact.

…No! No, no, no! He wouldn't fall for it! He wouldn't allow himself to fall for the tricks of the enemy. If they didn't have any evidence then there was no reason for him to believe a shred of what they said! Especially when it was just so… utterly ridiculous!

"You cannot fool me, Leo," he said quietly to himself. "If you think I'm going to believe a single thing you say after that… you are so very mistaken."

And unbeknownst to him, Gemini heard him say it. The Twins Spirit sighed lightly before vanishing back to the Spirit World themselves and taking the Invisibility Cloak with them.

* * *

"Well that went about as well as we thought," Lucy sighed when Gemini and Loke returned the cloak to her and Kingsley later in the hallway of Grimmauld Place.

"Fudge not buy it?" Sirius asked as he poked his head out from the kitchen.

"Not in the slightest," Loke sighed. "And from the sounds of it, he's a lost cause. Perhaps we shouldn't have told him about Morgana after all. It's such an outlandish statement that I don't think anything we say from this point on is going to get through to him."

"It's not so surprising," Kingsley said. "From the very beginning I thought that this plan of Scrimgeour's was just wishful thinking. Fudge used to hold great admiration and respect for Dumbledore and yet he won't believe him that You-Know-Who has returned. No offence to you, Loke, but if he won't believe Dumbledore about that, I never once thought he'd believe a being from another world he doesn't no anything about."

"No offence taken," Loke nodded. "You're quite right. Short of kidnapping him and dragging him to Tenroujima to speak with Kilgharrah and Aithusa, I really don't think we're going to change his mind."

"Hey, there's an idea," Sirius grinned. "Why don't we do that?"

"We already asked Kilgharrah, but he said he wouldn't do it," Kingsley sighed.

"Huh? Why not?"

"God knows," Kingsley said. "Something about the Old Religion not wanting him to, and Aithusa said the same thing. I won't even pretend to understand. Why would magic itself not want the Minister of Magic for this country to learn about the imminent threats he is facing?"

"I don't know but I'm sure Kilgharrah knows how to listen to it," Loke said. "Still, I don't think there will be much point in going to see Fudge again now. Words aren't going to change his mind. He won't believe that Morgana is back until she chooses to reveal himself."

"How can he be so infuriating!?" Lucy groaned. "It's like he wants the country to be destroyed or something!"

"Now, that's hardly fair, Lucy," Kingsley interjected. "Fudge may be extremely incompetent as a Minister… he may be paranoid, obtuse, unwavering… but at the end of the day he is still trying to do what he believes is best for his people. He is a good man. It's just that he's convinced himself that those who should be his allies are his enemies and he's put his trust in the wrong people. Lucius Malfoy and Dolores Umbridge being the most obvious examples."

"That's true," Loke nodded. "He looked very guilty when he upset Aries in there. Even though he's mostly working in his own self-interest, if he wasn't a decent human being at heart he wouldn't have cared at all."

"Well I suppose that's true," Lucy shrugged, biting her lip as an image of her father appeared in her mind. She couldn't help but see similarities between the two people. Both wanting what was best for themselves to keep hold of their power. Both extremely difficult to reason with. But both still caring about the people beneath them even though they didn't show it very well with their actions.

"But that doesn't change the fact that it would be a complete waste of time to try negotiating with Fudge any more unless we can provide him with any evidence, which isn't looking at all likely to happen any time soon if the dragons won't help us," she added.

"So that's it then?" Sirius asked. "Are you done with the Ministry until the bomb drops on them? Possibly literally - who knows what Morgana's going to do next."

"No," Kingsley said. "We're not done. After all, while Fudge might be beyond reason there are other important Ministry figures who are not. I know for a fact that Madame Bones is still very unsure what to think about Fairy Tail. And there are numerous other members of the Wizengamot who could very plausibly be swayed into believing you. Lucius Malfoy doesn't have everyone in his pocket after all."

"That's true," Sirius nodded. "There are all the members who voted for Harry to be cleared of all charges over the summer despite Fudge's insistence he be punished."

"Exactly," Kingsley nodded. "And if we can't talk to Fudge any more, we can always talk to them. They're not as influential as Fudge, but if we get enough of them then perhaps we can pick up a little slack and be more prepared when the time does finally come."

"Have you ever considered taking the position of Minister of Magic, Kingsley?" Loke smirked. "I think that you'd be rather good at it you know."

"It's never really been on my agenda," Kingsley shrugged. "But thank you for the compliment. Do you think it's worth a shot?"

"I guess," Lucy nodded. "All right then - Wizengamot here we come. Let's hope we have better luck with them than we have with the Fudge Cake."

Sirius barked with laughter. "Oh, I dare someone to call him that to his face next time they see him. And take a picture of him when you do!"

* * *

The Isle of the Blessed sat tranquil in the waters of the Bristol Bay, as it had done for thousands of years but with the exception that there was now an enormous airship sat upon the shoreline. Following their rushed exit from the Isle of the Blessed, Morgana and Voldemort had decided to bring their forces back here to recuperate, while they searched for a more permanent place to set up headquarters. Ideally somewhere that nobody would ever think to look for them and people were very unlikely to stumble across them by accident.

There weren't a great many places left that could match that description for such a large group of people and a large flying vehicle but Morgana was confident they could find one. But for now, there were a few things that she claimed they needed to attend to.

The most prominent of those being beginning Voldemort's lessons in the art of the magic of the Old Religion.

"The Isle of the Blessed is one of the few places left in this world that are still strong in that type of magic," she explained. "It's the perfect place to take the first steps in bringing out your latent power."

And so that was what they were doing. In the main ruins of the old courtyard, Voldemort and Morgana sat across from one another, their hands on their knees and their eyes closed in deep meditation. They'd had a large audience when they first started, all eager to see some amazing magic. But they'd been at this for a few hours now and most of the Death Eaters had lost interest and wondered off to do their own thing, leaving only Bellatrix and a few vaguely interested men left watching from the sidelines.

"Feel the flow of energy moving throughout the world around you," Morgana was saying quietly. "As I told you before, the Old Religion is connected to everything, which is what allows those who wield it to manipulate everything. Feel it blanketing us in the thick fog surrounding the island. Feel it creeping through the very stone upon which we sit, in every twig in the trees. Even the dead ones. Everything is alive in some sense as long as the Old Religion is present in it. And feel it moving through your own body… through every cell in your skin, every… well I was going to say hair on your head but…"

"Yes, yes," Voldemort wrinkled his slitted nose indifferently. "But… I believe that I can feel it flowing through every hair on your head."

"That's good," Morgana smiled. "Everything around you should be coming alive in the moment that you cast a spell. It's rather intoxicating, is it not?"

"Oh yes," Voldemort nodded, baring his teeth in a strange mixture of elation and smug triumph. I can see what you mean now, Lady Morgana… how primitive the wands we use now truly are in comparison to this. The energy I feel when I cast a spell with my wand… it is nothing compared to this."

"Excellent. Now… I want you to raise your hand with your palm facing the sky," Morgana intoned, opening her eyes so she could watch what happened next.

"Like this?" Voldemort asked, and as he raised his hand into the position Morgana requested, Bellatrix could feel herself seething in frustration. She'd officially decided that she hated Morgana's guts! Hated her with every fibre of her body and soul all rolled into on. This wasn't right! This wasn't the way things were supposed to go! The Dark Lord should be the one telling Morgana what to do, not the other way around! He should be the one giving all the instructions - it was the natural order of things! He was to be obeyed, not to do the obeying!

She knew she was being rather irrational. If the Dark Lord was going to master a new kind of magic that Morgana knew, of course she was going to have tell him what to do. But it still felt so unnatural to her… and of course there was what happened on Tenroujima where Morgana had most definitely been giving Voldemort instructions on how to carry out her own plan. Turning that Zancrow man into an Inferi had been her idea, and Voldemort had carried it out without complaint as soon as she commanded him to. It was just so… unnatural!

Yet from her perspective, he seemed so awed by this ancient lady's abilities that he'd almost just… fallen into line.

She was hoping that would change when he learned Old Magic though… so for now she just sat and simmered in her anger while her liege lord did as Morgana instructed.

"Now… this is a very important distinction, which you may find difficult to comprehend," Morgana said. "For you and every other wizard who uses a wand have spent all your lives treating magic as if it were some kind of tool you can master. But it is not a tool. You may be able to command it, but if you try to force it then it will not heed those commands to its full potential. You have to let it flow through your body and guide it in the direction you want it to go. If you do that, it will do what you want. If you try and force it, it will resist. Do you understand?"

"I believe so, yes," Voldemort nodded, though he didn't look best pleased by this news. Morgana was quite right. He was very used to just pointing a wand and making magic do whatever he wanted after all. The idea of working in tandem with it was a rather foreign one.

"Then imagine the magic energy from your body and from the area around you to flowing into the palm of your hand," Morgana said. "Will it to amalgamate there, guide it in a stream towards your target destination. And when you feel you have a significant amount of energy above your hand, saying the following word… 'Forbearnan.'"

"What does that mean?"

"It is a fire spell. A rather simple one too, perfect for a beginner. Try it out whenever you're ready."

Voldemort sat in silence, breathing heavily through his nose for about another half a minute as he focused on his palm. He could feel something happening - energy moving like a stream towards his open hand… and after about half a minute of silence he finally said, "Forbearnan."

At first nothing happened. But then, a tiny flame suddenly appeared floating above Voldemort's palm. It was a flame that would perhaps look at home atop a birthday candle - absolutely minuscule and yet undeniably there.

The side of Morgana's mouth twitched slightly. "Congratulations," she said. "You just harnessed the true power of the Old Religion."

"That's it?" Voldemort didn't even try to hide his disappointment and irritation when he opened his eyes to take a look at the tiny flame himself. "I was expecting it to at the very least fill my hand."

"It could have done," Morgana chuckled. "You could have even launched a large fireball up into the air if you had so chosen, but only if you'd done it completely right. You were still trying to force the magic - which is understandable as it's a tough transition to switch from wand to wandless."

"I was still expecting it to be somewhat more," Voldemort growled.

"I wasn't. This is actually a very impressive start indeed."

"It is?"

"Oh yes. Back in the days of Camelot, it could take trainee sorcerers days to get this far, even when the Old Religion was at the height of its power. You live in a time where it has been massively diluted which means that even at a place that resonates with it as strongly as the Isle of the Blessed does, that is a remarkably good start, especially after only a couple of hours of meditation."

"Is that right?" Voldemort frowned turned into a smirk. "Well, it's hardly surprising that I'd so so well isn't it?"

"Indeed," Morgana chuckled. "Granted, if we hadn't been here, you probably wouldn't have even gotten that far without a wand. But if you keep working at it, it will not be long before you find yourself able to use spells no matter where you are. The more you master the method and the stronger your power will become."

"And what would happen if I were to try using a wand with this spell right now?"

"Go ahead," Morgana chuckled, nodding to the piece of wood that was lying at Voldemort's feet. Instantly he picked it up and pointed it towards the sky. Through the same process he went, trying to channel the magic of the land and the air into his wand and then repeating the name of the spell:-

"Forbearnan."

WHOOOSH!

A massive plume of flames suddenly erupted out of the tip of his wand, belching upwards in a single plume that was strongly reminiscent of a flaming geyser. Even Voldemort was startled by how much fire his wand produced and immediately shut off the spell, leaving a gush of smoke trailing out across the Isle in all directions.

But Morgana just smirked and said, "You see? I told you before that the core of a wand is a conduit for the Old Religion that allows witches and wizards to still use it's magic despite its greatly reduced power. Which means when you use an actual spell from the Old Religion rather than the newer varieties, your wand provides a very large boost to the power you can produce."

"This is excellent," Voldemort crowed smugly, though he didn't look amazed - more like this was an inevitability. "But if that is the case then why have me practice without the wand at all?"

"Because it will help you learn the proper technique for using the Old Religion and when you master that you will gain even more power. What you just did was when you were still trying to command it after all, which means your power can increase even further. But there is another reason as well," Morgana's lip twisted. "The wand may provide a massive boost right now but it also puts a cap on your power."

"It does?" Voldemort blinked.

"Oh yes. Phoenix feathers, unicorn hairs and dragon heartstrings are all potent magical cores but even they eventually reach a point where they can't handle any more power. If you master Old Magic without a wand, then you should eventually reach the point where you can cast a spell that is so strong that any attempt to use a wand with it would shatter the wand completely."

Voldemort's eyes were alight with a greed that he hadn't displayed since he first learned about the existence of Horcruxes. "Then I shall continue to learn. I will truly become the most powerful wizard ever to live. I will surpass Merlin himself! And I am thankful to have such a capable teacher showing me the way."

"Oh, you flatterer," Morgana snickered, and that really made Bellatrix wince. It felt so unnatural for the Dark Lord to show flattery to anyone for any reason, so much so that she actually got to her feet and was about to march over and demand to know what was going on.

But before she could do so she was interrupted by the sound of a billowing cloak. Master Hades had marched into the courtyard, his arms folded across his chest and the remaining members of Grimoire Heart right behind him. Bluenote stood at the Hades' right shoulder while Rustyrose, Kain and Azuma stood shoulder to shoulder behind them. The Inferius formerly known as Zancrow brought up the rear, and as soon as he stopped moving he fell into a crouch position to stare blankly at the floor and wait for somebody to tell him to move.

"Ah, you're right on time, Hades," Morgana smiled. "Have the preparations been made?"

"Everything is in order," Hades nodded simply. "I must say that I find what you are proposing to be somewhat ambitious. Are you certain that you can pull off such a feat, Lady Morgana?"

"I brought you back did I not?" Morgana smiled. "If I can do something like that, what makes you doubt that I can do this too?"

"This is quite another matter entirely. Magic like this is night unheard of back in our world."

"Granted. But have faith in me and I promise I will not let you down."

"I would like to go on record here," Azuma said curtly. "And say that I am not altogether happy with this arrangement. It feels wrong."

"You objection has been noted, Azuma," Hades said as he stroked at his beard thoughtfully. "I admit, I too have had my tremulous thoughts about this. But if it helps secure the future of Grimoire Heart then I say we go for it nonetheless."

"It is in our best interest, Azuma," Rustyrose agreed with a certain sense of pride. "How my fragment will tremble when once more we rise to our former glory. We must reclaim everything that we lost in any way that we can."

"I don't mind myself," Kain twiddled his fingers. "I had some misgivings I admit, but if Master Hades thinks its for the best then I'm with him."

"Hmmm…" Azuma folded his arms. "That I cannot argue with. Master Hades, if this is your decision then I am with you to the end."

Morgana hid a smirk when Hades said, "It is. I will not leave anything to chance after all." That was exactly what her Shade needed to say to make his former subordinates fall in line. And with Voldemort hungry for more of her teachings he would gladly follow behind her, which meant everything was going her way for the time being. She had her eye on Bellatrix and Azuma - clearly the both of them weren't totally behind her as the rest of them seemed to be. But their loyalty to their respective Masters should be enough to keep them in line and if not… they could be dealt with in time.

She opened her mouth to speak when suddenly she paused… she could feel something. A ripple in the fabric of the world that tremored the Old Magic slightly. And one that had become quite familiar with over the course of the last few weeks.

"My, my," she said. "What timing this is. It appears that the last remnants of your guild is about to be joining us, Hades."

"Hmm?" Hades raised the brow above his eyepatch, the courtyard falling silent as Morgana raised her hands high above her head and began muttering under her breath. Words that Voldemort could tell were those of the Old Religion, but he had no idea what she was saying. However, after about half a minute of chanting, Morgana's irises flashed a bright golden yellow… and a gaping, swirling hole appeared in the fabric of reality right in front of her. Everyone except for Voldemort, Hades and Morgana all recoiled at the same time, but they still watched with wide eyes as two figures suddenly came shooting out of the hole to sprawl across the stonework before Morgana, who clapped her hands together to make the sudden portal vanish.

None of the present Death Eaters - and there were more filtering into the space now - had expected anything like this. They watched in utter confusion as the two newcomers pushed themselves upwards, nursing their heads and their bruised limbs gingerly. Evidently they'd both undergone quite a beating recently. But that wasn't the surprising part.

The surprising part was that one of them looked a little bit like a humanoid brown goat, with large flapping ears dangling on either side of his head, a short goat's beard and a wide flat nose. He was wearing bulky red samurai armour with the insignia of Grimoire Heart emblazoned in yellow on the front of his shirt, and he had an empty scabbard at his waist. There was no sign of the sword that belonged in it.

But that was nothing compared to the other guy who was… a chicken. There was no other way of putting it. He looked like a giant rooster with complete with a huge red comb on top of his head and wattles beneath his beak, right down to his bird-like feet. The only thing that distinguished him as being anything more than a big bird was his lack of a tail, his upright posture, and his human arms which protruded from beneath his wing-like projections.

"Uunnngh… my head…" the goat-guy muttered as he tried to get some grit out of one of his long ears. "I swear if I get my hands on that iron guy, I'll make him eat his own arms."

"Forget about that guy-pero," the chicken said. "What happened to the Black Dragon? How are we…?"

He stopped talking when he realised that Hades was towering above them and staring down at them. "PERO-PERO!" he cried, and instantly bowed his head, as did the other one when he too realised what was going on.

"Master Hades!" said the goat-guy. "Forgive us - we didn't see you there."

"It appears the last of the Grimoire Heart mages that were being transported to this world have made it across the breach," Morgana smirked. "I just used my power to direct them to this location. Much more convenient than having to track them down across half the countryside."

"Hmm…" Hades' moustache twitched as he looked down at them. "Correct me if I am wrong, but your names are Yomazu and Kawazu, are they not?"

"Yes, that's right. That's us," Yomazu the goat guy nodded. "We are humbled you remember who we are."

"Yes… unfortunately I was not paying attention to what you were doing during the Battle of Tenroujima," Hades said stiffly. "Remind me, what was it that the two of you did?"

"We faced off against the Iron Dragon Slayer and one of his little friends… a weak blue-haired girl," Yomazu replied quickly. "In the end he was able to defeat us but I believe we also damaged him enough to keep him from fighting afterwards… at least for a while…"

"I see…" Hades stroked his beard thoughtfully. "How did you escape from this attack of the Black Dragon that I keep hearing about?"

"We found a large piece of driftwood washed up on the shoreline-pero," Kawazu squawked. "Presumably debris from some of the ships that were destroyed by Azuma-pero."

"And we used one as a makeshift raft to put some distance between us and the dragon attack. We attempted to follow the airship when we saw it flying away, hoping yo would see us," Yomazu agreed. "But then…"

"Yes… I think I know the rest of the story. I also believe you two were some of the most powerful fighters I had in my guild who were not members of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. And while you may have been defeated you still fought to the last through your loyalty to our cause, unlike many who fled when they realised that they were not going to win. Are you still loyal now?"

"Absolutely."

"Definitely-pero!"

"Then I welcome you back to the ranks of Grimoire Heart with open arms," Hades said gruffly. "Loyal soldiers such as yourselves will be needed in the battles to come."

"You expect me to believe that these two are capable combatants?" Voldemort snorted. "I mean… look at them…"

"What was that?" Yomazu growled, his hand reaching for his sword only to discover that it wasn't there.

"We can hold our own in a fight plenty-pero," Kawazu agreed vehemently, hunkering his body down in preparation for a fight.

"Looks can be deceiving, my dear Voldemort," Morgana pointed out. "You wouldn't think that a weasel could take down a rabbit three times its own size and yet it can. But ultimately these two are Hades' men. I believe he should be the one to decide what to do with them, don't you agree?"

Voldemort wrinkled his nose but conceded the point. "Very well," he said. "This is a three-way alliance after all, isn't it?"

"Naturally," Morgana nodded. "Yomazu and Kawazu, welcome to our world."

"Our world?" Yomazu blinked. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Hades intoned. "That through unforeseen happenstances, we have ended up in an alternate universe. It is a pretty major setback, but our immediate goal has not changed. Grimoire Heart still aims to create the World of Great Magic… only now we are seeking to create two. By creating it here, we will be able to get home and create it there, as soon as we track down Zeref once again."

"R… right…" Yomazu blinked, the both of them struggling to process it all but as his eyes tracked over the group he suddenly noticed something. "Not all of the members of the Seven Kin are here," he said. "Caprico, Ultear-sama and Meredy aren't here…"

"Does this mean there's a chance that we'll get promoted to become members of the Seven Kin ourselves-pero?" Kawazu asked eagerly.

"Not quite," Hades shook his head. "You have served me faithfully and you will continue to do so, but I wish to discern what has become of the rest of my Seven Kin back home before I make any replacements to their numbers. Speaking of which, is it time, Morgana?"

"Yes, I believe so," Morgana nodded, turning around and moving until she was standing beside an ancient stone altar at one end of the courtyard. "If you would like to bring in the prisoners?"

Hades nodded and turned to give the order to Zancrow, who immediately got up and wandered in an almost aimless manner out of the courtyard. A couple of minutes later and he returned dragging a chain behind him. A chain which had three people - two men and one women - attached to by the neck and forced to walk in single file - their wrists shackled and their mouths gagged. They were fighting and tugging for all they were worth but Zancrow barely even seemed to notice, dragging them relentlessly forward as the other Grimoire Heart members stood aside to let him through.

It wasn't long before all three of them were kneeling before the altar, Morgana smirking as she stared imperiously down on them. One of the men attempted to let out a question from behind his gag, no doubt to demand who she was and what they were doing here, but Morgana only needed to give him the slightest of looks to shut him up, all three of them quailing fearfully before her. Yet Morgana had not a jot of mercy to be found in her eyes anywhere. She spun around in a whirl of black cloak and stepped around to the other side of the altar, laying her fingers on it and taking a deep breath in preparation for what was to come.

"Remind me again why what you're about to do cannot be used to bring Zancrow back to life," Azuma asked.

"Because Zancrow's soul has already passed on to the Spirit World," Morgana replied simply. "It would take a very different kind of magic to reach into it to bring him back. What I am about to do, Azuma, is not necromancy. There is quite a distinct difference between that… and the Power of Life and Death."

"It sounds like it should be pretty similar to me. It even has the word death in the title."

"You're right, it does. But the Power of Life and Death does not concern returning things that have already passed on to life. It revolves around two very different principles. One is restoring life to something that is dying but has not yet passed on and this requires the use of the Cup of Life, which the Muggles refer to as the Holy Grail. I do not have the Cup in my possession. I searched for it during my many years spent in the Crystal Cave but Merlin made sure to place a spell on its location that would prevent me from finding it. That conniving peasant!

"But what I am about to do now does not require the Cup of Life to work," she added sinisterly. "Creating life from nothing is extremely different after all… and something which very few High Priestesses of the Old Religion ever studied. But it has been done before. My half-brother, Arthur Pendragon himself, was born of this magic when a High Priestess named Nimueh used its power to give Uther's barren wife a son. But…" she looked down at the terrified captive with a cruel smirk. "There has to be a balance with this magic. In order for a life to be created there has to be a death. And we just so happen to be creating three lives today, aren't we?"

Immediately the prisoners began screaming and shaking their heads desperately, trying to get up and run away only for the ends of their chairs to bolt themselves into the stonework with a wave of Morgana's hand. She raised her hands high above her head and gave quick nods to Voldemort and Rustyrose, who quickly took up their positions - Voldemort beside the alter and Rustyrose behind the three struggling prisoners.

Morgana began chanting, whispering at first in such a quiet voice that she could barely hear herself, but getting louder all the time. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, and as she chanted everyone felt a chill coming over them. The area around the courtyard seemed to become heavy… not in the kind of way it would have if Bluenote had suddenly increased the gravity but more… tense and muggy… as if they were all being stared down upon from above by a god or goddess. But Morgana never broke from her chanting… she just kept raising her voice until she opened her eyes to give Rustyrose a nod.

The Arc of Embodiment Mage raised his own arms high and three beings began to form out of thin air, one standing behind each of the prisoners. It was the three missing members of Grimoire Heart - Caprico, Ultear and Meredy - all standing in a line with their eyes closed and their limbs slack like lifeless mannequins. The atmosphere grew even heavier, as if a heavy wind was swirling around them except there was no wind at all! And apart from Morgana everyone else had fallen silent, even the prisoners who were now too terrified to make a noise.

For a full two minutes Morgana chanted until she was practically yelling at the sky… and then she fell silent. Her hands clapped down on the altar and she turned to give Voldemort a nod. Eagerly the Dark Lord raised his wand and without a word he flicked it three times, firing a jet of radiant green light at each of the prisoners in turn! They only had time for one final gut-punching scream of terror each before their life force was robbed from their bodies, and in the very moment the last one died Morgana's eyes flashed a brilliant golden.

A split second later and Caprico, Ultear and Meredy all opened their eyes with loud gasps, stumbling backwards and falling to their knees, panting for breath. Gingerly Rustyrose stepped backwards himself and lowered his arms, cutting off all of his magic. As these three had been created by his Arc of Embodiment that meant they should have vanished into thin air. But they did not. They stayed there, eyes wide and looking around them at the assembled crowd and the three dead bodies lying prone before them.

Master Hades stepped forward as they got to their feet one at a time, the sound of his footsteps on the stone making them turn to face him. He glanced to each of them in turn and said, "What are your names?"

"…Caprico," said the white goat-man in his deep voice.

"I am Meredy," whispered the small pink-haired girl.

"I am Ultear Milkovich," the tall, buxom lady said confidently.

"And who are you?" Hades asked.

Ultear knelt back down, bowing her head before him with the other two doing the same thing moments later when she said, "We are loyal subjects of Master Hades, members of his Seven Kin of Purgatory and mages of Grimoire Heart. And we assure him, we will not fail him in the fight against Fairy Tail a second time."

Morgana smirked. The ceremony had been an unparalleled success! Kain was clapping enthusiastically and Rustyrose looked incredibly smug. Only Azuma looked a little disgruntled, for these were not his true comrades - only pale imitations of the original Ultear, Meredy and Caprico imagined as Rustyrose remembered them to be, which meant anything Rustyrose didn't know about them had been left completely out. As far as he was concerned, these three were no better than the zombified Zancrow.

Yet unlike him, and despite being imitations, they were alive!

To all intents and purposes, the Seven Kin of Purgatory were complete once more.


	55. Unhinging Umbridge

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 55:- Unhinging Umbridge**

* * *

Quaint and small as the Fairy Tail guildhall was, Yukino Aguria was finding it to be one of the most charming places she'd ever visited. Aside from a couple of suggestive looks from Wakaba, everybody there had been wonderful hosts and were practically treating her as a member of the family even though she'd only been with them for a couple of days.

She'd stayed the nights in a small room in the back of the guildhall itself with Kinana. Since Kinana didn't actually get paid for working for Fairy Tail she couldn't afford a place of her own to live, so they had constructed a room for her in her own workplace when they had been forced to make this area. It hadn't really been designed for two people to sleep there, but Kinana had broken out a few extra blankets and insisted that Yukino take the bed. The Celestial Spirit Mage had tried very hard to take the floor, but Kinana wouldn't have it.

"You've provided hope to a once forlorn guild," she had said. "Giving you the bed is the very least I can do under the circumstances."

"Oh… well… well, only if you're absolutely certain…"

"Trust me, I am," Kinana smiled.

In the two days since she'd been there she'd spent her time getting to know its members and continuing to pass the occasional letter back and forth between herself and Lucy. Said letters were more infrequent than before but were also longer - at one point Lucy sent through practically an entire essay outlining the kinds of things that they'd been getting up to on Earth, as it was apparently named, and giving a lot of fascinating details about the place.

And she'd also participated in talks about what exactly they were planning on doing next. Which was what she was doing right at this moment - they'd all gathered around one big table in the centre of the hall and were poring over a map of Earthland that Warren had dug up. Yukino currently had Asuka sitting on her lap, which was a little embarrassing considering how Alzack and Bisca kept making comments about how cute it was, but she was nevertheless trying to concentrate.

"If there's a place where we can do any research about the possibilities of dimension travel, it would probably be here," Warren was saying as he tapped his finger on a single point of the map in the middle of a forest. "The Magic Library… it's got tons of books and other magical artefacts or so I heard. If there was anything at all that could help us out, my guess is it would be there."

"Levy was always saying that she wanted to go there," Jet mused. "But she never found a job that would be able to take us out that way since its not exactly close by."

"But do we really think that we'll be able to find something there?" Droy asked. "I know its got a lot of books but if we can't find anything then we could end up searching for an answer in there for weeks for nothing."

"Well, we don't really have a lot of other options at the moment, do we?" Max pointed out. "It seems as good a place as any to start, along with maybe Hibiki's Archive."

"Are you sure that you only want to tell Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale about all this?" Yukino asked, bouncing a giggling Asuka lightly on her knees. "Wouldn't it be better to get the word out that the other Fairy Tail members are still alive? Surely the Magic Council would be able to provide some great resources to help."

"…I don't know if that would be the best idea," Macao coughed uncomfortably. "The Magic Council don't really like us very much."

"Or more precisely, they don't very much like… almost everyone that's trapped on Earth," Alzack corrected. "Back when they were home they… shall we say… had some pretty destructive tendencies."

"Natsu, Gray, Erza, Elfman even Mirajane and many of the others, were always going overboard on their jobs and causing quite a bit of collateral damage in the process," Bisca said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head in the process.]

"Explosions are fun!" Asuka cheered, which made most of the room laugh and facefault at the same time.

"But anyway, it wouldn't at all surprise us if the Magic Council turned a blind eye if we told them," Max wrinkled his nose. "They might think that having our other members sealed away in another world is preferable as it removed a major headache for them."

"Surely they can't do that," Yukino frowned. "If the word gets out then people might put pressure on them to act wouldn't they? I mean… we're talking about bringing people home to where they belong."

"They might be," Macao conceded. "But still, I don't think it would be a good idea to tell them directly. I don't want to give them time to cover it up just in case they did choose to go that way."

"Probably for the best," Wakaba agreed.

"What's all this then?" said a sudden voice by the door, causing everyone to look up sharply. Five figures were standing in the open doorway, hands akimbo and leering imperiously down at the huddled group. Immediately Bisca grabbed Asuka from out of Yukino's lap and stepped backwards while Alzack got in front of them. All of the Fairy Tail members tensed and the room took on an immediate heavy air.

Yukino found herself tensing too as a result. She didn't know these people but she could guess who they were. They had to be member of the other guild in this town, Twilight Ogre. And their smug, superior grins were already enough to make give Yukino a good reason not to like them.

The middle of the five men was a man with poofy dark hair, wearing a headband with yellow devil horns and carrying a very large, spiky mace across his back. He strode arrogantly into the room like he owned it and said, "We couldn't help but overhear what you were just saying there, Fairy Fails. Is it true? All those members of yours that you lost six years ago are stranded in another world?"

"…This is the other reason why we didn't particularly want word to get out," Kinana whispered in Yukino's ear. "Twilight Ogre's been extremely hard on the guild for years and if they found out its most powerful members might be coming back…"

She didn't need to finish the sentence. Yukino understood. If Fairy Tail were to return to its old strength, they'd suddenly become competition. Which could end quite badly if she understood the relationship between the two guilds correctly. But there wasn't much helping it now.

"Yes, it's true, Teebo" Macao said reluctantly as he got to his feet. "What of it?"

"How very fascinating," the man, Teebo, grinned widely though he didn't look the least bit fascinated. "I'm guessing you're planning on trying to bring them back then?"

"And why would we not be?" Romeo got to his feet with a snarl. "They're our friends. We should be bringing them back to where they belong."

"Is that so?" Teebo sneered, hefting his club as the other sneering members advanced behind him with wide grins. "What do you think will happen if they do return? That Fairy Tail will return to its former glory at the top of the heap? Well, I'm sure I've told you this before, but your days in the spotlight are over."

"What are you doing here, Teebo?" Macao redirected the conversation quickly. "I already gave Banaboster this month's payment."

"Just barely, so I can gather," Teebo snorted derisively. "But there's no particular reason for this visit. We just happened to be in the neighbourhood so we thought we'd stop by. And it's a good thing we did too. So we can put an end to this notion of you bringing your pals back home."

"You might be able to bully us into supplying you with monthly payments, Teebo," Macao said firmly as the other members got to their feet behind him. "But if there's one thing you cannot intimidate us into doing, it's abandoning our fellow members."

"We're bringing them back and that's final," Jet agreed.

"You're not going to stop us this time. No way," Nab threw in.

"I guess you need to be reminded of your place then, don't you?" Teebo said, hefting his weapon at the same time as the other Ogres. It was then he finally noticed there was a new face in the room and grinned at Yukino. "Why hello there," he winked at her. "Whatever are you doing with this bunch of losers? Why don't you come down to our guild and hang out with some real mages."

Yukino grimaced and got to her feet, but before anyone could do anything the floor suddenly darkened. The Ogres jumped in surprise when the wood beneath their feet became bathed in a sudden shadow… a shadow which coalesced in front of them between the two sides until a man with untidy black hair suddenly leapt out from and spun around to face them.

"Rogue-sama!" Yukino cried in delight.

**"****EIRYUU NO HOUKOU!"**

The pall of darkness that blasted out of Rogue's mouth ploughed its way into all five of the Twilight Ogre members, scooping them off the ground and sending them hurtling back through the door, yelling in pain as they skidded across the ground and sent the chickens in the nearby coop wild with fear. Teebo landed on top of one of his comrades and struggled to sit back up. But his throat ran dry when he saw not only Rogue staring at them from the doorway, but also Sting crouching on the roof of the guild.

"The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth?" he croaked. "What… what are you two doing here?"

"Just seeing if you're worth the effort," Sting shrugged nonchalantly. "But it turns out you're not. I was rather hoping you'd all get up quickly so I could leap down from here and beat the crap out of you, but if you're so weak that you'll just lie there groaning after one hit from Rogue then I'm not even going to bother."

"Sting-kun could smash you all without even putting the slightest amount of effort into it, yes!" Lector said smugly from nearby. "You guys aren't even worth his breath. And not even his dragon breath."

"Fro thinks so too."

"That being said though," Rogue spread his arms and shadows seemed to start peeling their way off his body to fill the doorway on either side of him, his eyes hardening to give the Ogres a stare that had all five of them cowering. "If you tell anyone what you heard here today, about the fact that many Fairy Tail members are still alive, you will not like the consequences."

"So if word of it starts appearing in the Weekly Sorcerer, we'll know who to blame," Sting smirked, raising one hand above his head to form a huge javelin of light in one hand and taking careful aim at the spot right between Teebo's eyes. "And we'll come track all five of you down and make you wish you'd never even heard of either Fairy Tail or Sabertooth. Understand?"

Teebo nodded furiously, as did all four of the others.

"Then get lost."

WHOOSH!

All five of them were gone hurtling down the line back towards their guild before anybody could blink. Lector pinched his nose as they fled, waving his other paw in front of his face and saying, "Ugh, I think one of them soiled his pants."

"Fro thinks they all did."

"You're probably right."

"Sting-sama, Rogue-sama," Yukino ran forwards to meet them as they dissipated their magic. "Thank you very much for your prompt intervention. But I was about to take them on myself."

"And you could have done it easily," Sting chuckled as he leapt from the roof to land neatly beside them. "Those guys were so weak it's laughable. But while you may be strong Yukino, you're… not very intimidating."

"And we needed to make sure that lot kept their mouths shut until the time was right so that the Master doesn't figure out what we're doing," Rogue agreed. "No offence, Yukino, but we were better for that job than you."

"…No offence taken," Yukino smiled, a little sheepishly. "You're very right."

"The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth," Laki whispered, in a voice that was both wary and awed all at once. "Why in the world are you frequenting this locality?"

"Don't tell me they're here to help as well," Jet gasped.

"Oh, Sting-sama and Rogue-sama have been very helpful so far," said Yukino. "They're the ones who helped ensure Master Jiemma wouldn't know that I came to see you. We don't think he'd approve very much if I had."

"So this is the once great Fairy Tail?" Sting snorted as he looked about the place. "Damn, I knew you guys had fallen far but you sure fell hard too didn't you?"

"Sting-sama, that's rude," Yukino gasped. "You should be more polite to these kind people. They've been hosting me for the past couple of nights after all."

"Fine, fine," Sting shrugged, but he was still looking around with a rather derisive smirk that made many of the Fairy Tail members grit their teeth. Rogue just closed his eyes and leaned against the doorframe, not offering any opinion of his own which in some ways annoyed the other Fairy Tail members as well because even though he didn't outright agree with Sting he didn't agree with Yukino either.

"Still, I can't believe that this was actually the guild Natsu-san's a part of. Speaking of which, have you made any progress on how to get Natsu-san back into this universe?" Sting asked.

"No," Yukino shook her head. "But we were just talking about places where we might be able to find an answer before we were interrupted."

"Well I hope you find answers soon," Sting grinned, socking his fist into his palm excitedly. "I can't wait to finally get a chance to take on my old hero."

"Old heroes, Sting-kun," Lector smirked matter-of-factly. "You could take on any one of their old members after all."

"Is that all this is about to you?" Macao frowned. "You're only helping to get a chance to battle someone we've though to be dead for six years?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Sting said, without the slightest hint of shame.

"Just how selfish can you be?" Max growled, as he and several of the others looked like they were about to leap forward to try taking Sting on for themselves. But before they could do so, Rogue cut into the conversation.

"Whatever our reasons for wanting them back, we need to sort things out quickly. It won't be long before news that we've finished the job we left for reaches Sabertooth and Master Jiemma will expect us back soon. You know he doesn't like it when we procrastinate."

"That's true, he doesn't," Yukino pursed her lips. "Alright then, I'll send a letter to Lucy-sama to let her know I'll be heading home today."

"Great," Sting nodded. "I want to have a look around town though, so we'll meet you outside Kardia Cathedral later."

"See you later, Yukino," Lector added, as the two Dragon Slayers and their partners stepped out. Macao and the other Fairy Tail members watched them go for a while and once he was sure they were out of of earshot the guild master turned to Yukino.

"Once again, we can't thank you enough for what you've done for us, Yukino. And if you ever wish to return to our guild for a bit you would be most welcome. Though… I cannot really say the same for your comrades."

"You'll have to excuse them," Yukino coughed. "They can be a little… blunt… with most people but like most people in Sabertooth they value how strong people are over everything else."

"How did a nice girl like you end up joining a guild like them anyway?" Wakaba asked. "Don't you feel at all out of place amongst them?"

"Sometimes," Yukino admitted. "Quite a lot actually. Their attitude of strength before all else isn't something that comes naturally to me, so when talking to most members I try to compensate by not really showing any emotion at all. But… for all their faults… I do still consider them my family."

"Well, even if you don't have a message from the others, you're always welcome to visit us."

"Thank you, Master Macao," Yukino dipped her head respectfully but with a genuine smile. "But for the moment I'll focus on writing that letter to Lucy."

But as she sat down and summoned Libra to give her the necessary pen and paper, Yukino did find herself mulling over the last couple of days. This was the first time she'd spent any time with a guild other than Sabertooth and it had been… fun. Great fun in fact. Sabertooth had fun too of course but here she'd felt much more relaxed. Much more at home. Everyone was more open, kinder… and it was so obvious how much they cared about each other.

Sabertooth were the strongest guild in Fiore while Fairy Tail was the weakest. And yet Yukino found herself wishing that Sabertooth took a few pages out of Fairy Tail's book.

* * *

"New message from Yukino everybody," Lucy called out, waving the newest letter she'd received from the Spirit World above her head. "It says that she's about to leave soon so if there's anything else we want to say to our friends back home, now would be the time to do it."

"Well I think mostly we've covered everything," Levy tapped her lip. "I can't think of anything I'd say that I haven't already said, though I suppose I could tell Jet and Droy that I miss them again."

"You mean like they have about fifty times already to you?" Mirajane giggled.

"Yes… like that."

"Well then," Makarov said, clearing his throat loudly. "There is one thing that I myself would like to say. But first, does it say anything about what they're going to try in order to get us back, Lucy?"

"Well aside from talking to Hibiki, they mentioned something about going to the Magical Library to have a look around."

"The Magical Library!" Levy gasped excitedly, leaping up from her seat with eyes sparkling giddily. "Oh well that changes things. Maybe I should send a list to Jet and Droy of books that they could pick up for me. Or maybe subjects that they could search for books about while they're there. Oh, I've always wanted to go there… I better get thinking."

"Yes, well, before you do that Levy," Makarov said over the laughter that followed Levy's sudden enthusiasm. "I have had an idea of my own."

"On how to get us back?" Gildarts asked.

"Yes," Makarov nodded. "I have no idea if it will bear fruit but I believe it to be worth a try."

"What's the idea, Gramps?" Natsu asked.

"To get in contact with a very specific person. A person that we know for a fact has had experience with dimension travel in the past, but that few of us here ever got to know particularly well. In fact, I think the person who knows him best would actually be you, Pantherlily."

"…You can't mean…" Lily's eyes widened, as he and several others cottoned on to what Makarov was saying at the same time. "…The Prince?"

"Yes. I am talking about Mystogan."

Surprise etched itself across the face of just about everyone in the room. The sole exception was Erza, who bit her lip and ended up looking down at her hands.

"Mystogan?" Lucy blinked. "But… how are we supposed to talk to him? He's not on Earthland anymore. He's on Edolas."

"And Edolas has no magic in it anymore," Lily agreed. "And even when it did have magic we never had anything like a Celestial Spirit Mage on it until Lucy herself showed up. We have absolutely no way of making contact with anybody on Edolas."

"Indeed we do not. However… Mystogan is not the only person from Edolas I know besides you Exceed."

"He's not?" Happy blinked. "Well then… who else?"

"Most of you here know Porlyusica, do you not?" Makarov smiled. "I am, in fact, talking about her."

"EEEEEHHHH!?" several people shouted at the same time.

"Porlyusica-san is from Edolas!?" Lucy gasped.

"The grumpy old lady who lives in the forest and hates everybody!?" Gray agreed.

"Gramps' old girlfriend is from the same world as Happy!?" Natsu shouted.

Makarov cleared his throat loudly to silence all the questions. "Yes. Porlyusica is indeed not from Earthland. I met her after she'd recently arrived on Earthland by accident, rather like how we arrived in this world accidentally ourselves. She has been living there for the last fifty years, but she has told me that there have been multiple times where she had the possibility to go home and she chose to stay. She never shared the exact details with me but I trust her word."

"Fifty years?" Pantherlily placed a paw on his chin thoughtfully. "But the Anima project was only constructed approximately ten years ago… or at least ten years before the time we lost."

"Precisely," Makarov nodded. "Which means the Anima is not the only way to Edolas. There has to be other ways. The King of Edolas had to find out enough things about Earthland to design the Anima to gain our magic after all. But even though I have known about Edolas since I was young, I have never particularly given it much thought until recently. I never could have imagined that they would try to take our magic. And I never once considered the possibility that Lisanna could have been transported there. I just assumed you were dead as everyone else did. And for that I am sorry, Lisanna. It is possible we could have gotten you home sooner if only I had thought of that."

"It's not your fault, Master," Lisanna said immediately and reassuringly. "There was no reason why you should have thought that had happened."

"Thank you. I appreciate your forgiveness," Makarov dipped his head to her gratefully.

"So if there are other ways to get to Edolas from Earthland," Gildarts interjected. "You believe Old Lady Porlyusica might know them?"

"Maybe," Makarov nodded. "It's a long shot, but it might pay off. And I have no idea whether Edolas' loss of magic could have affected the other ways of getting there in any way. It's entirely possible this is a complete dead end. But it's worth a shot, don't you think?"

"I see what you're saying," Gray smirked. "If someone from Earthland could find a way to get to Edolas, they could potentially bring Mystogan to Earthland as well."

"And if they could bring Mystogan to Earthland," Juvia chimed in. "He could potentially create another Anima portal that could get us home!"

"Along with Tenroujima and everything on it," Lucy added. "After all, the Edolas Anima transported the entire town of Magnolia, even though it turned them into a lacrima on the other side."

"It might just work," Cana grinned, her expression being mirrored in almost every face across the room.

"That wouldn't be a quick process," Pantherlily said. "I don't know much about the inner workings of the Anima, but I do know that transporting something the size of an entire island would require a massive version of it. And the one the Edolas Kingdom used took a couple of years to construct."

"Nevertheless it's a start," Charla said. "I'd quite like to meet this lady one day."

"Me too," Wendy smiled. "Lucy-san, are you going to write all that down?"

Lucy nodded, taking a fresh piece of paper and laying it out before her, but as she sat down she paused with the pen above the paper. Another thought had just trickled into her mind. If this was the last time Yukino could send a message for a bit then… this might also be the last chance she'd have for a while to take Loke's suggestion.

She bit her lip, her mind tearing itself in half wondering whether she should do it.

But there was no reason why she shouldn't except her own fear. Fear of what his response would be. For the longest time, Lucy had thought her father didn't really care about her that much. That perception had started to change after the incident at Love and Lucky… but if he received her letter and it turned out he didn't particularly care that she was still alive… she would be nothing short of devastated, even though she'd long tried to tell herself she didn't care about him either.

However… she couldn't just chicken out and leave it behind. That was the coward's way out.

"But that's not all I'm going to write. I… have a little letter of my own I'd like Yukino to deliver on her way back to her guild."

* * *

Sirius walked into the main room where Fairy Tail spent most of their time about an hour later, along with Remus, Tonks and Mad-Eye, to find it still abuzz with the possibility that there might be a way for them to return after all. Lucy had only just sent off the letters, having spent the better part of the last hour penning out all the details. And when they did get home, every one of them was determined to build their guild's reputation back up from the ground.

But there was one person who wasn't joining in the general enthusiasm. Sirius frowned when he noticed Erza leaning against the wall by herself, her arms folded and her head down, staring at nothing.

"Everything okay?" he asked when he stepped over to her, startling her out of her evidently deep thoughts in the process.

"Yes," the redhead nodded quickly. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Right, cos you don't look fine."

"No, really it's nothing. It's just… well… there's nothing that can be done about it so there's no use talking about it."

"Oh, on the contrary - talking about it is the best thing that you can do when there's nothing else to be done," Sirius pointed out with a slight grin. "You know if something's bothering you, you can share it with me, can't you?"

Erza stared at him levelly, and Sirius was practically able to hear the cogs turning in her brain.

"Actually… you might be in a far greater position than most to understand," she eventually said, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down. "You've heard about the man who the Master believes might be able to bring us home, yes?"

"Yeah, this Mystogan chap. What about him? Oh, wait, let me guess," Sirius gave her a slightly crafty grin. "Were you two lovers or something?"

"Wha… NO! No, nothing like that! Nothing at all!" Erza said, though her face promptly decided to try and camouflage itself in her scarlet hair. She coughed, trying to get herself back under control before continuing. "But… Mystogan's real name is Jellal. And I was… very close… with his counterpart on my world. The Earthland Jellal."

"Counterpart?" Sirius blinked. "So like… there's copies of everyone on your world in this other Edolas world."

"Indeed - I came face to face with my own counterpart. But the point is… speaking of Mystogan started me thinking about Jellal. And… that's a subject I've been trying to avoid thinking about."

"I see. I suppose he must think you're dead too."

"Perhaps. But considering I last saw him being arrested by the Magic Council and taken to prison, he might not have the slightest idea for all I know," Erza murmured, her fingers tightening upon her arms and an unusual bitterness seeping into her voice.

"Taken to prison?" Sirius blinked. "For what?"

"His circumstance… it's quite similar to yours actually," Erza sighed. "In some ways it's not as bad and in other ways it's much, much worse. Like you he was arrested and sentenced without a trial. But unlike you, he actually did do the crimes that he was convicted for - slavery, destroying the Magic Council… and murder." She swallowed, and Sirius was quite taken aback at how empty her eyes looked in that moment. "Indeed, he killed one of my best friends… a man called Simon. Right in front of me.

"The complication is that he was not doing any of that while in his right mind. He was possessed when we were children, overtaken by a dark spell that infected his mind and drove him mad. A spell cast by one of the members of Grimoire Heart or so I have heard. He went from a kind, brave and altruistic person to a cunning and evil mastermind in the space of a minute, and he was trapped in the thrall of that spell for a good eight years, committing multiple evil acts along the way. Only after he was defeated in battle by Natsu did the spell break… and he returned to his old self with no memory at all."

"…Well that's a small mercy isn't it?" Sirius breathed, unable to believe what he was hearing. He'd seen from experience how devastated people could be after someone made them commit evil under an Imperius Curse, but what Jellal had been through sounded infinitely worse. "If he couldn't remember all the things he did."

"Maybe. But I still told him he did it, for at the time it was unclear to me whether he'd been doing it all of his own will or not. He looked like a broken shell. And he was still arrested anyway, for crimes he didn't remember and never would have done were he not possessed. And all that was six years ago, shortly before our imprisonment in time. He's most likely still languishing in a prison cell now for all I know. Does he remember anything? Does he think I'm dead? Has anyone ever gone to visit him? Is he even still alive? I don't know. I don't know anything…"

Erza's voice had gradually been getting more and more strained as she spoke, her face tightening as she struggled to contain her emotions. To Sirius it suddenly became clear as day that she harboured some very deep feelings for this man. He couldn't say what the nature of those feelings might be, but they were there.

"That's… extraordinarily unfair," Sirius whispered, running a hand over his face. "Jeez, I thought I had it bad to receive twelve years in Azkaban for no reason but that… I have no words. But you know, thinking about it, Jellal has one thing that I never had when I was in prison."

"What?" Erza asked, finally looking up at him with shimmering eyes that told Sirius she was moments away from crying despite her best efforts.

"He has friends on the outside," Sirius gave her a comforting smile. "I don't know whether he thinks you're dead or not. Most likely he does. But you're going to go back to your world one day and then you can show him yourself that you're alive and well. And then he will know that he has those outside the prison who know his true story and who will be there to support him whenever he gets out. When I was in Azkaban everybody believed I was guilty, even Remus or Dumbledore. Not one person believed me an innocent man except Wormtail, and he doesn't count. But Jellal has you. And though that might not seem like much, trust me when I say that to an man behind bars it would actually make a massive difference."

"…You're certain?"

"Absolutely! It would have been so much more bearable for me in Azkaban if I'd had just one person know the truth. And more than that, one person fighting for my freedom. Look at me now," Sirius grinned as he gestured out to the room at large. "Everyone in here knows I'm innocent and not only that… they're all defying the our own Ministry to keep me out of prison, and my soul in my body. And there's no reason you can't do the same for Jellal when you get back home. Just saying."

He gave Erza a wide grin, which turned out to be quite an infectious one because Erza's grim expression turned into a smile as well.

"You're right," she nodded. "I do believe in Jellal. And never will I stop doing so again. For a long time I believed him guilty myself back when he was still under the possession but now I do know the truth. When I let them take him… I did so because my friends were getting in trouble trying to defend him. One man being sent to jail unjustly was preferable to ten. But I will not let him stay trapped in the darkness for any longer than necessary. I will fight to see him freed. Not only from prison but from all accusations against him. I will make sure the world knows the truth about who he really is."

"Attagirl," Sirius grinned. "You can be his light to guide him up and out of the darkness. A light that I have in the form of Harry and of the Order."

"Thank you, Sirius. I believe I needed to hear that."

"No problem at all. And you never know… maybe one day I'll get to see what your world looks like. And if that day ever comes, I think I'd quite like to meet this guy."

"Wouldn't that be something?" Erza laughed lightly, her mood having lifted considerably. Sirius was quite right. Jellal had been the one who inspired her to fight for freedom when they'd been slaves in the Tower of Heaven. It would only be right for her to continue fighting for his freedom as soon as she became able to do so.

* * *

Things began to settle into an unsteady routine at Hogwarts school, though things were still not going well for Harry. In the next few days after he left the DA while Ron and Hermione searched desperately for a way to get through to him he also tried to step down from the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Which despite everything was still a shock given how much Harry enjoyed and loved the sport.

He was not allowed to though. Angelina point-blank refused to accept his resignation. "You may have been the leader of the DA," she declared. "But I am the captain of this team and therefore here I'm the one who calls the shots. You stay, Harry. I have every faith you'll snap out of this funk you've got yourself into eventually and I refuse to have your spot on this team filled with somebody else when you have."

So Harry stayed, though it was obvious to anybody watching that his heart wasn't really into the game. He kept losing concentration in the practices, which meant Fred and George had to fly in rings around him just to keep Bludgers from smacking into him over and over again.

And of course, every weeknight he had to head into detention with Umbridge and effectively carve lines into the back of his own hand once again. Which did nothing to help his condition in the slightest.

But while Harry was beginning to fall apart, so was Umbridge. Neither one of them had the same air they had about them during Harry's first detention. Harry's fire had been put out and he seemed like nothing but a lifeless drone waiting for it to be over. While Umbridge spent the entire time looking over her shoulder to make sure there were no Harpies swooping towards her window.

Fred and George had really stepped up the game against the High Inquisitor. The night with the Harpies was only the opening salvo in a constant mental torture campaign.

For instance, where before they'd been launching sporadic but full-on attacks with the werewolf to chase Umbridge around, now Umbridge was seeing the werewolf just about everywhere she went. Rarely an hour went passed where she didn't round a corner and see it at the end of the corridor in front of her, prompting her to scream and run the other way until she realised she wasn't being followed. She walked up a flight of stairs and looked over the banister to see it staring up at her a couple of flight's below. At one point she even walked into a Defence Against the Dark Arts class full of students and saw it standing on her desk. And when she finally mustered up the courage to return to the room ten minutes later, trembling from head to toe, it was gone.

But the werewolf was far from the only thing she was seeing. She was also seeing other half-breed creatures all over the place too. At one point she stepped out of a cubicle in one of the women's lavatories to find the massive Lizardman hunched next to the sinks. She walked up to the Owlery to find all five Harpies in it, and fled immediately with their screeches ringing in her ears. And at one point she even walked into one of the greenhouses in search of Professor Sprout and found a massive Sphinx sprawled out across the floor.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" She had screamed as she fled the area, the Sphinxes claws barely missing the back of her coat.

And yet, every time she fled, as soon as she worked up the courage to go back the proof was gone. Even the Lizardman - for it didn't appear to see her when she stepped out of the cubicle and dove back in, which gave her the courage to peek out of the cubicle again a mere minute later only for it to be completely gone. She hadn't heard it leave, just as she hadn't heard it arrive. So what the heck was going on!?

The answer lay in a combination of the Room of Requirement, the Marauder's Map which Fred and George had borrowed from Harry, and Cana's Card Magic. They monitored Umbridge's progress everywhere she went on the Map, used the Room of Requirement to create a passage to a location not far from where Umbridge happened to be when there was nobody else nearby, and then Cana would slip a card out to either create the half-breed animal like the Harpies and the Sphinx, or to release Pantherlily or Elfman from where they'd been held inside her Card Dimension. And then as soon as Umbridge had fled in terror back into the card they went, Cana summoned the Card back to the hand, and the passage they'd used to get to the area disappeared as required.

They were, effectively, haunting her.

And it was having an incredibly detrimental effect on her. So paranoid was she becoming that she no longer slept in bed, but curled up in the corner in her own office which made things even worse because it was there that she was under the influence of Freed's runes deepening her paranoia even further. As a result she barely got half an hour's sleep a night, and the lack of sleep was derailing her mind even worse.

She was unravelling at an incredibly fast pace. And through it all she remained convinced that Hagrid had to have some involvement in all this despite never once getting a shred of proof that he was.

But she was determined to find some at the next Care of Magical Creatures lesson the following Tuesday.

Since the rather disastrous first lesson, Hagrid had decided to be a little more open to Hermione's ideas for keeping to the official requirements for the O.W.L.s and so they were learning about Knarls on that particular day. Hagrid carefully stepped through one of the pens of hedgehogs he'd collected before the class, casting the occasional nervous glance Umbridge's way as he spoke.

"Normally all these little guys would be hibernatin' by now, but I've brought 'em all here and woken 'em up just for this lesson cause you'll be learning how to feed 'em anyhow. Now then, I want yeh to break into groups of four an' each group of yeh will be entering each of these pens. Yer task is ter identify which of these animals are genuine and ordinary 'edgehogs and which of 'em are Knarls. Now, the trick is ter offer each of them individually a small saucer of milk. If its an 'edgehog it'll take the gift but if it's a Knarl it'll get angry. Highly suspicious creatures Knarls. Don' trust nearly anything."

"Hem, hem," Umbridge piped up. "Is this not supposed to be a Care of Magical Creatures lesson sir? Are they not supposed to be learning how to care for these Knarls? Not how to make them angry?"

"Oh, you bitch," Hermione whispered. "Identifying Knarls from hedgehogs is on the Care of Magical Creatures syllabus and you know it."

"Course they are," Hagrid said quickly, looking a little flustered. "But… but, y'know, hedgehogs and Knarls has very similar anatomies but very different requirements. Yeh gotta know which one yer dealing with for sure if yer gonna take care of a Knarl probably. Tha's the first step. Yeh treat a Knarl like a hedgehog and they could ruin yer garden."

"Are you certain Knarls are the kind of thing you want to be teaching these children about?" Umbridge pressed insistently. "You wouldn't prefer something a little more… volatile? Hmm? Like for instance… a Lizardman!" She jabbed her finger accusingly at him, certain that he had been responsible for creating the Lizardman and hoping that it would catch him off guard.

But Hagrid just looked confused. "Lizardman?" he asked. "Why, there's no such thing as a Lizardman, Professor. I'm quite certain tha' would be included in the Monster Book of Monsters if it were real. Or at the very least Fantastic Beasts an' Where Ter Find 'Em."

Umbridge seethed quietly to herself. That hadn't worked, but then again she was the one who had come up with the name Lizardman to describe that thing. Maybe Hagrid had given them a different name. She watched for a while as the students milled about the pens under close supervision from Hagrid, offering milk to the hedgehogs and stepping back quickly if one of them hissed at them. Theodore Nott tried to kick one of the Knarls when it did that and Hagrid immediately stepped forward and pulled him away, docking ten points from Slytherin and giving him a detention.

He was actually doing a good job as a Care of Magical Creatures teacher!

But Umbridge didn't bother penning any of it down, good or bad. She was too determined to catch him in the act.

"Are you certain it's wise to just have these pens open to the air like this?" she asked in a rather obvious attempt to be nonchalant. "What if a Harpy swept out of the sky and snatched one of your Knarls up for its breakfast. Wouldn't that be irresponsible towards your creatures, Mister Hagrid?"

Hagrid frowned. "Weren't yeh sayin' a few night's ago that you was attacked by Harpies?"

"Yes, yes, I was!" Umbridge pressed quickly. "But you weren't there when I said that! So how did you know, hmm?"

"Pomona told me a' the breakfast table the next day," Hagrid said simply without the slightest hint of nervousness. "Yeh sure yer okay, Professor? You know Harpies aren't a real thing, don't you?"

Umbridge's face coloured sharply when she heard some of the students snickering behind her backs, though when she wheeled around she couldn't tell which ones. They were laughing at her! Nobody believed her! This Hagrid was an amazing actor to keep playing so innocent like this but she would not have it! She would not lose to someone like him! She would find proof of his guilt if it killed her!

"If you think you can outsmart me then you severely overestimate your capabilities, you disgusting mongrel," she growled, now deliberately trying to make him angry. "I know what you're up to! I know why you've been gone so long. You've been gathering… them… haven't you? Haven't you!?"

She didn't get the reaction she was hoping for though. Instead of flaring up at the blatant insult Hagrid just looked upset. "Tha' was uncalled for, wasn't it?" he blustered. "There's no need ter be throwin' aroun' name-calling like tha'. What did I ever do ter yeh ter make yeh hate me so much, Professor?"

Umbridge just stood there fuming until Hagrid eventually let the matter drop and returned to the class, though now considerably downtrodden and obviously hurt by her words.

"I think it was a good idea not to let Hagrid in on what we were doing after all," Hermione whispered to Ron as they fed milk to a couple of hedgehogs. "Those reactions were so genuine… and it's making her madder."

"Good call from Mavis," Ron agreed. "She looks like she's reaching the breaking point."

And that certainly seemed to be the case. Umbridge stood around sulking for the rest of the lesson, as well as looking all over the place for any sign of an incoming attack but there was nothing. No werewolf, no Lizardman… but she wasn't about to let that fool her. She wanted to head right back up to the castle then but she also didn't want to walk on her own across the grounds again so she waited until the class ended so she could walk behind the students instead. She kept glancing over her shoulders at Hagrid suspiciously as she went, hoping to spot something that would give him away, but he seemed to just be taking care of the Knarls instead.

And quite abruptly, as they were walking by the edge of the lake, something surged out of the water and wrapped around Umbridge's ankle, yanking her off her feet and dragging her across the shore in the space of a moment. The students whirled around to see what was going on at her sudden screams, but by that time she was already half in and quickly vanished beneath the surface.

She struggled and kicked and twisted herself around in the water just in time to see what was holding her. A merperson, holding a strand of kelp like a whip in one hand and what appeared to be a sword in the other. But it didn't look like the merpeople of this lake at all. It was much more human like on its top half, like a woman with short and scraggly blond hair… and it's tail didn't have the usual fish-scales. It was smooth and grey, with more pronounced fins. And when the mermaid grinned, Umbridge's heart almost stopped when she saw the size and sharpness of her vicious looking teeth.

It was like she was a shark mermaid!

And she wasn't alone. Three others were swooping up from the depths with swords in hand, their tails swishing from side to side instead of up and down, teeth bared and weapons raised as they homed in on the High Inquisitor with hungry eyes! Umbridge panicked and screeched, thrashing her limbs as the other one reeled her out of the shallows towards deeper water, but this time she did still have her wand and drew it from her waist, firing quick jets of boiling water down at the incoming mermaids. They twisted and reeled aside, just in time for Umbridge to cut the kelp and scrabble herself back onto land, hacking and spitting water for the second time that week!

This time a couple of the Slytherins did run in to help her, including Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. "Are you all right, Professor?" Pansy asked, though she quickly backed away because of how soaked through Umbridge now was. "What was that?"

"Shark maids! It was shark maids!" Umbridge babbled quickly. "Mermaids that were half sharks! Disgusting, vile, repulsive…"

"Like sharks?" Zabini frowned. "That's not a thing, is it?"

"No, it's not," Daphne Greengrass shook her head. "There's only two kinds of mermaids and none of them have anything shark-like about them."

"I'm telling you, they were! They were going to eat me, I know it!" Umbridge shouted. "One of them pulled me under with a whip thing and they had swords and…"

"Are you sure it wasn't that, Professor?" Daphne pointed out across the lake, and when Umbridge looked she saw the tentacles of the Hogwarts Giant Squid rising up from the surface of the water not far away, its body surging up just enough to give the students a look with its enormous eye before sinking back beneath the water once again.

"Looks like the Giant Squid was just messing with you a little, Professor," Daphne snickered. After all, the Squid was a domesticated one and posed no threat to students or staff alike unless they tried to attack it. Though it was known for randomly plucking students from the banks and dragging them in every now and then. It seemed to amuse it. And so everybody immediately agreed with Daphne's summation - that was logically what must have happened.

"No! It was not! It was not the Squid, it was…" Umbridge blustered, but she could already tell that she wasn't about to convince anybody of what she'd seen here either. Screaming in frustration she shoved those closest to her aside and dashed towards the castle ahead of them, consumed in a combination of rage and fear. Now she was absolutely and completely certain that Hagrid had something to do with that! For an attack to happen so soon after she'd insulted him! It could not be a coincidence! But how… how… how had he done it!?

And what if that wasn't the only attack, there might be another any second! She had to get back to her office! Had to lock herself in quick before something else happened to her!

Scurrying up the stairs, and pushing students aside as they hurried to their next classes, Umbridge found her eyes roaming all about her wildly; raking the walls, the ceiling… everywhere in search of the creatures that had been plaguing her. She expected any one of them to suddenly come leaping out at her at any moment, teeth and claws reaching for her throat. So far she'd been lucky to avoid being mauled by any of them but how long would it be before her luck ran out!

Had to get to safety, had to get to safety, had to get to safety!

And then, sure enough… there! She could see the werewolf up ahead, baring its teeth at her as it stalked on all fours down the banister of one of the stairs a couple of stories above with students walking past it as if nothing was there. Umbridge pulled to a screeching halt and dashed the other way just as the werewolf sprang from its perch, sailing through the air to land a mere half a metre from where Umbridge had just been, but by that time Umbridge was panically shouldering students aside and bolted behind a tapestry.

To her great relief, the secret passageway she'd discovered when she herself had been a student at this school was still there. This would get her up to the floor where her office was located quickly, and she waddled along it like Morgana herself was after her…

…only to find her way blocked about halfway along it by the Lizardman.

"GAAAAAAHHHH!" she screeched as the great reptilian beast filled the corridor before her, one great clawed hand reaching out as if seeking to crush her head. "EVERYWHERE I TURN! STUPEFY! STUPEFY! STUPEFY!" She rained red hexes at the green monster as she backed away, but it just raised its arms and took the blows without any noticeable effects. It lurched forward but Umbridge was able to slow down the sudden lunge with an Impediment Jinx just long enough for her to flee the other way once more.

By this point most of the students were already in their next classes so the stairwell was mostly empty. Fortunately the werewolf had also disappeared when she got back to the other side, but once she'd gotten to the third floor she spotted it again, standing at the far end of a corridor with its back to her. She wheeled around before it could notice her presence and bolted another way, past a large statue of Gregory the Smarmy… when a low growl from behind it caught her attention and she whirled around to look.

There was the Sphinx again, seemingly having been taking a nap behind the large statue, but now it was clambering to its feet, golden eyes locking upon the witch before it. Umbridge bolted, charging away before it could completely wake up, but as she hurtled past an open window suddenly a harpy landed on the windowsill with a loud screech and snatched at her with its talons. Only a panicked twist to the side saved Umbridge from being caught and she twisted around to scream, "REDUCTO!" The Harpy leapt out of the way just in time but the window and a large amount of the stone wall around it shattered and crumbled under the effects of the spell, almost burying Umbridge in the debris. But she hauled herself to her feet and ran on, her heart in her mouth.

She turned another corridor, and there was the werewolf again. She turned another and she could see the Sphinx stalking her. Reach the stairs again and she could see the Lizardman climbing its way up.

'They're stalking me!' she thought wildly, all but foaming at the mouth in her terror. 'They're all hunting me and me alone! None of the students! None of the other staff! It has to be the half-giant! He's out for revenge against me!'

She hurtled wildly from one place to another, trying desperately to navigate her way back to her office, but it seemed like almost every turn she took ended up being blocked by something! But eventually she found her way through and charged through it, bypassing the Sphinx moments before it leapt out at her and throwing herself into her office. She turned and bolted and barred the door with every locking spell she could think of - boarding it up and chaining the boards. And even when she'd finished there was still a hammer blow to the door from the other side that almost sent her stumbling backwards into her own fireplace in her fright!

That was it! She couldn't stay here any longer as long as those things were after her! But there was no way that she was about to let go of all the power she'd obtained at this school without a fight! Either she went, or the half-giant went!

So, with the growls and snarls of the half-breeds ringing in her ears, she lit a fire and plunged her face right into it as soon as she'd tossed in some Floo Powder.

"Minister of Magic's Office!" she screamed into the flames. "Minister! Minister Fudge, are you there!?"

* * *

"I do apologise for this unexpected interruption to your daily routine, Albus," Fudge said an hour later, rather stiffly considering who he was talking to but still quite sincerely. "But I'm afraid Dolores was most insistent that I arrive as soon as possible."

"It's quite alright," Dumbledore said reassuringly, his smile as genuine as ever as they walked up the Grand Staircase together, with a few guardsman surrounding the place. "It's probably a good thing that you're here, Cornelius. I'm afraid that Dolores has not been herself recently. She appears to have lost a good amount of the confidence she began the year with and she seems… jittery, as of late."

"Have you any idea why?"

"She has given a few explanations… but none that make any degree of sense I'm afraid."

"Well I'm certain they can't be any stranger than that talk of transformed werewolf running about the school in broad daylight she mentioned not too long ago."

"…You might want to hold that thought."

When they reached Umbridge's office, Fudge knocked upon the door lightly and an unexpectedly loud yelp from the other side made him flinch.

"Who's that!?" Umbridge's voice demanded loudly.

"Dolores, it is me," Fudge called back.

"Minster! Thank Merlin you're here. Wait one moment!"

There was the distinct sound of breaking wood and rattling chains from directly on the other side of the door, enough to make Fudge step back a little in alarm right before the door suddenly crashed open. Fudge almost recoiled at the sight of Umbridge; her eyes sunken and her face caked with sweat, her hair bedraggled and her clothes filthy from where she'd been dragged into the lake earlier. He'd been able to see from her message in the fire that she looked bad, but this was a whole different level. She looked like a wild creature that had lived alone in the forest for years and had now been backed into a corner.

"Dolores! What in the world has happened to you!?"

"I'll tell you exactly what has happened, Minister!" Umbridge cried. "It's that half-giant! He's out to get me! Him and all his filthy little freaks of friends have been dogging my footsteps for days!"

"Half-giant?" Fudge frowned. "You are referring to Rubeus Hagrid, the groundsman?"

"That's him, yes, that's the one!" Umbridge nodded vigorously. "I don't know how but he's rallied a number of other half-breeds and all but declared war on me! They chase me through the halls, they harangue me across the grounds! It's a miracle that I haven't been killed yet, Minister!"

"I feared that this would be the case," Dumbledore said with what seemed very much like genuine sadness in his voice. "Dolores, there is nobody out to get you. Hagrid is a fine, upstanding member of this faculty and has been since you were here as a student yourself."

"You know full well what he's doing, Dumbledore," Umbridge jabbed a stubby finger into his beard angrily. "Don't pretend you do not!"

"I do indeed know what he is doing. He is, at this moment, in the Forbidden Forest collecting unicorn hairs for me. I have a healthy relationship with the wandmaker Ollivander you see," Dumbledore said warmly. "And as we have one of the largest number of unicorns in the country I send batches of them through to him, for no charge of course. And Hagrid is very kindly taking the time to obtain them."

"LIES!" Umbridge cried. "He's doing no such thing! He is arranging attacks on me from a number of terrible monsters!"

"What sort of monsters?" Fudge asked bemusedly.

"All kinds of fellow half-breeds! I've been attacked by a Sphinx! By strange merpeople that look like they're part shark! By a flock of Harpies… some monstrous Lizardman… and that damnable werewolf! It's still after me, Minister! Hunting me day and night… I can't get rid of the thing!"

Fudge looked nothing short of alarmed at what Umbridge was saying… but not because he believed her. "Dolores… are you all right?"

"All right!? Of course I'm not all right, not with those things hunting me!"

"But… you are hearing what you are saying, aren't you? There's no way any of these things you're saying can be true… there's no such thing and many of them…"

"I know that's what people think but I'm telling you, they were there! Minister, don't you trust me!?"

"…Yes, Dolores. Yes, indeed I do, but…"

"Then trust me now!" Umbridge said imploringly, her fingers twitching like she was tempted to seize the front of the Minister's robes in her desperation. "Nobody believes me when I tell them what's going on but I know I'm right! I know it!"

Fudge faltered a little, completely unsure what he was supposed to think at that point. "Well…" he said slowly. "Hagrid… this wouldn't be the first time that Hagrid has been accused of attacking people with giant monsters."

"But as you'll remember, Minister," Dumbledore stated. "It has recently been discovered that it was in fact Lord Voldemort that used the monster of Salazar Slytherin to attack people back when Hagrid was expelled. And that it was an artefact of his possessing a student which did the same a few years ago. Hagrid has never once deliberately set any of his Magical Creatures onto another human being. I won't deny he has a penchant for large and dangerous beasts, but he is not the kind of person to make them attack anybody."

"That is true…" Fudge conceded. He did so very reluctantly as talking about anything to do with Voldemort to Dumbledore was something of a sore spot, but he knew that Dumbledore was definitely right this time.

"I don't think he's even the kind of person that would risk such a thing at his worst," Dumbledore added. "You saw as well as I did how devastated he was when his Hippogriff was to be executed last year, or rather two school years ago. And that was an accident in class. I highly doubt, even if he had any creatures the like of which you are describing Dolores, that he would risk their safety in such a manner."

Fudge had to admit Dumbledore was right again, but before he could say so Umbridge cut in. "He would if he hated somebody enough! A disgusting hybrid like him would surely…!"

"Dolores!" Fudge barked suddenly, cutting the startled High Inquisitor off. "Look here, Dolores, I would ask that you please at the very least keep a civil tongue in your head when speaking of other members of staff."

"Yes Minister… I'm sorry Minister…" Umbridge coughed uncomfortably. "But… don't you believe me!?"

"…I want to," Fudge said earnestly. "But… well… these accusations are quite frankly absurd. Do you not have any proof at all to back up your claims?"

"…No… no, but I'm trying to get some…"

"But you don't have any," Fudge sucked on his teeth in some discomfort. "Not even a feather from one of these Harpies or a scale from this Lizardman… and surely, you must see Dolores that it's physically impossible for a werewolf to be in a transformed state without the full moon in the night sky above. I think… maybe if you were to take a few days rest away from the castle maybe these delusions…"

"I AM NOT HAVING DELUSIONS!" Umbridge screamed, unable to contain herself anymore. "Don't you see, Minister!? This is another part of that man's… and I use 'man' in the very loosest sense of the word… scheme to discredit me and remove me from office! I may not have proof but I know I'm right! The spells I've cast upon the animals that attack me have all made contact. I was dragged out of my window by a Harpy! Almost savaged by the werewolf! I tripped over the Lizardman's tail! They're real! Real, real, real, real, real!"

"Dolores, please…"

"All right, I'll prove it! Come with me! I want to talk with that half-giant myself!" Umbridge shouted and she dashed past Fudge, Dumbledore and all of the guards behind them, making for the grand staircase with the obvious intention of hurrying down to Hagrid's Hut to interrogate him again. Fudge gave Dumbledore a somewhat helpless look, and for the first time in months it seemed that the two of them were on the same page - deciding to humour her and follow on behind her as she waddled outside.

By now students were beginning to emerge from classes once again with the express intention of heading to the Great Hall for lunch. Umbridge were smouldering with such anger that the crowd seemed to part before her like butter parts for a knife, with Dumbledore and Fudge walking on behind her. Umbridge ignored the not-so subtle whispers around her as the students debated conspiracies theories about what might be happening. She had only one person she wanted to catch out in that moment, and Hagrid had even more priority in her mind right now than Harry Potter.

So much so that when she actually came across Harry in the grounds halfway to the hut, she barely paused for an instant.

* * *

"Why are we out here, guys?" Harry asked dully a few minutes before as he was steered out of the castle by Ron, Hermione, Fred and George all together.

"Well it's clear something's been bothering you recently, so we thought you might want to go and visit Hagrid for a bit. Maybe it can take your mind off things," Hermione said.

"Yeah, and you clearly need it," Ron nodded.

"Guys, look… I appreciate your efforts but you've got to stop…" Harry started but the twins cut him off.

"Ah, ah, ah, no sir, Harry. This is non-negotiable," Fred said with a wide and all-knowing grin etched across his face.

"Besides, we have a feeling that this trip might be particularly worth your while, Harry," George agreed. "Trust us."

Harry sighed, but made no further arguments. As with everything else he'd been doing recently he barely took and of his surroundings in as they walked painstakingly slowly towards Hagrid's little house…

…until they were overtaken by Umbridge that is.

"Huh?" Harry blinked as he watched the fuming witch's departure. "Where's she going?"

"Good evening Harry," Dumbledore said politely as he walked past too. "Mr Weasleys, Miss Granger."

Harry watched the procession in considerable alarm, especially when he realised where they were going. His heart was suddenly seized by concern, for despite what he'd learned recently he still cared a great deal for his friends, and that included Hagrid. Which was why, before he really knew what was happening, he upped his pace to follow the procession down to the Hut, with his companions close behind him. All wanting to know what was about to happen.

The procession arrived outside Hagrid's house just as the enormous man emerged from the forest with several long strands of silver hair dangling from his hands, which immediately proved what Dumbledore had just been saying about what he'd been doing to Fudge. But nevertheless Umbridge marched over to him and yelled, "Tell them! Tell them about what you've been doing to me!"

"Eh?" Hagrid said in alarm, looking out at his amassing audience with confusion. "Wha's goin' on?"

"You know very well what's going on! I want you to tell the Minister about what you've been doing to me, and don't you dare bother denying it, Mister Hagrid! I know your games!"

"Is this abou' that thing yeh were talkin' to me abou' in class?" Hagrid frowned. "That thing with… wha' was it yeh said? A Lizardman?"

"That's it, yes! And the Harpies! You know about them, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, yeh mentioned 'em before. But I've never seen either o' those things before in my life."

"Don't believe him, Minister! Don't believe a word of it!"

"Dolores, I do think this has gone far enough, don't you?" Fudge sighed.

"NO! NO, I DON'T! I'M TELLING THE TRUTH! TELL THEM, HALFBREED! I KNOW IT WAS YOU!"

"Really Minister, I think this is getting out of hand," Dumbledore shook his head. "I understand the High Inquisitor has the right to inspect and dismiss my teachers, but I do not think that harassment like this is warranted at all."

"No… I quite agree with you, Albus. I'm sorry, Dolores, I really am. But I cannot simply take your word for it on such outlandish accusations and stories as these without someone who's at least willing to corroborate your story."

"BUT IT'S HIM! IT'S HIM, HE'S OUT TO GET ME!"

"Repeating it over and over again won't make it any more true," Dumbledore pointed out.

"All right then!" Umbridge shouted triumphantly. "Then how do you explain that bruise forming on his face right now!" She pointed emphatically. And even Harry could see that she had a point. Hagrid's face did indeed look a little more swollen than it had done during the Care of Magical Creatures lesson earlier. And there seemed to be a little bit of freshly congealed blood in his beard."

"…That is puzzling," Fudge conceded. "How did that happen exactly Hagrid?"

"Well…" Hagrid said, shuffling a little awkwardly.

"My guess he was struck by one of his own monstrous cross-bred creations," Umbridge crowed. "Most like the Lizardman. He looks big enough to cause damage like that."

"S'nothing like tha'," Hagrid coughed. "But… if yeh must know… I fell over Fang. Not getting any younger yeh know… and that place is kinda dark even in the middle of the day. He was chasing a squirrel and the great lummox just… got in front o' me. He's an idiot is Fang, aren't yeh boy?"

Fang the boarhound grumbled slightly rested his head on one of Hagrid's own feet as he curled up for a nap, drooling all over his boots. But while Fudge bought into the story, everyone who knew Hagrid better than that could tell that he was lying. There were tell-tale signs to watch for when Hagrid was lying. For instance, when he lied, he always looked down at his boots. And for another, he started run his hand through his beard. Which this time worked to his advantage because he could both look down at his dog and try to clean his beard of blood while lying.

So if Hagrid had received a new injury, and he hadn't tripped over Fang… how had he got it?

But even though Umbridge didn't know the tell-tale signs of a lying Hagrid, she still wasn't convinced of his innocence.

"You gigantic piece of…" she growled, but a sudden movement caught her eye and she flashed her gaze up to the roof of Hagrid's property. Her heart almost stopped when she saw the werewolf hunkering down over the top of it, crawling to the edge and salivating hungrily - its blazing gaze locked right upon her.

"THERE! THERE IT IS, MINISTER THERE!" Umbridge pointed wildly, whipping out her wand and slashing half a dozen Stunning Spells up at it. Yet with agile, twisting motions the werewolf easily dodged its way across the roof, easily avoiding her spells and moving back and forth as if it was taunting her.

In fact that was exactly what it was doing, because all anybody else could see was a deranged looking Umbridge firing spells at an empty rooftop and screaming, "YOU SEE IT, MINISTER! I'M TELLING THE TRUTH, YOU SEE!?"

"That's enough Dolores!" Fudge eventually shouted, right as the werewolf finally dove off the roof and bolted into the forest. "I'm sorry, I would like to believe what you are saying… but I do not."

"But… but Minister…"

"No more buts, Dolores. I don't want to hear them. If you are having hallucinations then perhaps you need to take a week's rest. But I will have no more talk of daylight werewolves or harpies or shark merpeople… or anything of the kind. They're not real and you are the only one here who believes they are. So please, go to Madam Pomfrey's Hospital Wing, get yourself a Calming Draught and some sleep, and let's forget this ever happened, okay?"

Umbridge was breathing so heavily she was close to inflating herself, looking imploringly into the Minister's face but there was no leeway in his gaze. She quickly looked round at all the others present, taking in the mix of concern, disbelief or disconcertion and realised that she wasn't going to get support from any of them.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed in frustration, giving Hagrid a venomous look before she stormed off towards the castle. Fudge quickly assigned two of his guards to help escort her up before turning awkwardly to Dumbledore.

"I do apologise for that," he said, with no small degree of embarrassment. "I am not certain what has come over her."

"Perhaps the responsibility of being the High Inquisitor is simply proving to be too much for her," Dumbledore suggested.

"Maybe… and I apologise to you too, Hagrid. That was very much unnecessary on her part. Dolores has… well… she's never been shy on expressing her dislike of anything she considers to be part human but she's never crossed the line so far before. We may have our differences, Dumbledore… but I will not have that."

"Well… I won' pretend that didn't hurt my feelin's…" Hagrid murmured. "But thank yeh for yer apology all the same, Minister."

"Well… I think I should be going now," Fudge coughed awkwardly. "I'll see myself out… thank you…" And he quickly turned and hurried himself away, tailed by the rest of his guards. And once he'd gone, Harry found himself filled with an immense sense of satisfaction. For the first time in days he practically felt like his old self again. How could he not, after seeing Umbridge humiliated like that right in front of her own boss?

* * *

"You know," said Ron, as they sat in the Room of Requirement later that evening. "Sometimes I forget that Fudge is actually a nice man when he's not being twisted around by fear. It was almost like we were seeing the old Fudge again today. Almost."

"Indeed," Hermione nodded. "If it were completely the old Fudge I think he would have removed Umbridge from the school on the spot after that, like he did to the Dementors after they attacked Harry. The only reason he didn't is because he still wants someone planted in the faculty that can continue to interfere in Hogwarts business. But clearly his faith in Umbridge has been severely damaged by what he just saw. This is great!"

"Good to know our work on her's been paying off," Cana snickered.

"I've got to admit," Elfman rubbed his cheek sheepishly. "I am getting a strange sense of enjoyment out of tormenting her like this… that's rather unmanly of me, isn't it?"

"Considering the crap she's been pulling around this place, I wouldn't say so," Bickslow snickered, folding away the Marauder's Map and passing it back to Fred and George. "Thanks for letting me control you, Elfman. Makes it so much easier to avoid you meeting passing students by using this thing."

"Hmm," Pantherlily nodded. "We've taken a big step today. But it's not enough if we want to get her out of here."

"What do you mean?" Fred asked. "It's been working pretty well so far."

"True," nodded Mavis. "But despite her intense paranoia and fear, Umbridge is still a cunning woman. Now that she's suffered through this fiasco in front of the Minister, she's not going to just up and call him to try and convince him that she's telling the truth without any hard evidence again, no matter how much we scare her. No, if she's to be removed from the school now we need to bait her into making a much more serious mistake in front of the Minister. Something other than just haunting her, which she won't be able to resist taking."

"That will have to be quite a big piece of bait," George murmured. "And whatever it is… it'll need to make her do something that gives Fudge no choice but to remove her."

"Indeed," Mavis nodded. "But we'll come up with something. I have a few scenarios in mind already, but all of them so far end up with at least a fifty percent chance that she will remain. If we gather construct something that gives us a ninety-percent chance that she'll be removed, then I say we go for it."

"Agreed," nodded everyone around the table fiercely. One last push to get Umbridge out… but whatever it was they needed to get it exactly right… or she'd probably end up making the school hell on earth if things went awry.

But the plan against Umbridge wasn't the only thing they had to figure out. Ron and Hermione still needed to figure out how to deal with Harry's current state of depression. His excitement at what had happened with Umbridge had not lasted very long and as soon as they'd got back to the castle he'd gone straight back to the way he'd been before, even though Umbridge's current state meant he was probably going to be able to avoid a detention that evening.

And there was the third problem.

"Hagrid may not be involved in what we're doing against Umbridge," Hermione eventually said. "But something's definitely going on with him. Umbridge was right about one thing - he didn't have that bruise to his face at the lesson earlier did he?"

"That's right, he didn't," Ron nodded. "Which means, he must have got it when he was in the Forest. And I'm betting anything it wasn't because he tripped over Fang… he's hiding something."

"So, we've got three problems to sort out at once," Hermione raised her fingers. "Problem one, getting rid of Umbridge for good. Problem two, sorting Harry out. And problem three, finding out what's going on with Hagrid… and Hagrid's sounds the easiest. I say we tackle them in reverse order."

"Oh Merlin…" Ron suddenly paled. "Does that mean we're going to have to go into the Forbidden Forest again?"

"Yes Ron. Yes, I think it does."


	56. Meeting Royalty

Apologies for another two week break. Things have been pretty hectic lately and at the end of the month I will be going on a three week holiday to Australia. I will endeavour to keep writing even while I am there, but it may be more challenging for obvious reasons.

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 56:- Meeting Royalty**

* * *

"So… the old codger's still knocking about after all."

That was Porlyusica's reaction to the photograph in her hand - the one that had been sent through the Spirit World and depicted all the members of the guild lost on Tenroujima. And in a rare display emotion from the old woman, there were actually tears in her eyes. After all, she'd been almost as devastated as the rest of them when she'd heard about what had happened six years ago. And for the first time in a long while, she actually felt a pulse of joy running through her weary body.

Yukino had left earlier that day, departing to find Sting and Rogue so they could head back to the guild, albeit with a fresh letter clutched in her hands as she went. And the entire Fairy Tail guild had headed out in force to the forest in order to meet with Porlyusica and give her the news.

When they'd got there she'd been hopping mad! Shouting and yelling at them to clear off and that she'd never had such a big disturbance as all of them together before.

But that all changed in an instant when Macao showed her the photograph and the original letter that Yukino had delivered to them before.

"I was sure," Porlyusica whispered. "Sure that there had to be some mistake. That Makarov must have survived somehow, along with all of his beloved children. I admit after so long my hopes really were beginning to die. But now… I can scarcely believe it."

"It's a miracle indeed," Macao nodded. "But we still need your help if we're going to return them all to where they belong."

"And you felt the need to all come and tell me this, did you?" Porlyusica raised a brow. "You couldn't have just sent one or two of you to deliver the message."

"Well… yes, we could have…" Macao conceded before Romeo decided to interrupt him.

"…But we all wanted to know your answer as soon as possible. We just couldn't wait."

"Answer?" Porlyusica asked with a frown. "Answer to what exactly?"

"To whether you can get us to Edolas of course."

"Edolas? Why in the world would you want to go there?"

"Because we think that's where the answer to getting them home might lie," Macao grinned.

"All this time and I had absolutely no idea that you were from Edolas yourself," Wakaba murmured. "Though I suppose it makes sense. I don't think I've ever seen you do any magic apart from your medicine."

"Makarov told you, did he?" Porlyusica glowered, rubbing the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Honestly, he's locked in another universe and he's still somehow managing to be a pain in my butt. That was not his secret to tell."

"Under most circumstances I'm sure he would have taken that to the grave if you wanted him to," said Jet. "But these aren't normal circumstances. This could mean the difference between getting them back and never seeing them again."

"Surely you don't mind if it's all in the name of returning them home," Droy agreed.

"Oh I mind," Porlyusica glared at them, making the both of them cower. "I mind very much! My own life is my own business after all! I don't suppose you'd like it if some of your secrets were spilled out to everyone you know in a letter, would you?" She stood back and sighed deeply, appearing to take a steadying breath and get control of herself before going on. "But… if it is for the sake of reuniting the guild then I suppose I will let it slide, just this once."

"Hopefully the day will come when you can give him an earful for it yourself," Bisca smiled, bouncing Asuka lightly in her arms.

"…That is a day that I look forward to greatly," Porlyusica allowed a light smile to creep back to her face. "But you still haven't told me exactly why it is that you want to go to Edolas."

"It's the Master's idea… the Third Master that is, not this undignified Fourth," Wakaba smirked, chuckling when he saw a vein appear in Macao's forehead. "He thinks if we can get Mystogan to come back to Earthland he might be able to fashion another massive portal that we can use to bring the others back."

"The one they had managed to suck up an entire town after all," Warren agreed.

"Hmm," Porlyusica frowned. "That doesn't sound like something that could be achieved at all quickly."

"No… but it's the only plan we have at the moment," Macao said sombrely. "And if we can't get to Edolas… then we're just going to be back to square one with no ideas at all."

"Oh, very well then. Yes, I am from Edolas. And before you ask the answer is no. I do not know exactly how it was that I got here. It happened when I was young, testing out a new magical item back home with one of my friends designed to create powerful vibrations in the earth or in the air to create small earthquakes or pulses and the next thing I knew I was in a completely new world. I do not know why, and I have never tried too hard to figure it out."

"You mean… you don't know of any modus operandi that we can potentially skedaddle to the alternate totality?" asked Laki concernedly.

"Would you please speak normally?" Porlyusica barked irritably. "Whenever I talk to you I have to work out exactly what it is you're saying."

"She asked if you don't know any ways for us to get to Edolas," Kinana translated while Laki pouted.

"Well why didn't she just say that?" Porlyusica sighed. "But in any case, I didn't say that I didn't know of any ways. As it happens… I might just have one."

"You do?" Macao asked with sudden excitement.

"What is it? You've gotta show us," Warren agreed quickly.

"Wait out here," Porlyusica declared, before turning around and slamming the door to her hut behind her. For a good couple of minutes the Fairy Tail members were just left standing there in suspense, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other and biting their lips in anticipation. They could hear Porlyusica shuffling about inside but couldn't make out exactly what it was that she was doing… until she finally stepped outside once again. And in her arms was a bunch of wooden rods… no, they were staffs.

Five of them.

"Wait a second…" Jet frowned. "I recognise those things."

"You do? From what?" Droy asked.

"It was one time where I'd headed out to one of the town's bookshops to get a new rune book for Levy," Jet said. "I ran back fast… well, of course fast - you know me… but when I got back to the guild it was to find almost everyone sound asleep. The only exceptions were the Master and a man in a dark cloak that I guessed had to be Mystogan. I didn't see anything but his back, but I got a good look because my high speed allowed me to rush into the right place before his Sleep Magic overtook me too. And he was wearing those five staffs on his back. They're Mystogan's staffs!"

"You are right and wrong at the same time," Porlyusica said as she laid the staffs carefully out on the ground side by side. "These staffs were created by Mystogan but they were not the ones he himself used. However, they do the exact same things that his staffs could do which means anyone using them can employ the same magic as Mystogan. If they have the know-how."

"Why do you have those?" Alzack asked.

"Mystogan was a bright man," Porlyusica said. "He visited me on occasion, much to my chagrin. It didn't take him long to figure out that I was from Edolas just like he was. He told me that he was from Edolas but made me promise to keep that a secret so I did. He asked me the same questions everyone else who knew always asked me, about whether I wanted to go home or whether I was happy living here on Earthland. And while I gave him the same answer I gave everyone else - told him that I was perfectly happy living here and actually preferred it to Edolas - he still insisted on making these for me just in case I ever changed my mind."

"Changed your mind?" Macao whispered. "So you're saying… these staffs can get us to Edolas?"

"Naturally they can. You know Mystogan was going around Fiore closing Anima breaches opened from his home world by now, do you not? How do you think he did that - by wishing upon a star? No, he forged his staffs with the ability to channel the Anima magic to a degree where he could open and close small portals from this side. And so he gave this spare set to me should I ever desire to leave Earthland behind and return to my original homeworld. And he even gave me instructions on how do it."

This last sentence sparked a mighty roar of approval from the assembled mages - fists pumping into the air and bellowing with delight. None of them had really been getting their hopes up about this if they were honest, but Porlyusica had just blown things out of the water. If they could use these things to get to Edolas then that meant that Makarov's idea to request Mystogan to build another Anima might not be such a wishful one after all!

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Macao asked. "We should head their immediately! The sooner we find Mystogan the sooner we can get the ball rolling."

"All of you?" Porlyusica raised a brow. "You all intend to go? Are you crazy?"

"If it's to get our friends back, we'll be as crazy as we have to be!" Alzack declared.

"Well that's good to know," the apothecary snorted. "But would you all die for it?"

There was a sudden wall of silence.

"…Die?" Macao asked hesitantly. "What do you mean? We don't intend to die for this."

"Well, you would if you went to Edolas," Porlyusica said pointedly.

"We would? Why?"

"Use your brains!" Porlyusica cried. "What happened to Edolas when that boy Natsu and the others went there?"

"It… lost all of it's magic power, right?" Romeo asked.

"Exactly," Porlyusica nodded. "Edolas is a world now completely devoid of magic. All of its magical beings were dragged right out of it and into this world as I recall. If you were to set foot in it now, your magic would be drained out of your body and you would almost immediately be struck down with magic deficiency disease. You'd be left weak, helpless, barely able to move… and if you didn't get more magic into you quickly you would most likely die."

That statement seemed to create a wall of silence around the assembled Fairy Tail members as they digested the news. Even after all they'd heard about Edolas it was pretty hard to digest… the idea of a world without any magic in it whatsoever. It was actually quite terrifying.

"But hold on," Laki frowned, and for once she was able to abandon her usual odd manner of speaking. "Why didn't Natsu and Wendy get magical deficiency disease when they went there? They went for several days before they received that medicine thing which gave them the ability to use magic there."

"That was when Edolas still had magic, which meant the magic power they already had in their bodies stayed put," Porlyusica related. "Edolas' magic was different to Earthland's but still similar. They still had Ethernano but it was not a self-replicating kind which made it a finite resource. And because the humans of Edolas have no magical containers within their bodies, Edolas Ethernano couldn't be absorbed by humans. There was no magical flow in or out of Natsu and Wendy's body with that type of Ethernano in the air, so the magical power they had when they entered Edolas was locked inside their bodies, preventing them from losing it but unable to use it.

"Until Mystogan's X-balls provided their bodies with the ability to absorb Edolas Ethernano and create the flow once more. It was a medicine of his own invention, but he told me he hoped never to have to use it. But now, Edolas has no magic. X-balls won't be able to provide you with the ability to use magic in a world that has no Ethernano at all. That's not how they work."

"So…" Warren said drearily. "We need to find Mystogan to try and get our friends back… but if we try to find him we'd die in the attempt?"

"That's about the size of it, yes," Porlyusica nodded. "Technically I could go myself since I am from Edolas and have no magical container, but opening the portal is a tricky process and since it requires magic it can only be done from Earthland. So I would need to stay behind to make sure anyone that went through a portal could come back again. But the point is moot seeing as there's nobody else here who…"

"What about me?"

Everyone turned at once to lock eyes on Kinana, who had been the one to speak. She stepped forward into the middle of the group, one hand over her heart, and repeating. "What about me? I have no magic power. Mirajane started to try and teach me before she left for Tenroujima but I didn't get far. I never reached the stage where I could successfully absorb Ethernano in large quantities and I haven't really tried to learn magic since. So… doesn't that mean I could go to find Mystogan?"

"Kinana, no," Bisca shook her head and placed a hand on the purplette's shoulder. "It's too risky."

"Actually, she has a point," Porlyusica cupped her chin in one hand thoughtfully. "All humans on Earthland have the potential to use magic and Ethernano flows through everyone's bodies, but you haven't figured out how to make them stay put and become magical power, have you?"

"No, I haven't," Kinana shook her head. "I was still trying to figure things out when Mirajane left and… I guess I've been too busy ever since to really pick it up again."

"Too busy running around and looking after all of us," Nab murmured, with a slight smile that was shared by all the others.

"So, if I were to go to Edolas, would I get magical deficiency disease?" Kinana asked, looking at Porlyusica intently.

"…No… I don't believe you would," the old lady replied.

"Then that's what I'm going to do!"

"Whoa, Kinana…" Macao raised his hands. "Slow down? You want to go to a completely different universe all by yourself?"

"Yes," Kinana nodded firmly. "If we're trying to keep all this quiet then I am the only one we know who can. Everyone else we were talking about telling has magic as well so they'd all be in the same boat as you guys. But I can go… and I want to. I want to do everything in my power to bring the others home, whatever it takes. And if this is something only I can do… then I will happily do it!"

"It could be dangerous," Wakaba warned. "We have no idea what Edolas is like now."

"I'll take my chances. Master Makarov provided me with a home, and though I wasn't there long before the others disappeared they were all wonderful to me. There's no way I can sit back and do nothing now if there's a chance I can help them."

"Kinana, you're such a generous spirit!" Vijeeter cried with tears in his eyes, dancing erratically on the spot.

"Oui, so kind," Reedus agreed, furiously painting Kinana's determined face right then and there. "So benevolent."

"You've been running around doing nothing but looking after us for six whole years and now you're doing it for people who aren't even here," Alzack smiled. "Sometimes Kinana, I don't know what we would have done without you to pick up the pieces for us all."

Kinana blushed, especially when Laki ran over and glomped her, but she kept up her determined smile.

"I still think it's risky," Macao muttered. "And I don't like the idea of sending one of our own out into the unknown without any magic or equipment to defend herself with. But… if you're sure, Kinana…"

"I'm sure."

"…Then I suppose I can't object. After all, you're not an official member of my guild. I can't order you to stay," Macao smiled thinly. "All I can do is wish you luck, Kinana."

"Thank you, Master." Kinana bowed her head and curtsied at the same time, before turning determinedly to Porlyusica to the sound of Vijeeter, Jet and Droy all bawling their eyes out at her generosity. "So… how will this work?"

"Well first you should go and pack a few things to take with you, like provisions," Porlyusica replied. "I know how to activate the portal to Edolas but I have no idea where in Edolas you'd end up. You could be quite some distance from the capital."

"Okay then," Kinana nodded, squaring her shoulders in readiness. "Let's do it."

* * *

The guild members reconvened outside Porlyusica's house a couple of hours later, with Kinana now wearing a mid-sized backpack containing as much food as they could find that wouldn't spoil quickly. By this time, Porlyusica had already set up the staffs - four of them jutting out of the ground to form the four corners of a wide square and the other held in her hands, ready for use.

"All right then," Porlyusica said, tapping the staff against her hand rhythmically. "Are you completely sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," Kinana nodded firmly. "I have to play my part."

"Very well. In that case, let me explain what will happen. I cannot keep the portal open at all times as that requires a lot of magical power to accomplish. But I am pretty sure that if I leave the staffs where they are, every time I open the portal here it will open in the same place in Edolas. Which means when you wish to return, you will have to find your way back to the exact same spot you arrived, wherever that might be."

"Understood."

"We will also have no way with communicating with you while you are over there," Porlyusica continued. "We don't have a handy messaging system through the Spirit World to get to Edolas. So since we have no way of knowing when you will want to return, I will open the portal once day at exactly six in the evening for two minutes. If you haven't come through by then I'll assume you aren't going to on that day and close it for another twenty-four hours."

"Right."

"I will do that for one month," Porlyusica added gravely. "If you're not back within a month… I will have to assume you never will be."

Kinana took a deep breath, gripping the straps of her backpack and nodding. "Okay then. I understand. Let's do it."

"Good luck, Kinana!" Laki cried.

"Do your best. That's all we can ask of you," Macao nodded.

"If you see our Edo-selves over there, do say hello won't you?" Max grinned.

"I bet your Edo-self hasn't gotten fat over the years, Droy," Jet smirked.

"Shut up! This is muscle, not fat!"

"Goodbye everyone," Kinana smiled. "I promise you… I will come back. And I'll try my hardest to make sure we have a way to get our friends back when we do."

She then turned to Porlyusica, who was already preparing the spell. She had lifted the staff in her hands high above her head and was twirling it in a set of complex patterns at high speed, spinning it over and doubling it back, occasionally jabbing one end or the other into the ground and muttering constantly to herself as she did. Kinana could easily see what she meant when she'd said it was complicated. No wonder she had to stay behind if she was the only one who could work the magic.

But after almost a minute of non-stop motions, the old lady lunged forwards to stab the staff into the ground right in the centre of the square. Energy flashed inwards from all the other staffs to congeal around the one in the middle, and as the energy swirled around the staff it began to peel away and swirl into a vortex of clouds in thin air right in front of the group. They watched in awe as that vortex seemed to peel back the fabric of reality itself until it became a dark, black hole in the air.

The portal to Edolas had been opened!

"Now's the time, young one," Porlyusica gave Kinana a nod. The young purplette hesitated for a moment - it was a very intimidating looking hole after all. But her resolve did not waver… so she took a single deep breath and bolted forwards, leaping straight into the vortex with a single bound.

There was absolutely no way that she could hope to describe what happened next. So many colours and lights danced around her that the only words she could think to describe them was a kaleidoscope, but even that didn't seem to do it justice. She felt like she was rushing forwards at the speed of light with no clear destination in sight… and yet somehow when the end finally did come she was able to land on her feet. Though she did end up stumbling forwards several metres as if she'd been shoved hard in the back before dropping to her hands and knees in the sand.

Wait… the sand?

She looked up quickly and saw… yes… it looked like she was on the very edge of a desert! There were no deserts in Fiore so this was a little disconcerting, but nonetheless it seemed to be enough proof to her that she'd made it.

Edolas… she was there!

She looked around, taking in the spot where she'd landed. The portal was still swirling around behind her but just on the other side of it were three palm trees bunched together and next to that a large boulder. But in front of her, maybe about three hundred yards away, was a small town with a wall around it. And… that was more or less it. There were no massive islands hovering in the sky or rivers winding their way through the clouds like the others had described, but that was hardly surprising since this was a world without magic now. Honestly, it all looked pretty unremarkable… but the fact that this was a completely alternate world still made it so in Kinana's view.

And it did… feel… different somehow. Kinana couldn't really describe it but even though she couldn't use magic she could still somehow sense that she wasn't surrounded by it anymore… there was an odd emptiness here without any Ethernano flowing through her body. But she wasn't keeling over in exhaustion so that was a plus. No magic deficiency disease for her.

Suddenly the portal winked out of existence… and Kinana was alone. She was gripped by a sudden nervousness… she couldn't remember ever being on her own in the middle of nowhere, but then again she could remember almost nothing from before Makarov had found her.

"Okay…" she said aloud to herself. "Let's think this through. Porlyusica said I'd need to return to this spot… three palm trees and rock… sounds like a good marker… but there are other clumps of palm trees around here so…"

She drew a knife from her backpack that Laki had suggested she pack and stepped over to start scratching into the side of the rock. She quickly discovered she wasn't very good at rock carving, but she was still able to scratch out an awkward stick-version of the Fairy Tail symbol.

"There," she smiled when she'd finished. "Thank goodness I didn't land in the middle of an ocean. That would have been more awkward. But that'll be a good way of marking it… as long as I can remember the name of that town. I suppose I should head there next to find out what it's called… and how to get to the Capital."

Nobody seemed to have noticed the portal's appearance and when Kinana got to the town nobody seemed to pay much attention to her. Why would they - they had no way of knowing just how foreign she was.

She spotted a stall owner nearby and quickly made her way over to him. "Hello," she said brightly. "Um… could you tell me what town I'm in?"

"Lost, are you?" the stall owner asked, and Kinana was relieved that he seemed to be friendly.

"Well, something like that," Kinana smiled. "I'm trying to find my way to the Royal Capital? Can you tell me where I am and how to get there please? I'd be so grateful."

"Well, you're not exactly close to it. You're in Louen right now, and the Royal Capital is over two-hundred miles from here."

"Oh… that's unfortunate," Kinana mused. "In that case, do you think you could tell me the quickest way to get there? Is there some kind train that I could use to take me there quickly?"

"Trains?" the stall owner frowned. "Just how lost are you? Don't you know trains haven't made it out here yet? Trains were an idea that King Jellal took from Earthland, but since we only cracked how to use transport with electrical power instead of magic a couple of years ago the railway construction hasn't yet reached this side of Whale Bay. But we're looking forward to when it does, which should be in the next couple of years with any luck."

"Oh… right. Well then how can I get to the capital as quickly as possible?"

"Well, you'll have to wait a couple of days but we'll get getting a supply run from the capital arriving by Legion," the stall owner smiled. "King Jellal has the royal army working hard to supply all the outlying towns like this with everything they need until more reliable transport can be set up. He's such a considerate man. I actually prefer things the way they are now to when we had magic! Can you believe that?"

'Wow,' Kinana thought to herself. 'I guess Mystogan's been busy in the last six years. Hardly surprising, but it looks like he's doing well in building this society back up from near collapse. I hope he'll be able to spare the time to help us out…"

"Okay then," she said aloud, with a bright smile. "In that case, do you think you could point me in the direction of a cheap place to spend two nights? I'll see if the Royal Army would be willing to take me with them to the capital."

"They don't usually take people with them though," the stall-keeper warned. "You might find yourself disappointed."

"I very much hope not. After all… I've got urgent business with the King."

* * *

Yukino hummed to herself as she strode across the winding path through the plains outside of Magnolia. She had to admit it had been quite some time since she had just enjoyed a long walk out in the open country. But this time she had little alternative since Sting and Rogue refused to catch a train back to the guild and since they only had two Exceed it would be impossible for all three of them to fly back together. So if they all wanted to arrive back at the same time and make it look like they'd never split up, they would need to walk.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Yukino," Rogue remarked over his shoulder.

"Well I rather think I am," Yukino smiled. "I think I may have just made a serious difference in the lives of the Fairy Tail guild. How can I be anything other than happy about that?"

"She's got a point," Sting grinned, which took Yukino a little by surprise until he added, "If Fairy Tail don't at least get a good score in the next Grand Magic Games when Natsu-san and the others return then I'd be very disappointed."

"But of course our guild will still crush them," Lector smirked confidently.

"Oh naturally," Sting laughed. "It's inevitable."

Yukino sighed to herself. "Is that really all you think about Sting-sama?" she asked. "Is there no part of you that's glad that what we're doing might be reuniting a family?"

Sting wrinkled his nose a little. "Not really. If you ask me, Fairy Tail should have ceased to exist in this world when all the guys on Tenroujima vanished. They were all the strong ones - all the ones who could actually provide something to the guild. Who made it so famous. Those guys we saw back there were sorry excuses for mages by comparison. They don't deserve the Fairy Tail name or their mark. Not one of them would ever make the cut at Sabertooth. That much is clear."

Yukino pursed her lips and turned to the other Dragon Slayer. "What about you, Rogue-sama? What do you think?"

Rogue said nothing for a while. But when he did speak the only thing he said was:-

"I don't particularly care. I'm only doing this because I don't have anything better to really be doing."

"Fro thinks so too."

But Yukino didn't think so too. She thought she could detect the very slightest of tremors in Rogue's voice when he spoke. Was it possible that there were some altruistic reasons for his actions, rather than just hoping for a chance to fight against Gajeel as Sting thought to be the case.

She didn't have time to press him though because Sting suddenly pointed up ahead and cried, "Oh look. I think we've arrived."

He was right. There in the distance was a large white stone building at the edge of a small market town. And as they got closer they saw the big pink sign hanging over the doorway:-

'LOVE &amp; LUCKY'

"So this is a merchant's guild, is it?" Rogue asked. "I don't think I've ever seen one before."

"Isn't the sign a bit girly?" Lector snickered. "What would a Fairy Tail mage's father be doing living here?"

"Fro doesn't know either."

"Ssh," Sting placed a finger to his lips. "We need to keep quiet about that remember. We're not supposed to be letting people know that Fairy Tail are still alive."

"Um…" Yukino interrupted before Lector could reply. "Why are there guards outside?"

That question brought the Dragon Slayers up short and they realised that Yukino was right. There were several men standing on either side of the doors beneath the sign. Men in full armour and carrying spear and shield. And the shields and their uniforms were adorned with distinctive yellow and blue colours that identified who they were straight away.

"Those guys are from the Royal Army of Fiore," Sting blinked. "What the hell are they doing all the way out here?"

"Who knows?" Rogue shrugged. "Guess we'll have to go out and ask them. They are standing outside the building we want to get into after all."

Yukino nodded, a little nervous at the prospect of interacting with the Royal Army but knowing she had to plough on ahead regardless. The group stepped up to the doors and as they approached two of the guards crossed their spears to block their way forward.

"Who are you?" one of them demanded. "What do you want here?"

"You seriously don't know who we are?" Sting scoffed, jabbing at the white insignia on his forehead. "We're the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth of course! Are you telling me you've never watched Rogue and I kicking ass at the Grand Magic Games before?"

"They're right!" gasped one of the guards. "They are the Twin Dragons!"

"Oh wow!" cried another.

"This is amazing," yelled a third.

"Can I have your autograph?"

"I thought you guys were awesome in the last games."

Yukino sweatdropped slightly as Sting revelled in their praise while Rogue looked mildly uncomfortable. It seemed being famous fighters for the most powerful guild in the country definitely did have its perks.

But the noise of the guards evidently attracted attention inside because the doors suddenly opened and a tall man with messy black hair, a goatee and a long nose stepped out. He was dressed in full armour plating with a white cloak and a massive broadsword at his side. His appearance made all the soldiers quieten instantly.

"What's going on out here?" the new man demanded, his voice deep and very rich.

"Captain Arcadios!" the nearest guard saluted. "Look. It's the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth!"

"So it is," the man, Arcadios, mused. His eyes tracked from Sting to Rogue a couple of times before they settled on Yukino. "And you are?"

"Um…" Yukino jumped slightly but calmed herself quickly and said, "I'm Yukino Aguria, Captain Arcadios-sama. I'm also a mage of Sabertooth, though I hadn't joined yet during the last Games.

"I see. A pleasure to meet you, but what brings three mages from Sabertooth… and two cats… to Love and Lucky?"

"Well… we actually have an important letter to deliver to a man that we think lives here," Yukino said, drawing the letter out from within her cloak as proof. "A man called Jude Heartfilia?"

Arcadios raised a brow. "Who is the letter from?" he asked.

Yukino hesitated. "Um… it's… actually quite a private letter. I don't think I can just… tell you."

"I see…" Arcadios hummed, stroking his goatee lightly. "Then I suppose I can deliver it to him if you wish." He held out his hand, but Yukino just clutched it closer to her chest protectively.

"I'm sorry… but I'd really rather be there when he reads it. He… might have questions that I can answer for him."

Arcadios wrinkled his long nose slightly. "…Very well," he said slowly. "I suppose Mages of Sabertooth can be considered trustworthy, especially when two of them are so famous. But only one of you can come in. The others will have to remain outside."

"No problem," Sting said, placing his hands behind his head casually. "Yukino can go in. We've not got a lot of investment in this stuff but she has."

Arcadios nodded and gestured for Yukino to come forward. The Celestial Spirit Mage shuffled towards him as the guards moved their spears to let her pass, while Arcadios held the door open to let her through. He closed it behind him immediately, and Yukino looked around at the tills and the merchants shuffling paperwork on the other side with interest before Arcadios strode past her towards the stairs.

"Jude Heartfilia's room is on the second floor," he said. "Follow me and I'll take you to him."

"O… Okay," Yukino nodded, hurrying after him quickly but it took until they reached the top of the stairs before she could finally ask the burning question. "Um… Captain Arcadios-sama… can I ask… why are you here exactly? Why are there Royal Army guards outside a merchant's guild? Is it being threatened by someone?"

"No," Arcadios shook his head, chuckling slightly and giving Yukino an amused smile. "It is not the guild we're protecting… it's the person who chose the same day as you to come and visit Jude Heartfilia."

He suddenly pushed open a door and gestured for Yukino to step inside. The white-haired girl did so hesitantly… and her jaw dropped when she saw who was inside. There was a single bed with a blond-haired man lying on it swaddled in the covers, but it wasn't the man that astonished Yukino. It was the young woman with long green hair sitting on a chair by his bedside, wearing a short white dress, a large pendant necklace and a golden tiara with a large red ruby set in the centre on her forehead.

"Oh, hello," the woman smiled when Yukino entered. "Who are you?"

"P… P… Princess Hisui E. Fiore!?" Yukino gaped in abject shock. She couldn't scarcely believe it but she'd seen pictures of King Toma and his daughter before and there was absolutely no mistaking who this person was. She was the princess and the heir to the whole country, and she was currently looking her right in the eye with an amused smile.

"No, that's my name," Hisui giggled. "I wanted to know what your name was."

"Oh… oh right… um… my name is Yukino…"

"What a lovely name," Hisui smiled. "And you obviously know who I am so I have no need to introduce myself. But since you were surprised to see me in here, shall I assume I'm not the person you came to talk to."

"Um…" Yukino tried to recover herself. "That's… that's right Princess Hisui Sama Princess Sama…" She shook her head vigorously and focused on the man in the bed instead. "Um… you're Jude Heartfilia?"

"I am…" said the man, and his voice was extremely gravelly… and rather weak. For the first time Yukino noticed how pale he looked. He was in his nightclothes and breathing quite heavily, and she could see a few beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Are you okay?" Yukino asked, her nervousness abating when she saw his condition.

"Not really," Jude coughed. "You can probably tell I'm not feeling my best right now."

"Jude fell ill a couple of weeks ago," Hisui explained with a sad smile. "That's why I'm here. As the former owner of the Heartfilia Konzern, Jude is an old friend of the family so I couldn't not visit."

"And of course wherever the Princess goes, an escort of guards goes with her," Arcadios added.

"Yes, it does make things a little inconvenient for other people when I visit places," Hisui sighed. "But still, I had to come."

"That's very kind of you," Yukino dipped her head respectfully. "I hope you don't mind me dropping in like this, Hisui-hime-sama…"

"Not at all."

"So…" Jude heaved a breath and did his best to sit up, which clearly took some effort but Hisui was there to help him do so. "What business do you have with my, young lady?"

"Oh, well…" Yukino coughed. "I… have a letter for you."

"A letter?" Jude frowned. "You came to give me a letter? Could you not have just put it in the post?"

"I could, yes…" Yukino nodded. "But… it's a bit complicated to explain but you'll need me here if you want to send a reply. Um… and… and it's quite a… private letter," she added sheepishly, glancing up at the Princess awkwardly. How was she supposed to ask the Princess of Fiore herself if she could leave the room?

It turned out she wouldn't have to.

"Whatever it is, I am certain Hisui can be privy to it as well," Jude said firmly. Even on his sickbed he had a demeanour that brooked absolutely no argument from anyone. Which was why Yukino's hand almost immediately shot out to pass the letter to him.

"O…okay then…" she swallowed as he took it from her. "Um… in that case I should probably tell you before you open it. It… it's from your daughter."

Jude froze, going deathly still. He stared at Yukino in silence, his eyes wide and totally unblinking. Not a muscle in his body seemed to twitch so for a moment it almost looked like he'd been frozen in time. But eventually he let out a single word in such a faint croak that Yukino hardly heard him:-

"Lucy?"

Yukino nodded wordlessly and Jude's gaze tracked down to the letter in his hands. His hands started shaking a little and Yukino wondered if he might actually be about to have a fit. But then he tried to open the letter only for his hands to fumble and poke at it ineffectually. Eventually Hisui gently laid a hand over his own to steady him and delicately pulled the letter from his grasp. The Princess looked almost as shocked as Jude himself, but she was able to gently unfold the letter in front of him and began to read aloud:-

**'****Father,**

**I hope you're well. This is a little awkward for me considering how we left things but I figured you deserved to know that I am alive. Sometimes it's difficult even for me to wrap my head around exactly what happened six years ago but I can tell you that I did not die on Tenroujima that day. Nobody from Fairy Tail did. It's all a bit complicated, but we were shielded at the last minute from the dragon's attack by a magic spell that froze us in time for six years. And now, through unknown circumstances, we have managed to get stuck in an alternate dimension.**

**I know, it's crazy. But if you want proof it's me… remember that time where Spetto spilled vinegar all over Mama's favourite dress? She was so panicked and Mama just shrugged it off like it was nothing.**

**To cut a long and complicated story short, we are now trying to find a way back home. The reason I am able to send this letter to you is because of Yukino. We are both Celestial Spirit Mages so my Spirits graciously agreed to pass this letter onto hers, and so on until it reached you. If you want to reply you'll need to write with paper and ink from the Spirit World, as only they can be transported through different gates.**

**Anyway, that's the situation. We've already contacted the rest of the Fairy Tail guild. With any luck we'll be able to return to Earthland in the near future… and when we do… I would like to see you. It hasn't been that long for me since we last saw each other but it's been a long time for you. Six years is a long time to gain some perspective. We didn't exactly leave things on the greatest of terms and, I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I think… I am willing to give you another chance. But only if you still want to try it.**

**I hope to see you soon, and I mean that sincerely,**

**Lucy.'**

Throughout all that, Jude's face went through multiple different expressions. At first disbelief, and then shock, and then his eyes began to brim with tears. The Spetto story was more than enough to convince him that it really was Lucy and from what he could see it matched her handwriting exactly. By the time Hisui had finished tears were pouring down his face and he had to cover them up with his hands.

"Lucy…" he whispered hoarsely. "It really is her… she's really alive…"

"The letter came with this," Yukino said softly, and she placed a single photograph on his lap. One that contained just Lucy giving the camera an uneasy smile and flashing a peace sign with her fingers." Jude clutched at it, mouthing the words 'She hasn't aged a day' but seeming too emotional to actually make the sounds. He pressed the photograph to his chest and almost hugged it as if he was embracing the real thing.

"Thank the gods…" he rasped gruffly, rubbing at his eyes. "Thank the gods… thank the gods… my daughter is alive. I knew it… I was so sure… but now… thank you, young lady…" he looked up at Yukino with eyes shining and in that moment he looked almost ten years ago. "Thank you… so much…"

Once again Yukino felt that tremor of joy passing through her at being able to provide such wonderful news to a loved one. But at the same time she felt another tremor, buried much deeper in her heart. One of sadness.

How she wished that someone would just walk into her life and tell her where to find her sister.

But that sadness was most kept to the back, leaving Yukino mostly just happy she could help.

However, Yukino's attention was so completely focused on Jude that she completely missed the look that passed between Princess Hisui and Captain Arcadios, the latter of which was still standing by the door. The both of them were thinking the same thing at the same time.

Lucy Heartfilia was alive!

Hisui was thrilled for Jude of course. More than thrilled. He'd been waiting for so long for any kind of sign whatsoever that his precious daughter might be there and she was happy beyond words that she was there to witness it happen at last. But there was another layer to her excitement which Arcadios understood immediately.

If Lucy Heartfilia, a Spirit Mage with at least nine Golden Zodiac Spirit Keys, was truly alive then that meant… the Eclipse Project could potentially work at maximum capacity!

"So… you're a Celestial Spirit Mage?" Hisui asked quietly.

"Oh… yes," Yukino nodded, reaching into her cloak to pull out her keys and show Hisui both the golden keys she owned. "I have two of the Zodiac Spirits here see? Lucy-sama has the other ten."

Hisui blinked. Yukino had just answered what she'd wanted to know without even having to be asked. Between them these two girls had exactly what they needed to make the Eclipse Project work.

It was too good to be true… and yet it was.

"This is intriguing news to say the least," Arcadios mused.

"Yes," Yukino nodded. "But… I hate to ask this of you Hisui-sama… but if you could please keep this to yourself that would be great. Fairy Tail are concerned that some people might try to interfere with their return if it became public knowledge they were still alive."

"Absolutely," Hisui nodded, placing her hand over her heart. "You have my word. Not one word of this conversation will get out to anyone. Except my father… I will tell him. But not to worry. He knows how to keep a secret… believe me."

"That I cannot argue with," Arcadios murmured, images of dancing pumpkins appearing in his head…for some reason. "So tell us, has there been any progress in finding a way to bring them back?"

"Yes," Jude nodded, looking up from his photo with a renewed vigour in his eyes. "Tell me all you know. And when you're done, I would like for you to write a reply."

"Of course," Yukino nodded, smiling widely. "It will be my pleasure."

* * *

Lucy blinked when someone quietly tapped her on the shoulder. The majority of the people in the Room of Requirement were focusing on Natsu and Gray - the two of them currently in the middle of a proper magical sparring match in the centre rather than just their usual rampant brawling, so most of them hadn't noticed that Loke had appeared in the room. The Lion Spirit handed Lucy a single sheet of paper and said, "You might want to read this in private."

That immediately told Lucy who it was from. She clutched the paper close to her chest and slipped quietly away, making sure that nobody noticed her go. Loke followed her quietly until they reached the girls' bedroom and only when the door was closed did Lucy unfold the letter.

She was more nervous than she thought she'd be. She honestly had no idea what to expect. But she didn't read it aloud and Loke made no attempt to get her to do so.

**'****Lucy,**

**I can scarcely believe that this is happening. Honestly, I am struggling to find the right words to put down… but I suppose that is appropriate as no words can express the joy I feel at learning you are still alive. Though most told me to move forward and accept that I had lost you, I was never quite able to do it. Some part of me always held back from moving on… some part of me always believed that you were still alive somehow, despite the total lack of evidence that you might be. I sent presents to your house in Magnolia every year on the day of your birthday, because I was sure you would one day receive them.**

**Perhaps that was just stubbornness on my part, but I think it was also because I know you are a fighter, Lucy. You always find a way. And though I do not know your friends, I suspected they were the same.**

**And here at last is the proof that I was right all this time.**

**You say that you would like to see me when you return? I would very much like that too. I hope that even after everything that I've done, I will be able to start afresh with my daughter. That is all I have wanted for the last six years. And that is because of one thing I want you to remember, Lucy.**

**I love you.**

**I know I have never been good at showing it… in fact I have been downright terrible at times. So much so that I do not blame you for running away to join a magic guild in the slightest. But I have always loved you and wanted what was best for you. The only excuse I can make is that for most of our time together what I thought was best for you was also what was best for me, and now I see that that couldn't have been further from the truth. Even in another world you are where you need to be, with your friends. And my only wish now is that I will be able to find a place in your life when you do return.**

**I confess that I am not currently at my best. My health has been failing somewhat over the last few months. But now I know you are alive Lucy, I will fight harder than I have ever fought before to return to health again. I will not let this chance to see you once again pass me by. So however long it takes for you to return, I will try my hardest to make sure I am there to greet you when you do.**

**Love from,**

**Dad.**

**P.S. Your friend Yukino says that she cannot stay and give me further letters from you, but she had promised that if you wish to send any more she will post them to Love and Lucky for me. And she has given me her home address so I can post right back. I hope to hear more from you in future.'**

As she read through the letter two or three times, Lucy heard the pattering of water droplets spilling from her cheeks onto the paper, faintly smudging the ink in places. She quickly folded the letter away so she could avoid ruining it and tried to regain her breath. It was impossible for her to pick which of her emotions was running most powerfully at this point. She'd been so afraid of what her father's response would be but that had been exactly what she needed to hear.

And she knew he meant what he said. Her father was a tough, stern man with a no nonsense attitude towards everything. He would never have said anything remotely like that unless he meant it with absolute sincerity.

He wanted her back! He truly wanted her back!

"Father…" she whispered, burying her face in her hands and bawling her eyes out. "Thank you, Father. I'll come back to you! I swear it on everything I own, I will!"

Loke just smiled. He could tell that Lucy needed to be by herself right now so he made to leave, beginning to fade back to the Spirit World. But just before he could do so Lucy looked up at him with her eyes sparkling with unparalleled happiness.

"Thank you, Loke. For convincing me to do that."

Loke smiled back. "Anytime, Lucy," he said, before he vanished and left Lucy to her own thoughts once again.

* * *

Kinana was thankful that Edolas seemed to use the same currency as Earthland at least. Her friends had made her pack away as many jewels as they could spare in her pack, which was not a lot to be honest but at the very least she had enough to buy herself a couple of night's stay at a local inn to wait for what would hopefully be her transportation straight to the capital.

She didn't like staying put. She knew her friends back home would be eagerly waiting for her to return and she still hadn't gone further than a mile away from where she'd emerged. But she'd asked the stall owner if there were any other ways of getting quickly to the capital and he'd assured her that there weren't. Edolas did now have cars that didn't rely on electrical transport but there were still very few of them around here. Much like the trains, they were on their way but would still be a while yet.

But on the third day she was woken by loud and excited cries from outside her window, and when she went to look she gasped. Four massive creatures were approaching the town from the air. They looked almost like a cross between a dragon and a bat - covered in greyish fur with thick jaws and sweeping horns atop their heads.

Legions!

It was the supply run!

Immediately Kinana was up and about, gathering together her limited belongings and checking out of the inn to run over to where the Legions had landed on the outskirts of the town. They towered over the buildings but they were obediently laying down on their stomachs which was allowing the men who had been riding them to lower supplies down by rope to others waiting on the ground so they could be distributed out to the amassing people. The men were all wearing light grey and black uniforms and armour, with bulky mask-helmets that covered everything except for their eyes and had the sigil of the Royal City of Edolas emblazoned over their foreheads, which resembled a saber crossed with a musical horn.

But as Kinana was approaching, she heard a voice that made her stop in her tracks.

"Move faster!" the voice barked. "We've got a tight schedule to keep! Three more towns to visit today to stay on schedule and I will not have us falling behind because of all of you. I will not have the King's confidence in my wayne, understand?"

Kinana's eyes widened. She may not have been with Fairy Tail for very long before the incident on Tenroujima… but nobody could ever forget that voice. She dashed off in the direction of the voice and sure enough, there she was. A woman wearing a long blue scarf, a black halter-type breastplate top, gauntlets and greaves… and most importantly unmistakable scarlet hair.

"Erza!" Kinana cried before she could stop herself and dashed forward towards her.

Erza Knightwalker blinked and turned around, tensing slightly at the sight of a complete stranger heading her way. In the last six years her red hair had grown back to its former glory and she looked a little more mature. But ultimately she still looked almost exactly like the Erza Scarlet that Kinana remembered.

"Who are you?" she demanded suspiciously, her sharp voice making Kinana halt in her tracks. "Have we met before?"

"…Er…" Kinana hesitated. "Well no… but yes. Sort of, anyway."

Knightwalker frowned. "What do you mean? We have either met before or we haven't. There is no middle ground. I don't have time to waste on vague answers so if you're just going to…"

"Okay," Kinana cut her off. "In that case… no we've never met before. But… I have met Erza Scarlet before."

That got Knightwalker's attention.

"What!?" she breathed, grabbing Kinana's arm and pulling her aside to where they wouldn't be overheard quickly before hissing, "You know my Earthland doppelgänger?"

"Yes," Kinana nodded eagerly. "I'm from Earthland myself."

"What? That's impossible! Everybody from Earthland was pushed out of Edolas when magic disappeared six years ago."

"I know," Kinana nodded. "But I only arrived a few days ago. I'm an associate of Earthland's Fairy Tail guild and I'm here on urgent business to see King Jellal."

Knightwalker frowned suspiciously. "Is that so?" she asked slowly.

"Yes, it is."

"You would not lie to me, I hope."

"Never."

"Well then, if you truly are an associate of Earthland Fairy Tail… then perhaps you can tell me what King Jellal's alias used to be when he went there in the past?"

"I can. He called himself Mystogan. He used to be a member of Fairy Tail himself, but he never showed his face around the guild members because in our world, Jellal is a wanted man. The only person he ever revealed his true name to before taking his alias was the young Dragon Slayer girl, Wendy Marvell."

"…You really are from Earthland!" Knightwalker breathed in amazement. "What is your name, girl?"

"Kinana."

"Hmm… that is not a name King Jellal has ever mentioned before."

"That's not surprising. The guild took me in only a couple of weeks before the whole Anima incident happened. He's probably never seen me before. I've never seen him either. But I need to talk to him as soon as possible. It's important."

Knightwalker thought quickly. It was hardly proper conduct to bring a complete stranger to meet the King unannounced but on the other hand, this girl knew the truth about what had happened with the Anima. Most people, including the majority of the Royal Army, believed that magic had been stolen from Edolas by the Great Demon King Dragneel and that Jellal had been the one to bring him down. And for the stability of the Kingdom it was important that it stayed that way. If people found out Jellal himself had been the one to send Edolas' magic power away then it might undo all the hard work he'd been doing to build Edolas back up ever since.

Therefore letting this woman from Earthland wander about alone was probably not the best idea.

Which was why Knightwalker turned around and shouted, "Sergeant!"

"Yes, ma'am?" one of the soliders cried.

"I am leaving you in charge of the deliveries for the rest of the day! Something urgent has come up and I will be returning to the Capital to deal with it! Don't fall behind schedule or you will answer to me, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Knightwalker turned back to Kinana. "Come. We'll take my personal Legion back to the Capital forthwith."

Kinana beamed and hurried behind the other Erza quickly. "Wow, you've got quite the commanding presence about you. Just like our Erza back home."

"…Yes…" Knightwalker coughed awkwardly, quite quickly losing that commanding presence as she hesitantly asked the next question. "How… how is she doing?"

Kinana hesitated. "That… is part of the reason I'm here. Perhaps it would be better to wait until I can see the King before I explain."

"Very well," Knightwalker cleared her throat. "Then let us make haste."

* * *

Neither Kinana nor Erza Knightwalker said anything on the flight to the Capital. Knightwalker stood tall upon her Legion's shoulders, her hair flowing in the wind and watching the scenery passing by with a laser focus. It was as if she didn't want to leave anything whatsoever to chance and making sure they were on the straightest possible course back to the city.

'She must really want to impress the King,' Kinana thought to herself. 'Was she always this intent on her mission or did this happen after the whole Anima thing? I wish I knew more about her.'

But when the Capital did finally hove into view ahead, it took Kinana's breath away. It was a sprawling metropolis of a city separated into sections by numerous high walls, which sounded like it should be very neatly designed but the layout actually made it all look a bit haphazard. And the palace loomed over everything slap-bang in the middle of the city.

"Wow…" Kinana whispered. "It's amazing."

"Of course it is," Erza Knightwalker said stiffly. "And very few get to see it on the back of a Legion so you should consider yourself privileged."

"Believe me, I do," Kinana nodded. "So, are you going to take me straight to the Palace?"

"To the King, yes," Knighwalker nodded. "He will be most interested to talk to you and I will not delay in bringing you to him."

"You seem very eager to please him," Kinana noted, aloud this time.

Knightwalker's face creased into a frown. "That… is not the exact wording I would use," she said. "It is more… that I don't want to betray his trust. It took me… quite a while to earn it."

Kinana blinked, but it clicked into place in her head quickly. Erza Knightwalker had been a ruthless hunter and fiercely loyal to Mystogan's father if she remembered what she'd heard correctly. She'd killed many members of the Edolas Fairy Tail, tried to execute Lucy and shot Pantherlily in the back. It seemed that Mystogan had decided to let her stay in the Royal Army, for her actions had always been in the name of Edolas even though they were wrong. But he would have hardly trusted her straight away if he had any sense at all.

And Kinana suddenly felt a little more uneasy about riding atop a Legion with this woman. She seemed so much like the Erza she remembered that it had put her at ease. But she had to remember that this and every other face she might recognise here was an entirely different person.

The Legion swept in towards the upper levels of the palace where a large balcony jutted out from the side, making it a perfect landing pad for the huge, airborne creature. And no sooner had it alighted when someone came sprinting out of the palace at high speed, skidding to a halt right next to the Legion. It was a woman with a face that oddly enough reminded Kinana of a puppy for some reason… possibly due to her brown button nose.

"Is that you, Erza!?" she called up. "I knew it was you when I saw the Legion flying over the city. What are you doing back so soon? I thought that you were meant to be with the supply run until the end of the day."

"Coco," Erza announced as she vaulted smoothly off the side of the Legion to land in front of the new arrival. "Run to his Majesty and tell him to clear his schedule. I have a feeling he will want to see the visitor I have brought him?"

Coco had grown a lot in the last six years. She was no longer the little girl that any Fairy Tail member who'd been to Edolas would remember. She was now almost as tall as Erza and had developed quite a curvaceous womanly figure. She didn't wear baggy clothes anymore either - instead wearing dark green tights and a yellow dress with a short skirt area. But she still wore her brown hair in a single braid and still went barefoot everywhere she went.

"Huh? Really?" she cocked her head to one side and looked up at Kinana as the purplette tried to figure out how to get down from the Legion. "Who is that? I've never seen her before. Is she important?"

"She might be. She's from Earthland."

"…Wha?" Coco's eyes bulged, and suddenly she took off running in a full circle around the balcony before stopping in front of Erza again and saying, "Are you serious?"

"Very serious," Erza nodded. "Now go. Tell his Majesty that we're coming."

Coco shot off in a blur of dust, moving at such speed that Kinana momentarily thought she must have used magic… but nope, she was just that fast.

"Well…" she whispered to herself. "I guess it's time to meet the King."

* * *

King Jellal didn't wear robes. He didn't wear anything that could remotely be considered regal. He certainly didn't wear a crown. In fact, he was adorned in the same kind of dark, ragged robes which he'd worn throughout his entire career as Mystogan of Fairy Tail. Those were the clothes he was wearing when he 'defeated' the Great Demon King Dragneel and he felt that those were the kind of clothes he should continue wearing. To let everyone know he was a man of the people, and not just some high lord sitting on a throne and making whatever decisions he felt like.

Yet he did still have a throne. And he was sitting on it when Erza Knightwalker brought Kinana in.

"Your Majesty," she said, dropping to her knee in respect. "May I present Kinana… the woman who claims to be from Earthland."

Kinana studied Mystogan curiously. There was no mistaking his face. He looked exactly like the wanted posters she'd seen of the Jellal back on Earthland. But she could see straight away that he had kind and wise eyes which put her at ease even though she was in the presence of a King.

But Mystogan was also flanked by other people, all of whom were also staring right back at her.

"Hhhmmmm…" a man in pink armour and with a dimpled chin and blond hair lifted in a pompadour style. "She doesn't seem to be anything remarkable."

"That's just what I was thinking Sugarboy," said a man with peculiar arrow-shaped eyebrows and purple hair with a single white streak over his forehead. "I would have thought anyone from Earthland would be all like, crazy awesome, y'know! To actually come here to a world with magic should be like, way ridiculously impossible!"

"Don't judge her before she's had a chance to say anything, Hughes," Coco protested. "She should be the one to speak right now."

"And I will speak," Kinana interjected before Hughes could say anything else like he clearly wanted to. "It's a pleasure and an honour to meet you at last, Mystogan."

That word alone silenced Hughes in his tracks, and it got the King's attention as well. He stood up from his thrones, his cloak settled around his ankles.

"You know my Earthland name," he noted.

"Yes. I've come here on behalf of the Earthland Fairy Tail guild. I work as a waitress there."

Mystogan frowned. "I didn't think that the guild employed people."

"Well… I'm there under, shall we say, special circumstances."

"And how did you get to Edolas, may I ask?" Mystogan asked.

"With the help of Porlyusica. She set up the staffs that you yourself left in her possession to open a portal and cross over from my world to yours."

Mystogan smiled and stepped past his advisors and captains towards Kinana. "That confirms it," he said. "I always wondered whether the old lady would ever make use of those. To be honest I doubted it, but it seems as though it might have been a good thing I took the time to make her a spare set after all." He held out his hand and Kinana gratefully took it, thankful that that had gone as smoothly as it had.

"So, you're saying thish girl really ish from Earthland then, your Highnesh?" asked a short and elderly man standing next to Coco.

"Yes, Byro. She is. And if she is a friend of Earthland Fairy Tail then she is a friend of mine. And if she is a friend of mine then she is a friend to all of you as well, and I expect her to be treated as such."

"Hmmm… if that is his Majesty's choice," said Sugarboy.

"Welcome to Edolas, Miss Kinana!" Coco said excitedly.

"But, like, this is super huge, super awesome news!" Hughes said excitedly. "If there's a way to Earthland after all this time then doesn't that mean there might be a way to return magic to Edolas after all!?"

"That is a conversation for another time," Mystogan said with a degree of reluctance. "For now the conversation is about you, Kinana. What brings you to Edolas? I don't imagine you just fancied a holiday here which means there must be a reason."

"A big reason," Kinana nodded. "Like I said I have come on behalf of the guild. And they need your help."

"My help?" Mystogan raised a brow. "What need would they have of me? I can think of no situation where they would need a non-magical King from a foreign world. At least not any that they likely couldn't solve themselves."

"But the people of your world were able to create a device capable of transporting an entire city from one world to another," Kinana said earnestly. "And that's what they need now. Master Makarov and many of our members have become trapped in a third foreign world, and at the moment we have no way of getting them back."

"…I sense there's a rather long story behind all this," Mystogan blinked.

"You could say that, yes."

"Well then I think we'd best sit down and talk about it," the King gestured to a nearby table and set of chairs.

For the next half an hour, Kinana sat across that table from the King and outlined everything she knew, right from the very moment where Fairy Tail had returned from Edolas to the present. Mystogan was surprised to hear that the Earthland Lisanna had been hiding out in Edolas and thrilled to hear that Pantherlily had joined Fairy Tail, the latter of which also delighted Coco and made the other the captains smile. But for the rest of it he digested the news in complete silence.

When Kinana eventually finished, Mystogan eventually said, "So you're telling me… that even though its been six years… Wendy is still only twelve?"

"Er… yes," Kinana nodded. "Sort of. She certainly hasn't aged."

"That is bizarre to think about," Mystogan murmured. "I've thought about her often, and I assumed by now she must look a lot more like her Edolas counterpart. She and Coco are the same age and you've grown much in the last six years haven't you, Coco?"

"And I'm proud of it too!" Coco beamed, zooming around the table twice just for the hell of it.

"But back to the important part," Mystogan interlocked his fingers. "Essentially you want me to come to Earthland and build another Anima with which to bring back the other members of the guild."

"That's about the size of it, yes," Kinana nodded. "I realise it's asking a lot especially for a King. You have a country to run and citizens to look after, and a massive number of other duties to attend to I'm certain. But at the moment you're the only one we know who…"

Mystogan's raised hand silenced Kinana before she could continue. "Allow me to interrupt here, Kinana-san. There's no need for you to convince me any further. I will gladly do it."

"…You will?" Kinana blinked. "Just like that?"

The Captains looked surprised as well.

"Your Highnesh, ish thish wishe?" Byro asked, his lisp especially pronounced with that choice of words. "You are the King of all of Edolash… you can't jusht abandon your dutiesh on a whim."

"I will not be abandoning anything," Mystogan stated, getting to his feet and turning to face his advisors with an expression that told them immediately there would be absolutely no persuading him to change his mind. "I will find a way to both fulfil my duties as the King of Edolas and go to Earthland to build another Anima."

"Hmmm… but how do you hope to accomplish such a thing?" Sugarboy hummed.

"Yeah, yeah, wouldn't constructing another Anima take, like, a super crazy amount of time and effort?" Hughes agreed. "Like, months and months before it was completed! How can you do that on Earthland while still acting as the King of Edolas."

"I don't expect it to be easy. I expect it to be quite difficult in fact. But I will find a way. After all," Mystogan turned to give Kinana a smile. "I may have officially left the guild, but no matter where I am, even if I am in a completely different world and even if I have no magic, I am still a Fairy Tail mage. I may have rarely entered the guild during my stay in Earthland but it was still my home. I may have barely ever interacted with the other members. But how could I ever live with myself if my guild came to me for help and I said no?"

"You wouldn't be a true Fairy Tail mage if you could," Kinana beamed right back.

"Exactly. No matter what the challenges may be, I will find a way to fulfil my obligation to both my country and my guild." Mystogan raised his hand above his head to make the signature backwards L salute of the guild. And Kinana did it right back.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Coco waved her arms excitedly. "Does this mean… that we might be able to go to Earthland as well?"

"I don't see why not," Mystogan chuckled. "But I will be relying on all of your to fulfil your duties to the Kingdom at times where I am not here. I will need your support in juggling my tasks now more than ever. In the last six years you have proven your loyalty and earned my trust, all of you. If you continue to support me now," he added with a slight smirk. "You too will be able to visit a world where you will be able to use magic again."

That got their attention.

"Using magic again!?" Hughes grinned widely. "I'd almost forgotten what it's like… this'll be like, way totally uber awesome stuff!"

"Hmmm… if that is what his Majesty has decided, who are we to question it," Sugarboy nodded, to even he looked quite excited.

"I can't wait to see Lily again! I want to see the other Lucy again too," Coco cheered. "The one we have on this world is scary…"

"Erza?" Mystogan turned to Knightwalker. "You've been awfully quiet throughout all this."

"I…" Knightwalker hesitated, before placing a fist over her heart and bowing her head. "My loyalty to the King of Edolas is absolute. I will follow whatever decision you…"

"Come now, Erza," Mystogan interrupted. "You don't need to be so formal all the time. Say what you really feel."

Knightwalker's face coloured slightly and she hesitated, well aware that everyone's eyes were now on her. "W… w… well…" she coughed. "I think… that his Majesty is making the right decision. The… other Erza… I still remember what she told me, clear as day. She told me… to listen to the voices of the living. And now her own voice is reaching out to us… to you… asking for your aid. Along with the voices of an entire guild. And I think… it would be selfish not to listen to her."

Mystogan smiled. "Excellent. In that case, Byro, I want you to dig up everything you can about the Anima. Construction plans, magical infusions, whatever you can find. I am returning to Earthland."

* * *

**For anyone who's wondering why I decided to have Mystogan give Porlyusica a set of his staffs, here's my thought process. During the Grand Magic Games arc, Jellal had perfect replicas of Mystogan's staffs and was able to use the same magic as Mystogan with them when he was going about in disguise. Where did he get them from? We never found that out cos it wasn't a massively important detail. But I decided to answer that question and used that answer for the plot.**


	57. The Forbidden Forest

Heeeeeeeeeeeeey sssoooooooooooooooo, sorry about the MASSIVE delay to this story folks, but bear with me - I do have my reasons. The first being that I spent three weeks away on a holiday to Australia during which time I thought I would be able to keep writing but, as it turns out, I didn't. I then spent another week getting over the jet lag when I got back, and another week trying to get back on track with everything, including this story. Which I now think that I have. So, here we go again. Hope you enjoy and I am very much looking forward to the next couple of chapters after this one!

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 57:- The Forbidden Forest**

* * *

"Hermione, are we sure this is a good idea?" Ron asked for what was probably the fiftieth time in the last half hour.

"Once again, no," Hermione shook her head with a heavy sigh. "But we've got to do something. This is normally where Harry takes charge and makes the decisions but considering the state he's in… well, it's up to us to figure things out."

"Yeah, but… the Forbidden Forest…" Ron moaned. "I still have nightmares about the last time I went in there. You didn't see the spiders, Hermione. You have no idea…"

"I have an idea! I've read about acromantula in books."

"There is a huge difference between reading about them and looking at pictures to seeing one in the flesh… the horrible, hairy flesh…"

"Ron, stop complaining. We probably won't even go anywhere near the Acromantula. I highly doubt they're the creatures responsible for all of Hagrid's bruises. They aren't exactly built for such heavy blows."

"Yeah but whatever is causing them's probably going to be just as dangerous."

Hermione had to concede that point, even though it was a very obvious one. She and Ron were currently lying on the edge of the forest as close to Hagrid's Hut as they could get and both wrapped in Harry's Invisibility Cloak which Hermione had persuaded Ron to borrow from Harry's trunk… without permission. It was highly unlikely Harry would miss it anyway, especially in the middle of the day. They were taking advantage of a couple of free periods to watch Hagrid in secret, since Hermione's attempts to get Hagrid to tell them what was happening had ended with him spectacularly avoiding the subject.

"Look, I'm not happy about it either," the witch sighed. "But if we're going to keep making Umbridge pin the blame on Hagrid for her hauntings then we need to help him in any way we can. And if he won't tell us the problem then we're going to have to find it our for ourselves, understand?"

"I know, I know, I know," Ron muttered, hunching his knees beneath the cloak. "…But I don't think following Harry around secretly is going to help us figure out what's wrong with him like it might with Hagrid."

"No… me neither. We're going to need to find a way to make Harry talk to us about that one."

"Any ideas?"

"A few. But I don't know if any of them would actually work…"

The door to Hagrid's hut inched open before she could outline what those plans might be and Hagrid peered out. Hermione and Ron immediately fell silent, hardly daring to breathe and watching as Hagrid inched his way out of the door with surprising delicacy and stealth for someone of his size. Fang tried to slip out after him but Hagrid turned back around and shut him inside the cabin.

"No Fang," he whispered. "Not today. Don't want you to get hurt, understand?"

Again he scouted the area for any signs that he was being watched before he hefted his enormous crossbow off his back and hurried towards the treeline, clearly hoping that nobody would notice him go. Ron and Hermione watched him quietly, easing themselves off the ground and hunching over to keep their ankles beneath the cloak as they hurried after him.

"He's leaving Fang behind?" Ron whispered in Hermione's ear. "He almost never does that."

"I know," Hermione nodded. "Whatever it is he's doing… it's got to be something big."

She had absolutely no idea how right she was.

They followed behind him as closely as they dared, neither of them willing to let him leave their sight but also not willing to risk having a crossbow bolt the size of a spear fired in their direction if Hagrid heard them and mistook them for a threat. It was slow going, and hard to to manage while both huddled together under the cloak particularly with all the branches and tree roots snagging at their limbs and trying to trip them over, but somehow they managed to pull it off.

And though Ron couldn't remember much of the forest's layout, he sighed in relief when he realised that they weren't going in the right direction to meet with Aragog and his multitude of spider children.

However, when he saw what they were really going to see, he practically keeled over in shock.

"Grawpy!" Hagrid cried as he entered a large clearing in the forest… which had probably been just regular forest until recently because the trees were all lying around the edges, torn up by their roots and heaved onto their sides. And sitting up against what may have been the largest tree in the forest was a man that was even taller than Hagrid but at least over five feet, with matted brown hair and a flat face. His nose looked like it had been broken multiple times and although he was wearing clothes they looked like they were made of earth and reeds.

"Is that…" Ron coughed. "Is that…!?"

"A giant!" Hermione squeaked. "It's… an actual giant!"

The giant looked up at Hagrid's approach and almost immediately he surged to his feet, casting a shadow over the invisible students. He stomped forwards towards Hagrid only to be pulled up short by the thick rope around his waist holding him to the tree, which looked like it might be the one tree in the forest that a being of the giant's size couldn't rip out of the ground.

"HAGGER!" the giant slurred. "HUNGY!"

"Yes, I thought yeh might be hungry again, Grawpy. Such an appetite yeh've got," Hagrid said with obvious affection in his voice. "Don't worry, I'll make sure the get yeh a fresh carcass soon but first I though'…"

"HUNGY!" the giant bellowed, so loudly that Hermione and Ron were stunned that someone from the school hadn't realised that he was there yet. "GRAWP HUNGY!"

"Don't worry, I'll get yeh food, I will," Hagrid promised. "But like I was sayin' I though' we could continue our English lessons firs'."

"FEED GRAWP!"

"Now Grawpy, we talked abou' this," Hagrid said sternly, as if he was lecturing a small child. "Yeh do not get yer way just by yellin' it all the time. Tha' didn't work for yeh back with the other giants and it won't work 'ere."

"HUNGY!"

"How about this then? I'll get yeh something to eat if yeh get this word right. It's no' 'hungy'… it's 'hungry.' Can yeh say that? Hungry. Huuuungrrryyyy."

"GRAWP HUNGY!"

"Oh, I think I 'eard a really faint R in there," Hagrid said encouragingly. "Come on, one more try. HunGGROOOOF!"

He didn't get much further than that because the giant had bellowed and taken a swing at him, clouting him in the shoulder hard enough to knock him off his feet and spin him over to land painfully on his front with a mighty crash. And before Hermione knew it she'd dashed out from under the cloak yelling. "HAGRID! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?"

"Wha…?" Hagrid gasped, pushing himself up with a grunt of pain and shock. "Hermione! What do yeh think yeh're doin' 'ere!?"

"What are we doing?" Hermione gasped, looking up at the giant who was now staring down at her in bemusement. "I think we're the ones that should be asking that question."

"She's right," Ron said, breaking cover to join Hermione at Hagrid's side. "Hagrid, are you nuts!? No wonder you've been getting so many bruises lately!"

"We had to find out why, Hagrid. We want to make sure you're going to be okay," Hermione insisted. "But… still… I never expected…"

"You've brought a freaking giant home with you!" Ron summarised quite nicely.

"…Yes," Hagrid nodded, hissing as he nursed his ribs and his shoulder. "Yes, I 'ave. And quite frankly you two are out o' line, sneaking after me like tha'. What if somethin' had happened to yeh and I hadn't known you were there. This forest is out o' bounds and as yer teacher…"

"Hagrid, you're more than just our teacher. You're our friend," Hermione cut across him. "You can't just push us out and expect us to not investigate."

"Yeah, seriously, you should know us better than that by now," Ron murmured. "But returning to my earlier question… are you nuts?"

Hagrid looked from one face to the other and sighed. "Alright fine. You want to know the truth… I guess there's no really backin' away from it now is there. This… there 'ere is Grawp. And… he's my brother."

"…He's what!?" Hermione squeaked.

"Well… 'alf-brother. We both 'ad the same mother anyway. I didn't even know 'e existed until I found 'im hiding in one of the caves on the edge o' the giant colony. And they were all picking on 'im cos… well.. he's quite small as giants go."

"This is small?" Ron breathed. "If this is small I'd hate to see a big one."

"HAGGER!" Grawp suddenly interrupted before Hagrid could explain any further, pointing awkwardly at the two new arrivals. "SMALL!"

"Yes, yes, well done Grawpy," Hagrid said encouragingly. "They are very small, at least compared to you. These two are my friends y'see. This here's Hermione… and this is Ron. You can say Ron, can't you? That's quite an easy word. Come on, Grawp. Say Ron. Rooooooonnn!"

"WON!"

"That's close! That's close!" Hagrid beamed. "And er… well… um, I don't think he's going to be able to manage yer name yet Hermione. Mind if he just calls you Hermy or something?"

"Why does have to call me anything, Hagrid?" Hermione asked. "Why is he here?"

"Well I couldn't just leave 'im there," Hagrid wrung his hands. "'E's the only family I've got left and when I learned that my mother 'ad died… and well, you remember what I said abou' the new Gurg. Golgomath's a vicious brute and no mistake - an' they were already pickin' on poor Grawp before. It would have only gotten worse for 'im if he'd stayed."

"You mean it could be like what you're going through now?" Ron asked pointedly. "Hagrid, he's using you as a punching bag."

"He don't know 'is own strength is all," Hagrid protested. "Least not when it comes to people that aren't giants. "He's no' used to pullin' 'is punches and giants is very rough people. But he's gettin' better. I'm tryin' to teach him manners and he's learning English alrigh'. Slow, but alrigh'. I'm hopin' that one day he'll be able to integrate with humans with no problem."

"That's a big ask, Hagrid," Hermione sucked on her teeth worriedly.

"Well maybe, but giants and people can co-exist if they want to," Hagrid said stubbornly. "My mother was proof o' that when she married my Dad… granted she left when I was young but so what? It's possible. But I'm no' just goin' to abandon my brother. You should understand that better than most Ron, considering the number o' brothers you have."

Ron didn't reply. Grawp had evidently lost interest in both him and Hermione, much like how a person might watch an ant for a minute or two before losing interest in that, and was pulling on the top of a nearby tree.

"This is barmy," he eventually said. "Absolutely barmy. But… I can see where you're coming from this time, Hagrid."

"You can?" Hermione blinked in surprise.

"Well yeah," Ron said. "This isn't like Norbert or Fluffy or Aragog. This isn't like the Blast-Ended Skrewts from last year. This isn't just some monster Hagrid's decided he wants for a pet. This is his family. I bet if you found out you had a half-sister you didn't know about, you wouldn't abandon her would you Hermione? Especially if your sister was about to be forced to join up with You-Know-Who if you didn't intervene."

"…No… I don't think I would," Hermione whispered. It wasn't often that Ron was the voice of wisdom but when it came to family… he definitely knew what he was talking about. "But still, this is so dangerous. How many more injuries can you take from all this, Hagrid?"

"As many as I need to take," Hagrid said firmly. "It happens less than it used to these days. It was definitely a lot harder when I was draggin' him away from the clan. He didn't want ter go at first. I never though' it was goin' ter be easy, but I'm no' giving up on him. But I didn' want yeh ter get involved either cos… well, yeh can't help me with this. If he hurts me I can just get up. If he hurts either of you… he could kill yeh."

"Nice to see you at least recognise your brother as a hazard to the health of students… now if only you thought the same about all the monsters you bring in,' Ron thought, but he didn't say that out loud.

What he did say was, "Well… maybe there is someone who can help you out with this."

"Like who?" Hagrid asked. "Anyone but me that comes near Grawpy risks getting stomped on. An' don't forget I'm keepin' him secret. Not even Dumbledore knows I brought him back…"

"HAGGER! GRAWP HUNGY! NOW!" Grawp suddenly ripped the top off the tree he was playing with and hurled it over the other treetops, making Ron and Hermione flinch as it crashed out of sight with a rending sound of splintering wood.

"Okay, okay, Grawpy I'll get yeh some lunch," Hagrid said. "Say bye to Ron and… Hermy…"

"Is that really what he's going to have to call me?" Hermione asked dazedly, but Grawp just blinked at them a couple of times before reaching for another tree.

"Bad names aside," Ron said. "I have an idea. Grawp isn't the only secret around Hogwarts right now is he? But I think I know the perfect person to help you out, Hagrid. I didn't see it for myself… but Ginny told me all about what the Master of Fairy Tail can do. If you want a giant to behave, maybe he'll listen to another giant."

* * *

"Hhhrmmm…" Makarov Dreyar murmured as he strode beneath the treetops later that evening, his arms folded and his eyes beadily flicking from left to right, keeping an eye on his surroundings. "You say this forest is full of dangerous beasts… are you implying that most forests in this country do not?"

"Well… not really," Hermione shrugged as she and Ron led him and a few other Fairy Tail members who had decided to join them along. "Most forests have some type of magical creature hiding in them but, there's not many that have things that are dangerous to human beings."

"In our world you always have to be wary in the wilds - there lies the potential for a dangerous beast to show up almost anywhere," Makarov said. "And yet you chose to build the school next to such a dangerous forest? It doesn't seem like the wisest decision."

"I don't think the forest was that dangerous when the school was actually built," Hermione said. "It's just… gradually filled up with dangerous things over the years until it became forbidden to enter it."

"Things such as giants?" Gray asked with a raised brow.

"Just the one giant… and I'm pretty sure he's the first one that's been to this forest in our lifetimes."

"We've got giant ape things called Gorians that live in the forest next to our town," said Elfman, with fist raised. "Takes a real man to walk through those woods and face off against them!"

"Oh sure, it does," Gray snorted. "It's easy for you. You just have to tell them to turn around and walk away and they do it thanks to your Beast Soul. How's that a manly way of facing them?"

"Hoo!?" Elfman's eyes flashed and he cracked his knuckles. "You want to see who's the more manly of the two of us right here and now, Gray!?"

"Knock it off you two," Laxus muttered, his voice immediately draining the fighting spirit from both Gray and Elfman at once. "I think this forest has probably got enough problems without you two rampaging about in it."

"Hmm… you can say that again," Evergreen murmured, pushing her glasses up her nose and looking around at the dank trees with distaste

"Juvia thinks Gray-sama would have won anyway," Juvia muttered under her breath. Others had expressed interest in coming when Ron and Hermione had mentioned that Hagrid's giant half-brother was currently staying in the forest, but those five mages had been the quickest to ask, so they had been allowed to tag along.

Hagrid was waiting for them nervously at the edge of the clearing when they arrived. And Grawp was tearing into the carcass of a deer, eating it completely raw with bones and all.

"Whoa!" Gray breathed at the sight of him. "That's a big guy."

"This is supposed to be a small giant?" Evergreen agreed. "That's just nuts."

"He is definitely… bigger than a Gorian," Elfman whispered. In fact, he thought silently, he must have been about the same height as the Beast was at its full size.

"Well, thank yeh fer comin' Makarov," Hagrid dipped his head respectfully. "But… but please don't get too close everyone. Grawpy's never been around so many humans before. He might think yer crowdin' him if yeh get too near."

"You sure about that?" Laxus raised a brow. "I'm not sure he'd even notice."

"So, what is it exactly that you want me to do here?" Makarov asked. "I doubt that I'd be that effective at being a teacher if I'm perfectly honest."

"That's not what we're after. Hagrid's the teacher," Ron said. "But… well, look at him. He's getting beaten up every time he comes out here."

"Beaten up's a little harsh Ron," Hagrid protested, but his following wince and clutching at his shoulder didn't really add credence to his complaint.

"All we're asking is if you'd be willing to sit in and… you know… keep Grawp under control when Hagrid's trying to teach him," Hermione said. "We can't really send Grawp all the way back to the other giants now. Especially since they've joined Voldemort. That means he's here to stay so we have to make the most of it."

"Hmm… I see," Makarov brushed his fingers over his moustache. "Well that sounds doable. Why don't we give it a try?" He nodded to Hagrid, who inhaled deeply through his nose and hobbled his way towards the giant with Makarov close behind. Everyone else watched quietly, though only Ron and Hermione were doing so with bated breath. The Fairy Tail members just looked on with silent confidence.

"Grawpy," Hagrid called. "It's time for yeh ter meet someone new!"

Grawp ignored him and continued crunching on a deer leg.

"This 'ere is Makarov!" Hagrid pointed down at the Fairy Tail master just behind him. "But, I think you can call him Mak, if you like. Yes, this 'ere is is Mak."

"Don't any of you get any ideas about calling me that!" Makarov pointed over his shoulder at the others, most particularly at his smirking grandson.

"Now remember what we talked about Grawpy!" Hagrid shouted as Grawp continued ignoring them. "It's good manners to say 'hello' when meeting new people."

Still Grawp ignored them and appeared to be trying to use a deer bone to pick his teeth. His hand reached down for the other half of the carcass that was left, but Hagrid hurried forwards and grabbed it, pulling it swiftly out of the giant's reach. "Yeh've got ter listen when people are talking ter yeh, Grawpy!" he shouted sternly, but his voice was quickly drowned out by Grawp's angry roar!

**"****HUNGY!"** he shouted and surged to his feet in rage. He did not like having his food taken away - not in the least tiniest little bit! His arm lashed out in Hagrid's direction, aiming right for his nose… but suddenly his fist was caught and stopped flat in an even bigger hand. Grawp stopped short, stumped, and Hagrid gaped in shock. Makarov's arm was now even bigger than the rest of him, the diminutive Master having just reached up to catch Grawp's punch like it was nothing.

And the rest of him was beginning to grow bigger too, to catch up with his arm.

"Didn't you hear what your brother said to you?" Makarov growled, his body glowing a slight yellow colour as he grew larger and larger. "Didn't you care at all what he had to say? Dear lord, you're even more disrespectful than my grandson can be. And if you think that's acceptable then you're sorely mistaken!"

By this point he was even taller than Grawp and the giant was looking up at him with jaw slack as he kept growing even bigger… until he was bigger than any giant! Makarov's moustache bristled fiercely and he stepped forwards to shove his face right up next to Grawp's until they were eye to eye, his intense gaze burning itself onto Grawp's memory forever.

"SO SIT DOWN AND LISTEN WHEN YOUR BROTHER IS TALKING TO YOU!" Makarov shouted, letting go of Grawp's fist but doing nothing else but yell and glare. But Grawp still went down like seven tons of bricks, slamming onto his backside hard enough to make the onlookers stumble, with the exception of Makarov himself who remained rock solid.

"Good," Makarov nodded, using a foot to clear a patch of the forest and sitting himself down as well, still as a giant. "Now, Hagrid what were you saying?"

"I… I was sayin' that… this here is Mak…arov…" Hagrid stumbled over his words, trying to overcome his own awe at what had just happened and get back on track. "He's gonna be here every now and then… helpin' us out when he can spare the time. Say 'ello, Grawpy."

And this time Grawp seemed to put effort into paying attention. "Lo… Makurub…" he said, actually lifting his hand and waving slightly.

"Much better," Makarov nodded, picking up the rest of the deer and tossing it back to within Grawp's reach. "We can work on the pronunciation later."

"Whoa…" Ron breathed. "I can't believe I just saw that."

"You did it, Ron," Hermione grinned. "You're idea to bring Master Makarov in was spot-on! That's one of our problems down already!"

"Well really it was never in doubt," Gray chuckled. "Gramps is a force to be reckoned with."

"Although he does still have problems controlling his own brats," Laxus snorted. "Still, I suppose that's to be expected really, considering who his brats are."

"But he always knows what he has to do when the need arises," Juvia smiled. "Juvia believes he's the best Master the guild could ask for."

"Yeah," Laxus murmured under his breath. "Yeah… he really is…"

Before anyone could say anything else though, a voice behind them made half of the group jump:-

"Well, this is a surprise. And it is rare for me to be surprised."

It was a centaur.

There was no doubt in any of the minds of the Fairy Tail mages. A bare-chested man with a ragged black beard from the waist up but a chestnut brown horse from the waist down. He towered over even Laxus and Elfman thanks to his lower half. And his gaze tracked rapidly across all of them, taking them all in one at a time - his arms folded and his tail swishing.

"…My goodness," Evergreen whispered, momentarily awestruck. And the others agreed with her. In their world, centaurs were like fairies - nobody was totally sure if they existed or not but everybody knew what one was. Certainly none of them had ever laid eyes on a centaur until now. And neither had Ron. After all this was only the second time that Ron had ever entered the Forbidden Forest and the only thing he remembered from last time was the spiders.

Hermione, on the other hand…

"Hey. I know you," she gasped. "You're… you're the centaur that let Harry ride on his back in our first year. You saved him when he was attacked by Voldemort."

"Ah yes, I do remember you, young foal," the centaur dipped his head respectfully. "Yes, that was I. My name is Firenze. And what, might I ask, are you doing in the forest? It is, after all, supposed to be forbidden for Hogwarts students."

"We… we came to help Hagrid," Ron said. "You know… with his brother…"

"Yes, I am familiar with the giant," Firenze glanced across at Grawp. "The rest of my herd are very angry with Hagrid for keeping him here. They consider it an invasion of their territory, but they are grudgingly letting him do it because he has always been more considerate than most humans to us in the past. Though I am not certain how much their patience will hold now that there are apparently two giants living here," he looked to Makarov curiously.

"That's no giant," Gray stated. "That's just a regular human with magic that let's him grow to be that size."

"Is that so?" Firenze raised a brow. "You make it sound as though he uses a specific branch of magic that others cannot use… and clearly none of you five are Hogwarts students… could it be that you are humans that hail from another universe?"

"Wha!?" Elfman gasped. "How did you know that?"

"Well, that answers that question," Firenze smiled. "And to answer your own, I guessed. But it was an educated guess. After all, we centaurs knew about you the night before you even arrived."

"You did? How!?" Gray asked, bewildered.

"We read the stars, young human," Firenze indicated the sky, which was now beginning to darken. "We analyse the patterns in the sky to determine the future. A couple of months ago there were some extremely peculiar occurrences surrounding Jupiter. The heavens played out before us in a way that we had never seen before, but they told us that strangers from a far off land would be coming… and land beyond even the borders of our world. It was quite a shock even for us."

"You could get all that from looking at the stars?" Juvia asked.

"If you know how to read them," Firenze smiled. "And I do not wish to brag, but we centaurs have been able to read the stars far better than humans can. But nevertheless I did not think that you would be here today. However, it is an honour and a pleasure to meet you. People from beyond the heavens themselves… that is truly remarkable."

"You're a lot more composed about it than most people tend to be," Evergreen observed with a smirk. "Most people freak out, especially we're currently number one on the Ministry of Magic's hitlist."

"A misunderstanding, I am sure. You would not be here trying to help Hagrid if you were not good, decent people," Firenze said. "However, with all due respect I must ask you to leave the Forest. Other members of my kind might not be so welcoming of you. Even humans from another world are still humans, and this could be considered an encroachment on our turf, even if you are here to help Hagrid. It would be more preferable if a skirmish could be avoided."

"He's right," Hermione nodded. "I know you guys can handle yourselves, but centaurs aren't our enemies. Let's make this easier on Hagrid and leave. I'm certain he and Makarov have Grawp under control now."

"Understood," Laxus murmured. "Oi, Old Man. We'll be heading back to the castle now. Feel free to come back and join us whenever."

"Watch your tone, brat," Makarov glowered over his shoulder at his grandson. "I could still bend you over my knee if I felt like it."

"I'm sure," Laxus snorted, as he followed Firenze away, the other mages falling into step behind him. Ron and Hermione were about to do the same, but they heard Hagrid call out behind them. "Ron, Hermione… thanks. Fer everythin'… and yeh can tell Harry abou' this if yeh like. I'd prefer it if nobody else found out but I don't want yeh ter be keepin' secrets from him either. Okay?"

"Alright, Hagrid," Hermione waved. "Good luck!"

"Would be nice if Harry wouldn't keep secrets from us either," Ron muttered, but Hagrid didn't hear him. All three giants and half-giants watched them go until they had disappeared from sight amongst the trees.

"Those two really care about you," Makarov noted.

"Yeah," Hagrid wiped a tear away from his eye. "Sometimes I don't know how I lived before they came to the school. Them and Harry. I mean I had Dumbledore o' course, and many of the students have always been friendly with me, like Ron's older brother Charlie. But I don't think that any of them have been so considerate and helpful and attentive ter me as those three have. Most of the others end up intimidated by my size, I reckon. They're such good kids. I'm really gonna miss 'em when they graduate."

"I suppose being half-giant must have made you stick out for your whole life," Makarov observed.

"Yeah," Hagrid nodded. "I was always taller than the other children even when I was in school. Heck, I was taller than all o' the seventh years when I was just in my second year. Taller than some of 'em in my firs'. Nobody ever really commented on it but I could tell they were thinkin' height jokes in their 'eads."

"You get that for being at the other end of the spectrum too. The very short don't have it much better than the very tall. But I never let anyone get to me for that… though admittedly I used to beat them up whenever they tried."

"I couldn't have done tha' even if I wanted to," Hagrid chuckled dryly. "I would 'ave been expelled fer sure. Not that it mattered. I got expelled anyway, fer a crime I didn't even commit… though admittedly I did break the rules to an extent. An' though they never said it, I can't help but think that me bein' a half-giant affected their decision to judge me as guilty. Only Dumbledore ever though' I was tellin' the truth. Everyone else judged me. That's part o' the reason why I didn't tell 'em about Grawp when I got back. They told me it doesn't matter ter them that I'm half-giant… but still… I did wonder whether they could still say that when I introduced 'em ter my full giant half-brother."

"But they stood by what they said."

"Yeah… that they did."

"You would do well to remember, Hagrid, that you are not defined by your ancestry. Who your parents are, who you your grandparents are… none of that really matters when it comes to you yourself. All that matters is you. And when I say that I mean who you are, not what you are. Ron and Hermione know that. And frankly, only those that know that are the people worth getting to know."

Hagrid nodded, blowing his nose on an enormous handkerchief. "That's why I'm so grateful that they're 'ere now… when all this is happening. The stuff with Norbert, with Buckbeak, with Grawp… perhaps I couldn't have coped with any of it if they hadn't had my back. I'll miss 'em so much when they're gone."

"And yet when they are gone, they will still look out for you," Makarov smiled. "They have the spirit of Fairy Tail inside them. No matter how far away they are, no matter the distance between you… they will always watch over you and have your back if you need it. If you ever need them again, I'm sure they'll come."

Hagrid beamed. "Yeh know… I believe yer right," he sniffed. "When yeh talk like that, yeh really remind me o' Dumbledore."

"I will take that as a very high compliment," Makarov chuckled.

"But y'know," Hagrid added. "Dumbledore gave me a second chance when nobody else would. He allowed Professor Snape to join us even though he was once a Death Eater. He believed in Sirius Black when Harry and the others tol' him Sirius was innocent. Dumbledore always believes in second chances."

"Hmm?" Makarov hummed, knowing that Hagrid was getting to a point and spurring him towards it.

"I don't think it could hurt if yeh did the same yerself with yeh grandson."

Makarov said nothing for a time - he just sat there with his eyes closed and taking several deep breaths.

"Perhaps…" he murmured. "Perhaps… but for now, let us focus on the lesson at hand."

"Yes," Hagrid nodded, turning to Grawp who had been sitting there obediently waiting for someone to talk to him again. "Okay, Grawpy… what's that?" he pointed to the nearest tree. "We went over this last week remember. What's that?"

And for some time the three of them sat together, and although Makarov didn't really do or say anything else throughout the lesson Grawp didn't throw a single punch at his brother whatsoever.

* * *

"So… could you clarify something for me, Firenze-san," Elfman said as he took the lead of the other party beside the centaur. "Are your kind technically Beings or are they Beasts? Because from what I see of you, you should be the former but one of my friends told me you were Beasts."

"Yes, it is a rather paradoxical situation," Firenze replied. "Centaurs are a very dignified race. We take immense pride in our intelligence, our farsight, our athletic superiority over humans. We are most definitely beings. But we asked to be classified as Beasts under the human register of species, because the humans were adamant on including other species we, in general, find rather distasteful as Beings. Such as vampires and hags. We had no desire to be 'lumped in' with them so we chose to be Beasts. As did Merpeople I believe."

"That's a very peculiar way of doing things," Elfman murmured. "We don't have an official record in our world of what species is which. A species is just… a species…"

"Quite a healthy perspective, but it simply doesn't work like that here," Firenze shook his head. "In this world, humans tend to be very biased towards their own kind and condescending of others… not that I can say centaurs are any different. Though very few of my kind would admit they are at fault for that. Regardless, it is rare for us to mix with humans. They do tend to look on us rather negatively."

"That's why we've chosen not to use centaurs so far in our scare program against Umbridge," Hermione said. "We used merpeople because they're quite difficult to reach down there in the lake, but we even though we're using things she considers to be half-breeds we don't want her seeking retribution against the centaurs. Things could get messy if they did."

"That is very considerate of you," said Firenze. "Generously thoughtful."

"Well, we are trying to keep the amount of damage she can do to the school to a minimum," Ron noted.

"Juvia thinks that centaurs are magnificent," Juvia said, which knocked everyone for a loop because they'd never heard her give a compliment like that to anyone that wasn't Gray. Even Gray himself was a little disconcerted by it. "It was once Juvia's dream to ride on the back of a centaur when she was a child. She dreamed that maybe the centaur could run fast enough to get Juvia out of the rain she always carried around with her everywhere she went."

"Well, I'm afraid that will most likely stay a dream," Firenze said. "My herd would be most displeased if they found out I'd given a lift to a human a second time." He paused, his ear cocking to the wind. "And speaking of my herd… it appears you are about to meet them."

There was an instant stillness, allowing the distant rumble of hooves to appear in the ears of each of the humans. A rumbling that grew louder until over two dozen centaurs showered into view from off to the group's right, fanning out like perfectly trained warhorses to surround the group. Several of them had ridiculously large longbows clutched in their hands with quivers full of arrows nestled on their backs, and some had spears and even the occasional sword upon their backs.

One particularly large centaur with a thick black beard stepped forwards. "What is this, Firenze?" he demanded. "What business do seven humans have in our forest?"

"They are simply friends of Hagrid's who came to see his half-giant brother with him," Firenze said calmly and rationally, to a crowd of several very irrationally angry faces. "I was just escorting them back to the edge of the forest so they could leave."

"Leave?" Bane snorted. "They shouldn't have even been in here in the first place! This forest may be on the grounds of their school, but it belongs to us."

"But most of these humans are not part of the school," Firenze gestured to the Fairy Tail mages who were standing warily, ready to fight if needs be. "Some of them are from another universe entirely."

"…What?" asked another centaur in astonishment, to an accompanying quiet hubbub from many of the others. "Then… they are the ones we saw coming in the stars?"

"That is correct, Ronan," Firenze nodded. "There are others besides them, but they are among that number."

The centaurs didn't seem to know how to take this. Many of them were looking to the Fairy Tail mages with interest, even intrigue. But eventually Bane stamped one hoof powerfully on the ground and declared:- "If that is the case then this is an even bigger encroachment on our land than I suspected! It's bad enough having people from the castle beneath our trees. People from another world belong here even less."

"It's not an encroachment," Gray protested. "It's not like we're trying to usurp this forest from you. We just came in here briefly to help out a friend."

"That is still an encroachment," Bane countered. "If you climb over one of your ridiculous human fences into someone else's back garden then you are trespassing on their property. It is the same principle here."

"And what exactly do you plan on doing with the trespassers?" Laxus asked, a dangerous glint appearing in his eyes as his body crackled with lightning, a sight that made some of the centaurs skitter nervously while others tensed to attack.

"Why are you so concerned with your territory anyway?" Evergreen asked. "Can't you share? It's not like any human who comes into this forest can really stay here indefinitely - they'd only wander in and out like we're doing. What's wrong with sharing?"

"What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong with it - you humans aren't interested sharing with us so why should we share with you?" Bane asked contemptuously.

"What do you mean?" Elfman asked.

"He means," Ronan folded his arms and gave a disgruntled grimace. "That we centaurs used to be able to roam wherever we wanted, do whatever we liked and interact with whoever we chose to - human and Muggle alike. But then along came the precious Statute of Secrecy to keep magic secret from the non-magical. It made sense for the humans considering they were being branded as evil and hunted, but it did no favours for us."

"Exactly," Bane nodded. "Unlike magical humans, the Muggles always held us in high regard. They were in awe of us. They had legends about us. We were not hunted in the way that magical humans were. But no, the Statute of Secrecy had to cut off _all_ magical creatures from the non-magical world. The centaurs, the dragons, the giants… everything!"

"And ever since then," Firenze supplied with a sad sigh. "The Ministry has been doing absolutely everything in its power to contain magical creatures in places where Muggles don't normally go. This forest is our home, but it's actually quite small for a centaur herd, especially when we are forced to share it with acromantulas. And we are hunted down and forced back by the Ministry if we attempt to leave it and find a new place. It is as if we are normal horses enclosed within human fences."

"Exactly! You limit our space so we protect what's ours," Bane growled. "You don't let us leave so we don't let you in. Now leave this forest at once, humans. And don't ever return or we will open fire on you next time."

"Maybe it would be a good idea to do what he says. And quickly," Ron suggested, but Gray was having none of that.

"Look, I know we were going anyway, but are you seriously saying that you're going to evict us because of the actions of the Ministry of this world? How does that make any sense? They're not our Ministry and they're hunting us too as a matter of fact. They don't want us to roam free either."

"Yes, we should be kindred spirits if anything," Juvia agreed.

"Kindred spirits? With humans?" Bane snorted. "That is almost insulting. And it doesn't matter what world you're from - you're still humans. Humans are the same everywhere, and that means that they are not welcome here."

"The same everywhere are we?" Elfman glared, stepping forwards in front of Firenze to glare Bane in the eye. "As a Man, I cannot let that pass. Humans are all very different from one another. You cannot lump us all together into one box, just as I am certain we cannot all lump you centaurs into one box."

"But you do lump us together into one box," Bane growled insistently. "Even if you humans have differing opinions on centaurs, you still all seek to control us. You wish to be the dominant species of the planet, and every other race must kowtow to your whims."

"Is that so?" Elfman's eyes narrowed, stepping slowly forwards - he was almost tall enough to be level with Bane even despite the latter's horse body. "That is an extraordinarily unmanly thing to accuse someone of being, especially when you've only just met them."

"You deny it?" Bane glowered… and quite suddenly he dropped his bow. The bearded centaur glanced down in surprise, looking at his hand as if it had betrayed him. But he wasn't the only one. Around the entire clearing, all the centaurs were letting their weapons fall from their hands, bows and spears clattering against the loam and the tree roots around them and none of them looked like they'd done it on purpose. It was as if all of them had suddenly fumbled their gear at the exact same time and when the tried to bend down to pick them up again their bodies wouldn't even obey them.

"Huh… what happened?" Ronan blinked, a sentiment many of the others echoed at the same time, looking about at each other in confusion.

"I happened," Elfman folded his arms. "I'm using my Beast Soul, which allows me to take control of non-human entities like yourself. I commanded you all to drop your weapons in my head, so you did."

"What…! You? You dare to use magic on us!?" Bane roared. "You dare to control us!? This is exactly what I was saying! All you humans insist that we obey you. You completely ignore our pride and…"

"I could completely break your pride if I wanted to," Elfman strode forwards until he was right in front of Bane, electricity practically sparking between their eyes. "I could have you kneel before me. I could have you grovelling, declaring me to be the manliest person you've ever laid eyes on in your lives and that you will never see a greater Man than I. I could command you to let me ride you. I could even command that you jump through a hoop or something if we had a hoop big enough for it. And I could do it all with just a thought… but that would hardly be a manly thing for me to do now would it?"

He bent down and picked up Bane's bow, handing it back to the centaur who took it with an expression of complete bewilderment. All the other centaurs bent down to pick up their weapons too as Elfman stepped back towards his comrades.

"I don't understand," Bane frowned. "What did you hope to accomplish there exactly?"

"I wanted to show you that we're not all alike," Elfman said simply. "Like I said, I could make you do anything I wanted. But I have absolutely no intention of doing so. I have no quarrel with you centaurs, and I have no desire for you to obey me. Because you are not Man's servants. You are your own race and we have no right to govern you. As a matter of fact, I think that you should have complete freedom to go wherever you wanted. And if you were in our world, you would have that freedom."

"We would?" Ronan blinked.

"He's right," Evergreen nodded. "In our world, magical and non-magical species live as close to being in harmony as its possible to get. Humans only drive away the creatures that seek to bring harm to them."

Gray continued. "But if you centaurs were willing to live in peace with humans, you'd be allowed to go everywhere you wanted. You'd probably even have your own form of government that works with the human government to keep peace between us. If some human tried to ride you without permission, other humans would arrest them for it if that's what you wanted."

"It's a great shame that it's not the case in this world," Juvia agreed. "We hate the Statute of Secrecy here. We hate that the magical need to hide themselves away. It's dreadful. And it's divisive."

The centaurs' reactions to all this was fairly mixed. Some of them still looked suspicious, like Bane. Others were actually looking at the Fairy Tail members with mild admiration in their eyes now which was a very stark contrast to just before. But even the suspicious ones were no longer tensed for a fight.

Eventually Bane coughed and muttered, "You are saying you would not fence us in like… common mules?"

"If it were up to us, the entire way that this world operates would change," Elfman said. "Of course, its not up to us - we have no control over what the Ministry of Magic here does. But we will treat you with respect. And we won't ask for anything in return, though it would be nice if you could treat us with respect in turn. Heck, more than that. It would be nice… if we could even be friends."

That caused quite a stir among the centaurs. None of them even seemed sure how to process that - as if the idea of being friends with humans was completely preposterous yet somehow didn't sound so bad at the same time. A sentiment that Bane voiced out loud by saying:- "Friends? No human has ever been friends with a centaur for hundreds of years. Some humans, like Hagrid and Dumbledore, do have our respect… but friends? Most certainly not."

"That is not quite true," Firenze said, his arms folded. "I consider Hagrid to be a friend. And based on what I know of these humans, being friends with them does not sound so bad to me either. And while it is true that most humans and most centaurs are not on good terms, there was a time where we did live side by side, when we actually were friends. We know the tales of Chiron and is exploits with Heracles and Achilles better than most humans do. And while I believe just as much as the rest of you that humans should not rule us, I see no problem with befriending them either."

The wall of silence that followed was quite palpable, broken only by the occasional sound of a centaur pawing at the ground, all of them looking to the five Fairy Tail members like they were interestingly shaped stones, but the previous hostility had all but disappeared.

It was Ronan that eventually spoke up again. "You have given us… much to digest," he said. "But I think it would be prudent for you to continue on your way. As of right now, you are still encroaching on our lands. And from this point on, it would be best that you not return unless accompanied by Hagrid at all times… or by invitation."

"Is that latter likely to happen?" Laxus asked, with a raised brow.

"…I doubt it. But who knows?" Ronan shrugged. "Off you go humans. And… good luck to you."

The centaurs parted ways to let them through, even Bane moving off to the side, and Firenze led the way through the gap to continue their journey back to the school. The centaurs watched them go for a while, and it wasn't until they were out of sight that the thundering sound of hooves started up again, dying down quickly as the herd ran off deeper into the forest.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Firenze remarked. "I was quite certain that Bane would open fire. He is easily the most anti-human of all the centaurs in our herd, which is saying a lot because all of them dislike humans. But you won their respect back there. And for a human to do such a thing makes them worth of even more respect. Which is why Dumbledore has a lot, and why Hagrid used to before he brought that giant home with him."

"Well, I happen to agree with everything you said there," Hermione voice up. "That was very noble of you guys and the Ministry absolutely should let centaurs have more space and more freedom. Just like they should give more rights to House Elves."

"Oh god, here comes the SPEW again," Ron rolled his eyes.

"How many times, Ron," Hermione glowered at him. "It's not SPEW. It's S.P.E.W!"

"I know what it is, but that doesn't change the fact that you're trying to help House Elves get something that they don't even want," said Ron. "But if you were to start up something like for centaurs - well, that would totally make sense cos they DO want more rights, don't they?"

"…Maybe I will start something like that for centaurs," Hermione murmured. "…Though that doesn't change the fact that House Elves need better treatment. Period."

"Yeah, I get it," Ron chuckled, turning to look back in the direction they'd come from. "I wonder what the centaurs would think of you trying to help them. Better make sure the name that this society doesn't sound… like…"

The words died in his throat, and suddenly Ron felt that his heart had not only completely stopped beating but had also been plunged into the icy cold depths of the Hogwarts lake. There was… something… emerging from the darkness of the trees behind him. Something big and quadrupedal, making Ron wonder for a split second whether one of the centaurs had followed them… until it emerged into a patch of light and he got a good look at it… and it got a good look at him.

Ron's jaw dropped open in terror. The creature staring balefully in his direction had the body of a gigantic leopard, but it's head was that of a snake! A cobra, to be exact, with mottled green scales and even greener eyes. It's wide mouth had row upon row of vicious looking fangs, and it's forked tongue slipped out rapidly and repeatedly, flicking the air as if it could already taste Ron from several metres away. It was a creature unlike anything that Ron had ever seen, heard of or read about before, and yet there it was, staring right at him!

"G… g…" he tried to get the other's attention as they were walking on without him but his voice came out as nothing more than a hoarse whisper. But fortunately for him, Hermione noticed his sudden absence and turned back to look. And when she spotted the creature she was much more vocal about it.

"AAAHHH!" she screamed. "WHAT THE… WHAT IS THAT!?"

The rest of the company instantly wheeled around and when they set eyes on the creature they sprang into action, rushing forwards to flank the Hogwarts students and prepare themselves for battles, Firenze stringing an arrow to his bow while the rest of them triggered their magic. The creature was easily as tall as Firenze, but it didn't stick around long enough for a confrontation to start. It just swept a blank gaze over the group, flicked its tongue one last time, and then turned to bound away into the trees, disappearing into the foliage like a whisper in the night despite its massive size, and leaving the group utterly bewildered in its wake.

"The hell was that?" Gray asked, a sentiment the rest of the Fairy Tail mages shared.

"Was… was that… what I think it was?" Hermione squeaked. "Head of a snake… body of a leopard… I've only read about one thing that matches that description."

"That… was the Questing Beast," Firenze breathed, his voice extremely grave. And that was enough to make Hermione gasp, having just had her suspicions confirmed.

"The what?" Ron asked, finally recovering his wits enough to back away towards Hermione, almost expecting the creature to come bursting out again at any moment to try and devour him. "The Questing Beast? I've… never heard of that before."

"That is not surprising," Firenze murmured. "To my knowledge, the Questing Beast has not been seen by anyone for hundreds of years. Most humans have probably never heard of it, and even we centaurs thought it might just be a legend. For it to show up now…"

"Is it really that big a deal?" Laxus raised a brow. "So a creature everyone thought was extinct just turned up. Is that a problem?"

"It is if it's a Questing Beast," Firenze whispered. "Have any of you heard of the Grim?"

"No," said the Fairy Tail Mages as one, while Ron and Hermione both said, "Yes." Ron continued with, "The Grim is an omen of death. A giant, spectral dog and if you see it then you die. My Uncle Bilius saw one once and he died less than a day later."

"So the stories go," Hermione said. "But if you ask me it's a load of superstitious drivel."

"You only say that because of how much Trelawney banged on about it," Ron glared at her. "She was making light of a terrible omen sure, but the Grim is a real thing."

"I still say that people who think they've seen a Grim just die of fright."

"Well, regardless of what you think of the Grim," Firenze cut across them before an argument could start. "According to the legends, the Questing Beast is also a terrible omen. Only one exists at any one time and when the current Questing Beast dies it is said a new one will be born on the same day. But while the Grim is an omen of death… the Questing Beast is an omen of chaos… and disaster."

"Disaster?" Evergreen breathed. "As in… widespread?"

"Yes," Firenze nodded. "Every time that it's seen, it supposedly means that a massive disaster is imminent."

"Well yes… in the stories," Hermione said sceptically, but with a hint of nervousness in the back of her voice. "But you don't really believe that, do you? …Do you?"

"As I said, it's been hundreds of years since anyone saw a Questing Beast," Firenze murmured. "Who knows if the legends are true or not? But one thing I am certain of - there's a reason it's been seen now. It's a creature of Old Magic… the Old Religion, I believe it's called. If it's shown up now after such a long absence, that means that the power of the Old Religion is surely rising once again. Which means… the Questing Beast could show up again in the future. And I pity anyone who might stumble across it unprepared."

"Because of the omen?" Juvia asked.

"That… and because it is deadly. The legends also say a single bite from the Questing Beast brings death. Not through venom like a Basilisk bite, but through the magic of the Old Religion. And unlike the Basilisk, it has no cure. If those fangs pierce your flesh, not even phoenix tears could save you."

A wall of silence hung over the group, each trying to process the information. Even Hermione, dubious as she was about all things related to divination, and the Fairy Tail mages, who knew comparatively little about this world, could all tell that this was a big deal! It was unclear how big at this point, but even if the Questing Beast was not a terrible omen, it's presence surely meant that something big was going to happen.

And soon.

* * *

Ron and Hermione said nothing to each other on their way back to the Gryffindor Tower later on. What had started as an attempt to find out what was wrong with Hagrid had ended up far more eventful than they'd expected it to be and the both of them were still trying to process it all. But that last part with the Questing Beast had particularly taken the cake. Even Hermione hadn't thought that the Questing Beast was a real thing, omen or no omen.

She silently vowed not to mention it to Luna unless she had to. If Crumple-Horned Snorkacks turned out to be real one day too… yeah, she'd never live that one down.

But as soon as they entered the Common Room they were immediately set upon by Ginny.

"Oh thank god you guys are back," she said quickly, her face ashen.

"What? What's going on?" Hermione asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Of course there's something wrong!" Ginny cried, punctuating her words by waving a wand in their faces urgently. But it wasn't her wand… many wands might look similar to one another but Ron and Hermione had been with Harry long enough to recognise his wand from most others.

"What the… what are you doing with Harry's wand, Gin?" Ron asked, perplexedly.

"I had to take it off him! If I hadn't… Ron… he was going to snap it!"

"He what!?" Ron and Hermione yelled at the same time.

"You heard me!"

"Ginny, start from the beginning. What happened?"

"I came back from lessons about half an hour ago and I found Harry sitting in the corner with a face like he'd just swallowed a bucket of pond slime or something. Nothing out of the ordinary really but I still went over to ask him what was wrong and if there was anything I could do… you know, the standard stuff. And of course he said no and I tried to get him to open up for a while, but then he sat up suddenly like he'd had some spark of realisation and he pulled out his wand. I thought he was going to hex me for a second there but he just stared at it… as if it was suddenly the most repulsive thing he'd ever seen in his life."

"But… why would he do that…?" Ron floundered, wracking his brain for some type of explanation.

"I don't know, but after that he seized the other end and it looked like he was about to snap it completely into two pieces," Ginny related. "If I hadn't pulled out my own wand and disarmed him, he would surely have done it! And then he kept demanding I give it to him so he could throw it in the fire or something until he gave up and stormed off to his room without it!"

"Oh Merlin," Ron whispered as he took Harry's wand and stared at it, deep in shock. "I knew Harry was bad… I knew Harry was feeling like dragon crap right now but I didn't realise it was this bad… if he throws away his wand… it's like he's giving up on being a wizard completely!"

"But why!?" Ginny insisted. "Why would he do that?"

"…I… have a theory," Hermione said. "Or… at least part of one. Whatever this is, whatever's bothering him, it has something to do with Harry's… relationship… with Voldemort."

"How do you figure that?" Ron blinked.

"Because… Harry's wand has the shares a core with Voldemort. Both of them have a phoenix feather that came from the same phoenix."

"Wha…?" Ron blinked, while Ginny looked stunned. "Did he… did he tell you that?"

"No, but I figured it out. That thing that he talked about back in the graveyard, when his and Voldemort's wands linked themselves? That's Priori Incantatem, and that can only happen when wands share a core from the same source. But Harry never told us up front so I never mentioned it. But it's never made him hate his wand before today! So… if he suddenly wants to break his own wand that means whatever's bothering him… it has to do with Voldemort somehow. I just… don't know how."

"Well whatever reason it is, we'd better do something about it pretty damn quickly," Ron said gravely.

* * *

Hermione was right on the money of course, and Harry had buried his face in his pillow upstairs, fist clenching and unclenching repeatedly. It had suddenly come to him as he brooded about his whole situation as a Horcrux - what if his wand had chosen him for the piece of Voldemort inside him and not for him. Ollivander had said that the wand chose the wizard after all… and he'd suddenly found himself wondering whether he was even the wizard his own wand wanted to serve.

He'd never thought that much about the connection before, believing it to be a complete coincidence. But if that was the reason, then he didn't want to have anything to do with it. He'd rather go full Muggle and face Voldemort with just his fists than keep using a wand that wanted to serve his parents' murderer.

As far as Harry was concerned right now, he didn't even deserve to be a wizard.

* * *

(Author's Note:- I couldn't remember a time in the books where Harry ever actually mentioned that his wand shared a core with Voldemort's to Ron and Hermione before the Deathly Hallows at the very least, so if I got that detail wrong somebody let me know and I'll amend the chapter accordingly.)


	58. True Friends

Well, looks like my writing mojo is back for the time being. Let's hope it stays that way… and I very much hope that you enjoy this chapter. Particularly the second half!

* * *

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 58:- True Friends**

* * *

"Harry really tried to break his wand?" Dumbledore ran a hand over his face, the news having reached the ears of Mavis Vermillion who was now relaying it to the Headmaster. "I knew that there would be strong, negative repercussions to what he learned but for him to go that far… he's always been so steadfast in the past."

"It's hardly surprising," Mavis whispered quietly. "He must feel like… he's been cursed. And not in terms of having a random spell thrown at him but as if he's destined for misfortune and evil at Voldemort's hand. The torment he must be going through… he must be going through absolute hell."

"Indeed… You sound as though you speak from experience, Miss Vermillion."

"As do you, Dumbledore-san."

"Well… we all have a past, don't we?"

"Yyyyep," Mavis smiled. "And some of our pasts are more… tragic… than others but if we hadn't pushed forward we wouldn't be where we are now."

"And yet Harry isn't pushing forwards. Not this time. He's practically giving up," Dumbledore sighed. "Perhaps telling him about the Horcrux within him was a mistake after all."

"No," Mavis shook her head insistently. "No, it was the right call. If Harry found out you'd kept that from him then not only would he on the verge of giving up, he would also be furious with you. No… you did the right thing."

"At the moment it does not feel like the right thing."

"You're worried about him. And based on what's happening, I suppose that's understandable. But I'm not worried about him at all."

"You aren't?" Dumbledore raised a brow.

"Nope," Mavis smiled. "Because I refuse to underestimate his friends. I have absolute faith that Ron, Hermione and the others will find a way to snap him out of this depression he's sinking into. All of us fall low from time to time, but that's one of the many reasons we have friends… because they pick us back up again when we reach those points. Their feelings will reach Harry. Of that, I have no doubt."

"…That's a remarkable attitude you have there, Miss Vermillion," Dumbledore smiled. "But… you are quite right of course. I have no alternative but to leave this in Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger's hands… but I'm sure they'll pull through too. For now though… we must focus on getting Harry the answers he will so desperately crave when they do pull him out of all this. And… I think I have a good idea of where to start."

"Oh yes?" Mavis asked. "Where's that?"

"Now that we know that Voldemort truly did make Horcruxes, we must find out where he learned it from. And I believe that I know where that might be. And I believe the most likely place is in this book," he reached into his desk and patted the same 'Secrets of the Darkest Art' book that he'd shown to Harry before. "When I became Headmaster I had this book removed from the Hogwarts library, but it was still there when Lord Voldemort attended the school as Tom Riddle. So it's likely that he learned about it from here. And I suspect he may have discussed the subject with one other person before leaving. A man named Horace Slughorn."

"What makes you think he would have told him?"

"Slughorn was the Head of Slytherin house back then. A good man, but a little naive. I tried to warn him about Tom but he was completely enamoured by his charming facade and believed him to be an exemplary student as everyone else did. And yet after Tom became Lord Voldemort, I noticed… a change… in Slughorn's behaviour. While everyone who knew Tom was shocked and horrified by what he'd become, Slughorn seemed particularly weighed down by it. As if he carried some… deep guilt… that showed itself whenever Voldemort's name was mentioned. I always found that very unusual - Slughorn would never intentionally do anything to aid in a man in his quest to become the Dark Lord. But… Voldemort was very skilled at manipulating people even then."

"You think he may have tricked Slughorn into giving him information about these Horcruxes?"

"It is an educated guess… but it seems like a distinct possibility. Especially since Horace seems to have gone on the run ever since Harry claimed that Voldemort had returned. Horace must know something… and I've been trying to find him ever since Bickslow confirmed my suspicions when he saw Voldemort's soul within Harry's body. And now… I believe I've managed to track him down."

"Well then…" Mavis smiled. "In that case I think it would be best to pay him a visit. I'll go and get the Raijinshuu. I have a feeling they may be useful on a mission like this."

* * *

Horace Slughorn sat back in his armchair, a slightly glazed look in his eyes as he flipped the channel on the television before him. Television was truly a perk that came from hiding out in Muggle houses while their owners were away on holiday. Why wizards hadn't come up with entertainment techniques like this yet was utterly perplexing to him.

But he was only half paying attention, only listening with one ear. The other ear was straining to try and hear what was going on outside, as it had been doing ever since Death Eaters had visited his house several months ago to try and recruit him. Why Voldemort would want him around was beyond him as Slughorn was hardly a great fighter… but he had a few guesses. None of which were pleasant. And if he heard a single Apparition crack, he would either be out of there or he'd attempt to hide again by vanishing the armchair he was sitting on and transfiguring himself into one.

It had worked before. He had high hopes it would work again.

Yet he was, at that moment, completely unaware of the little wooden doll floating just outside the window behind him, staring in at him.

"Okay, we're good to go," Bickslow whispered, staring through the eyes of the wooden doll at their target.

Slughorn received one of the greatest frights of his life when Albus Dumbledore suddenly walked in through the door.

"MERLIN'S BEARD!" he cried, leaping to his feet and tripping over the armchair to awkwardly stumble into the wall. "Albus!? Is… is that you?"

"It has been far too long, Horace," Dumbledore smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. "You're looking remarkably well for someone who's in hiding."

"…I… I…" Slughorn clasped at his chest, panting heavily. "I've seen better days. But… what… what in the world are you doing here?"

"Well… I believe you're aware of the fact that Lord Voldemort has returned… are you not?"

Slughorn winced at the name, as most people did, but his face also paled, and there was the ghost of fear and remorse at the back of his eyes. One which the ever-observant Dumbledore caught in an instant.

"I… am aware of what the papers say," Slughorn said slowly. "But… if you really believe that Albus then…"

"You know as well as I do that it's the truth, Horace. I cannot fathom why you would be in hiding if you weren't concerned that Voldemort or his followers might descend on you at any moment. After all, you're not a wanted man. Why else would you flee in the way you have? And I would very much appreciate it, as a favour, if we could get to the root of the matter quickly. I require your assistance, Horace. If my guess is an accurate one, as they usually are… you have a certain memory that I would like to view."

Now Slughorn was _really_ white. He was putting polar bears to shame in that moment. "Memory, Albus? Why… I… I cannot possibly fathom what I could possibly provide you with. I mean… I have many a fond memory of course but none that you could make use of I'm sure."

"Horace," Dumbledore said gently. "I get the feeling you and I both know exactly what I'm talking about."

"…Albus," Slughorn croaked slowly. "I have never helped him. Not once after he became… You-Know-Who. You must surely know that."

"I do, Horace, but the event I am alluding to transpired before then, did it not?"

"…What event… exactly… are you talking about?"

"I want to know Horace. Did Tom ever approach you to ask… about Horcruxes?"

Slughorn almost fell back into his armchair and he immediately started shaking his head. However, paradoxically he didn't deny it. "Yes. Yes, he did," he said, and the moment he did he clamped his hand over his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that! It was as if the words had jumbled themselves on their way to the tip of his tongue. And as he tried to backtrack and deny it again, the exact same thing happened.

"He… he stayed behind one night after the Slug Club and…" he choked and closed his mouth, deciding to cut himself off from saying anymore.

"I apologise," Dumbledore said sadly. "I wish this could have been handled more tastefully, but I'm afraid these are desperate times."

"What did you do, Albus?" Horace gasped.

"An… associate of mine… has set up special runes all about this house. As long as we are within its borders, neither of us can tell a lie."

"What!?" Slughorn gaped. "But… but that's not even a thing!"

"And yet I have not spiked your drink with Veritaserum. Try and tell a lie, Horace. Anything you can think of."

Slughorn frowned and attempted to say, "My name is Gwenog Jones." What he actually said was, "My name is Horace Slughorn." He blinked and tried several more times to say something inaccurate but to no effect. He really couldn't tell a lie right now!

"Again, I apologise," Dumbledore said. "But I assure you it is paramount that I find out what you know. Please, you cannot hide this any longer. I am already aware that Voldemort has created a surplus of Horcruxes. I need to know what he discussed with you that day."

"I can't, Albus," Slughorn shook his head. "I… I can't. It's my fault. I'm the one who… I should have… I didn't think he would ever…"

"I know, I know," Dumbledore said soothingly. "You are far from the only person he ever tricked and, to be honest, I suspect he already knew what he needed to know before he ever came to speak with you about it. But I must know what he discussed with you."

"If he found out I told you…"

"I will ensure your protection, Horace. I will organise a place for you to stay at Hogwarts if you so desire. And not only that, but your information will be of paramount help to young Harry. It could help him on the path he needs to take in order to defeat Voldemort at last."

"Harry… Potter?" Slughorn asked, and suddenly he had just a tiny glint in the back of his eyes. Dumbledore smiled - it seemed that Slughorn's fondness for associating with well-known individuals who were likely to rise high in society had not changed in the slightest. And that was the ultimate secret weapon he intended to use for this very meeting.

"Indeed. If you agree to share this memory with me, I will see to it that you are introduced. And not only that… but I will allow you to meet some of the most remarkable people I have ever encountered in my life. I will allow you meet… Fairy Tail."

"What!?" Slughorn reeled back in shock. "You mean… those terrorists!? The ones that are supposedly from an entirely separate universe? Why in the world would I ever want to come face to face with any of them?"

"Come now, Horace. You know that the newspapers aren't telling the truth about Voldemort. What makes you so sure they're telling the truth about the Fairy Tail mages? I can assure you that Fairy Tail are far from terrorists. They are… headstrong certainly but they are also kind, altruistic and quite frankly rather dazzling. Not to mention extremely powerful. I am getting to know all of them reasonably well and they are all alike and yet somehow all very diverse at the same time. You would love them. Of that I have no doubt."

"…You're serious?" Slughorn asked slowly.

"I cannot lie anymore than you can right now," Dumbledore smiled. "Even I don't have the power to oppose Freed's runes. And Fairy Tail are actually on my side, trusted comrades in the fight against Voldemort. Think of all the power they possess… stood before you and defending you from Voldemort. And what unique members of the Slug Club they would be."

Now Slughorn was beginning to look almost greedy, as if he'd just discovered he'd won every lottery in the world all at the same time. "You promise me, Albus? You're not pulling my leg?"

"Not in the slightest. In fact I brought three of them with me. It was one of them that set up the runes around your house. Would you like to meet them?"

Before Slughorn could even reply purple symbols seemed to creep in through the window and cluster together, transforming themselves into none other than Freed himself. The green-haired man stood with his hand over his face, the green symbol of Fairy Tail boldly jumping out into the astonished Slughorn's line of sight.

"The pleasure is all ours," Freed said by way of greeting. "Greetings, Horace Slughorn. I would be most interested in hearing more about this… Slug Club of yours."

"Despite the rather unflattering sounding name, that is," Evergreen said as she emerged from the same door Dumbledore had walked through, fanning herself lightly.

"KYA-HA! Sounds like a riot to me!" Bickslow cried as he actually somersaulted through the same window as Freed. "My babies and I are itching for a party. Doesn't feel like we've had one in ages!"

"Party, party!" the wooden dolls cried as they swirled around Bickslow's head.

"My… my goodness…" Slughorn gaped. "You are… all three of you… members of Fairy Tail?"

"That's us. Drink us in," Evergreen smirked. "We're quite something, aren't we?"

"Showing modesty as ever, Ever," Freed chuckled lightly, both at Evergreen's reaction and the fact he'd just repeated the same word twice. "And yes, we are Fairy Tail. And Dumbledore is correct. We mean know harm to the people of this world."

"Unless they wear skull masks and black hoods," Bickslow snickered. "In which case we mean plenty of harm!"

"…Remarkable!" Slughorn cried, hurrying forwards to shake all three of their hands one after the other. "Absolutely remarkable! You must tell me everything. What kind of magic do you use? How powerful would you say you are? What's you're world like? Are you among the elite of that world or…"

"Much as we would love to answer all of those questions for you," Freed interrupted. "I'm afraid the mission comes first. Are you willing to give us what we came here for, Slughorn-sama? We will tell you all you wish to know, if you do."

Slughorn's face fell and he looked from the Raijinshuu to Dumbledore repeated. "…I… I don't…" he croaked, but Dumbledore raised a hand.

"If he so wanted, Master Bickslow here could force you to give us that memory," he said. "He has… a way with people. But I would prefer not to appeal to you instead, Horace. You're a kind person who was taken in by a charming young man. You have nothing to feel ashamed of with regards to that memory. If you would be so kind as to give it to us, we will not only protect you, but you could be providing the key to Voldemort's downfall. If that were to happen… would it not entirely absolve you of all that guilt? Do what's right, Horace. For Lily's son?"

"And for the whole damn world," Evergreen chimed in.

Slughorn stood frozen upon the spot for a good half a minute before finally he sighed and took out his wand. "I hope you can forgive me when you have seen it," he whispered.

"I am sure there will be nothing to forgive," Dumbledore assured him. "And I have forgiven others for far worse, believe me." And he watched with a smile as Slughorn slowly withdrew the silver memory from his head and sent it whistling into one of his own potions vials, which promptly capped itself to seal the memory inside. Slughorn sighed heavily, as if a truly tremendous burden had been lifted from his shoulders before he turned to engage the Raijinshuu in almost rabid conversation. Dumbledore lifted the vial and stared at the memory within with a sense of complete satisfaction.

With this, they were one step closer to stopping Voldemort for good. And, with any luck, helping Harry to regain sight of that very goal.

* * *

For the Minister of Magic, it had been a rather slow couple of weeks. As the battle between Fairy Tail, Grimoire Heart, Morgana and the Death Eaters had taken place a considerable way offshore on an island with no inhabitants, it was one of the few large scale brawls that had broken out recently which Wizarding Public had not noticed at all. And as a result, as far Fudge was concerned, Fairy Tail had completely gone to ground since the Azkaban outbreak.

It was an unnerving quiet. He'd expected them to go tearing through other villages and towns left, right and centre but… nothing.

Every so often it did make him wonder… was it possible that those Spirits were telling the truth about them? That they really weren't a threat? …No… no they had to be. Or… maybe they'd just upped and gone home somehow!? That would be magnificent.

But whatever the case, the Ministry still had to continue their relentless search for the mages, and that was why Cornelius was driving to Aurors to make any arrest they could if there was even the slightest evidence that someone might be conspiring with the Fairy Tail guild. Of course, Scrimgeour and the vast majority of his Aurors already knew the truth and were putting on a front to make sure they weren't suspected when they were really searching for Death Eater activity instead… but there was nothing on that front either.

Whether they suspected Fairy Tail or Voldemort as being the main enemy, both Scrimgeour and Fudge were convinced that this was the calm before the storm. But what that storm would be… neither of them could be sure.

Nevertheless, to keep up appearances, both of them agreed that arrests had to be made, albeit for different reasons. Which was why the Wizengamot was currently in full session, interrogating a man that had been overheard drunkenly declaring that some of the Fairy Tail girls that he'd seen were 'actually kinda hot' in the _Leaky Cauldron_ the previous night. That was the only reason he'd been arrested… and it was the best reason out of five arrests that had been made that week. But the only way to show that the Ministry was even doing anything was to at least make some arrests.

"You deny any involvement with Fairy Tail even after what you said?" Fudge asked, leaning forward expectantly.

"Please… I promise I don't know anything about them," the wizard whimpered. "I don't even know their names. I just… I just said that because I saw them when they broke into the Ministry the first time and… and… well, you know…"

"Yes," Amelia Bones coughed, raising a hand to keep him from carrying on. "Thank you… I think we all know what you were thinking. There's no need for the details. Minister, this is ridiculous. There's absolutely no way this man knows anything whatsoever about the Fairy Tail mages. He probably knows less about them than any other person in this whole room."

"Or perhaps he is simply a brilliant actor," Fudge declared. "Perhaps we should try him under Veritaserum."

Amelia wrinkled her nose in obvious distaste, remembering well the incident at Levy McGarden's hearing. "That would be… in poor taste, Minister. I motion that this man is innocent of all charges put against him. All those in favour?"

Every hand in the room was raised except for Fudge's himself, who grunted in frustration. "Very well," he said. "But take him back to the holding cells for the rest of the night. Perhaps that will teach him to watch his tongue next time he goes out drinking."

The man was led out gratefully, and Fudge rubbed his temples. He just didn't have anything to go on and if he didn't start making actual imprisonments soon he'd be labelled incompetent by the people. What was he to do? Dolores might have some good suggestions… but Fudge wasn't quite willing to trust her state of mind right now. Not after her recent hallucinations.

"My, my. Things don't seem to be going terribly well for you, do they?"

Fudge's head shot up, as did many other heads. And sure enough, there was Loke, leaning against the doorframe and smiling amicably with arms folded. His presence caused an instant stir amongst the Wizengamot, many of them remembering him from when he'd shown up in the middle of the attempted Dementor's Kissing of Sirius Black. Amelia Bones was one of them, and she immediately got to her feet.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"And how do you keep managing to get past all of our security?" Fudge shouted.

"Why would I tell you that exactly?" Loke asked with a slight roll to his eyes. "But to answer your question, Madame Bones," he dipped his head in respect. "I'm here to make another attempt to persuade your Minister to see sense when it comes to Fairy Tail. Only this time I decided to attend when the entire Wizengamot was present since I'm beginning to doubt Fudge-san is ever going to actually listen to what I have to say."

"Of course I'm not going to listen to you!" Fudge declared. "I don't even properly know what you are and you keep breaking into our government building? Why should I trust anything you have to say about anything exactly?"

"A fair point, I admit," Loke shrugged. "But the astonishing lack of olive branches I'm seeing you try to extend to Fairy Tail compels me to keep trying. But… I've pretty much given all the evidence I can that they're not bad people so today I'm here to resort to a different approach. I figured that maybe if I can convince you to change your views on me - on the Spirits who side with the mages - maybe you'd be more willing to open up your mind to Fairy Tail as well."

"And what exactly do you want us to think of you?" Amelia asked.

"I want you to see us as we are, dear lady," Loke winked at her, which actually flustered the woman just a little bit. "Yes, we are powerful and yes, we don't come from your world. But we're also kind, caring, fun-loving and unendingly loyal. We may be different species, but we are almost exactly the same as humans in a great many ways. And we're most certainly not evil."

"You think a few simple words is just going to make us believe you after you broke out the most notorious Death Eater in existence!?" Fudge scoffed.

"No," Loke shook his head. "But I'd like to introduce you to someone who I think can at least make you think twice about us. May I introduce… the Harp Spirit. Lyra."

*Poof*

A puff of smoke and suddenly a girl with long, honey blonde hair, wearing a blue dress, a pink bonnet small, wing-like extensions poking out of her back and a massively wide smile popped out of thin air next to Loke, and with her she brought a large, greenish blue harp. She waved enthusiastically at the crowd of gaping wizards and witches.

"Hiya, hiya, hiya," she cried excitedly. "It's wonderful to be here. Oooh, is this my audience for the day, Leo? Quite a big one. It practically looks like a full house."

"I suppose it is, in a way," Loke chuckled. "Though might I remind you we are on something of a tight schedule, Lyra? Play them one of your most wonderful songs and maybe I'll take you out to dinner later. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Lyra's cheeks, which always came with a natural blush, darkened a little. "Oh Leo, don't let Lucy hear you say that. But I'm just so HAPPY!" she squealed excitedly. "It feels like aaaaaages since I've been summoned for anything and now I get to actually be useful! HOORAY!"

"I'm sure," Loke smiled. "So what do you have for us today?"

"One of my absolute favourites!" Lyra beamed. "I was saving this one for when Lucy came back from her imprisonment in time, but since it's not looking likely we'll actually be having that party for a while I'll sing it now!" she knelt by the harp and strummed it rhythmically, and the melodious noise that rippled forth from the strings seemed to wash over the entire audience. The tenseness in their muscles was almost immediately soothed even before Lyra opened her mouth and her beautiful voice floated into their ears.

"Old friend, I can see you  
You're right there  
Old friend, I swear  
The bond between us will never be broken

You start walking, in the infinite wilderness  
Hold back tears, and move towards tomorrow  
I'm the star that's meant for you,

So I shine bright  
This song is meant for you,  
So show me your smile."

The song was slow but unimaginably sweet, and Lyra took her time, seeming to give each and every syllable of the song a true meaning. And it had quite a dramatic effect on the audience. They sagged back in their chairs as if Lyra's voice eased all of their wordly worries away by the end of the first line. Many of them closed their eyes to focus all their attention on their hearing. Even Fudge was completely and utterly captivated, staring at Lyra's fingers as she tugged and stroked lovingly at the strings of her harp. It was as if he'd never heard anything so pure in his life. Even several Aurors that rushed into the room just ended up standing by the door, not wanting the song to end.

Lyra held their attention as well as any Veela, but for entirely different reasons.

Amelia Bones was one of the few that didn't slip completely into a daze. Even she was utterly blown away by the song but she was able to keep just enough lucidity to notice Loke turning around to leave the room. She watched him go even as her ears demanded more of Lyra's singing, which was why she was able to notice Loke turning back at the last second to nod at her meaningfully before he left entirely. Now Lyra was alone, playing her song, and nobody even thought about trying to arrest her.

Sadly though, the performance couldn't last long. As before, Loke and Lyra had been summoned out of the Spirit World by Gemini, who was fast approaching the end of her five minute time limit in Lucy's form. By the time Lyra finished her song, there was only twenty seconds remaining. So the Harp Spirit simply stood, curtsied and then cried, "Hope you liked it everyone! Can't wait to perform for you again!" before she vanished into the Spirit World once more.

Gemini also disappeared a few moments later, but Loke remained since he had the ability to hold his gate open without his owner supplying the power. He quickly gathered up the Invisibility Cloak and gathered it over himself, crouching low and listening in to the reaction of the Wizengamot.

It was more or less exactly as he predicted.

"That… that was… beautiful…" said one of them.

"Beautiful doesn't do that justice… at all," said another.

"I can't believe that something that sweet is on the same side as people like Fairy Tail."

"…Maybe we've misjudged them. Maybe we've been misjudging them the whole time."

"There's no way any of You-Know-Who's followers could be that sweet, right?"

There was a distinct ripple effect as everyone in the audience began to wonder the same thing. Even Fudge took some amount of time to finally pull his head out of the clouds and try to regain control of the situation.

"…No… no, you mustn't think that. You must not be deceived by a simple… albeit wonderful… singing performance. Think back to the sirens of Greek legends. A beautiful song does not always constitute a good person!"

"Perhaps not," Amelia Bones said tersely. "But we all know that had that Spirit wanted to, he could have launched extremely powerful attacks our way, and yet instead he chose to have one of his fellow Spirits provide us with entertainment. It would be foolish to just assume that we know everything about these people when clearly we don't, Minister."

"…I… I suppose not," Fudge conceded, a little gratingly.

"Maybe we should at least consider reaching out to them somehow," suggested a witch near the back of the hall. "Offer them terms… a parley maybe."

"No, no we can't do that," said a nearby wizard. "They're too dangerous - they can't be trusted."

"But you know, even in all their attacks they've never actually killed anyone as far as we know."

"What about down in Chagford?"

"We don't have any proof that was them."

Loke smiled as he listened to the Wizengamot began to argue amongst one another. Lyra's song was hardly about to turn everything completely around, but it had at least planted the seed in many minds that maybe there was more to the mages than they'd initially thought. Fudge might be the leading power of the Ministry… but he wasn't the only one with influence. And maybe his subordinates could make him see sense where an outside source could not… maybe.

At any rate, this was a start.

But then he became aware of heeled shoes making their way towards the door of the courtroom and it was not long before Madame Bones stepped through it. She looked about at the seemingly empty hallway for a moment before whispering, "I am guessing you're still here right now, aren't you?"

"Quite correct," Loke chuckled, but he didn't take off the Cloak.

"Hmm… so… tell me truthfully, Master Spirit… what is your end game here? You seem to speak on behalf of Fairy Tail? What are they doing here in our world? And what do they want? The blue haired girl - Miss Levy - seemed very lost when we questioned her in this very hall. And it took quite a while to repair what happened to it, even with magic."

"I can assure you that Fairy Tail ended up in your world as a result of a complete freak accident within their own. All they want is to go home… and to help those that need helping wherever they can, even here. If the Ministry was to call off this manhunt for them… you would surely benefit from their support."

"I see… so… who attacked Chagford then?"

"A man named Bluenote Stinger. He is from the same world as Fairy Tail but he is not one of them. He comes from a Dark Guild known as Grimoire Heart, who were locked in battle with Fairy Tail before the accident occurred. There are other member of Grimoire Heart in this world too. Fairy Tail are no threat, but those guys are."

"Why did Fairy Tail attack Gringotts then?"

"That was mostly done by the three Dragon Slayers. Despite their name, they have a deep respect and love for dragons and refused to sit by when they heard about what the goblins did to dragons down there."

"Very well. I understand why the attack on Azkaban may have taken place, but why attack Malfoy Manor?"

"Because the Malfoys were holding two Fairy Tail members. Prisoners that Lord Voldemort was hoping to sway to his side before others arrived and busted them out."

"…Then it is just as I suspected."

"You believe me?"

"Honestly, even I am having a tough time with all this. And I am not quite ready to believe that You-Know-Who has returned without more evidence to point it out. The same goes for the alleged innocence of Sirius Black. But… I suspected Fairy Tail's motives for all their attacks were purely altruistic ones. What you say lines up with that?"

"Then you believe us?"

"…For now, I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. There are many decisions that the Minister has made recently which I do not approve of. The whole smear campaign against Dumbledore and Mister Potter is one of them, but labelling Fairy Tail as enemies without trial or attempting to get to know them better is, in my view, an even bigger mistake. But I am willing to believe that they are not our enemies. I am the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I have a few strings I can pull myself. So, Master Spirit, please pass this message along to Fairy Tail. I will try and smooth the road as best I can towards a future where the Ministry and the mages can meet with one another and hammer this all out. As long as Fairy Tail is willing to play ball on that day, perhaps this whole mess can indeed be resolved."

Loke smiled. "That is excellent. Thank you, my dear lady. I will indeed pass on that message… and may I add before I go that you look particularly ravishing in those elegant robes. Farewell."

Madame Bones almost choked on her own saliva at that comment. "Careful now. You wouldn't want me to reverse my decision now would you?" she tried to say with dignity, but the reddened face somewhat lessened the effect. However Loke wasn't around to see it. He'd already vanished into the Spirit World, taking the Cloak with him to deliver it back to its owner.

But this was a big step forwards. They hadn't got the Minister on their side, but it seemed they'd gotten the next best thing within the Ministry. And perhaps that was all they would ultimately need.

* * *

It seemed that almost everyone had heard about how Harry had tried to break his own wand by the following day, and Harry found that he had almost no appetite. He barely touched his breakfast, and he hadn't exactly been able to do much work during his morning lessons without his wand, which Ron and Hermione had refused to give back to him in case he tried it again. The teachers has been left at a loss as to what to do about it. They could hardly punish him for it… it didn't feel fair to any of them to heap more punishment on top of Umbridge's torments… so they'd ended up just leaving him there, staring into space while everyone else tried to get on with their work.

Now Harry was at lunch and he still wasn't eating much. He poked his fork into his mashed potatoes absent-mindedly. Ron and Hermione were sitting by him, both of them trying to encourage him to eat, to talk to them… to do something! But Harry responded to them only with mild grunts and little sighs.

Their concern for him was touching, but as soon as they learned what Harry really was… what he had lurking inside him…

He couldn't bare to think about it.

"Hem, hem."

Harry's entire spine seemed to try and jolt out of his back at that sound. His gaze tracked upwards to see that Umbridge had apparently decided to waddle her way over from the staff table to speak with him. "Mister Potter," she said. "What's this I'm hearing? Is it true that you attempted to break your own wand last night?"

"…What if it is?" Harry asked, wrinkling his nose in irritation.

"Well now… that won't do will it?" Umbridge's oily smile was enough to make Harry feel ill all on its own. "How do you expect to pass your O. and proceed with your education if you don't have your wand?"

"I don't."

"And whyever not?" Umbridge put on a faux look of shock. "Have you perhaps realised at last that nobody in the Wizarding World with any sense is ever going to take you seriously again if you keep spreading all these lies about the Dark Lord?"

Harry's face burned. Ever since he'd learned he was a Horcrux Umbridge's smear campaign and denial against Voldemort's existence infuriated him even more than usual.

"Even if that's true, Mister Potter, I must insist that you take up your wand once again. As your teacher, it is my solemn duty to do my best to make sure you pass through your fifth year and…"

"Oh, is it!? Is it really!? Quit telling such bare-faced lies, you bitch! Everyone here knows what you're saying couldn't be further from the truth so why not just say what you really think!"

Harry's eyes widened in shock… for it had not been him that had spoken. It had been Hermione! She had surged to her feet and shouted at Umbridge loud enough for at least half of the Great Hall to hear, and a flabbergasted silence crashed over that half like a fifty ton weight. But nobody looked more stunned that Umbridge. This was hardly the first time she'd harassed Harry but nobody else had intervened in such a manner before. She hadn't expected anyone to this time either.

"…How dare you…!?" she blustered. "How… how dare… Miss Granger, hold your tongue! How dare you speak to your teacher in such a manner! One-hundred points from Gryffindor… and detention for the rest of the week!"

"Oh, what are you going to do?" Hermione growled. "Carve up the back of my hand like you've been doing to Harry?"

"I thought you had more sense than this, Miss Granger!" Umbridge snarled. "I am your teacher and you would do well to…"

"Teacher!?" suddenly Ron was on his feet as well, and he towered quite considerably over the short woman. "What do you mean teacher? You're not trying to teach us anything except meaningless crap!"

"Silence Mister Weasley!" Umbridge shouted.

"No, you silence!" Ron bellowed, and now everyone in the Great Hall was looking their way in shock. "Shut your damn mouth, you little insult to toads! Nobody wants to hear anything you have to say anyway, nobody wants you here, so why don't you just go away and leave Harry alone."

"Guys…" Harry croaked.

"Another one-hundred points from Gryffindor!" Umbridge screamed. "And…"

"You think we care about points!?" Ron shouted. "The House Cup means jack compared to how much we care about Harry, and you're totally screwing him over with all your smarmy undermining."

"There's only so much we can take, Professor," Hermione agreed, spitting out the last word like it was the most vile thing she'd ever had in her mouth. "I'm not going to just sit there and watch you degrade my friend anymore."

"And neither am I!" Ron agreed.

"Your friend is a glory hound!" Umbridge snarled. "He's a liar, a fraud and an attention seeker. I am simply doing my duty to the Ministry and to the innocent students of this school in my attempt to silence his idiotic stories about the Dark Lord. I am doing what is necessary!"

"You're just doing what Fudge wants you to," Hermione growled. "And you're enjoying it to! You love messing with Harry's life. It makes you feel important and powerful, doesn't it? And you're enjoying messing with Hogwarts too. You're a leech on the wall of this school!"

"Yeah, and I can't wait for the day I don't have to look at your ugly face anymore," Ron agreed. "Whether that be when I graduate, when I get expelled or when you're forced to leave when everyone finds out Harry's not actually lying!"

"SHUT UP!" Umbridge lost any semblance of cool she had left. "SHUT UP! SHUT… UP! THE DARK LORD IS NOT BACK!"

"YES, HE IS!" Ron roared straight into her face. "YOU-KNOW-WHO… VOLDEMORT… IS OUT THERE IN THE WORLD PLOTTING HIS NEXT MOVE AND YOU'RE JUST RAGGING ON HARRY AND PUTTING YOUR FINGERS IN YOUR EARS WHENEVER HE MENTIONS IT! YOU ALL ARE!"

Even Hermione was momentarily stunned that Ron had actually used Voldemort's name. Of the three he was definitely the one most scared by its use, but in his moment of anger he'd overcome it with flying colours.

"YOU TRULY BELIEVE THAT!?" Umbridge yelled. "YOU REALLY BELIEVE THE WORDS OF THIS DELUSIONAL BOY OVER THAT OF YOUR MINISTER FOR MAGIC!"

"Damn right I do," Ron growled.

"And we're not the only ones either," Hermione chipped in. "You can deny it all you want Umbridge, but the truth will get out eventually and you will look like the bloodsucking moron you are when it does."

"You little…!" snarled Umbridge, but before she could say anything else…

"I believe Harry too."

Umbridge's words died in her throat and everyone's attention turned to Neville Longbottom, who was now also on his feet a short distance down the table. Neville looked scared, terrified even to be in the spotlight like he was, but he didn't back down. "Harry's never lied about anything like this before and he's not stupid enough to start spreading such a big story if it wasn't true. And he's sticking with it, no matter what you do to him. So… yeah… I believe him. And I have from the start."

"Return to you seat at once, Mister Longbottom, before I…"

"Why don't you return to your seat?" Ginny suddenly stood up as well. "Nobody wants to talk to you anyway. And nobody with a lick of sense about them is going to believe you over Harry anyway!"

"Shame there are a lot of people without a lick of sense," Fred said.

"But those of us who do have it are definitely on Harry's side," George agreed.

As Umbridge tried to find the right words to get the situation back under her control, suddenly she found herself under attack by other Houses as well when Ernie McMillan stood up too. "Even if Harry was lying, which I don't believe he is, you're just a joke. We learned more when we were being taught by a bloody Death Eater than we've been learning under you."

"And Harry wouldn't lie about this," Cho Chang rose up, her face awash with tears. "He's too good a person to use Cedric Diggory's death to bolster attention to himself!"

"Yeah, so leave him alone!" Colin Creevey cried.

"Go back to the Ministry!" shouted Terry Boot.

"Give us someone who will really prepare us for You-Know-Who as our teacher!" Padma Patil yelled.

It seemed Ron and Hermione had started a movement. Dozens of other students started getting to their feet. Almost all of the Dumbledore's Army members and even a great many students who actually weren't in the DA were all rising to come to Harry's defence. Harry didn't know how many of them believed him or how many of them just happened to dislike Umbridge, but either way… he felt a warm feeling spreading through his chest. A feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time… not even when teaching the DA. He spotted Zacharias Smith looking surly, but he also spotted Seamus Finnegan looking very uncomfortable with the fact that everyone around him, including Dean, was also now yelling at Umbridge…

…until eventually he too stood up and joined in the yelling.

"SILENCE!" Umbridge screamed, magically enhancing her voice until it rose above the din of the amassed Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. "QUIET ALL OF YOU! I'M STRIPPING YOUR HOUSES OF ALL THEIR POINTS! IF YOU DON'T BE QUIET NOW THEN ALL OF YOU WILL JOIN MISTER POTTER IN DETENTION FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR!"

"You can tell us to shut up all you like, Dolores," Hermione glared openly at her. "But it won't make a damn bit of difference. We'll always stand by Harry! No matter what he says, no matter what he does, even if he tries to push us away we'll stand by him!"

"Yeah," Ron nodded vehemently. "Whether it be against you, against the Ministry, against… Voldemort himself… we'll do it! So push off and leave him alone cos nothing you do will silence us."

Those words were met with applause from the rest of the yelling students and Umbridge spun around wildly, trying to single out a face from the crowd to yell at but now feeling massively overwhelmed…

…and it was in that moment that she spotted the werewolf again! She gasped and fell backwards as it stalked its way slowly towards her on all fours over the top of the Gryffindor table, picking its way slowly over the amassed plates and ignoring the students completely as its burning eyes focused on her. She screamed and immediately fled, turning around and dashing towards the back of the Great Hall. She didn't look back once, meaning she didn't see the werewolf not even chase her. She just bolted through the back exit and disappeared, leaving a mass of students jeering and laughing in her wake.

Harry looked round at those around him in wonder, most especially at Ron and Hermione. He'd never been so moved in all his life. It was hardly the first time that the students had rallied behind him. Many had cheered for him many times before, but that was usually only after he'd done something that was actually worthy of applause, like winning the Quidditch Cup in their third year. But this time they'd come to his defence, even after he'd spent the last week or so hating himself. Even after he'd stepped down from the DA, which had doubtless left many of them feeling betrayed, even after he'd tried to push everyone away… they'd all come to his side.

And Ron and Hermione had been at the forefront. Harry could practically feel his heart swelling and for the first time in days he actually smiled.

"…Thanks guys," he whispered.

"We meant it Harry. We really will stand behind you. Every step of the way," Hermione promised.

"No matter how angsty you get about it too. We're your friends mate," Ron nodded. "Even if you don't want us there, we're going to be there. End of story."

Harry bit his lip. They said that now… but would they feel the same if they learned the truth? Would they really want to hang out with someone… back someone… who had a piece of Voldemort inside him? He didn't want to find out… and it was too personal to him for him to put himself in their shoes and try to analyse what they'd think of him.

But considering what they'd just done… maybe… just maybe… Perhaps what convinced him the most was Ron finally gaining the courage to use Voldemort's name to help defend him. If he could do that… then maybe…

"Can you guys meet me in the Room of Requirement after school?" he asked quietly. "There's… something I think I should tell you."

Ron and Hermione beamed and immediately promised they would be there. And they weren't the only ones who smiled. Mavis chuckled from where she was hovering over the table, invisible to all except Pantherlily, who was already on his way back to the Room to rejoin the others after she'd summoned him.

"Well done, Ron and Hermione," she smiled. "I knew you could do it."

* * *

Harry paused at the door of the Room of Requirement, his fist clenching. He was beginning to wish that he'd waited until the lessons were over before asking Ron and Hermione to join him here. His nerves had built up over the rest of the day now that they knew he wanted to talk.

He could always back out… but how could after what they did for him at lunch? And even if their reaction was a negative one… he had to know. He had to know for sure what they would do when they found out the truth. He had to know if their words in the Great Hall had any weight to them or not.

So before he could lose his nerve entirely he pushed open the door and marched right on in. Ron and Hermione were already there waiting for him on the cushions of the DA practice room. And immediately they surged to their feet when he appeared.

"Harry, please," Hermione said before Harry could even think of what to say. "What's been going on with you recently? You haven't been acting like yourself at all and everyone… everyone's so worried about you."

"Hermione, give him space," Ron said quickly, and Harry was a little reminded of when he'd first seen them at Grimmauld Place that summer, back when they'd been keeping secrets from him on Dumbledore's instructions. The situation they were in now was about as reverse from that as it was possible to get, seeing as this time Harry was the one keeping secrets _against_ Dumbledore's advice.

"We… need to take this somewhere else," Harry murmured. And just like that a door appeared on the opposite side of the room from the Fairy Tail training hall. Harry immediately made for it and pulled it open to reveal a small space beyond with three armchairs, and a little cosy fireplace like a smaller version of the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron and Hermione filed in after him, the latter closing the door behind her.

"So yeah," Ron coughed awkwardly as they settled down into their armchairs. "You've got to spill the beans, mate. Whatever's up with you is destroying you. It almost destroyed your wand for real and if you keep it up… heck, we don't even want to think about it."

"It can't be anything we know about," Hermione surmised. "If you were just being bothered by all the same old stuff you'd be powering through, pushing yourself on regardless, but you've ground to a complete halt. No, scratch that, you're going backwards. So tell us, Harry. We're here to help you."

Harry sighed, burying his face in his hands. 'Here goes nothing,' he thought, taking a moment to compose himself before eventually asking, "Have… have either of you heard of a Horcrux… before?"

Ron frowned and looked to Hermione, and seemed incredibly shocked when she too looked bemused. "A what?" she asked.

"It's… Dumbledore told me about them… last week. It's a really… really Dark piece of magic. Basically… a Horcrux is made… when a Dark Wizard splits their own soul, removes part of it from their body and… puts it into something else."

"…Say what?" Ron gaped. "That's real? That's a thing?"

"Yeah," Harry said miserably. "And when you create one, then you can stay alive even if your main body is destroyed."

"Oh Merlin," Hermione placed a hand over her mouth. "There's only one reason you could be telling us this isn't there? Voldemort… you're saying that he made one of these… Horcruxes… didn't he?"

"Oh yeah," Harry nodded dryly. "He made more than one actually. You remember Tom Riddle's diary, with the memory of Voldemort inside it? Apparently that wasn't really a memory, that was a piece of his actual soul. The diary was a Horcrux… and it wasn't the only one Voldemort made. If it had been…"

"…Then he would have been destroyed when you destroyed the diary," Hermione quickly surmised, her mind working quickly even in the midst of her obvious horror at what she was hearing. "Since that was before he regained his body. Oh… oh jeez…"

Ron looked similarly ill. "He splintered his own soul into pieces? That's just… I mean, I know we know people who can do things like merge their souls with animals or beasts but splitting it? That's just wrong."

"Tell me about it," Harry groaned. "The only way to create one is through murdering someone apparently."

"Damn… no wonder you've been in such a funk," Ron whispered. "If You-Know… I mean… if… Voldemort…" he choked out the word even though he still flinched. "…has got these Horcrux things then that means all of them need to be destroyed before we destroy the actual him. Damn… how the hell are we supposed to do that? He's… he's freaking immortal!"

"Something like that, yeah," Harry muttered dryly.

"But why wouldn't you tell us that?" Ron asked quickly. "I mean, its scary. It's really… really scary to think about that but you could have told us that, surely."

"…Yes, he could have," Hermione whispered. "But that's not all there is to it is there?" she leaned forwards slowly. "If that was all, then I could understand why you'd feel depressed for a while, but it wouldn't explain why you stepped down from the DA, or why you tried to break your own wand. There's got to be more to it than that… got to be a deeper, more personal reason why you would… do… those… things…"

Hermione trailed off, her eyes growing wider the quieter she got until they looked like ping-pong balls. Harry bit his lip. It seemed like he hadn't even needed to say the words. Hermione's clever mind had taken the one piece of information he'd given her and worked out the rest on the spot. And she went white a sheet, leaning back in her chair and staring at Harry with appalled horror.

"Oh Harry," she breathed, her voice barely audible.

"What?" Ron looked from one to the other sharply. "What is it?"

Harry couldn't barely to look at either of them in that moment. His face just disappeared into his hands again, leaving Hermione to reveal the truth on her own:-

"I think… Harry… has got a piece of Voldemort's soul… inside his own body."

"…What!?" Ron snorted. "That's nuts, Hermione. How could Harry have a piece of V… Voldemort… inside him. That doesn't make any sense…" But one look at Harry's haunted face made Ron shut up immediately, blink several times and declare, "Wait… are you serious!?"

"Yeah," Harry croaked, actually fighting back tears of despair at this point. "Dumbledore thinks… that his soul was so damaged when he tried to kill me… that part of it split off and entered my body accidentally when his own body was destroyed."

Ron drew back a little in horror. "You… what? You've got… that… inside you…?"

Harry winced at his reaction, and Hermione wasn't responding much better. But now that it was out in the open, everything came spilling out at once. "It explains… everything… absolutely everything seems to make sense now. Why the Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, why my scar hurts whenever Voldemort feels strong emotions, why I can speak Parseltongue, why I can sometimes even look through his eyes and see what he's doing when I'm asleep! All these things which have haunted me since I learned about Voldemort - all of them add up now! It's because I've got a little piece of him glued onto my own soul, just… gripping my like… like a… I don't know what like! A piece of my parents' murderer! Inside me ever since the night he did it! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HANDLE THAT!?"

Ron and Hermione couldn't thing of anything to say, watching as Harry surged out of his armchair to pace around the limited space, tugging at his hair as he unloaded all of his grief and fear at once. Needless to say they had both been rattled, Ron more so than Hermione. Their best friend was carrying around a shard of the soul of the most evil man to grace the world in thousands of years, possibly ever. It was a struggle just to process the fact, let alone figure out how they actually felt about it.

"Harry…" Hermione eventually whispered. "C… calm down…"

"How can I calm down!?" Harry shouted. "You're scared of me now, aren't you? I can tell by that look in your eyes. This is exactly what I thought was going to happen. How could anyone stand by me, the precious Boy-Who-Lived, when they know the truth about what I really am. I'm a bloody Horcrux! I'm part of the reason that guy's still alive. When you made friends with me, you made friends with a piece of him too. How messed up is that?"

"No… no, Harry… you… you can't think like that," Hermione gasped, trying to regain control of the situation when she realised that Harry was beginning to panic. "Think of everything you've done to try and stop Voldemort…"

"Yeah, and a fat lot of good that's done!" Harry yelled, his emotions on a rollercoaster as tears streamed from his eyes. "Everything I'd done against him and I've been supporting some of his life force the entire time. This bit of him inside him… this horrible connection with him… it's influenced half the decisions I've ever made, I'm sure of it. Even my wand probably chose me for him!"

"That's why you tried to break it," Ron whispered.

"Well, how could I keep it after that!?" Harry was practically pulling his hair out. "This is all so messed up! So go ahead and hate me if you want. I wouldn't blame you at all. I don't deserve to be the leader of the DA. I don't deserve any praise. I don't deserve you guys sticking up for me like you did earlier. Cos I'm a damn life support machine for that homicidal…"

***KABLAM!***

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Ron and Hermione both screamed as the door was smashed in with a burst of fire and a plume of smoke, while another voice roared, "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Harry stumbled backwards in shock as Natsu thundered out of the smoke with eyes ablaze, strode across the room and reared back his fist. Harry barely had a moment to comprehend what was about to happen before said fist crashed into his cheek, snapping his head backwards and sending him crashing to the floor with a strangled gasp.

"Natsu!" Hermione shrieked.

"The hell are you doing man?" Ron agreed, but Natsu just glared down at the gasping Harry.

"You moped around for days," he snarled. "You tried to break your wand… you pushed away your friends… because of stupid reason like _that_? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

"…What?" Harry blinked, stunned at Natsu's reaction.

"Sorry!" cried another voice as Ginny stumbled into the room through the disappearing smoke, pulling one of Fred and George's Extendable Ears out from her own. "I tried to stop him but he charged in before I could."

"What were you two doing listening in like that?" Hermione cried.

Ginny shrugged. "I wanted to help Harry just as much as you guys but I didn't think you'd let me in. And Natsu saw me listening so… I gave him my spare Ear."

"Yeah, and it's a damn good thing I was listening too," Natsu growled. "I can't believe I heard what you just heard. I was expecting to hear a much better reason for withdrawing away from everyone than that crap you were saying."

Harry, having recovered from his shock enough to glare back at Natsu and nurse his smarting cheek, yelled, "How is me toting around part of the soul of my parents' murderer, a man who's murdered countless people, a bad excuse to feel depressed?"

"Because you're not Voldemort," Natsu stated, getting straight to the crux of the matter instantly. "You're not this Dark Lord guy any more than the rest of us in this room. You're Harry Potter. And you've never been anyone else but Harry Potter. So why the hell should this be affecting you so much?"

"…But… he's inside me!" Harry protested. "Don't you get that? Inside me… my body!"

"Yeah, and have you ever felt like him?"

"…What?"

Natsu folded his arms. "Have you ever got up in the morning and felt like murdering someone you don't like? Have you ever decided to just walk into the grounds and have a chat with a snake? Have you ever decided to hideously torture someone for the hell of it?"

"No, of course not!"

"Well there you are then! Like I said, you're Harry Potter. Yeah, maybe the part of Voldemort inside you has influenced your decisions sometimes, but only in regards to how you're going to stop the rest of him! It's never made you go off your rocker and it's never made you anyone other than the person you were born as. So why the hell are you so cut up about it?"

"…" Harry stared at Natsu in disbelief. "Because… because… it's HIM! Inside me…"

"So? Big deal. I don't really get it all, but as far as I can tell it's not doing anything to you other than giving you a couple of extra abilities maybe. And that doesn't determine who you are, just like my Fire Dragon Slayer magic doesn't determine who I am. I'd still be kicking bad guy butt if I was a Maker Mage like Gray or a Celestial Mage like Lucy. It's what you do that defines you. And from what I hear, you've been nothing but a stand-up guy until you started this bull. And you know what I'd do if I learned I had a piece of Zeref or whoever inside me? I'd figure out how to get it the hell out of me and then go punch that guy in the face instead of feeling sorry for myself about it. So why don't you do that with Voldemort!?"

Harry blinked several times. Natsu's words were an echo of the words that Dumbledore had told him in his second year, about how it was a person's choices that demonstrate who they really were.

"You'd really be able to shrug it off that easily?" he whispered. "You wouldn't be afraid of how your friends would react at all?"

"Nope," Natsu smirked. "Cos I know that a real friend would help me figure out how to deal with it. I don't think there's any good reason in the world to push your friends away. But what you're saying right now, that definitely isn't one."

"…Maybe you're right," Harry sighed. "But you… you don't understand. You don't have a connection to this Zeref guy like I do with Voldemort. This guys murdered my parents, Natsu. My mum, my dad… he killed them. And now… inside me…"

This time it was Ginny that spoke up. "But it's not like you're keeping him alive by yourself, Harry. He'd still be alive even if you hadn't become a Horcrux if he made others like you said, right?"

"Well… yeah… but…"

"And if it helps at all," Ginny said, her face totally straight. "I, for one, am glad that you're a Horcrux."

Whatever Harry had been expecting to hear, that had been right at the bottom of the list. His brain went almost completely blank, and he gaped up at Ginny in wide-eyed astonishment. And the only sound that he could muster from his voice box was:-

"…Huh?"

"Yeah, huh?" Ron echoed. "What are you talking about, Gin?"

"You should be glad he's a Horcrux too, Ron," Ginny smiled. "Because if he wasn't a Horcrux then I'd be dead right now."

"You would?" Harry blinked, but Hermione gasped.

"That's right, she would!" the brunette breathed. "Because that's what allows him to speak Parseltongue!"

"Exactly," Ginny said, kneeling beside Harry and putting her hand over his own, squeezing it comfortingly. "Even if you hadn't been a Horcrux, Tom Riddle's diary would still have found its way into my cauldron. I would have still been possessed by You-Know-Who, I would have been taken down to the Chamber of Secrets and I would have died there. But you saved my life, Harry… and the only reason you could is because you're a Horcrux."

Harry's eyes widened, shock rippling through him. Why had he not thought about that before!? "You… you're right," he whispered. "I would never have been able to get into the Chamber and save you if I wasn't a Horcrux."

"And that's why I'm glad you are one," Ginny said firmly. "You may have a piece of You-Know-Who's soul in you, but that allowed you to save me from another piece of him. And while I totally think you should get it out of you as soon as physically possible, I'm damn glad it was there when I needed it to be."

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered. "That's just nuts… but I agree. I'm glad you're a Horcrux too, Harry. And every Weasley alive with any sense whatsoever would tell you the same thing. See? You don't need to push us away! You're still the same Harry that saved my sister and killed You-Know-Who's pet and another piece of his soul, Horcrux and all! You've got no reason at all to be in this funk, mate!"

"Yeah," Hermione nodded firmly. "That one little piece of darkness inside you is far outshined by all the good stuff you've done, Harry. You think this is going to change our opinion of you? You couldn't be more wrong!"

Harry could barely understand the swelter of emotions swirling through him. "I just… felt so tainted," he whispered. "Like I had this… dark stain… coating the inside of my body like… tar. I couldn't handle it… but now…" he placed a hand over his chest, his heart thrumming as his other hand squeezed Ginny's own as it felt like the entire weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders. "Jeez… now… I'm actually glad I am too. Merlin, I never thought that would happen!"

"Well believe it now," Natsu smirked, pounding his own chest. "And even if all of this bozo Voldemort was inside you, it wouldn't change what anybody thinks of you. All it would mean would be that we'd all just pound on you until we forced him out! Plain and simple. So… you ready to stop moping around and actually be a friend to everyone again? Or do I need to punch you again?"

Harry grinned. He actually grinned. "No… but I think I deserved that first one. Thank you… thank you so much, you guys… seriously I can't thank you enough."

"Then don't bother trying," Natsu extended his hand down, allowing Harry to take it so he could haul the Chosen One back on his feet. "Just apologise and get on with being the guy everyone here knows you to be."

"…Yeah… thanks Natsu," Harry nodded, lifting up his fist and bumping it against Natsu's own. He then hugged the other three in turn; Ginny first, then Hermione, then Ron. "And you guys… you're the best. The absolute best. I hope you know that."

"I don't know about that," Ron shuffled awkwardly even as he patted Harry's back. "But we got your back all the same."

"So," Hermione coughed, and she pulled Harry's wand from out of her robes and offered it to him. "You think that you can take this back without trying to snap it again?"

Harry stared at the wand for a moment… yet another thing connecting him to Voldemort. But he no longer felt revulsion to it. Now he remembered how that connection had saved him in the graveyard, how it had allowed him to briefly talk to his parents again. Just how low had he sunk that he'd forgotten that in his own self-loathing? But that made it all the more impressive that his friends had managed to turn him around the very next day!

Without a word he took the wand from Hermione's hand and felt a warm glow seeming to spread through him, almost as if his own wand was sending him a signal that it was forgiving him for trying to break it. There was no anger there now. In fact, he actually felt whole again.

"Thanks," Harry smiled. "Thanks so much, all of you. But seriously… please don't tell anyone else about this. Not yet anyway. I'd still rather this didn't become public knowledge. I do _not_ want Voldemort to actually find out about what I am so the less people who really know the better. The only others who know are Makarov, Mavis, Dumbledore, Laxus and the Raijinshuu. So… nobody else, okay?"

"Aye sir!" Natsu saluted with a grin. "Good thing Happy's not here. He's terrible at keeping secrets."

"Let us hope you're not the same, Natsu," said Mavis, which made everyone jump because none of them had noticed her presence in the doorway - largely because she had not wanted them to until that moment. "But now do you see, Harry? You have an extraordinarily hard burden to bear, knowing there's a piece of Voldemort inside you. But friends are the pillars that make supporting those burdens much easier to bear. I hope, that if something like this happens again in future, you won't try to keep it to yourself again."

"…I think I can safely promise you that I won't," Harry smiled, which made the others beam.

"Good. And with that in mind, Dumbledore would like to see you in his office. He believes he may have acquired something that you ought to see. The rest of you can accompany him, if you so wish. I'll use my illusion magic to cover you, Natsu."

"Awesome!" Natsu pulled his scarf over his face and crouched low, eyes flicking left to right wildly. "Like a ninja!"

"Yes, like a ninja," chuckled Mavis. "Come on, let's go."

She led the way out of the little room, but as they proceeded to the door Harry gripped Ginny's arm and pulled her back a bit so he could whisper something to her. "You know, when I asked for that Room, I was expecting it to be completely soundproof when it appeared. I was not expecting anyone outside to be able to hear what I was saying, even with Extendable Ears. I can't help but wonder whether the room ignored that part of my request… because it knew I needed to hear what you and Natsu might have to say. I won't forget this, Ginny. Thank you."

"It's really no problem," Ginny whispered, though an ever-so-faint blush appeared across her cheeks. "No problem at all. Come on quick. We're falling behind."

Harry smiled as Ginny ran to catch up with the others. She'd definitely come a long way since he first met her. First an excitable little child, then a nervous fan, then a quiet and reserved girl, but now she was becoming quite the cool and confident young woman. More so than Harry had really thought she had. But even after he'd saved her in the Chamber, she'd been more or less just… there. More in the background of his life than anything.

But he had a feeling after today, he was going to end up a lot closer to Ginny than before.

* * *

It turned out what Dumbledore wanted to show Harry was a memory, and when Harry withdrew from it, the first thing he gasped was, "Seven? Are you serious? He wanted to create that many?"

"So it would seem," Dumbledore murmured gravely. "I suspect he already knew most everything about Horcruxes that poor Horace told him in that memory. The entire conversation was most likely centered around that one question - could he create seven Horcruxes?"

"Jeez," Harry rubbed a hand over his face. "Do you think he succeeded?"

"That I cannot say for sure, but I am certain he created many," Dumbledore nodded. "He had many years after that to make more, and I suspect he at least got close to that number. That is why his soul was unstable enough to fracture when he was hit with his own Killing Curse, enough for some of it to try and seek shelter inside you."

The rest of the room was crowded with those who were actually in on Harry's secret, which wasn't many in the grand scheme of things but still felt like a lot. "Seven?" Ron whispered. "That's just mad. And these Horcruxes? They could be anything, right? Any object in the world?"

"I wouldn't think so, Mister Weasley," Dumbledore stated calmly. "Voldemort would not simply place part of his soul into an old tin can or a kitchen knife. I believe he would be very picky with his choice of Horcrux container. Voldemort is not one for sentimental value, but in this case I feel he would make an exception. Or alternatively he might have choose objects of great value if there is no sentimentality behind it."

"So that narrows down our search," Evergreen mused. "But it doesn't really give us any indication about where exactly we're supposed to be looking."

"I have a few theories," Dumbledore stated. "But now at least we have a number to work for. I doubt even Voldemort would risk splintering his soul more than seven times on purpose."

"Why seven?" Ginny asked with a frown. "That's quite a specific number."

"And a very prominent one," Hermione said. "Seven is believed by experts to be the most powerful magical number. Wizards and witches generally start using magic around that age, it's the number of years someone has to attend Hogwarts for. The school has seven floors, there are seven players on a Quidditch team… so many examples in the Wizarding World where the number seven is used."

"Correct, Miss Granger," Dumbledore nodded, he said with a twinkle in his eye. "And I might add there are seven Weasley children too."

"…So there are," Ginny blinked. "Wow, I never even thought about that."

"Seven," Natsu whispered to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's always seven…"

Harry blinked at the suddenly somber look on his face. "Natsu, are you okay?" he asked quickly. "Does… does the number seven mean something to you too?"

"…Yeah… yeah, it does," Natsu sighed. "My dad… the Fire Dragon Igneel… he disappeared without a word on July 7th, in the year X777. Just a bunch of sevens all lined up. And seven years after that is when I met Gajeel and Wendy, who's dragon parents disappeared on the same day. That number… it just keeps popping up out of nowhere."

"Perhaps it is quite a powerful number in your world too, Mister Dragneel," Dumbledore said. "But as you can see Harry, it is a most important factor here. I suspected Voldemort would try and create a number like seven… he most likely believes it will offer him extra protection somehow to have seven Horcruxes. But you have already destroyed one. That means there is a maximum of six left to destroy, not including the piece inside yourself. And now my mission is to find out exactly what the rest of them might be. I have a few theories. But I will need to chase them up and as soon as I know the answer, you have my word, you will be the first to know."

"Good," Harry nodded, his fist clenching. "And then… we'll destroy them all of them. And maybe then, finally… we can destroy him."

"That would be quite the start," Dumbledore nodded.

"Who knows, it could even be fun," Bickslow cackled. "Like a treasure hunt spanning the entire country. But one thing's for sure, as soon as I set eyes on a Horcrux, I'll know what it is. All we have to do is find them."

"Indeed," Dumbledore nodded. "Now run along everyone. I have a great deal of thinking to do, and as important as this all is you still have studies."

Harry nodded and filed out of the office, with the others right behind him, except for the Raijinshuu who left via the window. Harry noticed that Natsu was still quite silent and contemplative, a peculiar look on his face given he was usually either grinning or snarling depending on the situation.

"Don't worry, Natsu," he said quietly. "I'm sure you'll find Igneel again. I dunno when… but one day."

"Yeah… yeah… one day," Natsu's fist clenched. "I'll definitely find you Igneel. If it's the last thing I do."

"Oh Merlin!" Hermione suddenly gasped. "Harry, I just realised, you're missing your detention with Umbridge! She's not going to be happy with that!"

"So are we," Ron pointed out. "She gave us detention at lunchtime as well, remember?"

"…Oh yeah."

"Screw her," Harry growled. "I'm not going to her detentions anymore. I'm not going to play any of her dumb games, and I'm not going to let her get to me."

"But Harry, she could still have you expelled…"

"Not for long, she can't," Harry declared. "Cos we're going to make sure she's not in the school much longer. I may have been preoccupied recently, but I was still listening when you guys told me what you'd been doing against her. It's brilliant, and now she's got practically the whole school rising up against her thanks to what you guys did in the Great Hall today. The whole school except the Slytherins that is. But the point is, she's losing her power. She's losing her authority. Now we just need to come up with something that will make her lose it completely. Something that will force Fudge to have her removed."

"That might still be a tall order," said Ginny. "Even though he's not exactly on board with her right now, Fudge still wants her here to do all her interfering. It'll take a lot to strong-arm him into pulling her out."

"That guy's a nutjob," Natsu grunted. "He needs more of a walloping to the face than you did, Harry. Way more! Lucy told me he was just as stupid when he met with Loke earlier today. Apparently he got some Bony woman on their side though so…"

"Wait, Bony?" Harry frowned. "You mean Madame Bones? Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Well that's good," Hermione smiled. "If she's on Fairy Tail's side now that's a massive step."

"No… no, it's more than good. It's great!" Ron cried. The others paused to look at him, and it looked like his mind was racing nineteen to the dozen.

"Ron, what are you thinking?" Harry asked.

"It's like a game of chess," Ron said. "Umbridge is the enemy King and we're backing her into a corner. What we have to do now is come up with a strategy that will force her to stay in that corner. We need to make sure all of our pieces in the right place at the right time and then… checkmate."

"Do you have an idea?" Harry asked quickly. Ron might not have been as intellectually smart as Hermione, but he knew from countless games of Wizarding Chess that when it came to strategic thinking, his friend was top notch… though he'd still like to beat Ron one day.

"I… I might have," Ron murmured. "But to pull it off… we'd need someone on our side that Umbridge would trust. Someone that she wouldn't think for a second would be against her or trying to deceive her… and that's not exactly easy considering what happened at lunch. Like we said, most of the school rose up against her there… so we need someone that she thinks is unquestioningly still on her side."

"…Are you saying what I think you're saying, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"What was the name of that girl you were talking about the other day?" Ron asked. "The one you thought could make a good member of the DA before Harry quit?"

"Daphne Greengrass," Hermione said.

"That's the one," Ron nodded. "You might want to get in touch with her. I can't believe these words are about to come out of my mouth… but I think we need a Slytherin."


	59. The Last Straw

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 59:- The Final Straw**

* * *

It had been just under a week since Kinana had disappeared into Edolas and Porlyusica stepped outside her hut once again, ready to open the portal for a short duration as she'd promised she would do every day.

To her immense annoyance, the small boy Romeo Conbolt was still there where she'd left him. Most of the Fairy Tail mages had returned back to their ramshackle guildhall, knowing that they needed to take what limited jobs were being offered in order to keep up payment demands to Twilight Ogre, but Romeo had obstinately refused to leave, meaning Porlyusica had to grudgingly feed him even though she refused to let him into her house.

"You know, waiting here is not going to make the girl come back any quicker," she said brusquely to the boy, who was hunched over beneath one of the bigger trees. "You're not doing anyone any favours by staying out here. Least of all me."

"Yeah, I know," Romeo murmured quietly. "But… I want to be here when she comes back."

"Why?" Porlyusica raised a brow. "It's not like they're going to bring back the entire guild from whatever universe they've landed in at the exact same time."

"I know… but I've spent over six years going to Hargeon… watching the horizon and waiting for Natsu-nii everyone to come home, hoping that they would one day answer our hopes. Now we find out that they really are still alive, and I want to be there for as much of it as possible. I can't go to Edolas, so I'll settle for this."

"Well if you catch a cold or something that's on you."

"But couldn't you treat it really quickly if I did?"

"YES BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Porlyusica cried, before shaking her head and striding over to the spot where the five poles were still lodged firmly into the ground. "Well, I guess it's time to open this up again for a bit."

She plucked the middle staff out of the ground and made the rapid gestures, muttered the incantations under her breath as she had done every day for the last week, finishing up by stabbing it straight back into the hole in the turf she'd plucked it from. Stepping back, she watched in quiet contemplation as the portal opening itself wide once more, swirling and crackling in mid-air like the eye of a miniature storm.

And it only took thirty seconds for Kinana to step through it.

"Right on schedule," the purple haired girl smiled. "I knew I could count on you, Porlyusica-san."

"Huh," Porlyusica blinked as Romeo immediately shot to his feet. "You were faster than I expected. I didn't expect you back for at least a fortnight."

"Neither did I. But riding Legions really is an amazing way to travel - they got me about extremely quickly."

"Ah, that would explain it."

"Did you succeed?" Romeo asked quickly, running up to her so fast that he almost crashed into her. "Did you find Mystogan? Did he agree to help you?"

"Technically I don't go by that name anymore," a voice wafted through the portal and the voice's owner very quickly followed it. He had once again donned his dark travelling cloak and was carrying upon his back five staffs, identical to the ones pinned into the ground all around him. "My name's Jellal, but since there's already a Jellal in this world with my exact same face, perhaps I will take up the name again."

"Whoa…" Romeo breathed. He'd heard very few stories about Mystogan - after all there weren't really many to tell other given how much Mystogan had tried to keep to himself during his time with the guild. But he'd heard enough for him to be awestruck at the sight of him, especially since his face was uncovered. That was a face that very few in all of Fairy Tail had ever laid eyes on. "You're here. You're really here."

"Of course. Was there ever any doubt I would come?"

"Hm," Porlyusica offered Mystogan the very faintest of smiles. "It's extraordinarily rare for me to say this, but I'm glad to see you again, young man."

"Thank you," Mystogan smiled. "It's good to be back."

"Woooow, is this Earthland!?" said another voice and suddenly Coco came haring out of the portal, dashing all around the clearing and even rushing straight up to the door of Porlyusica's house to peer in through the gap. "This is so cool! How many people from Edolas have ever been into this world!? And this world has magic too!? I think I can feel it in the air! Or maybe that's just the wind… I don't know, but this is awesome!"

"Stand still, child!" Porlyusica yelled, running over and waving a broom at the excited young woman. "Who gave you permission to look into my home!?"

"Are you sure it was a good idea to bring her?" Kinana asked, half-smiling and half-genuinely concerned.

"Coco's been one of my most faithful supporters since even before I took the crown of Edolas," Mystogan nodded resolutely. "She may be quite impulsive but she follows her heart. And I'd rather she were by my side where I can keep my eye on her anyway."

"So… Mystogan-nii," Romeo quickly piped up. "What did you tell Kinana? Do you think you can do it? Build an Anima to get everyone else back home where they belong?"

"…It's possible," Mystogan nodded. "But there are things I'd like to go over with everyone first. It will be… shall we say, logistically difficult. I'll explain more later, but for now all you need to know is that I'll do my very best."

"Well then, I suppose I should close the portal," Porlyusica muttered as she moved over to the staffs but before she could do so Mystogan laid a hand on her arm.

"Hold on," he said. "There's still one more coming through. I'm not sure what's taking her so long, but she's being uncharacteristically nervous. Give her a minute or so."

Sure enough, about half a minute later, and someone else stepped through the portal. Someone that made Romeo's jaw drop, for her long, flowing red hair was practically unmistakeable even without seeing her face.

"Erza," he whispered.

"Yep," Kinana nodded. "I know exactly how you feel, Romeo. Allow me to introduce, the Edolas Erza… Erza Knightwalker."

* * *

"You really do look exactly like her," Macao whispered for about the fifth time.

"Yes, thank you. I am well aware of that," Knightwalker rolled her eyes. "I did meet Erza Scarlet you know - I know exactly how similar we look. And I've met many of your own Edolas counterparts in turn… though admittedly not all of you look quite as alike."

The Fairy Tail guild members had been absolutely floored when Knightwalker strode into their guild, perhaps even more so at seeing her than they had when they finally got a good look at Mystogan. It had taken a while for them to calm down, bombarding them with question after question about themselves, about Edolas and about what things were like for them all over there without any magical power.

"Well I'm very glad you look so similar," Wakaba Mine chuckled with a mouthful of cigar. "How I missed the sight of Erza's beautiful body. I don't think I can get enough of it."

"Keep your eyes to yourself, old man!" Knightwalker whipped around to fix Wakaba with a glare that practically reduced him to ashes. Everyone in the guild hall stepped backwards in alarm, and many of them whispered the exact same words at the exact same time:-

"Yep… she's just as scary as our Erza."

But Macao eventually cleared his throat. "Yes, well… anyway… Kinana, I don't think any of us can thank you enough for what you've done in bringing Mystogan back to the guild. You've done amazingly, and none of us could have possibly ask you for more."

Kinana flushed, and received a two-armed hug from a beaming Laki as everyone else broke out into cheers and wild applause. "It… it really was nothing," she whispered.

"But is it really okay for you to be here?" Max asked Mystogan with some trepidation, not sure whether to be intimidated or not by the man standing before them. "I mean… you're the King of an an entire country… maybe an entire world for all I know… won't you be skipping out on your duties while you're here?"

"A little perhaps," Mystogan shrugged calmly. "But I know that Sugarboy, Hughes and Byro can hold the fort down for a considerable time without me. And not just them," his lip quirked slightly. "Your own Edolas counterparts are doing a wonderful job at helping me keep the peace. Magic or no magic, they've been amazing at getting the Kingdom back on its feet. With them on the scene, I'm sure I'll only need to jump back sometimes to make sure things are running smoothly. And that's part of the reason I brought Coco." He patted the shoulder of the beaming girl beside him. "She's a wonderful messenger, so she'll be running updates between here and Edolas for me constantly."

"Yeah and with two sets of staffs to power the portal we might actually make it big enough for my Legi-pyon to come through and give us a hand as well," Coco grinned.

"You know, I think I heard from Lucy that you were instrumental in saving all our asses from the Edolas King's plan," Bisca said. "Lucy told me that since you stole the key to the cannon that would destroy the big lacrima we were all turned into, you bought the others enough time to do something about it."

"That's right," Alzack agreed. "And she also said you helped get them all up to the big lacrima on your Legion thing and help stop it from being destroyed. Which means, without you… we'd probably all be toast right now."

"Puppy girl's cute!" Asuka cheered, which made Coco blush even harder than Kinana under the grateful gazes and smiles of all the guild members.

"I… I just wanted to protect my own friends really," she whispered. "I'm sorry… that I went along with the King's plan for as long as I did."

"That's not important," Jet smirked. "What is important is that you didn't follow it through to the end."

"You saved our butts. Which means you've always got a place here as and when you need it," Droy agreed.

"…Thanks," Coco squeaked, burying her face in her hands in a paradoxically happy embarrassment. Mystogan chuckled, but then turned to face Macao once again to redirect the conversation.

"So, you're the leader of this guild now then?"

"Er… yes," Macao coughed. "I am. I mean… somebody had to take on the role after Master Makarov disappeared."

"Quite right," Mystogan nodded. "I spent so much time while in Edolas wondering what everyone back home would be doing right now. I did not get to know any of you here during my time with the guild, but I still knew all your names. I knew all your faces. And I always imagined you all happy, grinning, uproarious as ever, during that time. I never would have thought all this could have happened."

"We were extremely jubilant after the whole Edolas incident for a few weeks," Warren said. "Especially because Lisanna came back to us from your world with the others."

"Ah yes. I heard about that when I met with the Edolas Mirajane and Elfman," Mystogan pursed his lips, a smattering of guilt crossing his face. "Had I been faster in sealing the Anima that sucked her away then none of that would have happened. I shall have to apologise to the Strauss family personally at my earliest opportunity."

"You can't be blamed for that," Max cut in. "But… speaking of them… do you think it's possible then?"

"Do you think you can build another Anima for us to get them back?" Nab asked, and everyone's gut clenched with nerves - every second that Mystogan didn't reply seeming to last an absolute eternity. But the blue haired mage wrinkled his nose slightly, clearly choosing his next words carefully which did not seem like the best of signs.

"I can certainly rebuild another Anima, in theory," Mystogan said as he pulled a thick wad of documents from out within his cloak. "I had my advisors scrape together every piece of information they could about the Anima project, most especially how it was designed. I already had knowledge of it, but its one thing to implant the technology into a staff and quite another to build something that will open a portal large enough to bring something as big as Tenroujima through it. But I do believe it can be done as long as we can find the resources to construct it somewhere. But it will require a _lot_ of resources."

"Hmmm…" Macao murmured, sucking on his teeth unhappily. "We're not exactly in a good position to provide resources. We're barely holding on with our debts to Twilight Ogre as it is."

"We can provide a good deal of the resources ourselves," Erza Knightwalker stated. "But not all of it. The money of Edolas needs to be prioritised towards the people of Edolas rather than the people of this world after all."

"Of course… but if we can find the money then… we can do it? We can bring them home?" Jet asked excitedly.

"…Not… really…" Mystogan grimaced. "I'm afraid to say that if I was to simply rebuild the Anima in the exact same way as it was constructed in our world, it would not be able to bring the others back."

"What!?" Laki gasped, a sentiment shared with everyone else. "Why not! It creates a space hole to travel between macrocosms doesn't it!?"

"Yeah, the Anima got everyone here into Edolas, even if they were mostly made into a giant lacrima on the other side!" Romeo protested. "Why wouldn't it work to bring the others back home?"

"Magic is a miraculous ability," Mystogan smiled. "One which I have missed in the last six years. But even it is often subject to the laws of physics. Does anyone have a light pen I can borrow?"

"Oui," Reedus said immediately. "I have one right here." He pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it to Mystogan, who caught it deftly and uncapped it, proceeding to draw a large circle of light in mid-air.

"Say, for a moment, that this circle is Earthland," he said. "And this circle is Edolas," he drew a second circle of equal size next to the first. "As you know, they are two very separate realities… but they have quite a few similarities between them. Most notably it's people. Everyone on Earthland has a person on Edolas that looks more or less exactly like them and most usually has the same first name. Their personalities may be drastically different but they are parallel versions… because Edolas and Earthland are parallel realities."

"Yes, we know all that," Romeo said with just a little impatience. "But what does that have to do with the Anima not working?"

"Everything," Mystogan said sadly. "You see… Earthland and Edolas are parallel because they occupy the exact same space." He pushed the two circles of light together until they became one circle. "They are two separate realities, but they still exist together."

"What?" Warren blinked. "But… how does that work? That's impossible surely."

"No, it isn't. Let me explain - everything in Earthland is constantly vibrating. Even the things that look like they're standing still are all vibrating at a select frequency. The same holds true for Edolas… but everything in Edolas vibrates at a different frequency to Earthland. And that's why Earthland and Edolas can exist in the same space but never interact with each other, because the exist on different frequencies. And there are most likely other parallel universes of this one running on other frequencies - there could be hundreds for all we know. And the Anima works by tapping into the frequency of another parallel universe and thus opening a portal to it, allowing us to cross over from one world to another.

"However, if I understand this correctly, our fellow Fairy Tail mages are _not_ stranded in a parallel universe. The world they're in right now has no alternate versions of themselves, no similarities whatsoever with this one really other than the presence of magic - they're in an alternate reality that is completely cut off from our own." He drew another circle a distance away from the two merged ones. "There is a large gap, a void, between Earthland and this other universe which would need to be crossed in order to get there, or to bring anyone back. And right now… the Anima is not designed to do that. Which means, we'll have to modify it for this new task."

"…O…kay…" Macao murmured as everyone tried to digest that massive influx of information. "And… do you know how to do that?"

"…Not at the moment, no," Mystogan shook his head.

Everyone's faces fell at the exact same time, and Romeo ended up sitting down heavily in a chair and burying his face in his hands. Where once there had been great hope there was now a gut-gnawing worry. A worry that even though they knew their friends were out there waiting for them, that they might never have the tools to bring them home.

"It's definitely not impossible though," Mystogan said quickly, drawing a third circle in the air above the other two. "Think about Celestial Spirit Magic. The Spirit World is not a parallel of this one either. It too exists in a completely separate space to this one, albeit right next to it, and Celestial Spirit Mages open portals to that world all the time. We just need to do some brainstorming and I'm certain that we can come up with a way to redesign the Anima that will allow it to do what we need it to do. There is a way to do this. We just have to find it, and when we do, I believe the necessary modifications will be quite minimal, as everything else is already there."

"Yes… yes, you're right," nodded Macao, clenching his fist. "It's too early to just give up. We have a way to open a portal - now we just need to find a way to aim it in the right direction. I'm sure we can pull this off, no problem!"

"It may be tricky, but we'll find a way," Wakaba agreed. "We may not look like it any more… but we're still Fairy Tail, damn it! And we will find a way!"

"Absolutely!" Jet cried.

"We're coming for you, Levy!" Droy agreed. "Nothing's going to stop us!"

"We won't rest until everyone we know and miss is gushing over how cute our daughter is!" Alzack grinned.

One by one determined grins started appearing on faces again, followed quickly by cheers and roars of enthusiasm. Mystogan smiled - this was more like the Fairy Tail he remembered, even if it was an extremely diminished version. Right now, they were like the Edolas Fairy Tail had once been while on the run from his father, but now the Edolas Fairy Tail were some of the most famous and popular people in the world. It really was bizarre how opposite things could be between his world and this one - one version ascended while the other version fell.

But now, he was going to make sure that both versions returned to their former strength.

* * *

"This better be important, Granger," Daphne Greengrass said as she stepped into the same quiet zone in the library where she'd held her last two conversations with Hermione. Only this time she'd been invited, as Hermione had managed to send her a message during their lunch break. At first the Slytherin girl had shrugged it off and decided not to go, but after mulling it over for a bit she'd ended up changing her mind. Hermione wouldn't ask to meet a Slytherin unless she had something important to talk about after all.

But when she arrived she faltered. She'd expected Hermione to be alone, like before, but instead she found herself confronted with all three of the so-called Golden Trio, as well as Ginny. There followed an immediate and very awkward silence, hanging over the group like a ton of lead, before Daphne finally said, "Okay… you're all here… fine. What's this all about then? I've got quite a bit of homework that needs doing so make it quick."

"That's the thing, Daphne," Hermione said. "This really isn't going to be quick but it is important."

"Oh, we're on first name terms now, are we?" Daphne raised a brow. "I was not aware of that. You know, I wouldn't exactly be the most popular Slytherin if I was found talking to you lot by someone else in my house."

"We know," Harry said. "And that's the point really."

"Excuse me?"

"Okay, we'll try and make this quick as we can," Harry said, though he was extremely hesitant. If Hermione was wrong about this girl, then they could be potentially revealing a lot of sensitive information to a Slytherin who could very easily pass it along to the wrong people… Umbridge herself for instance. But Ron was right. With Umbridge's paranoia running extremely high, they would need someone that she definitely thought she could still trust and Daphne was about the closest option they had. That they knew of anyway.

"Hermione says that you're worried about your parents," Harry said. "Worried that they'll be forced to join up with Voldemort in the near future."

"Did she? Did she say that really?" Daphne glared at Hermione. "And here was me thinking that that was told in confidence."

"There is a reason I told him that," Hermione said defensively. "Just like I also told him that you're not exactly a fan of Umbridge right now."

"Ugh, don't get me started on her," Daphne groaned. "Most of my house think she's amazing, despite her occasional fits, but it's not like she's teaching the Slytherins defensive spells any more than the other houses."

"So you'd like to see her gone, right?" Ron asked.

"Damn right I would."

"Well, what if we were to tell you that you could help us get rid of her, once and for all!?" Ron asked. "In fact, you'd be an instrumental part of that plan."

Daphne had no sharp retort for that one. She frowned in complete bewilderment, wondering if she'd even heard that right. A Gryffindor… four Gryffindors… were asking a Slytherin for help? When was the last time that happened? Probably not for at least a decade or so! But her surprise was matched by her intrigue.

"Go on…" she said slowly.

"The sooner we can get Umbridge out of the school the better," Hermione said. "And we've been working on doing that for a while. You remember that time during a Care of Magical Creatures lesson when Umbridge freaked out over an invisible werewolf and tried to throw you in front of it?"

"How could I forget?" Daphne muttered sourly. "I wasn't exactly rooting for her before that, but afterwards… please," she rolled her eyes.

"Well, that was kind of our doing," Harry said with some degree of satisfaction, looking around to make sure that nobody was listening in, not even Madame Pince who was at the other end of the library breathing down the back of an unfortunate first year's neck. "We've been working with some friends of ours to send fake or illusionary monsters after Umbridge almost everywhere she goes, but making sure that she's the only one who can see them."

"Most specifically half-breed creatures," Ginny supplied. "You know, cos she hates them."

"…So you're telling me you're the ones who've been slowly driving her round the twist?" Daphne asked, a slight smirk appearing on her face. "I've got to say, Potter - that's a sly plan. Worthy of a Slytherin actually."

"…Er… thanks…" Harry coughed. "But anyway, we just need to go for one final big push to get her out of here. Something big. Something that will leave Fudge with no choice but to remove her. And we'd like your help to do it. Your part, if you want to do it, would be a small one but a very important one."

"And why exactly do you need me for that?"

"Because you're a Slytherin," said Ron. "And Umbridge thinks you lot are very firmly on her side as far as we can tell."

"Care to tell me exactly what this role is?"

"Only once you confirm you're in," said Hermione. "It's not like it's a dangerous role though so you don't need to worry about that. But before that… we'd also like to talk to you about your parents. And your sister."

Daphne stiffened again, her previous smirk vanishing in the blink of an eye. "What about them?" she asked a little frigidly.

"We have… friends… outside the school," Harry explained. "Friends who could maybe offer your parents protection just in case Voldemort comes knocking on their door."

"And not only that, but we could help you and your sister learn how to defend yourselves from attack," Ginny agreed. "We've got this little underground group going on that's learning defensive magic that she refuses to teach us. We don't have any Slytherin members, but we've got Zacharias Smith and that git would probably fit in well among some of your worst members."

"Basically we'd like to… you know… offer you what you and your family would need in order to increase your chances of surviving the war that's coming," said Harry.

"…I see…" Daphne murmured, no small amount of scepticism in her voice. "And are you offering all this because of the goodness of your oh-so-golden hearts? Or is this all some attempt to sweeten the deal to make me help you against Umbridge?"

"As a matter of fact, it is the former," Hermione said quickly. "I was suggest to Ron just under a week ago, after our last talk, that we should invite you and Astoria to be a part of our Defence Group. After all, the whole purpose of it is to prepare anyone who might be in danger from Voldemort. Doesn't matter what house they're in, as long as they're on your side. And you made it clear that you don't want your family getting mixed up with Voldemort, so yes… it is out of the goodness of my heart."

"Just so we have all cards on the table," Ron said with a grunt, "I'm not that keen on the idea myself. After all the crap people in your house have tried to pull on us, my brain is telling me to keep as far away from you guys as possible. But… as Hermione said… it's not fair to judge you just because of what house your in. And you've never done anything to us yourself. So yeah. As long as you don't rat us out, I reckon I can give you the benefit of the doubt. Hard as it may be."

Daphne glanced over each of them in turn, shrewdly trying to penetrate their expressions as if attempting to discern whether they were being entirely honest with her or not. But she couldn't find any deception, and if anything it was Ron's complete honesty that sold her. It wasn't as if Gryffindors and Slytherins were going to be buddy-buddy with each other, at least not straight away. And if Ron had pretended otherwise, she would have definitely said no.

"So… let me clarify… how exactly would your friends outside the school be able to keep my parents safe?"

"Well, that's really up to them," Harry said. "Your parents that is. But they could either set up barriers around your parents house that make it hard for Voldemort and his forces to get in or they could maybe take them to a safe house where Voldemort _definitely_ won't be able to get in."

"I see… and you really think it will work? You think you can get Umbridge out of the school?"

"So long as everything goes according to plan… yes."

Daphne took a deep breath. "Very well… I suppose what my parents do isn't really in my control but if you think you can help me and my sister… if you think you can get that bullfrog out of the school and get us learning proper ways to defend ourselves again… then I suppose I can help you out."

"Really?" Hermione beamed. "You'll do it?"

"…Yes. I'll do it. But let's get one thing straight before you do something gross like try and hug me," Daphne held up her hand. "We're not friends. Okay? There's too much animosity between our houses and if the other Slytherins found out about any of this then me and Astoria would probably find our lives here at Hogwarts very difficult very quickly! Nobody in Slytherin can find out this ever happened. Understand?"

"Of course," Harry said quickly. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with us."

"It better be."

"But only if our secrets are safe with you of course," Ron added pointedly.

Daphne raised a brow. "And exactly what secrets would those be, Weasley? The ones you've already told me? Or ones that you've been waiting to hear me agree before telling me?"

The four Gryffindors looked at each other slowly. They'd gone over this with each other many times and while Harry, Ron and Ginny had all been reluctant to be completely truthful with Daphne, Hermione had been adamant that they couldn't accept her into the DA unless she knew the same things everyone else did. Now would be the moment of truth of sorts.

Which was why Ginny got to her feet and knocked on the wall next to them. Moments later and it suddenly swung open to reveal Fred and George on the other side. Daphne blinked as the twins stared her way for a moment before George said, "Things go to plan?"

"As well as can be hoped," Harry nodded.

"You sure about this Harry?" Fred asked, just a little dubiously.

"Sure as I'm ever going to be. Let's get going."

The group bundled into the corridor beyond, Daphne bringing up the rear. The door closed just in time for Madam Pince to round the corner and look confusedly at the empty space where she had been certain there were students a moment ago. But Daphne was just as bemused as Pince as she was lead up a flight of stairs.

"I didn't know there was a hidden passageway here."

"There's probably a lot of passageways in the school you don't know about," Fred said. "But this one wasn't here until today."

"Excuse me?"

"You'll see."

Daphne said nothing else until the reached their destination, which was of course the Room of Requirement. But Harry was more surprised than she was at the end, because he was expecting the room to be mostly empty. Instead, he found all of Dumbledore's Army waiting for them to arrive, and all of them locked their eyes on his own the moment he stepped into the room.

"What's… going on here?" Harry asked.

"You quit being the leader of the DA before, remember?" Ginny pointed out. "We haven't had any defence lessons all week without you and now that you're… yourself again… we thought now would be the best time for you to reassume your mantle, if you see what we mean."

"We're not the only ones behind you, mate," said Ron. "Everyone here wants to be as well. Pretty much anyway," he sent a scathing look Zacharias Smith's way.

"They're waiting for their leader back," Hermione agreed. "And… we even have another new member." She pointed into the group and sure enough, Seamus Finnigan was sitting there next to Dean and Neville. He looked a bit nonplussed at what was going on, but he got to his feet as Harry looked at him.

"Seamus…" Harry murmured. "What are you doing here?"

"What the rest of this lot are here for I assume," Seamus shrugged, a little awkwardly. "Look, Harry… I wanted to apologise. I still don't know what to think about all this You-Know-Who stuff, but, well, I've noticed how you've been this past week. All sad and… you know… empty. I couldn't help but wonder if it was partly my fault for not talking to you and calling you insane at all. I mean, I know it was probably a lot more than that, but I still felt kinda guilty about it."

"To be honest, you really didn't have anything to do with all that," Harry muttered. "And… I guess I'm sorry too - for having a go at you and your mother on the first night. It was uncalled for. It's just… what happened in that graveyard was… is… a sensitive issue."

"You still haven't actually told us what happened that night really," Zacharias Smith grunted, but was quickly silenced by a round of glares from everyone else.

"Anyway," Seamus coughed. "Even though I don't believe You-Know-Who's back, I do know that that Umbridge woman is a joke. And the things she's doing to this school and to you are just plain wrong. So when Dean told me about this defence group… I decided what the heck. I'd come check it out."

"Sorry Harry," Dean said. "But after he took a stand against Umbridge with the rest of us at lunch yesterday I couldn't leave him out anymore."

"It's fine," Harry said quickly, with a deep sigh. "Seamus… I'm glad you're here. And you're free to believe what you want about Voldemort, but Zacharias is right… I haven't really given you the details about that night. Of course, most of you here saw for yourselves recently that I've been telling the truth…"

"Wait, what?" Seamus frowned. "When was this?"

"Later," Dean said quietly, and let Harry continue.

"But if you really want to know… I suppose I can show you guys at some point. If you really, really want to see what happened… I'll show you my memory of it. Exactly what happened in… all it's details. You don't have to see it if you don't want to, but if you do… I'll show you. As soon as Umbridge is out of this school! Is that okay with you?"

There was a ripple of husked awe throughout the group, but although nobody gave a verbal answer, many of them took on a grim, yet determined look and nodded at him, including Seamus. Then Neville asked, "Does this mean you're back, Harry? You're the leader of the DA again?"

"…If you guys still want me to be after what happened last week, then yeah. I guess I am."

"We all voted for you, Harry," said Lee Jordan, to a round of nodding. "Strops and all, you're still definitely the best candidate."

"Yeah, well I'll try and keep the strops to a minimum from now on," Harry chuckled dryly. "So yeah, I guess I'm back in action. And our first order of business, getting Umbridge the hell out of our school!"

Cheers and whoops erupted from several of the members. And throughout all of this, Daphne had been leaning by the wall with one eyebrow raised. She couldn't deny her interest was growing. She had no idea where in the castle they were, and this lot were all rebelling against Umbridge together. That definitely took guts, and she had to respect that.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Parvati asked.

"Well, we do have one," Harry said. "Ron came up with most of it, but Hermione and me chipped in a couple of times. You guys don't have to do anything if you don't want to, but it would help if you did. We have a better shot at success if we all chip in."

"So why exactly is there a Slytherin girl here?" Lavender piped up, sending Daphne a suspicious glare. One that many of the others echoed.

"I'm here by your precious leader's invitation actually," Daphne said brusquely. "I hate Umbridge just as much as you lot and I want her out of here too. And apparently, my role in this mystery plan is a crucial one."

"She's right," Hermione said. "We need a Slytherin on our side, someone Umbridge will trust. And we need you guys to trust us in turn. Daphne won't rat us out. From now on, she's a member of the DA too for as long as she wants to be… which means everyone please be nice to her."

"Oh right, like you're nice to me?" Zacharias snorted.

"Quit being an ass and I'm sure they would be," Daphne snickered. Which immediately raised several people's perception of her, though not enough to allay all their suspicions. It wasn't just Gryffindors that hated the Slytherins - the other two houses were far from fans. But for now, it seemed they were willing to give her a chance. At least for now.

"So, are you finally going to tell me the plan now?" Daphne sighed.

"One last thing before that," Harry said with a clear nervousness. "We can't really let you two be full members of the DA until you know the whole truth. And… Seamus… if you have trouble swallowing what I have to say about Voldemort… you're only scratching the surface of the things that are hard to believe."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Seamus frowned.

"Just go through that door and you'll understand," Harry pointed across the room. Seamus hesitated but Daphne, who clearly wanted to get this over with, marched across the room towards it. Seamus hurried after her, ushered by his friends… but neither of them were expecting what lay beyond when Daphne opened the door.

"GILDARTS! FIGHT ME DAMN BBLLLERRUGH!"

"YAAAAHH!" Daphne and Seamus both yelled as Natsu came flying in their direction, crashing straight into the wall above the door and falling in a heap right in front of them, with Gildarts sitting on the other end of the room, fist raised but not even looking in Natsu's direction, while the rest of the assembled Fairy Tail mages either belted out laughing or shook their heads in exasperation, leaving Daphne and Seamus' jaws practically hitting the floor.

"What. The. HELL!?" Daphne cried.

"Told you you wouldn't believe it," said Harry.

* * *

The next few days were extremely telling on Umbridge. She crawled into bed each night haggard and woke up each morning dreading the next day. It was a far cry indeed from her first night in the school under this new position, where she had been filled with greed and desire for power, and confident beyond measure that she would obtain it. Now, she herself was beginning to wish she could just leave the school behind. Every day was just wave after wave of stress… even without the persistent monster attacks.

Her grip on the school was loosening, and she could practically feel it slipping away. Particularly since a good deal of the students now seemed to be in open rebellion against her. Many of them were no longer turning up to her classes and spent their time instead duelling each other in the hallways. Sometimes she was able to catch them and place them in detention but they didn't show up for that either - blatantly ignoring any and all attempts for her to stamp down her authority. And Dumbledore's Army was at the fore of it all, leading the charge against her.

Not to mention she became the brunt of over a dozen practical jokes practically every day. They ranged greatly in their creativity, from a Dungbomb placed in one of her cupboards to a pretty complex spell that caused her feet to sink into the stone floor behind her desk and get stuck there for almost two hours as she screeched for help. And somehow Fred and George managed to slip a sweet from their new Skiving Snackboxes into her lunch, leading to spectacular explosion of vomit all over the teacher's table in the Great Hall, causing at least three quarters of the students to burst out laughing derisively at her.

Even threats of expulsion didn't seem enough to keep them in line. A couple of smarter students were quick to point out that Umbridge didn't yet have the authority to expel them for this. She haf the right to dismiss teachers, but only the Headmaster could expel any student in the school, while the Heads of Houses could expel anyone in their respective house. Umbridge was neither and she could only expel people if she discovered they were breaking the rules of any of any of the Ministry's Educational Decrees. Which, currently, they weren't.

Naturally Umbridge had gone storming straight to Dumbledore about this, demanding he expel the students she had caught immediately. But Dumbledore had simply smiled and given them a detention of his own. And it was a considerably nicer one that what Umbridge herself would have put them through.

She didn't want to just go crying to Fudge for help either. She wanted him to believe she had everything under control and that the Educational Decrees were just to help her along rather than be a lifeline.

Not to mention the half-breeds had not lessened their pursuit of her in the slightest. The werewolf was continuously the most common of her attackers, but every so often she would stumble across the others as well. Like the Harpies on the stairs to the Divination Tower when she was running late to inspect one of Trelawney's classes, or the Lizardman next to the Quidditch Pitch when she went out to watch the Slytherin Team practice. And both times, she'd again had a narrow escape.

And of course she'd return to her office every night, where she would fall powerfully under the effect of Freed's runes that were still very much in place and an overwhelming surge of paranoia and fear would descend upon her all over again.

It was safe to say that Umbridge was falling apart.

It seemed that only the Slytherins were still on her side if you didn't count Filch. They were the only ones still showing up to her classes and a couple of them tried to bully the rebelling students back under her control, but the efforts were not enough. But Umbridge was in serious need of some back up, which was why she was thinking heavily about making a special squad of loyal students who could carry out punishments and discipline for her since she couldn't be everywhere at once.

But after one particular Defence Against the Dark Arts class for the Fifth Year Slytherins, Umbridge was surprised to see one of her students staying behind.

"Miss Greengrass," she said quickly, already looking around nervously just in case the werewolf sprang out of nowhere again. "You… you should be getting to your next class."

"I know, Miss," Daphne said. "But first, there's something that I really think you need to know. And… it's about Harry Potter."

Umbridge looked up sharply. Naturally Harry hadn't been coming to his detentions either and ever since the uprising in the Great Hall he'd spent all his mealtimes surrounded by his friends, or his loyal followers as Umbridge liked to view them, and she hadn't dared to approach him again.

"What about him?" she asked sharply.

"Well, he's been sneaking out of the school at about seven in the evening for the past two nights and heading into the Forbidden Forest," Daphne said bemusedly. "I've been out by the lake those past two nights gathering some fresh bog myrtle for Professor Snape to use in his Potions Classes when I saw him hurrying across the grounds. I thought it was going to visit that idiot groundskeeper friend of his, but I saw him walk right past his hut and enter the Forest. Both times."

"You're certain?" Umbridge asked, her mind going a million miles a minute and her hands gripping her desk tightly. "You're sure it was Potter?"

"Definitely," Daphne nodded. "I don't know what he was doing out there, but I thought you should know, because he's clearly breaking the school rules just by going in that Forest. And he definitely looked shifty, though thankfully I don't think he saw me either time."

"I see," Umbridge whispered. "I see… well, thank you Miss Greengrass. I'll be sure to do something about this."

"No problem, Professor," Daphne smiled. "Just glad I could help." And with that she turned and strode out of the room, a little smirk appearing across her face as she exited. Harry had been right. Her part in the plan really had been a small one, but crucial all the same. Considering the amount of mutiny Umbridge was receiving from the other students if anyone from the other Houses, even Zacharias Smith, had told her that she would have considered it a trap. But hopefully, since Daphne was a Slytherin, the possibility wouldn't even cross her mind.

And indeed it didn't. Umbridge's entire focus for the rest of the day was wondering what Harry could possibly be up to. What motive could he have for going out into the forest so late in the evening? She never once considered that Daphne could be lying to her, and it only took her an hour to become obsessed with finding out the answer for herself.

Because whatever it was, she was absolutely certain that he was either plotting against the Ministry out there, if not just against her.

* * *

That evening, Umbridge hurried out into the courtyard, used a Disillusionment Charm on herself to hide in a shadowy corner and waited. There was no way she'd be able to sleep that night until she found out the truth. She had to know. She had to know what Harry was doing out there, and she had to know now!

Sure enough, Harry came sloping out of the front door at about five to seven in the evening, looking around carefully to make sure he wasn't being followed. But he failed to spot Umbridge in the corner, and the toad-faced woman watched him beadily as he crept through the courtyard and began to hurry his way across the grounds, making a beeline straight for the forest just like Daphne had said. And Umbridge scuttled along in his wake, trying to match her footsteps with his so he wouldn't hear his pursuer. A couple of times he looked over his shoulder, but in the dimming light of evening it looked like he didn't notice her either time.

Umbridge wasn't even sure whether to feel excited or scared about what she might discover.

Though when she actually reached the edge of the forest, for a moment she became mostly scared. Those trees would be the perfect place for one of those half-breed monsters to attack her. But her thirst for dirt on Potter proved too much for her to resist, and she pushed on into the trees regardless.

For a couple of minutes she fretted that she might have lost track of him, but it wasn't long before she heard voices up ahead. Crouching low, she slunk from tree-trunk to tree-trunk until she could discern what was being said. There were two people speaking. One was definitely Harry and the other was unfamiliar to her.

"…look promising, do they?" she heard the unknown voice saying.

"Very much so, yes," Harry replied. "She's definitely close to the breaking point, I can feel it. I reckon we've got less than a week before she finally snaps and tries to flee. That is if our monsters don't actually kill her first."

Umbridge felt her blood try to turn into ice and fire at the same time. She had absolutely no doubt that Potter was talking about her! So, he was aware of the monsters attacking her!

"Nevertheless I feel uncomfortable about one part of this whole enterprise," the unfamiliar voice said and as Umbridge peered around the tree she saw Harry striding into view alongside a centaur. Her gut curdled at the sight of the 'disgusting half-breed' but she suppressed the bile and diverted all her energy to her ears. She didn't want to miss a word of this conversation and she had faith her Disillusionment Charm would conceal her even from a centaur.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Implicating Hagrid in all of this, of course," Firenze, for that was who it was, shook his head. "Is it really okay to let Umbridge run believing that he was the mastermind for all those monster attacks when it was, in fact, you? You know she'll seek vengeance against him."

"What can she do though? She doesn't have any proof that any monsters are attacking her at all - we've been very careful to make sure of that. She can't tell anyone without sounding like a complete idiot. And if she does come up with some way to convince people… well… Hagrid's as good a fall guy as any. I just want that ugly… flappy-faced… bitch out of the school."

"As do I," Firenze sighed. "If she were to take over the school, it would only be a matter of time before she made things drastically worse for my kind."

"She won't be able to touch you when she's out of there. I still wish you centaurs could help us out in scaring her. You'd love the looks on her faces, believe me."

"Sadly we would be quite a bit harder to hide than the other monsters we rounded up for you."

"Harder to hide than the lizardman? He's difficult but we seem to manage."

"Fair point, but I'd still rather make sure we at least couldn't be implicated if this goes south."

"I understand. But it won't go south. We've got her right where we want her now. A couple more werewolf attacks and she'll go crying back to Fudge with her tail between her legs."

"And then maybe more people will believe your stories about The Dark Lord's return."

"Exactly. She's been completely disrupting all the control I could have over the other students if they believed only I could save them from an evil that doesn't even exist! Half the school would be looking to me as their saviour already if it wasn't for her!"

Umbridge's eyeballs were practically trying to jump out of her skull. The ice in her blood had now turned into lava and she could feel her entire body trembling with near uncontrollable rage! So this was it, huh? All this time she'd wondered if she might be going crazy, been completely unable to think of how Hagrid could be organising the attacks on her when he never seemed to be anywhere nearby… but no! It was Potter! All along the one right underneath her nose had been undermining her with his collection of monsters. It all made so much sense now! A collaboration between Potter and the centaurs to oust the Ministry presence from the school. Nobody had more cause than Potter to want her gone after all… and now… she was hearing the proof! Straight from the horse's mouth, almost literally!

There were, of course, other unanswered questions. Questions like how Harry was actually controlling all these half-breed beasts and why nobody but her could see the werewolf! But in the heat of her anger, those questions didn't even enter Umbridge's head. Her already frayed and paranoid mind, after weeks of living in fear at Harry's hand, was boiling too much for them to even occur to her!

"And should the Ministry send a replacement to fill in her spot?" Firenze asked.

"Whoever they send, I highly doubt they'll be as repulsive as Umbridge. But don't worry, we'll take care of them too somehow. Probably not in the same way - we don't want to give further credence to what Umbridge might say. But we'll find a way."

"Very well," Firenze nodded. "Then I wish you luck in the final push to get her out of here."

"I'll be sure to come and tell you as soon as she's gone."

"Farewell, Harry Potter."

"See you soon."

Umbridge could feel her hand trembling as the centaur made its way off into the trees, gripping her wand so tightly that it was a wonder it hadn't snapped yet. She'd never liked Harry of course, but the one piece of comfort she'd been able to find in the misery and fear of the last few weeks had been believing that she had at least been making his life hell. To hear now that he'd been orchestrating everything that was making her own life hell instead… it was more than she could bear!

The High Inquisitor was seeing red!

But her common sense was clinging on by a thread! She knew that the best way to sort all of this out was to go back, compile what evidence she could and then give it to Fudge to make sure Harry was questioning, given Veritaserum if necessary to make him confirm it all before the Wizengamot. It was a massive struggle to keep herself from launching out into the open and firing off every spell she could think of in his direction in blind rage!

Then something dropped out of the tree next to Harry, landing in a crouch beside him and pushing up onto its hind legs to tower over him. Umbridge's heart leapt straight into her throat! There it was - the werewolf! She was fairly certain she'd recognise this one by now even from amongst an entire pack of werewolves. And Harry was looking right at it! He could see it!

"Go," he said to it. "Watch Umbridge closely tomorrow and be ready. I want you to strike at her this time when she's in the middle of using the toilet. Let's see how undignified she can look if she ends up running through the corridors with her skirt down. Not that that's an image I ever want to think about ever… but let's go with it anyway."

The werewolf snarled, but dipped its head to Harry as if actually bowing to him, before turning and bolting off in the direction of the castle at breakneck speed!

And with it, went the last thread of Umbridge's self-restraint! Hearing Harry planning out a future attack on her was the final straw!

With an enraged snarl she broke cover and launched a silent Stunning Spell right for Harry's back. But Harry seemed to hear her and whirled around as soon as she was out in the open, spotting her just in time to make a frenzied leap out of the way, rolling awkwardly back onto his feet just as Umbridge fired another spell. "PROTEGO!" Harry cried, blocking the attack with a swiftly raised Shield Charm, but now both he and Umbridge were facing off against each other.

"You!?" Harry gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Umbridge ignored the question. "You've gone too far this time Potter," she growled. "I heard everything. "Detention's not good enough this time. Neither is expulsion! I'm going to see to it you're given a life sentence for this! Maybe even the Dementor's Kiss!"

Apparently there was no need for other words because Umbridge charged forwards, a hail of spells unleashing from the end of her wand like bullets - many of which Harry didn't recognise. But he quickly dived behind a tree, using it for cover to spin around and fire back, a couple of Stunners and a Petrificus Totalus spell zinging their way straight towards Umbridge's face. But she proved herself to be at least a capable duellist by turning them aside and firing an Incarcerous spell right back. Harry dove forwards just as the ropes snapped around the tree trunk - had he stayed there a second longer he would have been pinned to the tree. But he whirled himself around and cried, "FOLICTUS!"

Instantly the leaves littering the forest floor flew upwards and started plastering themselves in against Umbridge's face and body, splatting across her clothes and pasting their way over her eyes. Umbridge's arms flailed in a bid to get them off, but she had the presence of mind to blindly cast a Shield Charm that blocked the two Stunning Spells Harry sent flying her way next.

With an almost rabid cry, she heaved the leaves off her face and cried, "CRUCIO!"

Harry gasped and dodged his way out of the path of the spell. "Hey!" he cried. "That's illegal! You can't use the Unforgivable Curses like that!"

"I DON'T CARE!" Umbridge screeched. "YOU TRIED TO MAKE MY LIFE HELL! AND I WILL RETURN THE FAVOUR TENFOLD! CRUCIO!"

Harry ducked behind a tree again and yelled, "Well, what did you expect? You think I was just going to sit back and let you discredit me and ruin the school!? Guess again! Whatever it takes, Umbridge, I'm getting you out of here!"

And quite abruptly he fired a Blasting Hex up into the tree canopy, shattering several branches above Umbridge's head before leaping from his hiding place and pelting towards the edge of the school. Umbridge swiftly dispersed the falling branches and even caught some of them with her magic and fired them in Harry's direction like spinning batons, but a quick Impediment Jinx over the shoulder froze them in place. The Defence Against the Dark Arts professor immediately dashed forwards in pursuit of the fleeing student, incensed at his attempt to escape from her and firing hex after hex at him.

"Get back here, Potter! There's nowhere for you to run this time! Even if you escape me you won't escape the Ministry's justice!"

"What justice!? The Ministry's been doing squat in that regard for months!" Harry yelled back over his shoulder.

By now he'd already cleared the treeline and was out on the school grounds, and as Umbridge rushed out of the trees as well she allowed a wide smirk to split her face. Out here Harry had no cover, and she intended to take full advantage of that!

"STUPEFY! STUPEFY! STUPEFY!" she screamed repeatedly, red jets of light sweeping across the grass like an angry swarm of fireflies. Harry twisted rapidly from left to right, dodging wildly with all the quick reflexes of a Seeker, but several of the spells came dangerously close to hitting him.

Umbridge closed in behind him, moving surprisingly quickly for a woman with such short legs. But she practically jumped out of her skin when a loud screech rent the air, and she spun around to see one of the Harpies sweeping in towards her with talons raised, already within mere metres of her. In a flash she dropped to the ground, the snatching claws of the half-bird closing right where her head had just been. But equally quickly she scrambled back to her feet and sprinted after Harry again even as the Harpy came around for another pass. It settled on the ground and charged at her with wings spread wide, forcing her to turn around and deal with it.

"GET BACK YOU FILTHY HALFBREED!" she cried. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A green jet of light spurted from her wand, and the Harpy seemed to recognise it because it kicked off from the ground just in time for the spell to slip beneath its tailfeathers. The avian twisted around in mid-air as Umbridge followed up with two more Killing Curses, but the Senior Undersecretary didn't try too hard to finish it off. She was much more concerned with chasing its master down, which was why she turned round and dashed off after Harry again.

But the Harpy had at least bought Harry some distance by this point, enough that it was much harder for Umbridge to get a good shot at him for the rest of the run back up towards the castle. And it was there that Harry met up with Ron and Hermione in the doors of the Entrance Hall, who had been waiting for him to return.

"Looks like things are going to plan," Ron whispered as he drew level with them.

"So far," Harry nodded. "But we need to keep her mad!"

"On it," Hermione agreed, before jumping in front of Harry to block a Stunning spell aimed for the back of his head. "Oh no, you don't! You've caused enough trouble for this school already! Get her, Lizardman!"

Umbridge became aware of a shadow across her and looked up with a gasp as the enormous reptilian man dropped down from the walls above her, with armoured fists raised. Two frenzied Stunning Spells just pinged off his armour, but an Impediment Jinx slowed him down just enough for Umbridge to sprint out of the way and duck through the front doors, charging after the trio of students who were now all fleeing together.

"Why am I not surprised you two were in on it!" she raged, almost forgetting the Lizardman was even there as she rushed up the first flight of steps.

"Cos you're a foul little asswipe and we hate you!? suggested Ron, as he and Harry turned around together and slashed their wands, causing a couple of tapestries to jump off the walls on either side of the corridor and trying to smother Umbridge completely. Furiously the short witch slashed and hacked them apart with her wand, all but foaming at the mouth in her rage and kept running!

But as they ran, Harry, Ron and Hermione all very quickly stopped fighting back against Umbridge. They just ran and used Shield Charms to cover each other and block her own attacks without throwing any in retaliation. It wasn't long before they stumbled across several Hufflepuff students on their way back to the dormitory after their Gobstones club, but they were quick to shoulder right past them and continue on their way. Umbridge was not so polite - she actively stunned a couple of them and propelled the others into the walls so she had a clear path in pursuit of her targets.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRATS!" Umbridge hollered, but obviously they ignored her and rounded the next corner, where they found Ginny waiting for them in the doorway of one of the classrooms, and in her hands was the Marauder's Map.

"Two floors up on the way to Dumbledore's office," Ginny whispered loudly, before withdrawing into the classroom and shutting the door before Umbridge could see her. Hermione quickly took the lead and together they bolted up yet another flight of steps, Umbridge hard on their heels.

"Get ready!" Harry hissed.

A mad helter-skelter through the corridors and up the stairs, and Umbridge was still right after them. But quite abruptly Harry rounded another corner and seemed to trip over his own feet, falling onto his front with a painful looking crash and his glasses going flying. Ron and Hermione's momentum kept them running several metres before they could pull themselves to a stop and by that time Umbridge was already upon Harry.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" she shouted before Ron or Hermione could raise their wands, each one slipping out of their fingers like a wet eel to be caught in Umbridge's stubby hand. Harry tried to scramble back onto his feet, but Umbridge actively kicked him onto his back and stabbed her wand right down at his chest.

"Crucio!" she sneered.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAH! AAAAHH! GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Harry bellowed as pain erupted across every inch of his skin - unimaginable pain that made even the searing flashes of agony he'd get in his scar every so often look timid. He writhed and thrashed on the stone floor, his limbs going every which way like a marionette puppet with tangled strings, and Umbridge leered down at him, heaving for breath but relishing in his pain. All that rage, all of that adrenaline, all the terror and embarrassment that she'd been feeling for weeks. She was going to make him feel all of that! EVERY SINGLE DROP!

"STOP IT!" Hermione screamed. "PLEASE! STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"HE DESERVES THIS!" Umbridge screamed. "HE DESERVES EVERY SINGLE IOTA OF…!"

"DOLORES!"

Even over the sound of Harry's screaming and her own yelling, Umbridge heard that one voice… and immediately her blood ran cold. Her own wand dropped nervelessly from her hand, leading to Harry sagging into an exhausted heap as Ron and Hermione quickly rushed to his side. Practically hearing her own body squeaking like a rusty door, Umbridge slowly looked up past the three gasping students to the other end of the corridor.

There stood Dumbledore, looking visibly furious! A burning presence of anger unlike anything that she'd ever witnessed before was radiating out from him. At his side stood McGonagall, who looked no different. She looked like she was having to physically fight down the urge to hurtle down the corridor and punch Umbridge straight in the mouth.

But they weren't why Umbridge's mouth and throat had suddenly become as dry as the Sahara. That happened because next to Dumbledore, with eyes as cold and hard as flint stood…

"A…A…Amelia…" Umbridge squeaked. "Why are you…?"

"What… in the wide world… do you think you're doing?" Madame Bones snarled.


	60. Expulsion

**Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 60:- Expulsion**

* * *

Umbridge knew she was in trouble. Her mind was racing, trying to come up with something - anything - that would help her get out of this situation with her head held high. But short of somehow modifying the memories of everyone that had seen her use the Cruciatus Curse on The Boy Who Lived, she had nothing! And even that wasn't on the cards because Dumbledore had disarmed her in the very instant that she thought about it.

Currently she was seated on a bed in the Hospital Wing, where McGonagall had insisted on taking Harry after such a vicious assault, while Dumbledore and Madame Bones adjourned to his office to call the Minister through the fireplace. Harry tried to asset that he was okay multiple times but Madame Pomfrey still forced him to lie down and take Pepper-Up Potion and gave all three of the students some chocolate.

Umbridge simply couldn't believe her own bad luck. She'd allowed her rage to overwhelm her to a phenomenal degree but if she'd just used the Curse in front of Dumbledore and McGonagall alone then she probably would have got away with it. It would have been sticky, but Fudge would have denied anything that the teachers tried to tell him and overturned their protests to allow her to stay and swept the whole incident under the rug.

But Madame Bones was another matter entirely! She was a fierce woman and Umbridge had broken the law right in front of her! How could she be so unfortunate as to snap and attack Harry on the very same night that she happened to have come to the school to visit her niece!?

Of course it was no accident at all, though Umbridge didn't know that. The idea to bring Madame Bones into the picture had slotted neatly into Ron's head as soon as he learned she wasn't willing to just blindly follow Fudge's lead, and Susan Bones had been more than happy to send a letter to her aunt to ask if they could talk in person. While Umbridge had been sneaking out into the forest to follow Harry, Susan and a couple of other Hufflepuff had been very vocally complaining to Amelia about what an awful person Umbridge was and how she was ruining the school. And right when Amelia had decided to talk to Dumbledore about the students' concerns… bam! There was the object of her concern right in front of her, hexing Harry Potter himself!

This was bad! This was bad! This was really bad! All Umbridge could hope for now was a way to shift the focus onto Potter and his schemes and get it off herself!

Soon enough the doors were flung open and Amelia Bones strode in, her stare practically turning half the room to ice on its own. Dumbledore was right behind her, and Fudge scuttled in immediately after. The Minister was flanked by none other than Rufus Scrimgeour and Kingsley Shacklebolt, both of whom had happened to be nearby when Amelia's enraged voice had started coming through the Fudge's fireplace.

"Minister!" Umbridge was on her feet instantly. "Please, if I could just talk to…"

"SIT!" barked Amelia, and Umbridge's expression turned from fearful to enraged at the drop of a hat just from been interrupted with an order. But nevertheless she did as instructed and fell back onto the bed.

"Dolores," Fudge whispered, his face ashen. "Please… tell me it's not true. Tell me you didn't really use an Unforgivable Curse on Harry Potter."

Umbridge flinched. The Minister's face said it all. While he was determined to discredit Harry Potter and convinced that he and Dumbledore were trying to take power, he most certainly did not approve of torturing a teenager. The urge to lie was overpowering, but Umbridge knew full well that would only make her look worse.

"Yes, but you have to understand Minister!" she said quickly, trying to rush out her story. "I did it because I found out he's been sending all those beasts after me. The ones I told you about! They're real, sir, and I overheard Potter telling a centaur in the Forbidden Forest that he's been sending them after me! He's trying to have me removed from power, Minsiter, just like you thought!"

"That's ridiculous!" McGonagall scoffed. "First you blame Hagrid for all of your delusions and now you blame Potter!? Why I've a good mind to…"

"Minerva, please," Dumbledore raised a hand. "I think it best if we allowed the Ministry to deal with one of their own… employees."

Fudge coughed uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Dolores, I want to believe you - truly I do. But as I said before there's no such thing as harpies or werewolves that can transform outside full moon nights… it's just not possible!"

"But it is!" Umbridge cried. "It is! Go on, ask him! He knows all about them! I saw him talking to the werewolf, planning his next attack on me!"

"That's rubbish!" Harry protested. "There's no way I'd be able to talk to a transformed werewolf without it trying to rip my head off!"

"Don't you lie, Potter!" Umbridge screeched. "Someone get some Veritaserum! Force it down his throat! I'll drink it too! Willingly! I promise you I'm not making it up!"

"Veritaserum will hardly help assess the truth of the situation in this matter," Amelia said, her voice clipped. "After all, the truth potion only makes the drinker tell what they believe to be the truth. If you truly believe non-existent monsters are after you when there aren't then that's still what you'd say!"

"Well if that's not enough then take my memories!"

"Memories can be tampered with. And regardless, we're not here to discuss Potter. We're here to discuss your own transgression, Dolores. You used an Unforgivable Curse on a student!"

"Are we really sure about that?" Fudge asked, clearly trying to grasp at straws. "There's no chance that you could have seen it wrong or…?"

Amelia produced Umbridge's wand, along with her own and touched the tips together. "Prior Incantato," she said, and suddenly a ghostly image of Harry on the floor, writhing and screaming in agony, appeared before her for a few seconds before fading away into wisps of nothingness. "Does that answer your question, Minister?"

"Oh, Dolores…" Fudge whispered. "I can't believe this…"

"No! No, wait, Minister! Please! Yes, I did it and yes, it was awful! I shouldn't have done it and I know that! I'll accept any punishment you give you me without complaint, I promise! Just please! Question Potter! He's guilty, sir, I promise you he's guilty!"

"No, I'm not!" Harry growled. "You want to give my Veritaserum!? Fine, give it to me! I've got nothing to hide, and maybe if you give it to me you'll finally believe me when I tell you what I've been saying about Voldemort is true all along!"

"He's bluffing, Minister! He doesn't really mean that! You'll see if you just talk to him…!"

"No, I'm not bloody bluffing!" Harry yelled. "This lunatic of a woman's been determined to shut me up since term started! She's been trying all sorts of ways to get me to stop talking about Voldemort, but there's no way I'll ever stop until you see the truth! I reckon she just couldn't take my supposed 'lying' anymore cos she just attacked me out of nowhere when I was on my way back from the kitchens!"

"LIES!" Umbridge screamed. "IT'S ALL LIES! HIS LIZARDMAN ATTACKED ME JUST OVER HALF AN AN HOUR AGO! WE CAN GO TALK TO THE CENTAURS! MAKE THEM TALK AS WELL!"

"You think centaurs would ever work with humans?" Harry snorted. "The Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest hate almost every human alive!"

"And how would you know that unless you'd met them before!" Umbridge cried triumphantly.

"Because I met them while on detention with Hagrid during my First Year," Harry replied smoothly.

"That is true," Dumbledore nodded. "Professor Hagrid took them into the Forest to find an injured unicorn as part of their detention. He told me about it later."

"Well…" Umbridge floundered desperately, but Amelia cut across her.

"I've heard enough already!" she sighed. "Look at her, Minister. She looks positively deranged!" And she was definitely right about that - Umbridge's desperation was causing her face to look like she was about to vomit a bunch of frogs and then try and eat them again. "And she's talking complete nonsense! I know you had high hopes of her reforming the school but clearly she's in no state of mind to reform anything, and no matter what drivel she comes out with she attacked a student right in front of me! There is no need for a debate or even a trial. She must be removed from the school and imprisoned at once!"

"She's right," Scrimgeour chipped in. "There's absolutely no way that she's still fit for duty. And if you don't arrest her, you'd be breaking the law right along with her Minister."

Fudge sighed. He could see absolutely no way of salvaging this situation and to be honest, even if Amelia hadn't been there, he would have been thinking along similar lines. Umbridge was losing her grip on reality as far as he could see.

"I fear you are right, Amelia…"

"NO!" Umbridge almost bounded to her feet! "Please, Minister! You must believe me! You know Potter's trying to spread discord throughout the Wizarding World! It makes perfect sense!"

"No it doesn't and you know it!" Harry glared at her. "Stop trying to blame me because you're going mad!"

"MAD!? I AM NOT MAD!" Umbridge screeched, clearing the space between her and Harry almost instantly and causing both McGonagall, Shacklebolt and Bones to tense and reach for their wands, but Umbridge stopped with her face just inches from Harry's own. "TELL THE TRUTH, POTTER! DON'T YOU DARE LIE IN FRONT OF THE MINISTER!"

"Oh I would never lie, Professor," Harry growled, matching Umbridge's practically psychotic stare with a calm one of his own. "Especially not after what you made me do to the back of my own hand!"

Umbridge's face went slack again, her eyes flicking down to the back of Harry's hand where, sure enough, the thin words she'd been forcing him to write in his detentions were still there. They were extremely thin and faint, so much so that you'd need a very keen eye to see them there at all unless you were looking for them. But they were there.

"What!?" McGonagall asked sharply. "The back of your hand? What are you talking about, Harry?"

Harry clenched his fist, the scars standing out a little more. He'd not told any teacher about this before because he'd known McGonagall could do nothing about it and had, at the time, been resentful at Dumbledore for ignoring him. But now… now was the perfect time to reveal all!

"It's disgusting, Professor!" Hermione said from the bed next to him. "She made him carve lines into the back of his own hand with a magical quill, over and over again!"

"She WHAT!?" Amelia cried, and like a tidal wave she surged across the room to physically seize Umbridge's shoulder and shove her aside, snatching Harry's hand and squinting down at the skin. It took her a moment or two to make out the words but when she did, her jaw dropped open in revulsion and horror.

'I must not tell lies,' she whispered out loud. 'By Merlin… this is… macabre!'

"No wait! Please, this isn't about that!" Umbridge floundered desperately. "This is about the half-breeds! Think about the half-breeds, not…"

"Minister, take a look at this. Potter, where is this quill now!" Amelia barked, completely ignoring Umbridge's protests.

"It should be somewhere in her office. A black quill, probably in her top desk drawer," Harry grunted as Fudge stepped up beside Bones to examine Harry's hand.

"Scrimgeour, Shacklebolt!" Amelia cried, and the two Aurors didn't even need to be told what to do. They both turned and marched straight out of the Hospital Wing while Fudge stared in disbelief, and looked like he was about to be physically sick.

"You… did this, Dolores?" the Minister breathed, every fibre of his face and his voice expressing nothing but pure horror at this revelation.

But Umbridge couldn't think of anything to say in response. Even though the Black Quill left physical evidence of its use behind, she'd never been concerned about using it on Harry because she'd been certain it would silence him and because if it hadn't she'd been even more sure that people would believe he deliberately harmed himself in an attempt to gain sympathy. But now… she was screwed… and she knew it!

Sure enough, Scrimgeour and Kingsley returned a few minutes later in Kingsley's hand was the very torture device that Umbridge had been using on Harry for weeks. The back of Kingsley's other hand had a bit of blood on it.

"Here it is, Madame Bones," he said as he handed it over. "I wrote down my name with this on a piece of parchment and immediately the words were cut into the back of my hand. It healed over quickly, but my hand still feels a bit raw. I get the feeling that after repeated use, it wouldn't have healed up so quickly."

"This item is not sanctioned by the Ministry of Magic," Madame Bones whispered. "I have never seen anything like it before! The only conclusion I can draw… did you invent this yourself, Dolores?"

Umbridge's silence spoke volumes. She was feeling more and more like a rat trapped in a corner, and every expression in the room was now either thunderous, like Dumbledore's, or horrified, like Fudge's.

"Why?" Fudge whispered. "Why would you use something like this on… on anyone?"

"YOU SAID TO!" Umbridge suddenly exploded in a last ditch resort. "YOU SAID TO SILENCE POTTER BY ABSOLUTELY ANY MEANS NECESSARY AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TRYING TO DO! I WAS TRYING TO TEACH HIM NOT TO LIE ABOUT THE DARK LORD. YOU WANTED HIM TO STOP TALKING SO THAT'S WHAT I WAS TRYING TO DO! I DID ALL THIS IN YOUR NAME, MINISTER!"

"I… I didn't say to torture the boy!" Fudge yelled. "I didn't say to inflict physical harm upon him and I most certainly don't condone this! All those times you assured me that you had Harry under control, this is what you meant!? You were actually spilling his very blood!? That is wrong, Dolores!"

"It's more than wrong, it's evil!" McGonagall cried. "This object is clearly something fashioned from Dark Magic and yet our own Defence Against the Dark Arts student has been using it against the Boy-Who-Lived!"

"SO WHAT!? I'D DO ANYTHING FOR THE MINISTRY, FOR YOU MINISTER FUDGE, DON'T YOU SEE THAT!? I WAS JUST PROTECTING US FROM THESE PEOPLE LIKE YOU WANTED ME TO! I HAVE ALL ALONG, LIKE WHEN I SENT THOSE DEMENTORS TO ATTACK POTTER OVER THE SUMMER! I…"

Instantly she clammed up, her eyes bulging. Every pitfall she'd fallen into thus far had been because of Harry, Ron and Hermione's plans but that one… that one was entirely her own fault! And it stunned Harry just as much as everyone else.

"YOU SENT THOSE DEMENTORS AFTER ME!?" he cried. "THOSE THINGS ALMOST KISSED MY COUSIN! YOU WERE TRYING TO KICK ME OUT OF THE SCHOOL BEFORE WE EVEN MET!?"

"So there really were Dementors!?" Fudge cried. "Dolores… you…"

"No… no no no NO NO!… ALL FOR YOU… EVERY BIT OF IT… FOR OUR MINISTRY… AND THE WEREWOLF! THINK ABOUT THE…"

"SILENCIO!" Amelia snapped, lancing her wand so viciously at Umbridge's throat that she almost made contact with it and Umbridge gaped as she suddenly lost the ability to use her own voice. "I've heard more than enough a long time ago, but now I believe we might just have everything. Scrimgeour, Shacklebolt, arrest this woman on the counts of unauthorised use of Dementors, creating an object of Dark Magic, keeping an unauthorised Dark Magical Object, using a Dark Object on a minor, attempted endangerment of a minor and using the Cruciatus Curse on a minor!"

Umbridge tried to make a break for it in the middle of that list of crimes but she was hit by a double Impediment Jinx almost immediately and forced to stand on the spot while Kingsley and Scrimgeour folded her arms behind her back to hold her steady.

"I trust you have no objection to this, Minister?" Amelia asked.

"…No. No, I do not," Fudge shook his head, turning an anguished glance back to the scars on Harry's hand. "Dolores Jane Umbridge… as of this moment you are fired as my Senior Undersecretary and as the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts school. And you are expelled from your post as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at this school. As of this moment… every title you possess has been completely revoked."

"YEEEEEESSSSSSS!" Harry didn't even try to hide his jubilation, punching his fist in the air and roaring to the ceiling with Ron and Hermione cheering and whooping right alongside him. Umbridge screamed silently in frustration and boiling anger, with fat tears gushing down her cheeks, but not a drop of sympathy for her could be found in anyone else. Umbridge ended up being frog-marched right out of the hospital wing, kicking and thrashing her entire way until the doors shut behind her and she was lost to sight. Instantly Harry and Ron were seizing Harry from either side in massive bear-hugs. One that Harry was also grateful to return, the Boy Who Lived grinning like her was now the lunatic!

But then again he could hardly be blamed!

Finally… they'd won! There was no way she was ever coming back to within fifty miles of the school after that performance. Which meant at long last… the bitch was gone.

"I hope you realise that expulsion's not going to be enough, Minister," Amelia said, with just a little smile. "She'll definitely need to be jailed for this. A life sentence I believe would be justified."

"Couldn't agree more," McGonagall sniffed. "She should count herself lucky that's all she's getting if you ask me."

"Yes, you're… quite right," Fudge heaved a sigh, running a hand across his face and for a moment he looked almost like he'd aged fifty years. "Of course Azkaban's no longer an option so we'll have to ship her off to Nurmengard with the other prisoners… but I still can't believe it came to this. I knew when I hired her that she was a little ruthless but I never could have imagined…"

"It is clear that she did a good job of hiding her talons from most until the end," Dumbledore smiled. "But the important thing is that justice has been done now."

"Indeed," Fudge nodded, before turning to Harry. He looked massively uncomfortable and spent a good thirty seconds opening and closing his mouth as he sought to find the right words, but eventually he was able to get the first of them out and the rest seemed to tumble out in their wake. "Harry… you and I… we don't see eye to eye of course, and we haven't for a while. And I must insist as much as ever that you stop this… claptrap… about You-Know-Who's return when we have far more important things to worry about. Like Fairy Tail.

"But… for what it's worth… I am terribly sorry that it came to this. Torture… whether coming from the Cruciatus Curse or… other methods," he glanced down with revulsion at the back of Harry's hand, "…would never have have received by approval. And despite everything… I hope that perhaps I can find some way to… make it up to you in future."

Harry kept his expression carefully neutral, but he was elated at this moment. The man standing before him now didn't feel like the same man who'd been publicly trying to expel him and discredit him before the public. He felt more like his old self - the kindly but bumbling and slightly awkward man that he had first seen walking into Hagrid's Hut to reluctantly arrest the half-giant in his second year. And this was a man that Harry missed, and very much wished to see more of in future.

For all his multitude of flaws, Cornelius Fudge was a good person at heart. But his love of power and fear had caused him to make some truly poor decisions recently. And it was important to remember that.

"That's alright, Minister," Harry said, choosing his next words very carefully indeed. "You didn't know… and I was too stubborn to mention it earlier. But, if you want to make things up to me, then I think there is something you could do."

"And what's that?"

"You could take an important lesson away from today, and that is that things aren't always what you may think them to be from looking at them on the surface. Don't take everything you see at face value and look a little deeper into the people you're dealing with. You thought Umbridge could be trusted but she let you down in a major way. There could be… other people close to you who aren't as trustworthy as they appear to be. But more importantly… there could be people you're pushing away because you believe them to be enemies, when in fact… they could be good people. Or at the very least they could be just trying to help."

Fudge stared at Harry for some time, the both of them holding eye contact for what felt like an eternity before Fudge finally looked away. The Minister could tell that Harry was talking about himself and Dumbledore… but there were a number of other people that his words could apply to. Sirius Black… the Spirits that kept visiting the Ministry… Fairy Tail themselves. He kept being told repeatedly that they weren't bad people yet he refused to believe them, despite some… compelling arguments that they weren't.

But now a woman whom he had trusted had turned out to be round the twist in more ways than one. In which case… how many other things did he have a wonky perception of?

"I see…" he said slowly. "Well… I am grateful for your understanding. I believe I have… quite a bit of thinking to do when I return to the Ministry. Which I must now do. I'll need to oversee the arrangements for Dolores' imprisonment."

"No need, Minister. I will take care of that," Amelia said quickly. "And it will be my pleasure. You should prepare more on what your statement to the _Daily Prophet _is going to be for tomorrow's paper."

"…Yes, I suppose I should," Fudge nodded. "Although, Dumbledore… I think we should talk about arrangements to get a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher installed as soon as…"

"Oh, not to worry," Dumbledore smiled. "As it happens, I already have someone in mind."

"You do? But… who…?"

"Not to worry, Cornelius, I will make the arrangements. It'll all be ready within a couple of days I'm sure."

Fudge hesitated - if Dumbledore had a new teacher in mind then that meant he couldn't install anyone else at the school to try and reform the school. Nobody to stop Dumbledore from building a student army against the Ministry. But… as Harry had said… maybe he needed to look a little deeper. Maybe it was possible that Dumbledore wasn't who he needed to fear after all.

"…Very well," he said. "In that case… good evening…"

And with that he hurried out of the Hospital Wing, leaving complete silence in his wake… until Harry and the others were sure that he was out of earshot.

Then:-

"SHE'S GONE!" Ron cheered. "SHE'S FINALLY GONE!"

All three students exploded into cheers and hugged each other while Dumbledore, McGonagall and Amelia all looked on with a smile as Madame Pomfrey ushered over to fuss over giving Harry some breathing space.

* * *

Word spread throughout the castle like a lightning bolt! It seemed like everybody knew roughly what had happened within ten minutes of Harry being discharged from the Hospital Wing, or at the very least that Umbridge had attacked Harry right in front of a Ministry official and been dragged out of the school. And though it was late in the evening, a party instantly sprang to life in three of the four Common Rooms!

Umbridge might have been cruellest to Harry, but her interference, lack of teaching and priggishness had made sure that even the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws who were not exactly on Harry's side right now were delighted at the news! By contrast, Filch was spotted sulking in the corner and possibly even wiping away a tear while the Slytherins spent the evening in a particularly foul mood. Just a couple of days ago, Umbridge had pitched the idea of forming the Inquisitorial Squad to many of them, and now their chance to bully the other houses within the school rules had gone down the drain.

But nowhere was livelier than the Gryffindor Common Room. Fred and George had gathered a massive amount of Honeydukes sweets, banners and Butterbeers from the Leaky Cauldron in preparation just in case it worked and they immediately broke them out. The atmosphere was so festive that someone could have mistaken it for an early Christmas party! There was even a space cleared in the middle of the room to let some of the students dance, unleashing all of their delight in a frenzy of motion while the onlookers cheered enthusiastically. The twins even started coming up with an adaptation of 'Weasley is our King' that fit the occasion:-

"Umbridge is in jail!  
Umbridge is in jail!  
Her evil plans were one big fail!  
Umbridge is in jail!"

Harry couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled so much. After a disastrous end to the Triwizard Tournament and an entire summer of angst, followed by Umbridge's own campaign to usurp the school, it felt like he hadn't had much to smile about for a long time. Probably not since Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup in his first year in fact.

But now he just couldn't stop grinning. It was an absolutely perfect evening. And when he coupled in Umbridge's expulsion and imprisonment along with the knowledge that his friends had stuck with him even after learning he was a Horcrux, he felt such joy that he was even able to overcome his own embarrassment and hit the dance floor a bit himself. He felt like a complete idiot, but he didn't even care.

"I still can't believe she actually used the Cruciatus Curse on you!" Ron grinned over the noise. "It sounds weird to say it, but that was a great bonus! I was just banking on her attacking you in front of Madame Bones to be enough."

"Yeah, I didn't think she'd get _that_ riled up," Harry laughed. "And she did it at just the right time too!"

"We've got to find a way of thanking Susan for this," Hermione nodded. "And Firenze and Daphne too. But Ron… that plan was amazing. I still can't believe it worked as well as it did, but still… it was amazing. I'd never have been able to come up with that."

"Thanks," Ron grinned, leaning back in his chair. "I'm not just a pretty face you know."

"Don't ruin the moment," Hermione threw a cushion at him and all three of them laughed. And as Ron and Hermione avidly discussed and tried to impersonate the look on Umbridge's face every time they kept dropping a new bombshell on her, Harry glanced across the room and seemed to catch Ginny's eye from where she was dancing alongside the twins. Ginny grinned at him and flashed him a thumb up, and Harry felt himself grin back. Ginny's part in the plan had been small but she'd been there right when she needed to be. And since she too knew that Harry was a Horcrux and didn't even mind, Harry could feel a stronger surge of affection for her than ever before welling up in his stomach.

Michael Corner was a lucky guy to have her.

For some reason that thought made his throat tighten a little bit, but he quickly brushed it off. Probably just feeling protective of her.

However, there was a fourth party going on in the school at the time and it wasn't long before Harry and the others slipped out of the Common Room to go and attend it. After all, even though Fairy Tail had comparatively little reason to personally hate Umbridge other than hearing about the things she'd been doing to their newest friends, they never missed an excuse to party.

The Room of Requirement was in the middle of a full out brawl between some of the boys - Natsu socking Gray in the face while Gajeel all but chewed at the top of his head.

Elfman had both Freed and Bickslow in headlocks as Bickslow's dolls crashed into him repeatedly, though all three of them were grinning.

Mirajane had somehow managed to get hold of a guitar and the room had created a stage for her to sing on and she'd somehow managed to coax Erza up there with her, though the redhead was looking uncharacteristically nervous as she tried to falteringly sing along with Mira's lyrics, with a nervous Wendy on the sidelines waiting for her turn to sing alongside Lisanna, who also looked a little nervous but determined to try.

Cana had grabbed a hold of Lucy and was dragging her around in a semi-drunken dance while Lucy tried to extricate herself from the Card Mage's grip, much to the amusement of Juvia and Levy.

And Laxus was leaning against the wall in the sidelines, sitting right alongside his grandfather. Neither of them were speaking or even looking at each other, but both were vaguely smiling. Though Makarov may have been doing so because he had been drinking a bit.

Also hanging out there was Daphne, who clearly didn't want to be around other Slytherins right now, and who was watching everything going on around her with amusement.

"These guys are just… weird," she said as Harry and the others approached her.

"You'll get used to it," Harry promised. "But anyway, we just wanted to say thanks for your help, Daphne. There's no way we could have pulled that off as well as we did without you."

"No duh," Daphne rolled her eyes but looked amused at the same time. "Still, I'm glad it paid off. School's better off without the Pink Putridness in it anyway."

"Well we're thinking about having a DA meeting tomorrow," Hermione said. "You could bring Astoria along with you, if you wanted."

"Er, I already did," Daphne pointed over to where a young brunette girl that Harry vaguely remembered seeing around every once in a while in the middle of an animated discussion with Evergreen. "What, you think I'd leave her in the Slytherin Common Room while I hung around here?"

"…Looks like she's taking things very well," Ron noted.

"…really cool," Astoria was saying with a grin. "I wish I could fly like that! Brooms are alright but wings… those are just so much cooler."

"Well, you never know," Evergreen replied, though it was clear she was allowing herself to bask in Astoria's praise a little bit. "Maybe you will fly like that one day. Considering everything I've seen about this world, I'm surprised nobody's invented a magical set of wings you can don and fly around on. Sounds like it could be more comfortable than sitting on a stick."

"Wow, I like that idea!" Astoria beamed. "I'll get on that! Maybe I could be the one that invents it!"

Daphne smiled. "Astoria's always been more… excitable than I am. I knew she'd fit in comfortably with this lot as soon as she got over the shock. But… I worry about her a lot. She's… quite a frail child."

"Frail?" Hermione asked. "How so? She looks okay to me."

"Yes, she does now," Daphne rolled her eyes. "But she's much less durable than most people. It doesn't take nearly as much exertion to exhaust her as most. She gets sick very easily and has… let's say a low threshold for spell resistance. She could shrug off a Stunning Spell, but if she was hit with two at the same time it could cause her extremely serious injury."

"Wow… I never knew," Hermione breathed.

"Well now you do," Daphne sighed. "She's like that because of a blood-borne curse that one of our ancestors had which has resurfaced in her. And maybe now you understand more why the threat of Death Eaters coming after us to get to my parents is a bloody terrifying one for me. And why I hate, hate, _hated_ the fact the Umbridge wasn't teaching us how to defend ourselves properly. If Astoria can't defend herself… well… it would be so easy for an accident to occur."

"Yeah… I get it," Ron nodded, thinking of how he'd feel if Ginny were like that. It was a highly unpleasant thought.

"And you better bear that in mind when you teach us, Potter," Daphne growled. "It'll be on your head if something happens to her in these meetings."

"Got it," Harry nodded resolutely. "Still… thank you. And I'm glad you're joining us. I never thought one day I'd owe a Slytherin anything but now I really do."

"Okay, okay, I get it," Daphne waved her hand dismissively. "This doesn't make us friends, understand? I don't think could never be friends with a… Muggle-Born…" she coughed, clearly changing her choice of words at the last second there, "…or a Blood Traitor like you. But I'm willing to put up with you if it'll help us learn more and it gets my parents to safety. Though who knows, with Umbridge gone, we might not even need this DA thing of yours anymore."

"Maybe not," Harry said, a little tightly. "But we'll keep doing it anyway. It never hurts to learn more. Though if I could add one more thing, you might want to rethink your whole 'Pureblood Rules' thing you've got going on there. After all… isn't your sister's condition walking proof that having magical ancestors doesn't mean you're perfect? As my friends told me recently, its what you do that defines you, not who your parents are or what abilities you have. And you and Astoria don't need Pure Blood to become great people."

Daphne said nothing in response, but she did bite her lip as the others walked away from her to go and start thanking the various Fairy Tail mages for their contributions to ousting Umbridge, most especially Mavis, Pantherlily, Freed, Bickslow, Cana and Elfman.

"Hey, it's not a problem at all," Cana grinned as she whirled a faintly dizzy Lucy around. "One problem down right?

"I'm not sure if it was particularly Manly of me to terrify a woman like that, but it sure as heck was Manly to rid a school of such a horrible oppressor," Elfman pounded his chest.

"Now we've just got the Death Eaters, Grimoire Heart and this Morgana lady to deal with. No biggie right?" Bickslow cackled.

"Yeah… no biggie," Harry laughed, even that not enough to ruin the mood he was in. And as they settled down to have fun and celebrate throughout the night, it turned out that Lisanna and Wendy were both actually good singers, though the latter needed a fair bit of encouragement.

* * *

Despite a late night from most of the castle, breakfast the next morning was still a jovial affair. Every Gryffindor was tired but still grinning like loons as they gathered at the breakfast table, some of them contemplating what they were going to do with the free period that was now where their Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons had been before.

Although talk of that was quickly put to rest when Dumbledore got to his feet, commanding the attention of the entire Great Hall before speaking.

"As most of you have probably heard by now, there was an… incident… last night which had resulted in the unfortunate removal of our dear Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge, from the school…"

A massive round of cheering followed this words and Harry could help but snort with amusement. Only Dumbledore would continue to feign liking someone so repulsive just for the heck of it.

"Yes, yes, quite," Dumbledore nodded. "But anyway, as I was saying, all detentions that she may have imposed upon students have now been completely cancelled. But your Defence lessons themselves are not. I had to work through the night and pull some quick arrangements but I have already found some replacement teachers to help fill the void that Professor Umbridge has left in her wake."

"Did he say teachers?" Hermione frowned. "As in plural?"

"Could he have gotten Lupin to come back? That'd be great," Ron grinned.

"I don't think so," Harry wrinkled his nose distastefully. "It's out that he's a werewolf now. Parents would still complain. That's why he resigned in the first place, remember?"

"Oh yeah."

But Dumbledore's next words made Harry's heart drop into his stomach.

"I'm pleased to announce that the Defence Post will be taken by none other than the Head of Slytherin himself, Professor Severus Snape!"

"WHAT!?" Harry shouted, his voice raising even above the surprised hubbub that instantly ensued. But he didn't care. A large portion of the joy he'd felt at finally ousting Umbridge for good was immediately robbed from him with this revelation. He loathed Umbridge with a passion, but Snape was still not far behind her in that regard! And looking up at the staff table now, he could see Snape's wide smirk - pure and utter smug satisfaction. The former Potions Master's gaze turned to Harry and he did practically everything but wink at him with that one stare alone.

"I can't believe this! I can't freaking believe this!" Harry hissed to himself.

"Harry, calm down," Hermione insisted quickly, though she herself looked a bit put out by this revelation, most likely because she'd been looking forward to being able to answer questions in class again but knew full well that Snape would ignore her when she put her hand up.

"How can I calm down? This is ridiculous," Harry huffed. "What's Dumbledore thinking, appointing Snape of all people?"

"Well, we didn't exactly leave him with many options," Ron pointed out bitterly. "We did get Umbridge kicked out completely without warning. I guess he just has to compromise."

"Damn it," Harry smacked the table with his fist. "We should have told him what we were doing after all, so he could find a better replacement."

"If we'd told him he would have stopped us," Hermione sighed. "We did technically break the rules to do it after all. He just decided to look the other way when it actually happened."

Harry wanted to vent more but he was cut off when Dumbledore resumed speaking. "That of course means that his position as Potions Master is vacant, but I am very pleased to announce that I have already found a replacement teacher. For the rest of the week Potions lessons are cancelled, but the new teacher should arrive by next Monday. His name is Professor Horace Slughorn, and he was in fact the teacher who filled the post before Professor Snape took the job, so everyone be sure to give him a warm return welcome when he arrives and get settled in. Until then, everyone enjoy their new free periods."

He sat back down and the Great Hall quickly devolved into discussion about this new development. Neville was looking particularly white - he still hadn't lost his fear of Professor Snape and the idea of him teaching a class where you could throw spells at each other was drastically more frightening than one where you sat next to a cauldron the whole time.

But nobody was more displeased than Harry.

"Well that settles it then," he muttered. "We're definitely not stopping the DA. Not now. There's no way I'm going to rely on Snape to teach us what we need to know to defeat Voldemort."

"But Harry, he is on our side you know," Hermione pressed. "I still want the DA to keep going too but Dumbledore trusts him. Maybe this will work out better than you think."

"At least we'll be allowed to cast spells again," Ron agreed. "I don't like this either Harry, but honestly… anything's better than having Umbridge breathe down your neck as you do nothing but read."

Harry grunted, but he had to concede that Ron had a point there. But his thoughts were rudely interrupted by Snape himself, who suddenly stopped next to them and looked down at them over his hooked nose.

"I suppose you weren't expecting this particular repercussion when you were crafting your master plan against Professor Umbridge, were you Potter?" he said, the corner of his lip quirking smugly. "I certainly hope that you don't think about trying something similar with me. I can assure you I will be keeping an eye out for any interference from… outside sources."

Harry gritted his teeth. They both knew Snape was alluding to Fairy Tail when he said that.

"Regardless," Snape said. "It appears we're in business together in some way, if you insist on continuing to run about with your friends learning extra Defence Magic on the sides. Dumbledore has asked me to… overlook… your technically illicit activities so I shall. But just remember, Potter, while you're in my class I am the teacher, not you. You would do well to keep that in mind."

And with that he swept off before Harry could say a word. He ate the rest of his breakfast in a grumpy silence until Dumbledore met him outside the Great Hall, the Headmaster having apparently been waiting for them.

"Please step this way you three," he said, drawing them quickly to one side where he wouldn't be overheard. "Now, I want you to listen to me carefully Harry. In truth, I am grateful for what you did in getting rid of Dolores, but I cannot deny it is a little frustrating. I did not wish to put Severus into the Defence post today. I wanted him to be by my side for as long as possible after all."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you've heard the stories about how the Defence post has had a curse placed upon it, have you not?"

"Yes, but that's just a story, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

"No, it is in fact not. You haven't just had a string of bad luck with your Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers - I haven't been able to find a single one that lasted longer than a year ever since I turned down Lord Voldemort for the post."

"You what!?" Harry blinked. "Voldemort actually applied!?"

"Oh yes. A long time ago before he'd amassed the reputation he has now, he applied. But I knew he couldn't be trusted and turned him away, and since then no Defence teacher has been able to stay in their post for more than at least three terms. There is no doubt in my mind that Voldemort was able to pull off a curse complex enough to jinx the job. That is why I have continuously denied Severus from getting the job, because I wanted him to remain in the school for longer than that. His value as a double agent cannot be underestimated, Harry. Therefore I would please ask that you not give him trouble in his lessons. Severus has a lot on his plate as it is. Please, do not add to it."

Harry bit his lip. It often seemed to him that having Snape as a double agent didn't seem to make a damn bit of difference. He often didn't have any useful information about exactly what Voldemort was doing before he did it.

But then again, he couldn't deny that Snape had been very useful indeed during the whole Tenroujima incident. If he hadn't bypassed the non-Dark Mark Apparition barrier to bring Dumbledore and Gildarts to the island when he had, they might have been severely screwed over by Morgana before the dragons could arrive to help them out. Much as Harry hated Snape… maybe Dumbledore had a point.

"I… will try," he said reluctantly.

"Good," Dumbledore nodded with a light smile. "Still, I hope to make significant strides in our plans to stop Voldemort by the end of the year anyway."

And with that he strode away, leaving Harry to ponder what lessons with Snape might end up being like… and also plan out his next DA lesson that evening. But before Dumbledore could get too far, Harry suddenly remembered something he'd been planning to do at that meeting.

"Professor, wait!" he cried, hurrying after him. "I don't suppose you could let me have access to your Penseive would you?"

* * *

It turned out that Dumbledore could do one better - he actually had a spare Penseive and offered to give it to Harry if he decided he wanted to start one. But Harry was pretty certain he was only going to use it this once. After all, while he had many fond memories there were a great many others he never wanted to revisit in as much clarity as a Penseive could bring ever again.

But this time he had made a promise to the members of the DA. And he intended to keep it.

They gathered in the Room of Requirement as normal and those that wanted to see what Harry had offered, which was most of them, lined up before the Penseive. They took turns with about five or six different people entering the memory at a time. It was quite a surreal experience for Harry to be watching others using a Penseive for a change - they just ended up standing there, lost in a memory that wasn't even their own. And every time that they all snapped back to clarity, their blank faces instantly turned completely ashen.

"Holy Jesus," Dean croaked, looking very much like he was going to be physically sick.

"I can only imagine what it must have been like to actually be there," Anthony whispered.

"Harry… you were so brave," Hannah squeaked. "So much braver than I ever could have been."

"Oh Merlin," Seamus slumped back against the wall with his head in his hands. "Oh God… Harry… I'm so sorry I never believed you. You went through all that… and the Ministry's still calling you a liar… I… he really is back…"

"Seamus, it alright," Harry said dourly. "I was asking people to believe a lot. The most important thing is that you get it now."

But Seamus was not the only one who had an apology to make. Harry himself had a pretty massive one and unfortunately he had to wait until almost everyone had seen the memory for him to make it. Cho Chang was in the very last group to view the memory, and as soon as she phased out of it she burst into tears and stumbled away to a corner of the room to hunch over by herself and sob into her knees. Harry shuffled awkwardly towards her and found himself standing above her and fighting to untie his tongue from the knots it seemed determined to tie itself in and speak.

"…Cho…" he grunted. "I… you know, I… I just wanted to say…"

Cho withdrew her face from her knees, her eyes already puffy, and whispered, "You don't have to say anything. I understand."

"Understand… what?" Harry blinked, not having expected that answer.

"This is about what happened last week, isn't it?" Cho sniffled. "When you yelled at me the day you quit the DA."

"Er… yeah… yeah, it is. But also about Cedric. I'm… sorry… that I couldn't save him."

"What could you have done? It all happened so fast… one moment he was fine and then the next he was just… he was just…" Cho had to stop and take a moment to suppress the next bout of sobs that threatened to overwhelm her. "But… thank you… for showing me that memory anyway. You were right… there wasn't much to what happened with him there… but I think I really needed to see it. I think… I needed the closure."

"…Good to know…" Harry whispered. "But… about those things I said to you… I wasn't feeling like myself then and it was absolutely horrible of me to say those things about… you know… you wanting to be close to me because it would be like being close to him and all that stuff. That was cruel and just plain wrong, and I am so… so sorry."

Cho sighed, tears continuing to trickle down her face as she looked down at her shoes. "It was heart-rending," she murmured. "And yeah, it was really horrible of you to say those things… but I do get why you said them. And I think, if I'm being completely honest with myself… you were probably right."

Harry blinked. "What?"

"Not about all of it," Cho added quickly. "Definitely not about the part where you said you didn't deserve to be the leader. But… the other bit. I thought pretty long and hard about what you said that night and I came to realise you were right. It wasn't a conscious decision… but I think I was just latching onto you because Cedric died. I mean… I knew you already liked me. And you were there when Cedric died so I think, unconsciously, I was drawn to you because you were both the quickest and closest thing I could get to… to still being with him."

Harry's heart sank into his chest when he heard those words, and Cho herself looked incredibly guilt-stricken just by saying it. Which was made worse when Harry coughed and said, "Oh… oh, I see."

"I'm really sorry, Harry," Cho whispered. "I've been so torn up about my own feelings that I barely even took yours into account. But… now that I've thought about it hard I think I've come to the conclusion that us… you and me… we can never work. Not now. Maybe we could have done if Cedric and me had fallen out and broken up, but that didn't happen. He died. And it wouldn't feel right at all for me to start a relationship with someone because I'm trying to stay close to my past boyfriend. That's a terrible foundation for a partnership… and it's only going to end in disaster. Not to mention, you deserve a lot better than that. You deserve someone who wants you just for you. And at the moment… I don't think that someone is me."

Harry sighed. He didn't want to hear this any more than Cho wanted to say it, and though his mind tried to deny it at first - tried to convince himself that it could maybe work if they tried hard at it - he was quickly forced to concede that all of Cho's points were excellent ones.

"Yeah…" he whispered. "Yeah, I think you're right… and you deserve a lot better than that too. You deserve a chance to move on and start afresh. And you won't be able to do that with me. I'd just be a constant reminder, wouldn't I? And that would just keep making you feel guilty that you're with me at all, wouldn't it?"

"Probably," Cho whispered, sniffing loudly. "Bottom line… this isn't good for either of us so… maybe we should just stop now before we actually become committed and end up breaking each others hearts in the long run. I'll still come to DA meetings of course. And I hope that we can still be friends, great friends. But… not any more than that."

"…Yeah," Harry nodded, his body feeling slightly hollow inside but knowing it was indeed for the best. "It's… not going to be easy letting go though."

"Not for me either," Cho shook her head. "But… it's better than hurting each other later."

"Thanks Cho," Harry smiled lightly. "Don't worry, I'm sure things will get easier one day. And you'll find another great guy for sure."

"And I know you'll find a brilliant girlfriend too," Cho smiled back, taking the hand that Harry was offering her and letting him pull her to her feet. The two embraced, and Harry allowed Cho to cry into his shoulder for a couple of minutes before they eventually parted ways and headed back to their respective best friends. Harry felt like his gut had been squeezed several times, but he just had to move past it. There was just too much emotional baggage to bear between him and Cho for it to ever work out.

Hopefully the next girl he fell for would come baggage free, whoever she might be.

* * *

"Alright guys," Harry said, a little awkwardly as he stood before the amassed members of the DA, very much feeling the spotlight at this moment. "As you all know, now that Umbridge has been pushed the hell out of our school at last."

It seemed that news wouldn't fail to cause a mass cheer for some time, and many fists were pumped into the air. Harry couldn't help but grin as he added, "And as many of you read in this morning's _Daily Prophet_ she's already been shipped off to Nurmengard. I know I can't help but grin every time I think of her kicking herself in a prison cell… but the fact remains that since she's gone there's probably no need for any of you to be here anymore. Weird as it will be to have… Snape… as our new DADA teacher, I'm pretty sure he will at least teach us what we need to know to pass our O. … hopefully…"

"Yeah, but this isn't just about exams, is it?" Neville suddenly spoke up. "This is about preparing ourselves for what's out there so we can fight it when we need to. Professor Snape will keep us to the school syllabus but I dunno how much more he'll teach us apart from that."

"Yeah, and besides, given what we saw in that memory of yours Harry," Parvati agreed. "…We have to learn. And we need to do it quickly so… it definitely can't hurt to have two teachers, can it?"

"As long as this stuff continues to not interfere with Quidditch practices, none of us are leaving," Angelina said fervently, to a smattering of assent.

"Good to know," Harry allowed himself a little smile, as his self-esteem rose just a little bit. Most of the people in here still didn't know he was a Horcrux, and he certainly intended to keep it that way, but the faith they all put in him was bolstering once again, rather than annoying as it had been before. "And now, weirdly enough, the DA can move forwards with members from all four Hogwarts houses."

"Sup," Daphne waved from where she and Astoria were both standing to one side. Astoria looked both nervous, excited and a little scathing at the same time, and she was sticking close to Daphne for encouragement.

"I… don't expect you guys to all get along right away, but at least try to be civil if you're not willing to become friends," Harry coughed.

"But you know," Hermione interrupted. "If you want to try making friends then that would be great."

"Whoa, settle down there, Granger," Daphne said. "We're not here to make friends. We're here to learn to fight. There's a pretty big difference."

"Yeah, but there's no reason you can't do both," Hermione replied simply. "The way I see it, we're already more like your friends than many people in your own House."

"…She's not wrong there," Astoria murmured, but Daphne just shrugged.

"Anyway," Harry coughed to regain everyone's attention. "We missed out on last week because of me, so we need to make up for lost time. And not only that, but I've been talking things over with Ron and Hermione and we're going to make a few changes. As you know recently Erza and Mirajane have been giving us a hand, helping us to improve our speed, reflexes and response times on the battlefield. But now… we're going to ask the rest of Fairy Tail to help us out too."

"Correct," Erza smiled from the doorway to the Fairy Tail training hall, her sword already drawn and smirking dangerously at the DA members. "After all, it is not just Death Eaters you have to worry about anymore, but Morgana and Grimoire Heart. Under no circumstances do we recommend trying to take them on, but perhaps we can teach you enough to defend yourselves against some of them until one of us arrives to help. The training will be tough! But we intend to help Harry build you up to be the best that you can as quickly as you can!"

"So, if you'd like to follow Erza through to the other room," Harry chuckled at how pale several of the DA had suddenly become. "We can begin."

* * *

Half an hour later at the training hall was a cacophony of spells and hexes flying all over the place. To anyone walking in it would have looked like complete and utter chaos, but it wasn't. There were different training exercises going on all over the place, each one trying to teach the participants a different skill set.

Over in one corner, Harry was overseeing a more regular session as some of the DA members tried to master the Impediment Jinx. He walked among them as quickly as he could, stopping to correct Dennis Creevey's posture or give Justin a little tip about his wand movements while casting the spell, and many of them seemed to be picking it up pretty quickly.

Nearby, Erza and Mirajane were doing the same thing as before, charging about the room as five of the older and more experienced DA members tried hard to land a hit on them while simultaneously dodging their attacks. There had definitely been some improvement since the first time they'd performed his exercise, as seen when Katie Bell managed to arch herself backwards far enough for Erza's training sword to sweep right over her without touching her before rolling aside just in time to avoid Mirajane's foot crashing down on top of her. It was a burst of agility she'd never have been able to pull off while not on a broom when they first started out.

"Excellent form!" Mira said encouragingly as she turned to dive in Alicia's direction, swiftly dodging two of her incoming hexes. "You girls are definitely picking up on this."

"Who knows, this kind of thing could improve our skills as Chasers too," Alicia grinned as she leapt backwards to avoid Mira's grabbing claws.

But while Erza and Mira were testing them at all the different skills they'd need on the battlefield at once, other Fairy Tail mages were teaching the other DA members in little lessons that focused on one particular skill at a time.

Lisanna was currently in her catgirl form and was running rings around some of the others. Quite literally. She was helping them to improve their accuracy by trying to hit a moving target and in this form she was one of the most agile of the Fairy Tail members. She twisted and ducked left and right, flipping into angles that made her incredibly difficult for such precise spells to hit. With her were the three Exceed, all of them in their smaller forms and also darting around to provide even smaller targets. Realistically none of the DA's opponents would be as small as the Exceed, but if they could learn to hit a human-sized target as quick as Lisanna or targets as little as the cats were, then they could hit almost any opponent.

Gajeel's skin was covered in his Iron Dragon Scales, and he… was just standing there and letting Ernie and Neville launch Blasting Hexes at him. He was trying to get them to improve the power behind their spells, because he could shrug them off without even flinching like this.

"Come on, boys!" he smirked toothily at them. "Put your backs into it. You can't hurt me so why freaking knock me off my feet already!"

Ernie stabbed his wand forwards and launched a spell that struck Gajeel full in the chest. Again he didn't flinch but this time he was pushed backwards a couple of inches.

"Better. But not good enough! Keep at it!"

Juvia and Cana were attempting to teach some of the others to improve their speed when it came to blocking attacks, by launching quick but relatively weak strikes with their respective water and card magic. They were able to bend their attacks to come sweeping in at any angle, forcing their opponents to react swiftly to fend them all off. And if they did get hit, then it wouldn't hurt too bad. Though they would end up soaked or knocked off their feet at least.

Bickslow was teaching them how to dodge and weave by having his wooden dolls sweep around the battlefield and try to knock into the students around him. They weren't allowed to use their magic to defend - they had to rely purely on their own movements as they would if they suddenly found themselves disarmed in the middle of a fight. One of the students in his group was currently Astoria, but despite her relative frailty she didn't have to worry right now, because Wendy had used some of her support Magic to magically boost her defence. She most likely wouldn't have that in a real fight but it meant that she could take being whacked by one of the dolls as well if not a little better than all the others at that moment.

Gray was teaching Ginny and Luna how to fight against multiple opponents at once by creating Ice Clones of himself multiple times all around the field where the three of them were working. The creations didn't move as Gray's Ice Make Magic was completely static, but Ginny and Luna were working off each other to throw Stunning Hexes at any new one that popped up and whenever they succeeded Gray would make the target crumble and build another one.

Elfman was doing pretty much the exact opposite to his little sister. He was a very easy target, but also a massive one that didn't feel the effects of most regular curses, much like a giant or a troll wouldn't. His opponents were having to use the battlefield to their advantage against him, and the room had provided many crates and bits of debris for them to magically lift up and fling at him.

Evergreen was teaching how to use their other senses to their advantage. The students under her wing were blindfolded and were having to listen as she gently flew around the space they'd been allotted, which was enclosed in one of Freed's barriers to blot out all sound coming from the outside, meaning they had to try and hear her approach in order to turn around and defend themselves. In fact, all of the different activities were enclosed in Freed's barriers to make sure that while people could get through them magic couldn't, so nobody would be hit from behind by a stray spell from another activity.

Unfortunately for Natsu, his magic didn't exactly allow him to be an attacker without risking harm to the students but it had been determined there was something he could teach them with fire - how to put it out. In the middle of a battleground, spells that set the place alight could be very easily cast, and unchecked fire could be just as dangerous as an enemy combatant. She he was setting bonfires alight while the students around him dashed around trying to put them out as fast as they possibly could before the fire spread to stick figures that were supposed to represent innocent people.

And Lucy and Levy were sitting both sitting together on the sidelines, combing through books and highlighting any interesting spell they could find which Harry might one day be able to teach the others. That would, of course, normally be Hermione's job but since she was out there practicing too they had both been eager to take up the mantle for her.

Only Gildarts, Laxus and Makarov weren't participating at all. There was very little any of them could do that wouldn't severely harm the students which the others weren't already doing. So the three of them just stood back and watched the mayhem through the rest of the room as Harry left Ron in charge of teaching the Impediment Jinx so he could go around the room and see how everyone else was getting on.

"You know," Gildarts murmured with a light smile. "I think that they needed this. Up until now, there's still been something of a divide between Fairy Tail and Dumbledore's Army, since we mages can only really hide out in this one big room. We've known each other for a bit yes, but other than occasional conversations snatched in spare time, we've had little real opportunity to really bond with these new kids."

"Indeed. To many of them, we're still like aliens. Friendly, yet separate," Makarov smiled, a flagon of Butterbeer in his hand. "Yet now, perhaps the last of the barriers can be broken down and our friendships can grow. Training is never just training when done right. It's also bonding through combat."

"Well… that is something that Fairy Tail mages do very well. Isn't it Gramps?" Laxus chuckled.

Makarov paused, glancing up at his grandson out the corner of his eyes before murmuring, "Yes, it is, Laxus. Yes indeed it is. And with any luck, it won't be long before all these young students no longer view us as acquaintances, or even teachers… but also as friends."

"Amen to that."

* * *

Pull back away from the school… away from Earth… through the dimensional barrier and back into Earthland… to focus on the miniature Fairy Tail guild once more…

"Hhhhmmmm… mmmmmhhhh… it's been so long since I inhaled this sweet parfum! You may not be her but you smell exactly like my honey! More! Let me smell more!"

**KAPOW!**

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

"MMMEEEEEEEENNNNNNNN!"

Laki and Kinana dodged to either side as none other that Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki went sailing through the air between them to smash into the wall hard enough to put a crater in it. Erza Knightwalker was breathing heavily, several chills running up her spine as she tried extremely hard to make her skin stop crawling. Unlike her counterpart, she had never directly interacted with her world's version of Ichiya… which meant she had not been ready in the slightest for what had just happened.

"Are you okay, Sensei?" cried the three Trimens - Hibiki, Ren and Eve - all at the same time as they hurried to Ichiya's side, only for the surprisingly resilient man to sweep back onto his feet.

"I am fine," he declared, striking a pose and pointing in Knightwalker's direction. "The sweet smell of an Erza has clouded my brain to such a degree that I do not feel pain at all."

"That's our master," the Trimens clapped enthusiastically, leading half the room to facepalm as they yet again changed what they called him.

Mystogan blinked several times as Knightwalker tried to hide behind him. It took a lot to make her cringe… but that would definitely do it. He was quite glad in hindsight that he had not chosen the Blue Pegasus guild to be a part of when he was younger. They seemed to be nice… but there was no doubt that they were also extremely… peculiar people.

Lamia Scale, on the other hand, seemed much more straightforward, with the exception of one odd guy who looked a bit like a dog and was currently yelling at Coco for trying to copy him. After Mystogan had returned, Fairy Tail had finally decided to call on the two guilds and let them know the situation. And several of the core members of both guilds had answered immediately and now Mystogan and Macao had just finished explaining the details to them both before Ichiya's… bizarre interruption.

"It is quite fascinating to consider," Jura Neekis of the Ten Wizard Saints, who towered over everyone else in the room, mused as he stroked his long beard thoughtfully. "Parallel realities, some with carbon copies of ourselves. You truly are the spitting image of Jellal Fernandes, right down to your choice of tattoo."

"I'm struggling to picture a Gray that wears too many clothes," Lyon Vastia shook his head. "It sounds unnatural. But more poignantly, I can scarcely believe the Gray I know is still alive. I thought for sure he was gone."

"And yet he lives," Sherry Blendy smiled. "It's wonderful news. And when he gets back to our world, you'll be able to tell him first hand how much you missed him, Lyon."

"Don't be ridiculous," Lyon turned away stiffly. "The first thing I'll do when Gray gets back is show him how much my power has grown these last six years. I don't imagine his has been doing a lot of growing while he was trapped in time."

"You can hide it all you want, Lyon," Sherry tittered. "But you definitely missed him."

"That's Lyon's love for you," said Sherry's younger cousin, another pink-haired girl named Chelia. Though she herself, unlike everyone else in the room, had never met any of the Fairy Tail mages before she'd nevertheless decided to accompany her cousin on a visit.

"LYON'S NOT IN LOVE WITH GRAY!" Toby Horhorta wheeled around and screamed at Chelia, who covered her ears but otherwise didn't react.

"She didn't say he was. Don't get angry," said Yuka Suzuki automatically.

"Yeah, and if you meet them please make sure you don't say anything like that in front of Juvia," recommended Warren.

"Who's Juvia?" Lyon frowned.

"Anyway!" Ichiya jumped onto a table and struck another random pose before anyone could answer Lyon's question. "Today is a wonderful day. Hope has been lit in a long dead fire of friendship, with this news that our Fairy Tail comrades are out there now waiting on us to do something to bring them home. If there is anything that the Blue Pegasus guild can do to contribute, you can consider it done… Meeeeen!"

"Master Bob will be most ecstatic to learn that Master Makarov still lives," Hibiki agreed. "If you need money then we do have quite a bit that you can potentially dip into if you need that."

"The same goes for Lamia Scale," Jura nodded sagely. "We won't sit idly by either."

"That's very kind of you," Mystogan said. "And most certainly we will need some funding but more than that, we will need manpower to help us build the Anima - it is quite a large construction and will require quite a lot of magical power to work. But more than that, as of right now we need help in figuring out exactly what modifications must be made to the current Anima's designs in order to make it work in this instance."

"Not an easy ask from the sounds of it," Yuka murmured as he looked over the plans that Mystogan had laid out over the table, twiddling one of his enormous eyebrows thoughtfully. "I know that I can't exactly be of much help there. I don't know anything about cross-dimensional magic."

"WE DIDN'T EXPECT YOU TO!"

"Don't get angry."

"Well, I have my Archive," Hibiki acknowledged, pulling up the ovular screen in mid-air thoughtfully. "It holds a pretty vast collection of knowledge in it's depths. I could look through to see if I could find anything useful. And for everyone else there's the Magic Library of course."

"Anything you could dig up with be great," Macao nodded. "Absolutely anything at all, even the smallest detail."

"There's one other important thing that I think everyone's overlooking here," Lyon said. "You're saying that you don't want the Magic Council to find out about this?"

"If at all possible," Macao sighed. "We don't want to risk them deciding to just let our fellow members stay trapped."

"You should put more faith in the Magic Council than that," Jura frowned. "They may be rather officious and self-important but they are not bad at heart. If push came to shove, I am certain the majority of them would vote not to let Fairy Tail remain in enforced exile."

"Maybe, but you can't deny they would not be happy about the idea of us building a large magical device like this. And it's not just them. There are other people we'd like to keep from knowing about all this, like Twilight Ogre. Not to mention the Dark Guilds. Grimoire Heart may still be out there, not to mention Tartaros. And if Zeref heard about this… what if he decided to act on it himself?"

There was a heavy silence after that, but they knew Macao was right. It probably would be better if word didn't get out until at least after their lost comrades had been brought back."

"Well then," Lyon continued. "Where exactly do you intend to build this thing? Out the back of your guild? In the middle of a field somewhere? If it's as big as you claim it to be, where you would you build it where it could still remain a secret?"

"…That… is actually a good point," Mystogan mused. "We'll have to figure that out as well. But for now, our most important step is figuring out how to alter the Anima's current plans. Once we do that, we can work everything else out from there."

"Well then," said a voice from the open doorway behind them. "If that's the case, I'd like to be of help as well."

Startled heads turned to see a young woman in a white minidress, with long green hair and wearing a golden tiara across her forehead. Standing behind her was a tall man with shaggy black hair and heavy looking armour and a couple of other guards, but it was the woman who drew most of the assembled mage's attention.

"Princess Hisui?" Jura gaped, and everyone who didn't know who she was until he spoke immediately hit the floor with their lower jaws. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard about what's going on. I happened to be there when Yukino Aguria-san delivered a letter from Lucy Heartfilia to her father, explaining everything about this alternate universe they're stuck in," the Princess explained. "But let me see if I understood what I just overheard correctly. You have the plans for a machine that can open portals between worlds, but it won't work without some alterations to bring them home, correct?"

"…Yes… that's right…" Mystogan nodded slowly, having already pulled his former mask back on as soon as he realised they had company.

"Well then…" Hisui smiled. "I can't guarantee anything… but it's possible that I might have a solution."


End file.
